Art Basel is making preparations in case its future fairs are cancelled or affected by COVID-19, with adjustments to exhibitor fees and other concessions to improve the company’s flexibility.  “We resolutely believe that physical interactions will remain essential to experiencing, discovering, and selling art in the future, as well as to building the paramount personal relationships that underpin the art world,” reads a letter from the company. “Right now, though, the challenge that Art Basel faces is determining how we can help to sustain our galleries until our fairs recommence, alongside trying to imagine and define how the art fair of the future might differ from that of the past.” (more…)

Museums in Belgium and Italy are aiming to reopen this May, Art Newspaper reports. “Museums are like parks; spaces in which the individual experience can intertwine with the public space of being together. In the coming months, as a society, we face the challenge to find a new, positive balance between personal freedom and care for our relationship with others,” says Bart De Baere, head of Antwerp’s The Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst. (more…)

The Met has announced a string of layoffs this week as COVID-19 related losses now push past $150 million. “While we are not immune from the impact of this pandemic, the Met is a strong and enduring institution and will remain one,” says president and CEO Daniel Weiss. “Our two primary objectives continue to be doing all that we can to support the health and safety of our community and to protect the long-term financial health of the Museum.”

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Frieze New York has announced it will host online viewing rooms in lieu of its cancelled May event. “The Viewing Room will offer users the ability to virtually view artworks, such as paintings or photographs, to-scale and upon their own walls,” a statement reads. “Audiences will also be able to view video art and narrative content, and search for works by artist, price, medium, gallery and section, amongst other fields.” (more…)

A piece in the Boston Globe charts the impacts of COVID-19 on the Berkshires, where the arts have become a central economic driver, and which are now threatened by a shuttered cultural sector. (more…)

The Comité professionnel des galeries d’art, France’s trade organization for art galleries, notes that one third of all French galleries could be permanently shuttered due to the impacts of coronavirus. “I have not heard of one sale since mid-March,” says committee chair Marion Papillon, who chairs the committee. “Fairs will also have to adapt. There is no way they can apply the same conditions considering the decrease of activity which is predictable in the next years”. (more…)

Pace Gallery has furloughed 25 employees in New York over lost income due to COVID-19-related closures. “I’m kind of in limbo,” one worker says. “I’m receiving one more paycheck from Pace, and hopefully that will help me pay next month’s rent. Then we will see what happens next.” (more…)

The Guggenheim is facing a $10 million budget shortfall, resulting in announced furloughs and cuts to employee benefits. “The near- and long-term financial impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the Museum’s fiscal well-being is profound,” says director Richard Armstrong. “This decision did not come easily.” (more…)

Christie’s has been ordered to pay a fine of up to to $16.7 million for failing to collect sales tax on purchases.  The fine follows an extensive investigation of the company’s tax practices, particularly its private sales arm and overseas branches. (more…)

A new report from the Center for an Urban Future charts the impacts of coronavirus on small arts orgs, surveying a broad range of venues and galleries on the impacts that pandemic-related closures and cancellations are causing. “Small, community-based arts venues are the cultural lifeblood of New York City and cities around the world. But unlike larger institutions and museums, few smaller cultural groups have the benefit of endowments or large donor bases to help cushion the blow as they experience staggering declines in revenue,” says Eli Dvorkin, Editorial & Policy Director, Center for an Urban Future. “Without immediate financial support to offset these losses, there’s a real danger that many of these organizations will not make it to the other side of this crisis. And the loss to our collective cultural lives is incalculable.” (more…)

The Whitney Museum has laid off 76 employees in response to budget pressure over COVID-19 related closures.  “These are painful difficult times,” said President Adam Weinberg. “I want you to know I am grateful to all of you for everything you have done.” (more…)

The New York Botanical Garden has rescheduled its blockbuster show of works by Yayoi Kusama.  The show will now take place in 2021. (more…)

The Met will pay all employees through May, as coronavirus closures continue, the New York Times reports. “Our highest priority remains to support our staff as best we can in helping to keep everyone safe and as financially secure as possible,” says president and CEO Daniel Weiss. “We realize that this announcement of a four-week extension of full salary support does not provide enduring comfort, but at the moment it is the best we can do in a rapidly evolving situation.” (more…)

Hans Ulrich Obrist has called for a massive public arts program to help jumpstart the arts economy again after the impact of coronavirus, likening the idea to the Great Depression’s WPA.  “With the WPA, they went out into the community: artists got salaries and were able to research and create work during the New Deal era. It gave many people their first real jobs and commissions,” he says. (more…)

David Zwirner is welcoming a group of 12 small galleries to exhibit in his gallery’s digital viewing rooms, NYT reports. “We are grateful for any and all acts of solidarity in these incredibly difficulty times,” says Oliver Newton of 47 Canal, one of the galleries invited. (more…)

The UCLA Hammer Museum has laid off 150 part-time student employees, in what looks like the first major art world layoffs caused by coronavirus. “We hope that many of our part-time students will return to the Hammer later this summer,” a museum representative said. (more…)

Art Basel has postponed its June edition, rescheduling it for September. “Art Basel will continue to invest in and enhance its new digital platform – the Online Viewing Rooms – as a way to support galleries and strengthen the art community in these challenging times,” the organization said in a statement.  (more…)

Billionaire Jeffrey Gundlach claims that he has received “panic offers” for works by artists including Monet and Renoir this week at majorly discounted prices.  “This is a difficult time,” he says. “It makes sense for people who want liquidity” to turn to their art collections. (more…)

The unveiling of the next Fourth Plinth sculpture in London has been postponed over coronavirus fears. “We will support all the individuals and businesses involved in the commissioning, planning and operation of this installation during these challenging times,” says London’s Deputy Mayor for Culture and the Creative Industries, Justine Simons. (more…)

Students in the Yale MFA program are demanding a partial refund of their tuition over the class cancellations due to coronavirus. “We are deeply troubled by the far-reaching repercussions of this event, which has tangible and unfathomable implications for our physical and mental health, financial security, professional careers, housing, and immigration status,” the students wrote in an open letter. “Moreover, it has severely curtailed the viability of the unrivaled visual arts education that SoA claims to provide. In light of these circumstances, we believe that financial reimbursement must play a part in the university’s forthcoming actions.” (more…)

With renovations at Notre Dame halted over coronavirus, thieves have broken into the cathedral, Art News reports.  Two men were taken into custody after being spotted by guards. (more…)

Another string of closures has marked a bleak few days for the art world, as Frieze New York cancels its 2020 edition in the city, and François Pinault’s ambitious new museum inside Paris’s Bourse de Commerce postponed its opening until September.   (more…)

A piece in the NYT charts the galleries experimenting with digital sales rooms and online viewing platforms as Coronavirus continues to threaten social gatherings. “If galleries are closed, how can we sell art?” asks David Zwirner. “The online platform is something we have envisioned as an important part of what we do.” (more…)

Closures continue this week over the coronavirus, as the National Gallery in London and the Tate announced full shutdowns for the coming weeks.  “We will continue to monitor the situation closely and we look forward to welcoming visitors back to the galleries when we reopen” a statement by the Tate reads. (more…)