Artist Sam Gilliam gets a profile in the WSJ this week, and the recent acclaim the artist has earned late in his life. “No one has ever discovered me!” he says proudly. “I mean, I’m pretty advanced at what I do.” (more…)
The NYT has published a list of “15 New Creative Talents,” charting young artists, designers and creatives across a range of fields, including a spotlight on the performance artist Okwui Okpokwasili. (more…)
The Mead Art Museum at Amherst College in Massachusetts has received 170 works from an anonymous donor, including pieces by Cindy Sherman and Carroll Dunham, among many more. “We are so incredibly fortunate to be the recipients of a gift of contemporary art of this scale and scope. The addition of more than 170 works of contemporary art will have a tremendous impact on our collection, and supports us in our ongoing efforts to expand our holdings in ways that reflect the diversity of the Amherst College community,” says David E. Little, the museum’s director and chief curator. (more…)
Collector Marc Baradel has filed suit in New York Supreme Court, claiming his Brancusi sculpture Le Poisson, valued at $22.5 million was damaged due to negligence by Asher Edelman’s Artemus, and insurance companies HUB International and Lloyd’s of London. “Given the amounts of money involved, a jury could find that they were acting in their own interests,” says Stephen Weingrad, the arts lawyer representing Baradel. (more…)
A fourth Sotheby’s shareholder, Phillip Stevens, has sued in attempt to halt its sale to Patrick Drahi, Art Newspaper reports.“We believe that any claim that the preliminary proxy statement is inaccurate or misleading in any way is without merit, and we will vigorously defend against any assertions in these or in any similar actions that may be filed against Sotheby’s,” the auction house said previously regarding lawsuits over the deal. (more…)
Theaster Gates will curate a show of works from the collection of Beth Rudin DeWoody at his arts space, Stony Island Arts Bank, this fall. “For me, always, the frustration is I’d like more of the work to get out there,” Rudin DeWoody says of her collection. (more…)
Boris Johnson is planning to open 10 “freeports” in the UK, following through on his campaign promise to make the UK a center of the global art trade. “We are exploring freeports as an innovative way to drive growth and support thousands of high-skilled jobs across the UK,” says Rishi Sunak, Chief Secretary to the Treasury.
A piece in the Columbia Journalism Review charts the recent challenges faced by Artforum over sexual misconduct allegations towards former publisher Knight Landesman, and the path charted by new Editor in Chief David Velasco. “I didn’t have time to even think about logistical concerns,” he says. “My first instincts were, How do I reassure everyone that if they want to have a job here, they have a job here?” (more…)
The New Museum’s basement bathroom design has been nominated as one of “America’s Best Bathrooms,” as chosen by Cintas Corporation. “We’re proud to spotlight businesses that provide quirky, well-maintained restrooms that are as creative as they are clean. These finalists understand the importance of ensuring patrons leave the restroom with a positive, lasting impression,” says Sean Mulcahey, Marketing Manager, Cintas. (more…)
Activist, philanthropist, and Napa Valley vintner Suzanne Deal Booth has donated $1 million to The University of Chicago’s department of art history to support its art conservation program. “What truly sets UChicago’s approach apart from specialized conservation programs elsewhere is how it is embedded in a liberal arts education and graduate studies in art history and the humanities,” says professor and chair Christine Mehring. “There is so much untapped potential for students on our campus to investigate relations between the science and the meanings of artistic materials.” (more…)
Mary Anne Carter has been confirmed as chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. “I look forward to continuing to lead a talented and dedicated staff of professionals in our important work of ensuring that every American – in every community and in every neighborhood – has access to the arts,” she said. (more…)
A piece in Art News surveys various museums’ exhibition programs, and how they have improved or failed to change exhibition programs predominantly focusing only on white artists. The piece notes the Whitney and the Smithsonian among the most improved, and the Getty among the least. (more…)
A union has accused Arts Council England of failing to enforce union standard wages on the projects it funds. “What is the point of having a policy if it isn’t being enforced?” says Paul Fleming, head of the Equity Theatre Workers Union. (more…)
Artforum eulogizes the late dealer Katherine Mulherin, who passed away suddenly this month. “Katharine was a champion of the hoser, the scamp, the outsider,” writes artist Lex Vaughn. “She was working-class nobility, and it showed in some of her curations” (more…)
The Pérez Art Museum Miami has received a major gift of art from the American South, with 26 artists joining its archives for the first time. The collection of 46 pieces comes from Los Angeles–based collector Gordon W. Bailey.“These great artists . . . are still underrepresented in our nation’s museums, and have so much to offer in the understanding of the human impulse to create,” says PAMM director Franklin Sirmans. “Here in Miami this gift will further elucidate the work of our region and highlight one of our city’s greatest artists, in Purvis Young, who has been part of the collection since 2005.” (more…)
The Louvre, the most visited museum in the world, will require a reservation for all visits by the end of the year, an attempt to alleviate overcrowding at the museum. “Reservations smooth the entry for the public throughout the week,” says Vincent Pomarede, deputy general administrator of the Louvre. “Until now a reservation system has not been obligatory (but) we will put in place an obligatory reservations system, as many other museums have done, and, by the end of the year, all visitors will have to reserve.” (more…)
A 17-year-old boy is being held in custody for attempted murder after throwing a French child off the balcony of the Tate Modern. “Tate is working closely with the police,” the museum said in a statement. “All our thoughts are with the child and his family.” (more…)
Dealer Joseph Nahmad has plead guilty to two charges of assault after being arrested for assaulting his girlfriend Georgia Barry. “This is in the context of a considerable beating — banging her head against a wall,” prosecutor John Fairhead said. “Both parties drank to excess and she on two occasions says she was tipsy.” (more…)
Price gains over the last six years for works by women artists at auction have seen price gains of about 72.9 percent on average, compared with just 8.3 percent for works by men, a group at Sotheby’s reports. “The value of art is changing,” says Sotheby’s Michael Klein. “The value of female art is changing even more.” (more…)
Dealer Dennis Yares will take over Mary Boone’s former space in Midtown, Art News reports. Boone had occupied the space since 2000, and closed this past year as she prepared for her prison sentence for tax evasion. (more…)
Portugal has seized a trove of contemporary artworks, including pieces by Joan Miró and Piet Mondrian, from businessman José Berardo, who offered the works as collateral for a debt which totalled nearly €1bn (£920m). (more…)
British art dealer Timothy Sammons has been sentenced to 12 years in jail for defrauding his clients over sales of masterpieces by Pablo Picasso and Marc Chagall. “When brokering the sales of high-priced, one-of-a-kind paintings, Timothy Sammons had lying, scamming, and stealing down to a fine art,” said Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance after the sentencing at New York State supreme court. (more…)
London-based dealer, publisher and art world veteran Karsten Schubert has died, aged 57. The dealer was instrumental in the advancement of the YBA movement. “At the time of his death, Karsten Schubert continued to nurture a roster of important artists—Rose English, Tess Jaray, Ann-Marie James and Alison Wilding—at the company’s current space on Lexington Street, Soho,” a gallery statement says. (more…)