In the wake of Theresa May’s proclamations on a hard Brexit this week, The Guardian examines the prospects for London’s art scene, which many felt would benefit from continued free movement of goods and people.  “The most unexpectedly potent factor in revitalizing Britain’s art market may, however, be the fall in the pound’s value since the Brexit vote, which means London’s galleries can offer bargains to international art collectors,” Jonathan Jones writes.

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A group of dealers are suing the Getty Museum for $77 Million over the transfer of ownership for a series of sculptures from the Torlonia family to the Italian government, which the dealers say were brokered using years of their research and labor.  “Plaintiffs cannot plausibly demand payment for a deal that never occurred,” the Getty said in a statement. “While we believe that the complaint should be dismissed, if necessary we will vigorously defend our position.” (more…)

The Centre Pompidou joins the list of Parisian institutions embarking on major facelifts, as it prepares for a two year renovation totaling over €100m.  “It will be a sort of construction game, but our aim is to stay open,” says Serge Lasvignes, president of the Pompidou Centre. “That is the objective.”
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The French financial prosecutor’s office has initiated an appeal in the tax evasion case against Guy Wildenstein.  “The case had shown a clear intention to evade paying tax” despite its dismissal, the appeal reads.
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David Hockney is profiled in The Guardian this week, as the artist approaches his 80th birthday, and looks back on the range of his work and conceptual project.  “Perspective takes away the body of the viewer. You have a fixed point, you have no movement; in short, you are not there really. That is the problem,” he says. (more…)

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Richard Prince has returned the $36,000 paid for one of his works to Ivanka Trump, after the artist publicly disavowed the work this week.  “It was just an honest way for me to protest,” Prince said. “It was a way of deciding what’s right and wrong. And what’s right is art and what’s wrong is not art. I decided the Trumps are not art.” (more…)

Labour MP Tristram Hunt will leave his post to take the directorship at the Victoria and Albert Museum, The Guardian reports.  Hunt had reportedly been at odds with his party, and his departure will initiate a byelection in his Stoke-on-Trent constituency.  “I would like to thank Tristram Hunt for his service to the people of Stoke on Trent Central and to the Labour Party. I wish him well in his future role at the V&A,” Labour head Jeremy Corbyn said in response. (more…)

Brice Marden is leaving Matthew Marks Gallery to join Gagosian, The New York Times reports.  “I’ve been working with Matthew for a long time and it’s been very, very good — he’s an incredible dealer — I just felt I needed a change,” Marden says. “I’m running out of time and I think I’ll be able to use my time better this way.” (more…)

The Glass House has appointed Philip Johnson scholar Hilary Lewis as the site’s Chief Curator & Creative Director, beginning January 17th, 2017. Lewis has worked for more than two decades researching the work of Philip Johnson, and will bring her knowledge and experience to bear on the artist’s iconic building.  “Having sat side-by-side with Johnson for years, I feel confident that what would honor his and David Whitney’s memory most would be for the property to evolve further as a center for the appreciation of architecture, design and art not just as a museum of Johnson and Whitney’s lives in New Canaan,” she says. “It’s an honor to have the opportunity to work directly with the Glass House as it looks forward to its second decade of public engagement.” (more…)

In an unexpected verdict, Guy Wildenstein has been cleared of tax evasion.  Wildenstein was acquitted this week after the presiding judge found shortcomings in both the investigation and in French tax fraud legislation more broadly.   (more…)

The Met has put a hold on its announced expansion of its Contemporary wing, as it continues to deal with budget shortfalls.  The museum will instead focus on infrastructural improvements like replacing skylights and roofing.  “It’s logical that that’s the urgent project we pursue first,” says director Thomas P. Campbell. (more…)

The NPR profiles the work of Italy’s Carabinieri for Protection of Italy’s Cultural Heritage, and its pioneering role in the investigation of art crimes, including its work on Leonardo, ” a crucial instrument not only for our national police forces but also for those abroad — it’s the biggest artworks database in the world,” according to Lt. Francesco Ficarella. (more…)

Theaster Gates is profiled in The Guardian this week, reflecting on his ongoing work on Chicago’s South Side, and his view on how art can help to heal struggling cities.  “If you draw a circle around a thing, stand in the middle of the thing, invite others to stand in it with you and pray and work and move your body, that place won’t be the same any more,” he says. (more…)

Galerie Perrotin has closed the doors on its uptown exhibition space, and has set its first show at its new 130 Orchard exhibition space for May, bringing a body of works Colombia-born, Paris-based artist Iván Argote.   (more…)

Manchester is one step closer to building a £110 million arts center in its city center, The Guardian reports, after planning permission was granted on the building.  “From classical opera and ballet to large-scale performances and experimental productions, Factory in Manchester provides the perfect opportunity to create the ultimate versatile space in which art, theatre and music come together: a platform for a new cultural scene.” (more…)

Maria Balshaw, a figurehead in the Manchester art scene, has been named as the new head of the Tate by the museum board, The Guardian reports, and her appointment is awaiting confirmation by the Prime Minister.  Balshaw built a reputation as a dynamic leader in Manchester after leading a £15m redevelopment at the Whitworth Museum, and becoming a strategic lead for culture with the Manchester City Council. (more…)

The New York Times has a preview of Benjamin Genocchio first turn as executive director of The Armory Show, including new site-specific installations on Pier 92 and 94 by Yayoi Kusama and Ai Weiwei, as well as a revival of Jeffrey Deitch’s 1995 exhibition examining the impact of artist Florine Stettheimer.  “I wanted to make the building an asset,” Genocchio said, and is working with curator Eric Shiner to install projects “to allow you to better see the vast industrial structure.” (more…)

NADA has announced its exhibitor list for its new edition of NADA New York, which moves to March this week in correspondence with Armory Week.  The fair’s competition with Independent NY sees NADA bringing a notably international focus this year, and 30 first-time exhibitors.   (more…)

The UK’s new culture secretary, Karen Bradley has stated her intent to put the country’s creative industries “at the heart” of its new industrial strategies.  She is working in conjunction with business secretary Greg Clark, who also spoke on his commitment to the arts.  “It’s impossible to separate London’s economic success from its cultural success, from theatre to architecture, music to fashion, design to dance – people choose to live and work and flock to London because it’s a hotbed of innovation and excitement,” Clark told a crowd at the second anniversary party for the Creative Industries Federation.   (more…)

New York City will soon get its own version of the Fourth Plinth, a lone stand on the High Line that will serve as the stage for an ongoing series of works.  “It’s like you leave the city for a while and go somewhere else,” curator Cecelia Alemani says of the installation site.  “And it’s given us really the only place where we’ll have the ability to put long-term pieces, which will be like a punctuation in a beautiful piazza.” (more…)

Laurie Anderson and Lawrence Weiner have been awarded the 2017 Wolf Prize in Tel Aviv this week, an award that celebrates “the radicalism and avant-garde at the core of their work, and for inspiring generations to come.”  The award comes with a $100,000 Prize and will be bestowed later this year at a ceremony hosted by the Knesset.   (more…)

Paris’s Grand Palais will close for a two year renovation period, the Art Newspaper reports, leaving a number of fairs and other exhibition projects searching for new space in 2020.  “The Grand Palais has no equivalent in [other] Western capital cities as a central and stunning exhibition space,” says Franck Prazan, director of Applicat-Prazan gallery. “But it is highly important not to lose track during refurbishment. For this reason, one should absolutely avoid relocating to non-strategic locations.” (more…)

Conceptual artist Luis Camnitzer has started a petition calling on Donald Trump to commission Christo to design and build the wall between the United States and Mexico.   Christo had previously worked on a Running Fence project in California during the 1970s, as the artist notes in his petition.  “Though only 24.5 miles long then, in full length today it would transform a racist project into a public art event, and help improve the image of the U.S. with a cultural veneer,” he continues. (more…)