The Hong Kong Art Gallery Association has released a statement expressing its support for the region and for whatever decisions the Art Basel Hong Kong fair makes regarding its upcoming edition.  “Let us assure you that the fair representatives have been in constant consultation with many of our gallery members as well as regional art collectors regarding the status of the city as it navigates one of the most tumultuous periods in its history,” it reads. “They have been sensitive and considered in their understanding of Hong Kong and its unique positioning.”  (more…)

A daring smash and grab theft in Stockholm saw thieves make off with a set of sculptures by Salvador Dali. “They were worth 200,000 to 500,000 crowns (£16,000 to £40,000) each. So it’s quite a lot of money. It’s terrible,” the gallery owner, Peder Enstrom, said. (more…)

The Van Gogh Museum has made a major acquisition of a pastel work by Edgar Degas, the first of its kind to enter the Dutch national collection. “The Van Gogh Museum has long cherished the wish to add a top-ranking Degas nude to its collection, preferably one from the period in which Van Gogh discovered the French artist’s work,” reads a museum statement. “For that reason, Woman Bathing will remain on permanent display following its unveiling today.” (more…)

The Tate is stoking controversy in London this week after a job posting on its site for “head of coffee” was noted to have higher pay than its curators. “All Tate’s departments have a variety of roles with different responsibilities and salaries, including curatorial, and a more accurate comparison would be a curatorial team leader,” the museum responded. “We value all our staff and strive to pay them appropriately for their work at Tate.” (more…)

Cecilie Hollberg will return to her post as director of the Galleria dell’Accademia.  The move comes after Alberto Bonisoli, the right-wing Italian culture minister who tried to take control of the museum and merge it with the Uffizi was replaced by Dario Franceschini.  “[Bonisoli] did not explain to me the reason for wanting to remove autonomy from the Academy by merging it with the Uffizi,” Hollberg said in an interview last year. “And nobody in the ministry was able to give me an explanation on this counter-reform.” She claimed that her German nationality may have led to the change in her contract, and she added, “I am convinced that culture cannot be exploited by politics.” (more…)

W Magazine takes a tour of the home of soon-to-be Serpentine head Bettina Korek, as she prepares for the upcoming fair and shows off her art collection. “She brings worlds together, and has connected the art scene to music, film, architecture, and literature,” Hans Ulrich Obrist says of her work. “That’s very Serpentine.” (more…)

The Beijing Triennial has been postponed over fears of the coronavirus, Art News reports.  “To reduce mass gathering amid the outbreak of the coronavirus, CAFA Art Museum (CAFAM) will postpone the CAFAM Techne Triennial 2020 and has suspended its preparations for the exhibition,” says CAFA director Zhang Zikang. “We apologize for any inconvenience caused by this change, and hope that you understand the unexpected and complex situation we are facing.” (more…)

Following the outbreaks of corona, Hong Kong has shuttered its public art institutions indefinitely, a move that creates even more challenges for Art Basel’s upcoming fair in the city. “We are closely monitoring the developments and recommendations issued by the World Health Organization and national governments, as well as consulting directly with relevant experts. We will provide updates on the implications for our Hong Kong show as soon as possible,” a spokesperson for the fair said. (more…)

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A piece in Fast Company looks at Gagosian’s new online strategy with its “Viewing Room” project, and the high-profile sales the gallery has brought in through it. “We have proven that collectors are now willing to buy and sell art online in the $100,000 to $2 million range with meaningful frequency,” says Gagosian director Alison McDonald. (more…)

Seth Cameron, founder of the Bruce High Quality Foundation, will take on a new role as executive director of the Children’s Museum of Art. “Seth’s broad experience as an artist, educator, and administrator makes him the perfect choice to lead this institution,” says William S. Floyd. (more…)

Italian film producer Roberto Cicutto will take over as  president of the Biennale di Venezia.  He succeeds Paolo Baratta, who headed the famed exhibition for twelve years. (more…)

The Pérez Art Museum Miami has promoted curator René Morales to director of curatorial affairs and chief curator.  “Each member of PAMM’s staff plays a vital role in the museum’s success,”says director Franklin Sirmans. “As Miami’s flagship art museum, we are always diversifying our programming to meet our audiences’ needs and growing the collection at an astounding pace.” (more…)

The opening of the Munchmuseet in Oslo has been postponed until the autumn due to delays in its building process. “The building is such a massive project, it’s simply delayed. We are just working out the logistics,” says Tracey Emin, who is preparing a show of her own works alongside those of Edvard Munch to open the space. “The upside for me is, the longer the delay, the longer I have to enjoy the Munch archive!” (more…)

Christian Boltanski gets a profile in Forbes this week, as his show at the Centre Pompidou prepares to close.  “Maybe I’m happier now than I was some years ago,” he says as the conversation turns to mortality and the prospect of death in his own work. “Maybe when you ask yourself a lot of questions, something eventually happens that makes you better able to accept things.” (more…)

A carving of a horned devil bought by the J. Paul Getty Museum as a Paul Gauguin work has been disproven as a work by the artist.  The decision was made after an extended research process. “In December 2019 the museum changed the attribution of the sculpture Head with Horns to ‘unknown,’” a spokesperson said. “This decision was based on scholarly research over recent years by Getty professionals and other experts in the field, including significant new evidence that was not available at the time of its acquisition.” (more…)

After years of planning and adjustment, The Smithsonian will not open a location in London, settling instead for a two-year exhibition at the V&A East, the Victoria and Albert Museum’s satellite space. “It was intriguing, and it was worthy of attention,” says Steve Case, the new chairman of the board of regents. “It is not the highest of our priorities.” (more…)

Latifa Echakhch will represent Switzerland at the Venice Biennale next year, Art News reports. Echakhch’s work at the Swiss pavilion will be in collaboration with composer Alexandre Babel and curator Francesco Stocchi, featuring a new work incorporating rhythm and sound. (more…)

Steve McQueen gets a profile in The Guardian this week, as he prepares to open his first Tate Modern retrospective, and reflects on the arc of his career and work. “What I do as an artist is, I think, to do with my own life experience,” he says. “I came of age in a school which was a microcosm of the world around me. One day, you’re together as a group, the next, you are split up by people who think certain people are better than you. It was kind of interesting to observe that.” (more…)

Zineb Sedira will represent France at the 2021 Venice Biennale, the Art Newspaper reports. “Sedira’s multiple identities as a French-born Algerian living in England inform her serene, often haunting photographs and video installations, which consider questions of memory, displacement, and the transmission of history,” reads a statement on the Guggenheim website. (more…)

Experts are warning of a surging market in fake prints, as photo reproduction technology gets increasingly powerful.    “In the last few years we have confiscated hundreds of fakes that forgers and dealers said were by Lichtenstein, Georg Baselitz, Picasso, and others, that came from Italy, Spain, and Portugal,” says Elena Spahic, an officer with the Bavarian Police in Munich. (more…)

A group of galleries have written to Art Basel Hong Kong expressing concerns about the current political situation in Hong Kong, and pushing for concessions from the fair on booth fees and other costs.  “VIP registration numbers are consistent overall with previous years—and especially strong from the Asian region, where we have actually seen an increase in VIP registration from mainland China.” reads a reply from global director Marc Spiegler and Adeline Ooi, the fair’s Asia director. “We fully acknowledge that this year is not business as usual, and we are thus doing everything we can to support all the galleries coming to Hong Kong.” (more…)

A piece on Russia’s new culture minister, Olga Lyubimova in the BBC notes her past statements about a sense of disdain for the arts. “I’ve been to the British Museum, National Gallery and a few dozen more European and Russian museums and reckon I wasted my time there,” reads a blog post she wrote years ago. (more…)

Thomas Campbell gets a profile in Art Newspaper this week, as he sizes up his new position at Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, and looks forward to the coming years.  “We’re hitting the 125th anniversary of the de Young in April and the 100th anniversary of the Legion in 2024, so it’s a good time to examine where we’ve come from, who we are, and what our priorities are,” he says. “I’m prioritising being an institution of thought leadership, audience engagement and connoisseurship, for example.” (more…)