Italy is looking to combat its crush of tourists in major cities by leasing works from the Uffizi in Florence to smaller museums and spaces around the country, CNN reports. “We already have over 3,000 works of art on display in the Uffizi — that’s enough,” Uffizi director Eike Schmidt says. (more…)

A piece in the New York Times this week notes the shifting relationships galleries are taking towards physical spaces, including the possibility that galleries may soon abandon their physical locales.“The question is whether galleries will continue to have space in London,” says Frieze’s Simon Fox. The organization has opened its own gallery space at No. 9 Cork Street that works with a range of galleries and dealers. “The answer to that, in time, might be ‘no.’”  (more…)

After a lengthy construction period, the new Munch Museum building in Oslo is preparing to open, the Architectural Digest reports. (more…)

The UK has announced that museums will not be able to reopen until Mid-May, a full month after shops and retail galleries.  “It just makes no sense,” says Rebecca Salter, the president of the Royal Academy of Arts . On the 12 April all the retail will open on Piccadilly and our gates will stay shut, I don’t get the logic of it frankly. It just doesn’t feel joined up to me … I’m angry.” (more…)

A piece in the NYT looks at the artists already thinking of the best way to commemorate those lost to the Covid-19 pandemic. “They want to recognize the deaths of those individuals, as well as to express a communal sense of shared loss and shared remembrance,” says geographer Avril Maddrell. (more…)

A major Paris scene painted by Vincent van Gogh and not yet seen in public since 1887 will go on view publicly this year, taking a tour of Europe before selling at Sotheby’s this May. “Very few paintings from Van Gogh’s Montmartre period remain in private hands – most are in the collections of prestigious museums around the world,” says Aurélie Vandevoorde of Sotheby’s. “The appearance on the market of a painting of this calibre, from such an iconic series, undoubtedly marks a major event.” (more…)

A piece in the SCMP looks at the trend of independent curators and gallerists filling abandoned retail spaces with art in Hong Kong.  “You have to go through a lot to get funding, or be noticed by institutions and galleries. But there is this regenerative energy that exists here – we always find a way to work around things,” she says curator Eunice Tsang. (more…)

New research has determined that writing on a version of Edvarrd Munch’s The Scream is by the artist himself. “It’s been examined now very carefully, letter by letter, and word by word, and it’s identical in every way to Munch’s handwriting,” says curator and researcher Mai Britt Guleng. “So there is no more doubt.” (more…)

The Mayor of Amsterdam is asking the Stedelijk to review the case of a Wassily Kandinsky work previously held in the collection of a Jewish family, and to reconsider if the work should be subject to restitution. “The Jewish people were deprived of their possessions, rights, dignity and, in many cases, their lives,” reads an open letter signed by a group including Femke Halsema mayor. “Insofar as something can still be restored of the great injustice done to them, we, as a society, have a moral obligation to act accordingly.” (more…)

A piece in The Telegraph charts the landscape for galleries in London currently, and how they are making plans for the coming years post-Brexit and post-Covid. “We’re just playing a waiting game right now,” David Zwirner director James Green. “Our doors have been shut for all of 2021 so far, and we haven’t had word from the Government as to when that might change.” (more…)

Met Director Max Hollein has defended the museum’s ability to deaccession works in a piece on the institution’s online blog this week. “The Museum approaches deaccessioning with the same degree of strategy and deliberation as we apply to acquisitions,” he writes. “Whereas the two activities are not directly coordinated, our curators are always mindful of the effects of both on the profile of the collection.” (more…)

A sculpture by Constantin Brancusi can be removed from Paris’s Montparnasse cemetery following the results of a lawsuit in French court. The work has been disputed for over a decade after several people attempted to sell the work amidst a red-hot market for the artist’s work. (more…)

Paul McCarthy has an interview in the NYT this week, as he reflects on his new work, which mines the recent events surrounding the end of Trump’s presidency, and its relation to the rise of fascist regimes. “What part of the population do you need to create fascism?” he asks. “You don’t need the whole population. For me it was like, yeah, the subject’s problematic, but it’s the subject.”  (more…)

Artist Michael Phelan will open an arts organization in Marfa, Texas this fall, the NYT reports. Phelan has been a resident of the town since 2014. (more…)

Damien Hirst has an interview in The Guardian this week, as he opens an outdoor sculpture show in St. Moritz, and reflects on the state of the world. “I like it when people love my art. I like it when people hate my art. I just don’t want them to ignore my art,” he says. (more…)

Artist Maria Eichhorn will represent Germany at next year’s Venice Biennale next year. “In my view there are few artists who address themselves to German history and its impact on the present in as multifaceted and intensive a manner as Maria Eichhorn,” says Yilmaz Dziewior, the curator of the German Pavilion. (more…)

As London’s National Gallery prepares to celebrate its 200th anniversary in 2024, it is planning a major renovation project, a $34.7-to-$41.7 million (£25-30 million) upgrade of its public-facing amenities. “We are extremely fortunate to have a superb building and a modern classic in the Sainsbury Wing,” says director Dr. Gabriele Finaldi, “one that has more than met its original brief, notably in the practically perfect picture galleries. The dual challenge of a huge increase in visitor numbers and the changing expectations and needs of those visitors over the last 30 years, means we do need to look again at the spaces we have, and in particular the ground floor entrances and amenities.” (more…)

A piece in the BBC looks at how museums are adapting to closure, and how its employees are feeling as museums remain shuttered. “I’ve absolutely loved it,” says James Maclaine, senior fish curator at the Natural History Museum. “Obviously I have missed my colleagues but the peace and quiet has been really nice.” (more…)

The NYT takes a tour of Angel Otero’s new studio in Malden-on-Hudson, N.Y., where the artist has taken over a converted church. “I embrace all this history,” he says. “I have always tried to mold my creativity and my lifestyle around moments like this.” (more…)

A Basquiat work is set to sell in Asia for at least $31 million, setting it up to become the most expensive Western work auctioned in Asia. “It is simply a masterpiece,” says Cristian Albu, Christie’s international director of postwar and contemporary art. (more…)

MOCA in Los Angeles is restructuring, with Klaus Biesenbach stepping into a role as Artistic Director, while the museum looks for an executive director.“This is a natural progression of MOCA’s growth and successes, and we are excited by what the strong partnership between Klaus and the executive director will allow us to accomplish,” says board chair Maria Stefarian. “Klaus has made incredible advances possible under his leadership, and this new structure allows us to invest even further in his exceptional artistic vision, his extraordinary fundraising results and his creative and dynamic development of new initiatives for the museum.” (more…)

Damien Hirst will take over Gagosian London’s Britannia Street Gallery for the next year, showcasing a range of new works. “We need to do things differently at an altered time. It’s a definite takeover,” says Gagosian director Millicent Wilner. (more…)

A Picasso stolen nine years ago from the National Gallery of Athens may still be in the country, Art News reports. (more…)

The Getty Trust has created a $38.5 million recovery fund for LA arts organizations to aid with expenses during the pandemic. “In our experience, this is the largest collaboration of L.A. and national philanthropic organizations to come together for Los Angeles, particularly to support small and midsize local arts organizations,” says Joan Weinstein, director of the Getty Foundation. (more…)