Christie’s will open its new flagship in Beijing this weekend, an 8,600 square foot space on Jinbao Street, in the Dongchen District.  “We are proud to have found Christie’s a new home in Beijing, a city that is characterized by its tremendous cultural heritage and a profound collecting tradition,” Christie’s CEO Patricia Barbizet said in a statement. “Christie’s continues to grow and invest in China and our new Beijing space marks an important milestone during our 250 year mission to connect art and collectors. We look forward to further exchanges with the art community and contributing to the diversified Chinese cultural landscape.” (more…)

JTT Gallery is expanding on the Lower East Side, moving to a 1,500-square-foot second-floor space located at 191 Chrystie.  “Moving was inevitable as we only have 300 square feet of exhibition space at our current location,” founder Jasmin Tsou said. “I’m extremely proud of the ambitious projects we exhibited over the past years in such a small space.” (more…)

A piece in Salon this week charts the recently concluded lawsuit between Marina Abramovic and her former partner Ulay, exploring the politics and economics behind the marketing and sale of performance pieces in the contemporary market.   (more…)

Alice Neel is profiled in the New York Review of Books this week, as a new volume of her work seeks to explore her engaging approach to portraiture, “a tension between the realistic and the expressive, or to put it another way, between the naturalistic and the distorted,” according to Jeremy Lewison, an independent curator and advisor to the Neel estate. (more…)

The Portland Art Museum has announced a major expansion in conjunction and new partnership with the Rothko family, which will see a large number of works from the family’s private holdings loaned to the museum on rotation for the next two decades.  “The partnership with the Rothko family is a homecoming of sorts, enabling us to share with the public major works from the family’s private collection, offer new insight into Rothko’s practice, and honor his legacy in the Pacific Northwest and the international arts community,” says Brian Ferriso, The Marilyn H. and Dr. Robert B. Pamplin Jr. Director and Chief Curator. “Our plans for the Rothko Pavilion bring together the elements of the Portland Art Museum’s mission: to present exceptional works of art, develop exhibitions that take new perspectives on human creativity, and increase public accessibility and inclusion.” (more…)

Photographer Annie Leibovitz is adding to her Women photography project with a new book, continuing the over 15-year venture she started with her late partner, critic Susan Sontag.  “It really resonated,” Ms. Leibovitz said, although “the project was never done.” (more…)

The Art Newspaper charts the attempts of Frieze London to aid young galleries struggling against the ongoing rent hikes in London, and the increased costs of doing business in the contemporary market, including marked discounts for galleries included in the Focus section of the fair.  “The section tends to produce stronger presentations because artists are really thinking about the spaces as a whole,” says curator Jacob Proctor. (more…)

Frieze Artist Award Winner Yuri Pattison is featured in the Art Newspaper this week, as he recaps his work at the fair, and his perspective on the current partnership between Frieze and William Morris.  “I was thinking about art being at this tipping point of possibly becoming content or becoming a new industry,” he says.  “So [the work] is touching upon all of those things and the context it is being shown in, while also using the fair to produce content and produce the work.” (more…)

The Art Market Monitor notes last evening’s sale at Christie’s as something of a “coming out party” for collector Stefan Simchowitz, who bought a number of the sale’s higher priced lots, including a pair of Damien Hirst pieces and Thomas Schütte’s Bronzefrau Nr. 13 (2003). (more…)

Sotheby’s has reimbursed a buyer for a $10 million dollar Old Masters piece recently discovered as a fake.  The piece, attributed to Frans Hals and sold by the auction house five years ago, was recently subject to extensive tests proving that the work was a forgery.  “It’s one of the biggest scandals in my memory,” says dealer Richard Feigen. “It’s going to make people very wary, extremely careful about things they are offered and the sources of those things.” (more…)

An article in Bloomberg traces the increasing pace of art fairs worldwide, alongside both the costs and benefits for galleries that the sheer number of fairs on the art world schedule pose each year.  “We’ve come to see the fairs as a wonderful vehicle to develop new clients,” says David Zwirner senior partner Kristine Bell. “It does make a big difference to come to the hometowns of these collectors.” (more…)

A picture book that artist Otto Dix painted for his five-year-old stepdaughter, Hana Koch, is on view in Dusseldorf this month, a rare collection of watercolors that has never been shown.  “Twenty years ago, Hana showed us one page, so we knew it was there,” says Herbert Remmert of the Dusseldorf Galerie Remmert und Barth, where the book is on view. (more…)

Five works from the Dutch Golden Age have been recovered from Ukraine, where they were discovered by Ukrainian militia forces.  The pieces, taken from the collection of the Westfries Museum in Hoorn, Netherlands, were stolen in 2005, and feared lost.  “We are very emotional about this theft,” says museum director Ad Geerdink. “A part of our history was stolen, a part of our cultural heritage. Now five lost sons of Hoorn will return, and it’s going to be a very special day.” (more…)

The ICA Miami is closed this week as it prepares for the potential flooding and damage of Hurricane Matthew.  “I cannot emphasize enough that everyone in our state must prepare now for a direct hit,” Florida Governor Rick Scott said at press conference this week. “That means people have less than twenty-four hours to prepare, evacuate, and shelter. Having a plan in place could mean the difference between life and death.” (more…)

McDonald’s is currently facing a lawsuit by Jade Berreau, the former partner of Dash Snow, who alleges that the fast food chain copied the artist’s graffiti tag in a number of its restaurants.  “Mr. Snow’s famous work is so prominently placed, it was the only element singled out and spotlighted in media coverage surrounding McDonald’s display campaign,” the complaint notes.  “Mr. Snow was mentioned by name in at least one such press article, under the false assumption (which resulted from Defendants’ copying) that he authorized the use of his artwork and was therefore affiliated with and endorsed McDonald’s.” (more…)

Bloomberg has a piece this week on proceedings and business behind the multi-million dollar dealings at Frieze London, noting the strategies and time dealers take to sell their works.  “The amount of work to compile work for an art fair or gallery is huge,” says Daniella Luxembourg of Luxembourg and Dayan. “There is a lot of thought and research and digging in order to bring these works together.” (more…)

The Guardian spotlights the work of painter Artemisia Gentileschi, painter of the famed work Judith and Holofernes, and asks why so much of the artist’s career has remained long overlooked by scholars.  The article in particular documents Gentileschi’s work, and its often violent subject matter, in the context of the sexual assault committed against her by a fellow, highly-esteemed artist. (more…)

Art News has a piece this week on the prospects for foreign buyers at Frieze, noting the dollar’s current strength against the British pound as an indicator that American buyers might make a play for works at Frieze.  “The only obvious change is the exchange rate, which makes London less expensive for people coming over,” Frieze founder Victoria Siddall is quoted in the article. (more…)

The National Trust for Scotland has discovered what may well be a work by Italian renaissance artist Raphael in one of its sites in Aberdeenshire, a discovery that would increase the value of the work from roughly £2,000 to £20m.  “I thought, crikey, it looks like a Raphael … It was very dirty under old varnish, which goes yellow,” said historian Bendor Grosvenor, who helped spot the work.  “Being an anorak, I go round houses like this with binoculars and torches. If I hadn’t done that, I’d probably have walked past it.” (more…)

Musician and artist David Byrne is opening a show of work at Pace Gallery in Menlo Park, collaborating with Mala Gaonkar (a London-based hedge fund manager interested in science and public-health), where viewers can participate in dramatized neuroscience experiments.  “We won’t be running these experiments like the labs do, but recreating some of their work in more entertaining or theatrical ways,” Byrne says. (more…)

The Art Newspaper traces a growing trend towards museum heads and curators putting together shows for private collectors and spaces, a note that underscores the increased partnership between wealthy patrons and institutions as public funding for museums decreases.  “There used to be a dyke between private interest and public purpose and now it’s burst,” says an unnamed art world source. “It’s a complete sea change in how museums operate.” (more…)

As the art world converges on London, the Telegraph looks at the current market for Italian post-war art, and notes both weaknesses and strong points in the current offerings in both gallery and auction sales.  Highlights include a rapidly strengthening market for artist Fabio Mauri, as well as several top lots in the auctions for works by Alberto Burri and the ever-present Lucio Fontana. (more…)

Pace Gallery has announced that it now represents Leo Villareal, marking the announcement with a show of his recent pieces at Frieze London.  Villareal will also be involved with Future/Pace, a public arts partnership that the gallery is currently undertaking with the Futurecity group to examine approaches to urban planning, art and architecture. (more…)

The Guardian looks at the recent investigation of a series of Renaissance works sold in London as possible fakes, and questions whether the National Gallery was in fact duped by a forger.  One work currently under investigation currently sits in the museum collection, and has been shown in a number of exhibitions. (more…)