CNN looks at the recent crop of new, private Chinese art museums, and the motivations behind the sudden explosion in construction.  “In a culture that has been suppressed for so long, when things start opening up, you’re liable to get a sort of burst of energy and momentum. This generation of private collectors in China, the big ones at least, they’ve had a couple of decades to make their fortunes and it’s natural they’re now spending it on artists and art collections,” says Aric Chen of the M+ Museum. (more…)

The Canadian government has earmarked a major cash injection for national arts organizations, including the CBC, and a near doubling of the Canada Council’s $182 million budget.  “It’s a game changer,” says Simon Brault, director and CEO of the Canada Council. “We can begin writing a new chapter on the artistic and cultural history of this country.” (more…)

Performance artist Ulay has announced his first performance in New York City in 30 years, breaking his long absence with a performance in Brooklyn this coming May during Frieze Week.  The work, titled Cutting Through the Clouds of Myth, will combine an “intimate happening, an experiential installation, a language of communication, a provoking exploration of dualities, a setting of madness and tranquility, mockery and admiration,” according to curator Mitra Khorasheh. (more…)

Anton Kern and Andrew Kreps are teaming up for a temporary, joint gallery in downtown San Francisco, joining Larry Gagosian across the street from the newly renovated SFMoMA.  The galleries will take up residence at the Minnesota Street Project, a recent real estate project featuring artist studios and exhibition space. (more…)

The Art Newspaper interviews Tracey Emin this week, as the artist discusses her recent marriage to a stone outside her studio in the south of France.  “It just means that at the moment I am not alone; somewhere on a hill facing the sea, there is a very beautiful ancient stone, and it’s not going anywhere,” she says.  “It will be there, waiting for me.” (more…)

With the slowing of the Asian economy, Reuters notes a distinct cooling-off of the secondary auction market. “Things were in a heated upward spiral for some time and there’s no question it has come off the boil,” says gallerist John Berwald. (more…)

The LA Times notes the sizable percentage of young visitors to The Broad Museum in downtown Los Angeles, and examines why millennial museum-goers might be drawn to the space in particular, with particular emphasis on the museum’s prominence on social media.  “I have a lot of artist friends and they’re all talking about it,” says on interviewee. “It’s pretty much what everyone’s been posting.”  (more…)

Mitchell-Innes & Nash is now representing artist Mary Kelly, whose work during the 1970’s was conceptual bedrock for the decade’s feminist art practice.  Kelly is concluding a Guggenheim fellowship for work researching shared threads of the London blitz, Paris’s 1968 student protests, and the dawn of the Arab Spring. (more…)

The Guardian interviews Ann Hirsch this week, as the artist opens an exhibition of her work at the Zabludowicz Collection in London, and discusses projects like her performance as a contestant on a VH1 reality dating program, and her views on the culture of digital video as a mode of positive female representation.  “I had these utopian notions that now women can broadcast ourselves instead of relying on TV and film, we can portray ourselves and this is going to be great for women and minorities – we get stereotyped all the time,” she says.  “But the reality of what happened isn’t what I thought.” (more…)

Two artists that installed a guerrilla art exhibition in the stairwell of the Whitney this weekend have been slapped with a lifetime ban by the museum.  “It’s just exploring different sites, contexts, and receptions, and exploring the viewers since the viewers are what activated the sites,” says Ki Smith, one of those caught deinstalling the work. (more…)

Tom Sachs is profiled in the Wall Street Journal this week, discussing his recent work on a Tea House for the Noguchi Museum.  “I’m not a tea master in a traditional sense, though I’m a master in this environment because it’s a clear expression of my history of making stuff,” he says. (more…)

Phyllida Barlow is on the shortlist for the Hepworth prize, joining Helen Marten and David Medalla for the prestigious UK sculpture award.  “Without doubt, it will be a thrilling experience to exhibit at the Hepworth Wakefield and to take into consideration its dynamic architecture which has sculpture very much in mind,” she says. (more…)

Phillips has announced a trio of Mark Bradford compositions will lead its May Contemporary Auctions in New York.  “Phillips is honored to have been entrusted with the sale of this collection, led by these three fantastic Mark Bradford paintings,” says Jean-Paul Engelen, Phillips Worldwide Head of Contemporary Art.  “In recent years, Bradford has emerged as one of the foremost contemporary artists of his generation. This powerful group of works not only demonstrates the artist’s tremendous technical skill, but also the depth of his subject matter. He’s truly a contemporary master.” (more…)

A joint collaboration between The J. Paul Getty Trust in Los Angeles and the Netherlands Institute for Conservation, Arts and Science (NICAS) will see the two museums engage in the development of new archival and conservation technology.  “We want to continue moving the field forward. By identifying where we want to be in the future, we can design a course of research and development to get there,” Getty President James Cuno says. “This joint effort helps us chart that course.” (more…)

The First Division Appellate Court has ruled that Christie’s must pay out over $700,000 in damages to Madison Avenue Gallery Chowaiki & Co over damages to its artworks stored at the auction house’s Red Hook facility during Hurricane Sandy, the NY Post reports. “I am pleased with the decision,” says attorney Eliot Greenberg, who represents the gallery. (more…)

The Art Market Monitor points to a recent Swiss news article that seems to refute Picasso heir Catherine Hutin-Blay’s claims that Yves Bouvier stole works from her storage facility and resold them.  The article points to paperwork that pokes holes in the claim that Hutin-Blay never knew or did business with the dealer. (more…)

Karma is moving to the Lower East Side this week, and opened its new location on last night Orchard Street  with a show of works by Paul Lee.  “It could be temporary or it could be permanent. I really like the idea of it, and the location is really great,” says owner Brendon Dugan.  “There’s lots of new foot traffic here.” (more…)

One of Francis Bacon’s strongest self-portraits will go on sale at Sotheby’s this coming May, carrying an estimate of $22-$30 million.  “Two Studies for a Self-Portrait goes straight in at number one of all the paintings I’ve handled in my career” says Oliver Barker, Senior International Specialist in Contemporary Art.  “It’s certainly among the greatest self-portraits ever offered at auction.” (more…)

The New Art Dealers Alliance has announced the dates and exhibitor list for the 2016 edition of its New York Fair, taking place during Frieze Week at Basketball City downtown.   (more…)

Thirteen Italians and Moldavians have been arrested in connection with the art heist last fall from the Museum of Castelvecchio, which saw works by Tintoretto, Pisanello, and Rubens disappear in an overnight theft.  “We hope to succeed in recovering all the paintings in good condition,” says Flavio Tosi, the mayor of Verona. (more…)

The Russian deputy culture minister, Grigory Pirumov, has been arrested on charges of embezzlement, taking state funds intended for restorations at historical sites.  “This is a real shock for all of us,” says culture minster Vladimir Medinsky. “We are working with the investigators, we will provide all necessary assistance, and the official position of the ministry will be formulated in the nearest future.” (more…)

The New York Times looks at recent trends towards sustainability in museum construction and renovation, including the use of repurposed or receycled material in recent projects like The Whitney and The University of California, Berkeley, Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive.  “At its very fundamental core, this is a project about sustainability,” says Lawrence Rinder, the director of UC Berkley’s museum. “At a philosophical level, it was about the sustainability of our institution — we were in a seismologically unsound building and had to move to preserve our collection and our audience and our programming.” (more…)

The Art Newspaper reports on Robert Mapplethorpe’s upcoming exhibitions at LACMA and the Getty, and the challenges of presenting works from his X Portfolio, a sexually provocative body of work that was used in the artist’s early 1990’s obscenity trials.  “One must ease the public into it—that’s an art in itself,” Mapplethorpe is quoted in reference to the work. (more…)

Five paintings by Francis Bacon, valued at upwards of €30 million, have been stolen from a home in Madrid, The Guardian reports.  One unnamed expert states that they will be difficult to sell on the market.  “It is not at all easy to sell a Francis Bacon, large or small, without that getting to the ears of those who pore over such a rarified sector,” they said. (more…)