Sotheby’s Investor Mark McGuire, who holds 9.5% of the company, has reportedly demanded that the auction house issue a $500 million stock buyback, appoint a new CFO, and further, accuses them of willful neglect and misguided policies.  McGuire’s letter to the company comes after Sotheby’s placed its new capital plan on hold until a new CEO was found, and places him in opposition to new investor Dan Loeb. (more…)

Following the death of Cornelius Gurlitt, the works he had willed to the Kunstmuseum Bern in Switzerland have hung in limbo, the subject of a dispute filed by his cousin Uta Werner, which questions the authenticity and authority of his will.  “The Board of Trustees regrets this delay, in particular because it will impede the settlement of restitution cases that have already been clarified and endorsed by the Kunstmuseum Bern, but the circumstances are beyond its control,” the museum said in a statement. (more…)

Norway’s Edvard Munch Museum is set to return its annual Edvard Munch prize, following a partnership with partnership with oil and gas corp Statoil.  The award carries a $66,000 purse, and an exhibition at the museum.  “It is very important not to focus too much on Europe and the US when looking for candidates,” says director Stein Olav Henrichsen, who is focusing internationally for both his panel of judges and potential recipients. (more…)

The Armory Show has announced the artists for its Special Projects section at the 2015 edition of the New York Fair, which opens in two weeks.  Projects include a limited edition series of potato chip packets by commissioned artist Lawrence Abu Hamdan, unobtrusive fencing installations by Abbas Akhavan, and more.   (more…)

The 2015 edition of the Kurt Schwitters Award, which comes with a $28,000 prize an an exhibition in the Sprengel Museum Hannover, has been awarded to Pierre Huyghe.   (more…)

The Wall Street Journal evaluates the trend towards galleries moving into Manhattan’s flower district, as many dealers tire of the rapidly increasing rents and steady stream of towering condos.  “The spirit of the neighborhood is dramatically changing,” says Casey Kaplan. “A lot of the conversations I’ve had with artists have been about wanting to break out of the art mall and have a different experience.” (more…)

Photographer Donald Graham has sent a cease and desist letter to Richard Prince and Gagosian Gallery, after a work of his ended up in Prince’s recent show of Instagram appropriations.  Interestingly enough, the work itself was already used without license on user @rastajay92’s account, which is the image Prince apparently printed. (more…)

An article in Bloomberg this week looks at booms and busts in the art market as tastes change, and the real impacts speculation and economic strength has on artists’ careers.  “There’s even more speculative buying and more gamblers than ever,” says collector and dealer Adam Lindemann. “But they’re not going to want to buy the artists that busted. They’re going to want to buy the deals today. They want to move on.” (more…)

MoMA released a video trailer for the upcoming Björk retrospective and video installation next month, which will take the name Black Lake from one of the songs off the artist’s most recent album, Vulnicura.  The exhibition opens March 8th. (more…)

The Centre Pompidou has announced plans for a series of pop-up exhibitions taking place across the nation of France, with cities able to apply to host a four-year temporary exhibition space operated by the Paris museum.  “We will soon launch an open call for candidates,” says a museum spokesperson. (more…)

Following the success of its exhibition Matisse: The Cut-Outs, MoMA will return Henri Matisse’s full room installation The Swimming Pool to its permanent collection galleries, beginning in April.  “MoMA’s viewers will now be able to encounter this important work in the context of the museum’s collection,” says exhibition co-curator Karl Buchberg. (more…)

Artist Tom Sachs has announced the release of A Space Program, a narrative film made in conjunction with his 2012 Space Program: Mars project at the Park Avenue Armory.  The film will premiere next month at SXSW in Austin.   (more…)

Irina Lebedeva, the head of Moscow’s State Tretyakoff Gallery, has been dismissed by the government following criticisms over her leadership on expansion projects and a number of other various complaints.  “The construction of the second wing has dragged out, there are scandals around the museum, which has yet to create comfortable surroundings for visitors, schoolchildren, students, and facilitators,” says Mikhail Bryzgalov in a statement. (more…)

Smithsonian outpost The Freer Gallery of Art in New York will close next January for renovations, a major project that will add additional lighting and updated technological capabilities for the museum.  “Some of it will be very subtle, but we are trying to take it back to the way it opened in 1923,” says Katie Ziglar, director of external affairs. (more…)

The hearing over Danielle and Pierre Le Guennec’s alleged theft of Pablo Picasso works has concluded, with the prosecutor calling for a suspended five year sentence.  The final verdict and sentencing is set to occur next month.  “The Picasso that I know did not separate himself from his work,” says Anne Baldessari, the former director of the Musée Picasso in Paris, told Art Newspaper. “It would be like ripping off his skin.” (more…)

Creative Time has announced a new project set to open this coming may, Drifting in Daylight, which will install a series of works through the winding pathways of Central Park in New York.  “The six-weekend show will tempt visitors to transcend their busy lives, losing themselves along a playful trail of sensory experiences,” the project website says. (more…)

A Jeff Koons exhibition planned to open this year at the Louvre has been canceled after a reported “lack of funding,” according to Artforum.  The exhibition had been previously reported to consist of a number of the artist’s balloon animal sculptures. (more…)

Beverly Hills-based United Talent Agency has announced that it is launching a new wing focused on fine art, which will be headed by lawyer Josh Roth.  While the agency has no plans to broker sales, it will focus on many tasks traditionally handled by galleries, such as managing financial negotiations, overseeing commissions, and other tasks.  “We believe there is room for a serious, professional representation structure in the art world, one that helps artists gain greater control of their careers and opens the doors to new and better opportunities,” Roth said in a statement. (more…)

A recent report by Skate’s has indicated that investors are directing major attention towards Sotheby’s as Vanguard Group, Morgan Stanley and BlackRock have collectively acquired around 18% of the company in the past weeks bringing over $540 million in investment capital with them. (more…)

The Cour de Rohan that once was the home of the artist Balthus is currently on the market in Paris, the Wall Street Journal reports.  The four bedroom, four bathroom apartment with a secluded courtyard is being offered for about $9 million. (more…)

The Tate Modern is will launch a two day “dance marathon” this May, inviting a range of modern dance performers to exhibit and teach within the museum space.  “The whole feel of it over the 48 hours will be about this constant transformation,” says curator Catherine Wood. “It will be partly a presentation of focused works of choreography and then a spreading of more pop-up things, through the collection gallery and the public spaces.” (more…)

The Rudolf Staechelin Family Trust, which owned the record-setting Paul Gauguin painting that sold last week in Switzerland, has withdrawn its collection from the Kunstmuseum Basel, and is seeking a new partner institution.  “These works, which had been integral to our exhibitions, will be sorely missed at the Kunstmuseum, and we are painfully reminded that permanent loans are still loans; the people of Basel do not own them, and they may be taken away at any moment and for whatever reason,” the museum said in a statement. (more…)

The trial for Pierre Le Guennec, a former handyman for Pablo Picasso, and his wife has begun.  The pair recently revealed an enormous trove of works by the artist they claim they were given in the 1970’s, and which state prosecutors claim they stole.  If convicted of theft, they could face up to five years in prison and a €375,000 fine. (more…)

Kehinde Wiley is in New York Magazine this week, showcasing gowns from the spring fashion season worn by a number of female models the artist painted for his soon to open Brooklyn Museum exhibition.  “What we wanted to do was to play up the real world within the language of glamour,” Wiley says. “I wanted to have a reprise of that moment, to go back to this idea of fashion and art having something in common, the idea that fashion could change the perception of an individual.” (more…)