The Trump administration has announced plans to cut the National Endowment for the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Humanities, part of its plan to decrease government spending.  “The Trump Administration needs to reform and cut spending dramatically, and targeting waste like the National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities would be a good first step in showing that the Trump Administration is serious about radically reforming the federal budget,” says Brian Darling a former staffer at the Heritage Foundation. (more…)

The Guardian spotlights the opening of the Barberini Museum in Potsdam this week, billionaire Hasso Plattner’s pet project including landmark works by Edvard Munch, Claude Monet, and Auguste Renoir, among others.  “I always wanted to make a museum. Berlin is blessed with state and private museums, and now Potsdam can make its presence felt with the Barberini,” Plattner says. (more…)

Brooke Lampley, head of the Impressionist and Modern department at Christie’s, is leaving her position to join Sotheby’s, the Art Market Monitor reports.  She will serve as Vice Chairman for the Fine Art Department next year.  (more…)

Jorge Daniel Veneciano, who took the helm of The Museum of Arts and Design only five months ago, is stepping down to focus on political advocacy.  “Current political events compel me to turn my attention to pressing needs in the cultural sector,” he said.  “I remain a great admirer of the museum of arts and design, and I am confident that it will be in good hands going forward.” (more…)

In an effort to boost tourism in Turkey, the Contemporary Istanbul art fair is moving to coincide with the city’s art biennial this September, the Art Newspaper reports.  “The government is beginning to realise that art and culture are important,” says Ali Güreli, the chairman of Contemporary Istanbul. “We are not asking the government for funding, we are asking for the path to be cleared so it is more accessible to buy and sell art in Istanbul.” (more…)

The new proposals for London’s ongoing Fourth Plinth project have been unveiled, with works including a bizarre arrangement of scaffolding by Damian Ortega, and a massive scoop of ice cream by Heather Phillipson, topped by a hovering drone.  “We love the way the project turns everyone into an art critic,” says Justine Simons, London’s deputy mayor for culture. (more…)

Heidi Weber, one of the earliest supporters and advocates for the work of Le Corbusier, is set to sell a series of the architect’s premier paintings, and is taking the works on a tour of Asia in an effort to court buyers.  Weber currently holds exclusive rights to much of the architects work, and is exploring potential expansions and copies of some of his designs in China as well.   (more…)

A piece in the Art Market Monitor analyzes Richard Prince’s recent disavowal of his Ivanka Trump portrait, noting the legal disputes and problems the action raises.  “The repercussions to the market if artists had the right to impugn the authenticity of their works after the fact would turn the art economy topsy-turvy, destabilizing what many already judge to be a thinly traded, tenuous ecosystem to begin with,” according to Kenny Schacter.   (more…)

Hank Willis Thomas and Eric Gottesman’s “For Freedoms” Super PAC will get a residency at MoMA PS1, continuing its exploration of political agency with a “Laboratory for Freedom.”  “We spent last year in the lead-up to the election developing this vehicle we didn’t know we would need,” Gottesman says. “We need it now more than we thought we might. The question is, what do we do with it. (more…)

The NYT profiles LACMA Director Michael Govan’s planned $600 million renovation at the museum, and the efforts he has undertaken to bring the plan to fruition.  “It’s a big project for L.A., and there’s been a little lack of confidence that the money will be raised,” he said. “But I think just getting close to the halfway point, I’ve sensed a change in my trustees and supporters. There’s this strong sense with them that this is likely to happen.” (more…)

Sotheby’s has filed a lawsuit against collector Lionel de Saint Donat-Pourrières, after a painting attributed to Parmigianino and commissioned for sale with the auction house was revealed as a likely forgery.  The collector was asked to send the painting for additional testing before selling, but later tests revealed samples of a pigment not used for centuries after the work’s completion.  “Each and every one of those samples (none of which were taken from areas of restoration) contained the modern synthetic pigment phthalocyanine green, which was first used in paints nearly four centuries after Parmigianino died,” the auction house said in its filing. (more…)

Igor DaCosta, managing director of Portfolio Advisors, has been elected as the chair of the Andy Warhol Foundation.  The board also added Paul Ha, Ruby Lerner, and Anne Pasternak, which “gives the board the strength of proven leadership in the foundation’s most important constituencies: artists and the nonprofit art institutions that support them,” Foundation president Joel Wachs said. (more…)

Marianne Boesky Gallery will open a new location in Aspen, called Boesky West.  Originally the cabin of late 1800s photographer James “Horsethief” Kelly, the new space will serve as an extension of the gallery’s Chelsea home, and will host a combination of shows by gallery artists and special projects.  “I have long been inspired by Aspen’s extreme landscape, and the creativity that it has fueled among artists, musicians, writers, and so many other individuals of diverse background and interests,” Boesky says.  “I see Boesky West as a space to present the work of our artists in a completely different context and environment than New York, expanding the experience of their work and introducing it to new audiences.” (more…)

The Whitney has announced today that it will open on January 20th on a “pay-what-you-wish” basis, turning the space into a site for dialogues on the current state of America and American politics through a speak-out organized by arts collective Occupy Museums, and open discussions.   (more…)

Maria Balshaw’s appointment as Tate Director has been confirmed by the Prime Minister, putting her in a leadership position for the British art world.  “I am honored to be asked by the trustees of Tate to become the new director,” Balshaw said.  “Under Nicholas Serota’s leadership, Tate has changed forever how we all think about art and artists and has made visual art a central part of a vibrant cultural life in the UK. I am tremendously excited to be leading Tate in the next chapter of its life. I look forward to developing Tate’s reputation as the most artistically adventurous and culturally inclusive gallery in the world.” (more…)

Russian protest artist Pyotr Pavlensky has fled Russia following accusations of sexual assault that the artist deemed a “denunciation,” pointing to his recent works, including setting the doors of the FSB security service headquarters on fire, as cause for the accusations.  “A system of informing and reporting on others is re-emerging in Russia, showing that totalitarianism is setting in again,” he said. (more…)

Christie’s has announced its selections for its February Contemporary Evening Sale in London, leading its offering with Mark Rothko’s No.1 and Robert Rauschenberg’s Transom.  “We saw quite a strong growth of American and Asian bidding in the London sales in October last year, which was partly to do with the fall of the value of the pound after Brexit,” says Francis Outred, Christie’s chairman of Post-war and contemporary art Europe. (more…)

Indonesia is set to open The Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Nusantara, the first contemporary art institution in the country, in Jakarta this November.  The opening will be anticipated by a series of pop-up events called “First Sight.”  “MACAN First Sight will highlight the creativity of Indonesian artists and their international counterparts, and give our audiences an early taste of all that’s to come once the museum officially opens in November 2017,” says Director Aaron Seeto. (more…)

Edvard Munch’s Girls on the Bridge, which sold for for $54 million this past year at Sotheby’s, will be the central work at a new private museum in Potsdam, Germany.  Software billionaire Hasso Plattner, who is funding the museum, is also the rumored buyer of the work.  “No one has ever painted water, or captured moisture in the air, or the smell of the sea and gleams of light like the Impressionists,” Plattner says.  (more…)

In the wake of Theresa May’s proclamations on a hard Brexit this week, The Guardian examines the prospects for London’s art scene, which many felt would benefit from continued free movement of goods and people.  “The most unexpectedly potent factor in revitalizing Britain’s art market may, however, be the fall in the pound’s value since the Brexit vote, which means London’s galleries can offer bargains to international art collectors,” Jonathan Jones writes.

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A group of dealers are suing the Getty Museum for $77 Million over the transfer of ownership for a series of sculptures from the Torlonia family to the Italian government, which the dealers say were brokered using years of their research and labor.  “Plaintiffs cannot plausibly demand payment for a deal that never occurred,” the Getty said in a statement. “While we believe that the complaint should be dismissed, if necessary we will vigorously defend our position.” (more…)

The Centre Pompidou joins the list of Parisian institutions embarking on major facelifts, as it prepares for a two year renovation totaling over €100m.  “It will be a sort of construction game, but our aim is to stay open,” says Serge Lasvignes, president of the Pompidou Centre. “That is the objective.”
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The French financial prosecutor’s office has initiated an appeal in the tax evasion case against Guy Wildenstein.  “The case had shown a clear intention to evade paying tax” despite its dismissal, the appeal reads.
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David Hockney is profiled in The Guardian this week, as the artist approaches his 80th birthday, and looks back on the range of his work and conceptual project.  “Perspective takes away the body of the viewer. You have a fixed point, you have no movement; in short, you are not there really. That is the problem,” he says. (more…)