Archive for the 'Minipost' Category

Art Newspaper Looks at US Museums’ Restricted Acquisition Funds

Tuesday, December 29th, 2020

A piece in Art Newspaper documents US Museums continuing to add to their collections during the pandemic thanks to restricted acquisition funds. “It is imperative to reiterate that these acquisition funds cannot be used for other purposes,” says Thomas Campbell, the director of FAMSF. “We are doing everything in our power to retain as much of our full staffing as possible during these trying times, so I want to avoid any confusion on that front.”  (more…)

New York Times Catalogs Donor Outreach in Post-Covid Non-Profit Landscape

Tuesday, December 29th, 2020

A piece in the New York Times details non-profits continued attempts to cover funds lost due to Covid with donations. “It’s a long way to make up for the gap, and I think we should all be realistic about the fact that this is nowhere near a substitute,” said Henry Timms, the president of Lincoln Center. (more…)

Critic Barbara Rose Has Passed Away at Age 84

Tuesday, December 29th, 2020

Critic Barbara Rose has passed away at the age of 84, an important voice in the early years of minimalism and conceptual art. “I don’t invent art movements,” she once said. “I just notice coincidences, and those coincidences began to make sense to me as a worldview, which the Germans call weltanschauung.” (more…)

Ulay Opens Retrospective at Stedelijk

Tuesday, December 29th, 2020

The recently deceased Ulay gets a profile in the NYT this week, after the artist’s expansive career retrospective at the Stedelijk opened this year. “Till the last, we were working,” says his wife, Lena Pislak. “He was really enjoying the process.” (more…)

Met Reopens European Paintings Wing with Renovated Skylights

Tuesday, December 29th, 2020

The Met has reopened its European Paintings wing, after renovating and replacing the wing’s skylights.  (more…)

Anne Imhof and Patti Smith Take Over Picadilly Circus This New Year’s Eve

Tuesday, December 29th, 2020

Anne Imhof and Patti Smith will take part in a special New Year’s event in London’s Picadilly Circus. “The opportunity to take over Europe’s largest advertising display and open a portal to hope in the final moments of 2020 is humbling,” Imhof says. “Peace, freedom and respect for everyone in 2021.” (more…)

Dava Newman Named Head of MIT Media Lab

Wednesday, December 23rd, 2020

Dava Newman, MIT professor of aeronautics and astronautics and former deputy administrator of NASA under Obama, will take the helm at the MIT Media Lab, known for its fusions of art and architecture.  “In a field of outstanding candidates, Professor Newman stood out for her pioneering research, wide range of multidisciplinary engagements, and exemplary leadership. She is a designer, a thinker, a maker, an engineer, an educator, a mentor, a convener, a communicator, a futurist, a humanist and, importantly, an optimist,” says Dean Hashim Sarkis. (more…)

Art Newspaper Interviews Josh Smith

Wednesday, December 23rd, 2020

Josh Smith gives a direct interview with Art Newspaper this week, remarking on his views on art and culture. “Art should be sharp, timely and timeless,” he says. “It should provoke something within the viewer. If they do not like it, then that’s OK. At the very least it should make people think.” (more…)

Sotheby’s Sets New Record for Ansel Adams

Tuesday, December 22nd, 2020

Sotheby’s set a new price for the work of photographer Ansel Adams this week, after a work from the collection of Texas oil executive David Arrington netter $988,000.  (more…)

NYT Looks into the Fate of the Late Sheldon Solow’s Expansive Art Collection

Tuesday, December 22nd, 2020

A piece in the NYT this week asks what will happen to collection of the recently passed Sheldon Solow, which the paper estimates could infuse $500 million into the market.  “He was definitely of a generation who started when the art world was much smaller,’’ says David Norman, chairman of the Americas at Phillips. “They made their own choices and spoke with the great dealers of their era, but relied on themselves.” (more…)

Leonard Lauder: “You Only Regret What You Don’t Buy”

Tuesday, December 22nd, 2020

Art News has an excerpt from collector Leonard Lauder’s new book The Company I Keep: My Life in Beauty, and his takes on his collection.  “I’ve always had the soul of a collector,” he says. “Ask any collector how it all began, and you’ll hear stories about childhood fascinations ranging from bottle caps to beetles to baseball cards. I was no different. I started early and have been building collections ever since.” (more…)

The Guardian Recaps Ai Weiwei’s Latest Film on Hong Kong Protestors

Friday, December 18th, 2020

A piece in the Guardian this week documents Ai Weiwei’s newest film, Cockroach, which documents last year’s fierce protests in Hong Kong, and how the city has changed. “They are heroes because they were fighting for democracy and civil society with no real hope that they would achieve their aims. They are clear, well educated and above all sincere,” he says. “They were fighting not for jobs or money but things that seem to be abstract. It is about human dignity. I really think I am one of them.” (more…)

French Restitution Bill Passes Unanimously in National Assembly

Friday, December 18th, 2020

France’s National Assembly has passed a unanimous vote to return 27 colonial-era artifacts to Benin and Senegal, Art Newspaper reports. “France supports the initiatives of these two countries in favor of heritage, well beyond just restitution,” says French culture minister Roselyne Bachelot. “This text is a true act of friendship. It will allow the Beninese and Senegalese peoples to reconnect more directly with their past and access the constituent elements of their history, as our own collections allow us to do.” (more…)

Bloomberg Asks if Covid-19 Has Changed the Art Market for the Better

Friday, December 18th, 2020

A piece in Bloomberg this week asks if 2020 has actually changed the art market for the better. The piece notes that the pandemic “has accelerated changes in every industry, and maybe the art market more than any other,” according to Christie’s CEO Guillaume Cerutti. “The speed and magnitude of changes we’ve seen—no one could have predicted it.” (more…)

Case Over Rudolf Stingel Canvas Dismissed by NY Court

Friday, December 18th, 2020

A New York Court has dismissed a court case over a Rudolf Stingel that never went to auction at Phillips due to cancelled sales during Covid-19. “It cannot be seriously disputed that the COVID-19 pandemic is a natural disaster,” the ruling reads, pointing to the auction house’s force majeure clause. “One need look no further than the common meaning of the words natural disaster.” (more…)

Christo and Jeanne-Claude Works to Go on Sale Next Year at Sotheby’s

Thursday, December 17th, 2020

The private art collection of artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude will go on sale next year at Sotheby’s, the WSJ reports. “It’s the intimate universe the artists lived in, not their public persona,” says Sotheby’s expert Simon Shaw. “Every wall of their studio refracts elements we see in their practice.” (more…)

Dispute Over Nazi-Looted Work Heads to Mediation in France

Thursday, December 17th, 2020

The dispute over a Nazi-looted work by Camille Pissarro will head to mediation, following a court order this week in Paris.  The representative for the plaintiff in the case, Ron Soffer called the move “an important step in what has always been a matter that should be decided in France, since it concerns an event that occurred during the occupation of France by the Nazis.”  (more…)

Robert Lynch, Head of Americans for the Arts, to Take Paid Leave

Thursday, December 17th, 2020

Robert Lynch, the head of arts advocacy organization Americans for the Arts (AFTA) will take a leave of absence after allegations of a hostile work environment.  “Immediately after the George Floyd murder, AFTA’s leadership expressed their commitment to Black and Brown lives in an Instagram post,” says Quanice Floyd, a member of the organization’s Arts Education Advisory Council. “However, since then, members of AFTA have demanded transparency and accountability on multiple occasions only to be given the runaround from senior leadership.” (more…)

Dutch Court Rules for Stedelijk Museum in Kandinsky Repatriation Case

Thursday, December 17th, 2020

A Dutch court has ruled that the Stedelijk Museum can keep a Wassily Kandinsky painting that it acquired during World War II from a Jewish collection. “We are well aware that this is disappointing for the claimants,” says Touria Meliani, Amsterdam’s alderwoman for culture. “This painting will forever be linked to a painful history. The relationship of our collection with the Second World War will always be important; we will continue to show information about this to the public, online and also in the gallery.” (more…)

Organizers Say Art Dubai 2021 is On

Thursday, December 17th, 2020

Organizers for the 2021 edition of Art Dubai are saying that the fair will open as planned. “While the past year has shown the market’s capacity to adapt and innovate,” says fair artistic director Pablo del Val, “we continue to believe in the importance of bringing communities together at physical events”. (more…)

Courtauld Institute Gets £10 Million Gift for Renovations

Thursday, December 17th, 2020

London’s Courtauld Institute has received a £10 million gift from collector Leonard Blavatnik, meant to fund a renovation of its galleries. “The opening of the Courtauld Gallery will be a cultural highlight of 2021, bringing our unique collection back to public display,” Lord Browne of Madingley, the Courtauld’s chairman, said in a statement. “It is the first step in a contemporary transformation of The Courtauld, at a time when we are more aware than ever of the contribution of the arts to our wellbeing and the economy.” (more…)

Victor Burgin’s Book ‘Between’ Revisited in Guardian Photogallery

Wednesday, December 16th, 2020

A piece in The Guardian this week reviews the work of Victor Burgin, posing the artist’s work as increasingly vital in the current era, and reflecting on the publication of his 1986 book Between. “A job the artist does, which no one else does, is to dismantle existing communication codes and to recombine some of their elements into structures, which can be used to generate new pictures of the world,” the artist said of his work. (more…)

The Guardian Reviews Maggi Hambling’s Homage to Mary Wollstonecraft, and the Controversy Over Her Depiction

Wednesday, December 16th, 2020

A piece in the Guardian this week speaks with sculpture Maggi Hambling over her nude sculpture of feminist icon Mary Wollstonecraft, and her vision for the work, defying those criticizing her nude depiction.  “The figure had to be nude because clothes define people,” she says. “Put someone in country tweeds and they become horsey. Put someone in period dress and they become part of history. I didn’t want to do that to her.” (more…)

Yves Tanguy Work Rescued from Düsseldorf Airport Dumpster

Wednesday, December 16th, 2020

A $340,000 Yves Tanguy work was rescued from an airport dumpster in Dusseldorf this week, after a German businessman accidentally left it behind while flying to Tel Aviv. After several calls, the work was located by the local sanitation company. (more…)