The New York Times has a profile on Joshua Roth this week, the head of United Talent Agency’s new fine arts division.  “I’m interested in artists who are re-envisioning the way to make art and re-envisioning how people experience it,” he says. “And I think our agency can be really helpful in that way. We want to help find opportunities for artists outside of the gallery.” (more…)

Activists occupied the lobby of the British Museum this weekend, in protest against the museum’s acceptance of funds from BP, once again drawing attention to the oil company’s contributions to the country’s largest arts institutions.  “They get to purchase a social licence to operate, which is incredibly important for a company like BP,” says activist Danny Chivers of BP or not BP. (more…)

Sotheby’s most recent S.E.C. filings indicate that the auction house has guaranteed nearly the full $500 million estimated from its sale of works from the Alfred Taubman estate.  “In the event that the property sells for less than the guaranteed price, Sotheby’s must perform under the auction guarantee by funding the difference between the sale price at auction and the amount of the auction guarantee,” the filing says. (more…)

Art Basel Miami Beach has announced its list of galleries for the 2015 edition of the fair, featuring 267 international galleries drawn from 32 countries around the globe, and a number of projects, opening exhibitions and public installs during the week. (more…)

Christie’s has appointed Sonya Roth as the auction house’s new Southern California head. “Many in the community know Sonya already as a great convener of individuals who are passionate about great art and collecting,” says Brook Hazelton, Christie’s president for the Americas. “She brings a wealth of experience and creative leadership to a vibrant region that is ripe with exciting and engaging opportunities.”  (more…)

Hauser and Wirth has set its opening date for its Los Angeles gallery for March 13th of next year, opening in partnership with Paul Schimmel.  The gallery will be set on 3rd Street Downtown. (more…)

A Versailles politician is taking Anish Kapoor to court over the artist’s decision to leave anti-semitic graffiti on his sculpture at the Versailles Palace.  Versailles municipal councillor Fabien Bouglé filed a complaint to the local public prosecutor, claiming that the graffiti’s content was “perfectly clear”  “I think it’s a wonderful reversal; I’ll see him in court,” Kapoor says. “It shows how insane the whole thing is.” (more…)

An independent art dealer in Victoria, British Colombia, thinks he has purchased an unsigned Henry Moore original for $20,000, and is pushing for authentication that could value the work at up to $150,000.  “It was a first casting. Moore wanted to change something to it. He wasn’t happy with the feet,” says Alison Ross, the owner of Kilshaw’s, where the work sold. “That’s why it was not signed. It was never for sale.”  (more…)

Michelle Maccarone is the subject of a profile in Bloomberg this week, noting her reputation for support of challenging and forward-thinking young artists.  “When times were chaotic financially, it was still worth it,” says the artist Nate Lowman, who’s been represented by Maccarone since 2003. “It’s the richest experience I’ve ever had. She loves art, not because it’s expensive, but because it’s interesting. She’s an intellectual, always present and always thinking.” (more…)

Vandals have once again defaced Anish Kapoor’s Dirty Corner sculpture at Versailles, this time covering it in anti-semitic graffiti.  The artist has expressed some desire to leave the graffiti, emphasizing the state of religious and cultural intolerance in France, and “to turn what I hoped always was an act of affirmation as a work of art into something else, into a kind of lament to a state of intolerance,” he said.  (more…)

Frank Stella is the subject of a New York Times profile this week, as the artist prepares to open his career retrospective at The Whitney later this fall, and notes his increasing focus on sculpture as he ages.  “It’s all about your body balance. I would fall over now trying to paint.” (more…)

Hans Ulrich Obrist has been awarded with the 2015 International Folkwang Prize awarded by the Folkwang Museum in Essen, Germany.  Obrist had previously organized his lauded 12 Rooms project at the museum in 2012. (more…)

Over $500 million in art from the Alfred Taubman estate will go on sale at Sotheby’s this fall, Bloomberg reports, including a special “Masterworks” sale that will include classic pieces by Picasso and de Kooning.  “He was a self-made man and his collection was put together with his own eye,” says Simon Shaw, co-head of Sotheby’s Impressionist and Modern Department. “While he is a very well-known figure, he is not known as a collector. It will be a surprise for people.” (more…)

John Baldessari and Meredith Monk will receive National Medals of Arts at the White House this week, celebrating their contributions to contemporary practice.  The awards ceremony will take place September 10th. (more…)

Olafur Eliasson has successfully crowdsourced a new installment of his Little Sun project, an affordable, solar-powered mobile phone charger that will be available in several African nations.  “Every time we were in sub-Saharan Africa people would say the Little Sun is amazing but a mobile phone charger would be much better,” Eliasson said. (more…)

The BBC notes that only 3% of the UK’s £3.5 billion collection of work remains on public view.  “Public bodies and local authorities should make an effort to display more of their art for people to enjoy, and they also need to take a good, hard look at their art portfolio and think about what does and does not need to be retained,” says Jonathan Isaby, chief executive of the Taxpayers Alliance. (more…)

Ai Weiwei gave his first public talk in Berlin last night since 2011, appearing at the Berlin Philharmonic to discuss his work, and his takes on the state of politics in China.  “When you live in a centralized regime, people feel powerless,” he said. “They feel they don’t have the possibility to change things; that is the intention of the regime.” (more…)

Phillips and Ebay have announced a new partnership to improve the auction house’s live online auctions.  The partnership begins with a sale online September 17th.  “We’re excited to partner with such a well-respected international auction house specializing in contemporary art, underscoring our commitment in the art and collectibles space,” says Linda Campbell, divisional merchandise manager for Art & Collectibles at eBay. “Founded over 200 years ago, Phillips is a dynamic auction house that sells some of the world’s most important contemporary works of art, which we’re thrilled to make more accessible to our global eBay community and Phillips clients alike.”  (more…)

Both Sotheby’s and Phillips have announced major steps this to strengthen their respective business plans, with Phillips appointing a new worldwide head of 20th century art, Hugues Joffre, and Sotheby’s announcing its previously reported first office in India.   (more…)

Researchers in Germany have developed an algorithm capable of recreating the style of famous artists, including Van Gogh and Picasso, in under an hour.  “The key finding … is that the representations of content [the foundation image] and style [of specific artworks] in the convolutional neural network are separable,” says lead author Leon Gatys.  “That is, we can manipulate both representations independently to produce new, perceptually meaningful images.” (more…)

Christie’s has announced an ambitious follow-up to its successes earlier this year with another full week of auction sales this November in New York.  At the top of the sales will be an Amedeo Modigliani painting estimated at around $100 million, a price that would easily top the artist’s $70 million record.  “This is quite simply one of the most important paintings I have handled in my long career at Christie’s,” states Jussi Pylkkänen, Christie’s Global President and Chief Auctioneer. “There are a very small number of masterpieces that we dream of handling: this magnificent Modigliani has always been one of them.” (more…)

Camille Henrot has unveiled a series of drawings inspired by Nicki Minaj, taking scenes and ideas from the artist’s “Anaconda” video and interpreting them into her signature style.  “Nicki Minaj is a feminist icon,” she says.   (more…)

As part of the Florence antiques biennial, Jeff Koons will install his sculpture Pluto and Prosperina in Piazza della Signoria, placing his work face to face with a replica of Michelangelo’s David.  The installation will parallel a similar exhibition at the Galleria dell’Accademia pairing classic sculpture with modern artists. (more…)

With the commencement of the school year, USC’s controversial recent decisions for its MFA Program has resulted in only one student returning for class this fall.  The absent students have garnered the support of the school faculty, which has criticized the USC administration for “shifting resources and focus away from the execution of our core educational mission and towards bloated administrative salaries, lavish infrastructure projects, and a business model of education.” (more…)