The White House has acquired Isamu Noguchi’s Floor Frame (1962), the first work by an Asian-American in the White House’s holdings. “Noguchi’s inclusion in the White House Collection is a worthy testament to his incredible life’s work and is a milestone in our efforts to ensure that Americans from all cultural backgrounds are represented,” Stewart McLaurin, president of the White House Historical Association. (more…)

Alex Prager has a new, large-scale installation on view at LACMA this month, re-creating the landscape and iconographies of the annual office Christmas party. “This is a very difficult time and there hasn’t been much humor in the world in the last nine months; it’s been a lot of hatred and a lot of polarization,” Prager says. “Humor is a way to shine light on something that’s not necessarily an easy thing to experience — we can’t have these parties right now, we can’t have any parties — and this allows us to laugh at ourselves.” (more…)

Dealing with a second coronavirus lockdown, artists in London are showing works in the front windows of their apartments, turning the sidewalks of the city into a roving gallery. “It’s a great idea and affords people a different experience during their daily walks,” says artist Maureen Harrison. “It does mean that those who would be reluctant to set foot in a gallery can still view contemporary art, and others can get their fix.” (more…)

The estate of François Morellet is now represented by Hauser & Wirth, Art News reports. “We do want to focus on raising greater awareness of his work and appreciation for it in the U.S.—among American institutions, with curators, scholars, collectors, the public–but our approach is always global,” says gallery partner Marc Payot. “I am convinced Morellet’s work will be very well received in Asia as well.” (more…)

A group of legal and PR Consultants have launched a new firm directed specifically at mitigating the risk of institutional deaccessioning.  “Most museums have very capable communications and legal counsel,” says firm member, Lauren Gioia, formerly the head of Sotheby’s communications and PR, “but deaccessions and sales require specific expertise and experience that we can provide.  Our role would be to partner with the existing teams to ensure institutions achieve a successful outcome based on their goals.” (more…)

London’s National Gallery will charge £8 for an online curator’s tour of its blockbuster exhibition on Old Master Artemisia Gentileschi, a new attempt at mitigating the effects of Covid-19 closures on the museum.  “Although this film cannot replace the experience of seeing the exhibition in person at the National Gallery, it will allow us to share Artemisia’s story and paintings with as many people as possible, in particular those who cannot make it to Trafalgar Square right now,” says curator Letizia Treves. (more…)

Italian researchers are claiming they have uncovered a previously unknown work by Leonardo da Vinci, which sat unseen in a private collection for centuries. “It is a remarkably beautiful and refined work and I’m absolutely convinced it is a sketch by Leonardo,” says historian Annalisa Di Maria.  (more…)

Artist Derek Fordjour gets a profile in the NYT this week, as he opens a show around a recent exploration into puppetry and performance. “I love learning other ways to have a conversation,” hey says. “Painting has its utility, but performance is another register.” (more…)

Pace Gallery will open a new space in London, taking over the former location of Blain Southern. “This is a time for investment and faith in London,” says Marc Glimcher. “Its role as a cultural hub remains undisputed given the number of world class institutions on its turf, and even staring into the face of Brexit I am convinced that London will remain an economic capital of Europe and a crucial centre for the art market.” (more…)

Sotheby’s will add a final sale to its 2020 calendar this December 8th, bringing forward Pablo Picasso’s 1962 painting Buste de Femme Assise, which is offered for $8 million–$12 million. “We are continuing to rethink not only the traditional auction calendar, but also the ways in which our sales are organized and categorized,” says Amy Cappellazzo, chairman of Sotheby’s Fine Art Division. “Collectors continue to be less concerned with the traditional art market categories of the past.” (more…)

A piece in the NYT this week profiles the departure of Joseph C. Thompson from Mass MOCA, the museum he founded and built into its current role as a bastion of contemporary arts in Western Massachusetts. “No doubt I have a terminal case of founderitis,” he says, “and by rights probably should have left years ago.” (more…)

Researcher Clare McAndrew’s latest NYC Art Market Report paints a disturbing picture for online art fairs and viewing rooms, noting that even after a year of heavy focus on these ventures, 26% of collectors have still not made a purchase online. “Many collectors have only been able to view and transact online, which for most is not their preferred or most frequently used method of engagement with the art market under normal circumstances,” the report reads. (more…)

Bloomberg has a piece this week detailing banks’ increasingly large role in supporting the arts. “From the 1950s onward, bankers needed to create a new and positive image for themselves, and I think bankers like [Chase Manhattan’s] David Rockefeller were really aware of the fact that they could use art to that end,” says Arnold Witte, an associate professor in cultural policy at the University of Amsterdam. (more…)

The NY art non-profit Anonymous Was a Woman has announced its 2020 grant winners winners, who will receive $25,000 each.“The fact that through this award women artists are being recognized for the work, that’s huge, even today,” says recipient Linda Goode Bryant. (more…)

A third of U.S. museums remain shuttered due to COVID-19, a new study finds. “The financial state of U.S. museums is moving from bad to worse,” says Laura Lott, the president and CEO of the American Alliance of Museums. “Those that did safely serve their communities this summer do not have enough revenue to offset higher costs, especially during a potential winter lockdown.” (more…)

As a second Covid-19 wave surges around the globe, Art Basel in Hong Kong and Frieze Los Angeles have both moved the dates for their upcoming fairs, with ABHK set to take place in May, and Frieze set to kick off in July.  (more…)

A piece in The Guardian this week remembers curator and museum head Okwui Enwezor, featuring a range of stories and profiles celebrating his life and work. “I have never met in all my life such a brilliant man. He had a goal and a purpose and he never swayed from the path,” says artist and filmmaker Steve McQueen. (more…)

A piece in The Guardian this week recaps the recent family dispute over Botticelli’s Madonna and Child (1485), as Tanya Dick-Stock, daughter of Canadian businessman John Dick alleges her father used an offshore company to purchase the painting under her name.  “No we don’t know what happened to it or who owns the painting,” says the spokesperson for Dick-Stock. “But we intend to commit resource and energy to finding out.” (more…)

The Bronx Museum of the Arts has tapped Klaudio Rodriguez as its new executive director.  Rodriguez had been working as the museum’s interim director for several months. “Klaudio’s leadership really brought out the best of the entire staff,” said Joseph Mizzi, chairman of the museum board. (more…)

As MoMA prepares to open another full rehang of its collection, the NYT takes a look at the museum’s “Fall Reveal,” documenting each floor and cataloging the various focal points and concepts explored across the galleries. (more…)

A piece in the Art Newspaper details criticism of UNESCO for allegedly exaggerating a $10bn figure as the scale of the illegal art trade worldwide.“The landscape has changed enormously, says Clinton Howell, president of the international association of dealers’ unions CINOA. “Ethical practice is not an abstract concept but an essential business tool.”  (more…)

The Hammer Museum’s latest iteration of the Made in LA Biennial is open, but its run is in question over the surging cases of coronavirus, the LA Times reports. “When can we reopen is not a question I can answer, except to say we hope it’s soon,” says museum rep Scott Tennent. “We’re following the lead of the state and the county. We really want to share this exhibition with everyone — it’s ready — but until we’re actually told we can reopen, we’re in stasis.” (more…)

John Waters has donated his collection of 372 contemporary art works to the Baltimore Museum of Art. “I’ve always said you have to know good taste to have good bad taste,” Waters says. (more…)

Sun & Sea (Marina), the Venice Biennale performance that earned the Lithuanian Pavilion its Golden Lion last year, will go on view next year at E-Werk Luckenwalde outside of Berlin. “The Luckenwalde presentation will be essentially the same work as Venice, except for the qualities that the venue brings to the piece when experiencing it—an empty swimming pool comes with a whole different kind of underlying catastrophe, at least for me,” says curator Lucia Pietroiusti. (more…)