The New York chapter of AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) staged a protest at The Whitney this week, accusing the museum’s show on David Wojnarowicz of overly historicizing the AIDS Crisis rather than addressing it as an ongoing issue.  “The more this vital subject can be brought front and center, the better,” the museum said in a statement. “We completely agree that the AIDS crisis is not history.” (more…)

Marta Gili will resign from her position as director of Jeu de Paume in Paris, the institution announced. Gili will leave the museum to take on a “a large number of contemporary art projects” in Barcelona.  (more…)

Italian Police believe they have recovered works by Pierre-August Renoir and Peter Paul Rubens stolen in 2017 from an office in Northern Italy. “We now have to confirm that the attributions are correct,” said Major Francesco Provenza, commander of the Monza’s police unit for the protection of cultural heritage. (more…)

A committee report from the UK’s House of Lords has predicted substantial damage to the arts if a hard Brexit is pursued. “Should the exit be a chaotic one, it is hard to see global public opinion on the UK remaining buoyant,” the report reads. (more…)

A piece in The Atlantic this week looks at a young generation of Chinese artists, and their shifting stance towards political activism in their work. “In China, everything reflects the circumstances of Chinese society,” says Ai Weiwei. “But we need to be more thoughtful and flexible about it.” (more…)

Charles Saumarez Smith, the secretary and chief executive of the Royal Academy of Arts, is joining Blain Souther as its senior director. “I have known Harry Blain and Graham Southern ever since they took the lease on Burlington Gardens for Haunch of Venison,” he said in a statemnet. “I greatly respect their work and that of the artists they represent, several of whom are RAs.” (more…)

Art Dealer David Killen is claiming that the contents of a New Jersey storage locker he purchased for $15,000 includes works by Willem de Kooning and Paul Klee.  “Life is full of extraordinary discoveries, he says. “I’ve paid my dues. I’m ready for membership in the million-dollar club.” (more…)

The Tate Modern will offer a series of “slow looking” initiatives around its 2019 show on Pierre Bonnard, The Guardian reports. “Obviously one can’t force people to look slowly but one can encourage it,” Matthew Gale, the head of displays at the museum says. (more…)

Juergen Teller photographs of the pop star Rihanna are drawing criticism this week over their similarities to the work of artist Mickalene Thomas without giving her credit. “Mickalene has earned the right to be recognized and commended for her ground-breaking contributions to contemporary art and visual culture, and for a signature aesthetic that she has been cultivating for decades,” Thomas’s Gallery, Lehmann Maupin said in a statement. “As Mickalene’s long-time gallery and advocate, we vigorously stand by her in defending the originality of her work.” (more…)

Pace Gallery will represent the work of Mary Corse in Asia, Art News reports. “Very few artists have been able to express the breadth and depth of light through the medium of painting,” Marc Glimcher, the president and CEO of Pace, said in a statement. “Mary is one of those rare people who has the gift to contain that energetic field within the frame of the canvas.” (more…)

Christie’s International sold $4 billion of art during the first half of 2018, up 35% from the year-earlier period and setting a new record for the auction house. “I’m amazed at the depth of this global market right now,” says CEO Guillaume Cerutti. (more…)

Art dealers are mobilizing in earnest against President Donald Trump’s tariffs against China, which could see a tax of up to 10% on Chinese art and antiques. “Ordinarily, there are no customs duties on art or antiques. It is considered in the public interest to bring art and literature to the US, so in the past, no duties were imposed on foreign art or books,” the Committee for Cultural Policy says in a newsletter alert on Friday (20 June). “The Trump administration is changing that, at least for art and antiques from China. This is one of the more bizarre stories in the tariff saga, since a tariff on antiques will please the Chinese government and reinforce its global dominance and monopoly on Chinese art.”  (more…)

The new offer of free access to New York Museums granted by New York Public Library Cards caused sellouts for tickets to many museums this summer, the New York Times reports. “We knew that there was considerable need and demand for a program like this,” says Angela Montefinise, spokeswoman for the New York Public Library. “So while the overwhelming response hasn’t been surprising, it has been extremely gratifying to see a program designed to promote learning, culture and knowledge quickly become the hottest ticket in town.” (more…)

Artist Henry Taylor gets a profile in the New Yorker by Zadie Smith this week, spotlighting his life and work as a master portraitist. “First of all, I love other people,” he’s quoted as saying. “I love to meet them, and the fact I can just paint them.” (more…)

A group of protests occurred at the Harvard Art Museum this weekend, continuing a string of actions calling for the Sackler Family to dedicate resources to the war against opioid addiction.  “From our vantage point, being in medical school in the thick of the opioid crisis has been a defining experience,” says one organizer, medical student Leo Eisenstein. “We’re trying to end the stigma that surround opioid abuse disorder, and to promote the interventions that we know work at saving lives.” (more…)

The New York Times has a piece on Susan Unterberg, a donor who has advocated anonymously for women artists over the past four decades, and is now stepping publicly into her role. “It’s a great time for women to speak up,” she says. “I feel I can be a better advocate having my own voice.” (more…)

The Walker Art Center in Minneapolis will commission a Native artist to do a public artwork for the museum’s sculpture garden, a response to the controversy over artist Sam Durant’s Scaffold work. “We are extremely fortunate to be working with the expertise, knowledge, and creative thinking of this committee, who collectively will help bring an important new work of art to the Walker Art Center collection and to the Twin Cities,” says Siri Engberg, the Walker’s senior curator and director of exhibitions. (more…)

The Royal Academy in London will mount a show of works by Bill Viola alongside works by Michelangelo, The Guardian reports. “I got out the Michelangelos for him, thinking they had much more connection with the themes that Bill had been exploring throughout his career,” Martin Clayton, the head of prints and drawings at the Royal Collection, says of a meeting years ago between Viola and himself, “and he was blown away by them.” (more…)

Pace Gallery has appointed Whitney Ferrare senior director of its Hong Kong location, bringing her over from Gagosian’s Hong Kong space. “Pace is distinct for its long-held and dedicated engagement with the artists and collectors across Asia—having partnered with legendary dealer Leng Lin to be the first major Western gallery to open a space in Asia, launching Pace in Beijing in 2008,” Ferrare says. “It feels particularly momentous to join Pace as the gallery celebrates its 10th anniversary in Asia, now with galleries in Hong Kong and Seoul, as well as Beijing.” (more…)

The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts has announced the recipients of its Spring 2018 Curatorial Research Fellowships, with $295,000 split between six recipients. “These six curators are engaging with urgent cultural issues including income inequality, how we represent resistance, and how dominant narratives are shaped, and most importantly, by whom,” says Joel Wachs, the Warhol Foundation’s president. (more…)

The House of Representatives has voted down a proposal to cut funding for the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities by 15%, Variety reports. “One of the largest vote margins in support of the NEA and NEH ever, this bipartisan showing and resounding vote is a testament to the good work of the federal agencies and the power of the arts in our communities, schools, lives, and work,” says Robert Lynch, the president and CEO of Americans for the Arts. (more…)

The Art Newspaper reports on the legacy of Robert Indiana, and the current lawsuits that could determine the fate of the late artist’s estate. A filing in Maine has sought to discover if some parties working with Indiana “may have been conveyed away or otherwise misappropriated or sold without due compensation.” (more…)

A new entrance at the V&A Museum in London has led to a spike in attendance, moving against wider trends in the UK. “All the data we have shows that it is much more attractive to non-traditional museum-goers,” says museum director Tristram Hunt. “It is less, frankly, scary.” (more…)

Creative Time has announced the lineup for the eleventh edition of the Creative Time Summit, which will set up shop in Miami this year from November 1-3.  “Fifty years after the upheavals of 1968, we continue to grapple with a host of pressing issues, from the ongoing legacies of colonialism to climate change and xenophobia,” says Creative Time executive director Justine Ludwig.  “There’s no better place for this conversation than Miami, a home to so many incredible artists, activists, and thinkers. We couldn’t be prouder to host the summit here, or of the participants and the invaluable insights they’ll be bringing to bear on some of the most critical issues of our time.” (more…)