The Dutch Pavilion at the Venice Biennale will be handed over to Estonia this year, part of a project to welcome new nations into the Giardini. “The one-time transfer of the pavilion shows our appreciation for Estonia in the field of the visual arts, while at the same time giving the Netherlands the opportunity to step out of our comfort zone and see what freedom it gives us when we step outside the walls of the pavilion,” says Eelco van der Lingen, Director of the Mondriaan Fund, which helped oversee the project. (more…)

Artists Julie Mehretu and Kehinde Wiley will create new credit card designs for American Express’s U.S. Platinum Card, part of a project by American Express that also includes a $1 million gift to the Studio Museun.“We are so thrilled and honored that American Express will support the Studio Museum so we can offer deeply meaningful experiences to audiences in Harlem and beyond,” Thelma Golden, the Studio Museum’s director and chief curator. (more…)

Lehmann Maupin is expanding in Seoul, moving to a larger gallery in the Hannam-dong area of the city. “We have seen a growth in young collectors who’ve been behind their screens for the past 14 months, and they are now contributing to a real buzz in the art scene,” says Rachel Lehmann. “The biggest supporters of Korean artists are the Koreans,” she adds. (more…)

A Frida Kahlo work has sold for $34.9 million this week at Sotheby’s, making it it the most expensive Latin American work sold at auction. “Painted in the same year her beloved Diego embarked on an affair with her friend, the Mexican golden age actress Maria Félix, this powerful portrait is the painted articulation of her anguish and sorrow,” says Anna Di Stasi, the director of Latin American Art at the auction house. (more…)

The art collection of the Macklowe family, sold as part of a fierce divorce battle, achieved a $676.1 million result last night at Sotheby’s, with every lot selling through. “It’s a strong market,” says collector Eugenio López Alonso. “Top quality always sells.” (more…)

Dealer Inigo Philbrick will reportedly plead guilty to the alleged frauds he is accused of this week in New York, the Daily Beast reports.“Inigo Philbrick was a serial swindler who misled art collectors, investors, and lenders out of more than $20 million,” reads a statement by U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman. “When his schemes began to unravel, Philbrick allegedly fled the country.” (more…)

Sylvère Lotringer, the influential scholar and founder of the book series Semiotext(e), has passed away at the age of 83. “He could meet people on their level and communicate this wealth of ideas to them,” says writer Chris Kraus. “So many people talk about how meeting Sylvère and hearing him made them change their lives. For him, all of this learning and all of this philosophy was a tool for living a more purposeful and meaningful life.” (more…)

Artist Agnieszka Kurant gives the NYT an interview this week, holding court on her work and philosophy. “She has ambitions to make major contributions to the way we understand ourselves, and to how we categorize and organize knowledge,” says curator Maya Ceruti. (more…)

The LA Times has a piece this week reflecting on the art and impact of photographer Gordon Parks, with a group of photographers and artists discussing his influence. “He had the ability to slipstream between high and low culture, rich and poor, to weave in and out of spaces and gain subjects’ trust,” says John Maggio. “But he almost never broke the fourth wall, he almost never became part of the story.” (more…)

Curator Christopher Y. Lew is leaving The Whitney Museum, Art News reports. “It has been an absolute honor to work with such a talented museum staff and so many visionary artists during the first years of the Whitney’s new building,” he said in an email announcing his departure. (more…)

The M+ Museum has finally opened in Hong Kong’s Kowloon neighborhood. “Nobody outside can come to the opening but it is an opportunity as well,” says director Suhanya Raffel. “This is an institution for this city. We can really engage with the city now, because we are all here and not traveling. After all this time, after all this waiting, it is very nice to make the museum opening about Hong Kong.” (more…)

The Salvator Mundi that sold at Christie’s has been downgraded by curators at The Prado to “attributed works, workshop or authorized and supervised by Leonardo.” “It is to be hoped that a future permanent display of the work will allow it to be reanalyzed with greater objectivity,” says curator Vincent Delieuvin. (more…)

Two men, including the executive director of Mana Contemporary, have been indicted in connection with a tax evasion scheme at Moishe’s Moving. The indictment states that director Eugene Lemay, as well as bookkeeper Joel Lingat, and “other co-conspirators perpetrated a scheme to defraud the U.S. government of payroll and income taxes due and owing to the IRS.” (more…)

Sean Kelly Gallery is opening a permanent Los Angeles space, helmed by the dealer’s son, Thomas. “It’s not just a lateral shift, it’s also a generational shift,” Kelly says. (more…)

Dealer Kavi Gupta gives Architectural Digest a tour of his Chicago home, and his impressive art collection this month. “The design is very much in service to the art,” says his wife, Jessica Moss. (more…)

According to initial estimates, six million people visited Christo and Jean-Claude’s Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped during its run this fall. “It was a crazy dream and you have accomplished it, Vladimir [Javacheff, the late artists’ nephew]. We give you infinite thanks,” said President Emmanuel Macron. (more…)

With the announcement that the United States will reopen to international visitors, the NYT looks at the needs of cultural institutions, and the hope that the return of international visitors will help bolster budget shortfalls at a number of venues, galleries and museums. “We’re waiting with arms open,” says Victoria Bailey, the executive director of the Theater Development Fund. (more…)

Arts non-profit Anonymous Was a Woman has announced its largest series of awards recipients this year, providing funding to 14 women in a variety of creative fields. “It is an unexpected honor to finally receive recognition for my work as a painter and sculptor,” says recipient Suzanne Jackson. “I have known about the Anonymous Was A Woman award for years, though I never thought that I would be a recipient. I plan to use the award funds to continue my work exploring new aspects of integrating drawing, painting, and sculptured forms as related to various American relationships to our natural and urban environments.” (more…)

The Vatican will open a new contemporary art space in the papal library. “Our challenge is to strengthen the cultural role of the Vatican in the contemporary world,” says Vatican’s librarian Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça. (more…)

The Vancouver Art Gallery has received a $100 million gift from the Audain Foundation in support of a new building in downtown Vancouver. “The new Vancouver Art Gallery — from its conception and design — will reflect a Coast Salish worldview,” says Vancouver Art Gallery Elder-in-residence and art and design consultant Skwetsimeltxw Willard ‘Buddy’ Joseph.

(more…)

A piece in the Art Newspaper notes that in the growing field of NFT art, women make up only 16% of the market.  (more…)

The Boijmans Museum in Rotterdam will soon open The Depot, a large-scale archive and storage site for the museum that will put its full collection on view to the public. “You’ll go through the collection like you would visit a library looking for a book and finding three others,” said Sjarel Ex, the museum’s joint director. “We also decided to take private collectors, to give private collectors opportunities to work with us in the same building. So you see when you go around and you see the floors, you will meet with several collections that enjoy a collaboration with the museum.” (more…)

Alicia Keys and her husband, producer Swizz Beatz, give a tour of their La Jolla, California mansion, and their extensive art collection to Architectural Digest. “The interiors don’t in any way shout; they’re simple and timeless,” says interior designer Kelly Behun. “It was never going to be about trying to upstage the natural surroundings, the architecture, or the art.” (more…)

An official at the State Hermitage in St. Petersburg broke the nose of a visitor this weekend after the guest tried to enter the museum through an exit. “The employee who committed the offense fully admits his guilt and is sorry for his excessively emotional actions,” a statement reads. “He explains it by the general state of nervousness connected to the pandemic and its influence on life, including the museum’s new regime of work.” (more…)