Cristian Valsecchi will will take over as manager of the Fondazione Prada, Art News reports. Valsecchi is currently secretary general of Fondazione Torino Musei and Associazione dei Musei d’Arte Contemporanea Italiani (AMACI), and formerly served as a professor of economics for arts and culture at the University of Bergamo. (more…)

LACMA’s annual Collectors Committee Weekend resulted in an unprecedented acquisition of women artists, with new works purchased by Martha Boto, Betye Saar, Jennifer Bartlett and Julie Mehretu, as well as a sculpture by Ruth Asawa. (more…)

Peter Halley, Barbara Bloom, Ashley Bickerton, Joan Wallace and Jeff Koons get together for a piece in the New York Times this week, dining at Katz’s and discussing the 80’s scene downtown. “SoHo had this hierarchy and the gallery structure, but when all these artists opened these fresh, young galleries, there was no hierarchy there,” Koons says of spaces in the Lower East Side. “It was really about showing exciting works. Things weren’t set up as business-oriented. I went through some of the SoHo galleries, but I was never completely accepted there. And as outsiders we finally had a place where we were embraced.” (more…)

The Tate is looking to appoint its first trustee to represent the interests of people aged 16-25, and will lower prices for younger visitors, the Art Newspaper reports. Tate head Maria Balshaw is reportedly seeking “a cultural entrepreneur and digital native” to help represent the interests of a new generation at the museum. (more…)

The newly opened Tate archives get a spotlight in the Art Newspaper this week, profiling the struggle and logistics behind opening the Tate Britain and Tate Modern as separate branches of the same institution. “I was always worried about appearing isolationist in regard to British art,” the piece quotes former Modern head Nicholas Serota.  (more…)

Bloomberg has a piece this week on the market growth for contemporary black artists, including in its piece the news that MoMA has acquired Chris Ofili’s famous Holy Virgin Mary, from collector Steve Cohen. “Collectors are very interested in what artists of color have to say now,” says dealer Jack Shainman. “For many years it didn’t matter.” (more…)

The WSJ spotlights the rise and fall of Tony Podesta, paying particular attention to his lavish spending on art and arts institutions. “When he stepped down from the firm he expressed his ongoing gratitude to all of them and his commitment to continue his advocacy for the issues and ideals he’s always fought for,” says a spokeswoman for the Podesta Group. (more…)

Max Hollein gets a profile in the NYT this week, as he prepares to take the helm at The Met. “Max Hollein set benchmarks in terms of mobilizing citizens for culture and museums,” says Felix Semmelroth, San Francsico’s former cultural affairs director. “He left deep, deep traces in the city.” (more…)

The New York Times looks at the continued growth of private sales at auction houses, noting Sotheby’s private sales growth by 28 percent last year, up to $744.6 million. “It was something that was kept under wraps at most of the houses for some time,” says David Schrader, who joined Sotheby’s last year as its head of private sales for contemporary art. “Now we’re being very vocal about it and putting more energy into it.” (more…)

A recent report notes that online sales could stagnate if market transparency does not improve, the Art Newspaper says. “In a world where online consumers can easily compare prices for most goods, and where ‘value’ is more universally understood, the online art market has a real challenge… when it comes to educating and creating confidence among new online buyers,” says Anders Petterson, founder of ArtTactic. (more…)

Congratulations to Jerry Saltz, who has won the Pulitzer this year for criticism, recognizing “a robust body of work that conveyed a canny and often daring perspective on visual art in America, encompassing the personal, the political, the pure and the profane.”  (more…)

David Hockney is profiled in the New Yorker this week, as the artist opens a show of new work at Pace Gallery, and his recent interest in reverse perspectives.  “If you’re going through a tunnel, when you get out, everything opens up. That’s reverse perspective,” he says. “The problem with perspective is this: you’re an immobile point, here, outside the picture. But, with reverse perspective, you can be a moving person—you can see all sides of things from a single point. And we’re always in movement. The eye is always in movement. It’s never still. Cubism, for example, was really an attack on perspective.” (more…)

Amanda Hicks has joined the Museum of Modern Art in New York as director of communications and public affairs, arriving from the Art Institute of Chicago. “It’s an honor to join MoMA and a privilege to help tell the stories of extraordinary art and artists that inspire, provoke, and connect with millions of people inside and outside the museum,” Hicks said in a statement. “This moment at MoMA—with the visionary renovation and expansion underway—sparks new and exciting conversations about its unparalleled collection, exhibitions, and programs.” (more…)

A Marc Chagall painting, Othello and Desdemona, 1911, has been recovered by the FBI almost thirty years after it was reported missing, Artforum reports.  “Gallery owners are our first line of defense in identifying pieces of art that do not have the appropriate documentation and should be brought to the attention of law enforcement,” says supervisory special agent Tim Carpenter of the FBI’s Art Crime Team. (more…)

Ellen Salpeter will step down as director of the Institute of Contemporary Art in Miami after joining the institution in late 2015, Art News reports.  “With the new building launched, the museum’s program for the coming seasons set, and the institution on stable financial footing, the timing is right for me to pursue new projects,” she said in a statement. (more…)

Former director of the Tate Modern Chris Dercon is leaving his position as director of the Volksbühne Theatre in Berlin after rampant protests and concerns over his leadership.  “Both parties have agreed that the concept of Chris Dercon did not work out as hoped, and the Volksbühne needs a fresh start immediately. [Following] the amicable agreement between the culture senator [Klaus] Lederer and Dercon, there is now a chance to initiate this necessary reboot,” a joint statement reads. (more…)

Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac now represents the estate of Joseph Beuys, Art News reports. “Joseph Beuys is one of the most influential artists of the 20th century, a groundbreaking radical thinker in contemporary art whose profound influence endures today,” a statement from the gallery said. “It is a great privilege and honor to represent the works of this visionary artist on behalf of his estate and to work closely with his family.” (more…)

Francis Bacon’s Study for Portrait (1977) will hit the block at Christie’s next month in New York, estimated to sell in the region of $30 million.  The work is a portrait of Bacon’s lover, George Dyer. “I find this work is so powerful—for me it is probably one of the best paintings of their mystical love affair, and that’s what drew me to it,” says collector Magnus Konow, who is selling the work. (more…)

The Smithsonian Institution has confirmed that it will work with the Victoria and Albert Museum to set up a joint gallery and exhibition site in East London, on the site of the former Olympic games.  The site will be the first for the Smithsonian outside the U.S. (more…)

The Economist charts the challenges to the continually expanding art fair circuit, and the possible limits such an economic model may face for dealers. The piece charts challenges included the sheer scale of work needed to show at each event, and the high costs to attend so many showings. (more…)

The Mike Kelley Foundation has announced the 2018 recipients of its Artist Project Grants, including projects by Andrea Fraser at the Hammer Museum and a presentation of work by Rodney McMillian at the Underground Museum. “The grantees this year reflect Los Angeles’s energized and diverse art scene, and underscore the foundation’s commitment to support risk-taking, underseen, and hard-to-fund work,” says Mary Clare Stevens, the foundation’s executive director. (more…)

The New Yorker embarks on a profile of new Met Director Max Hollein, and his string of past appointments in San Francisco and Frankfurt. The piece focuses on Hollein’s experience in both large-scale renovation projects and updating programming to appeal to digital natives.  (more…)

Artist Christo is planning to open a version of his Mastaba sculpture in London, the Guardian reports, featuring an interview with the artist as part of the announcement. “I have no reason to justify myself as an artist. I cannot explain my art. Everything I do professionally is irrational and useless,” he says. “I make things that have no function – except maybe to make pleasure.” (more…)

Max Hollein, currently the director and chief executive of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, will become the 10th director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the New York Times reports. “The museum has the opportunity to be not just an art destination,” Mr. Hollein says, but also “a major provider of understanding and different narratives to a global audience.” (more…)