Michigan-based dealer Eric Spoutz has been arrested on federal charges for the sale of forged masterworks claimed to be by de Kooning, Joan Mitchell, and more.  Authorities allege he wove a web of lies and deceit over his collection of works and high connections in the art world.  “The only real thing in this situation seems to be the financial losses the victims have incurred for purchasing what they thought were true works of art, whether for investment purposes or personal enjoyment,” says FBI New York assistant director Diego Rodriguez. (more…)

Christie’s Brooklyn will not have to pay $11.5 million in damages caused by flooding after Superstorm Sandy in 2012, following a New York state court decision this past month.  The lawsuits were filed by several insurance companies to recoup the costs paid out to their clients. (more…)

, the massive Dutch fair of fine art, antiques and design, is expanding to New York this October, taking up most of the Park Avenue Armory for the first edition of Tefaf New York.  “On numerous occasions, our exhibitors in Maastricht have expressed the need and desire for a Tefaf platform in the U.S., as have many private and institutional collectors,” says Patrick van Maris, chief executive of Tefaf. “Among the different possibilities Tefaf has explored over the past couple of years, this partnership with Artvest in the Park Avenue Armory New York really stood out. As the world’s most buoyant art market, New York is a perfect match.” (more…)

Takashi Murakami has a brief comment in the New York Times this week, discussing his collecting habits and aesthetic interests. The artist is opening a show of his personal collection of art and ephemera at the Yokohama Museum of Art in Japan.  “For me, what is important is to hold works of art in my possession, to make the actual purchase,” he writes.  “This is a hands-on way for me to experiment and learn about the personal value that pieces hold to collectors, their value as works of art and the traits by which they can be evaluated.” (more…)

Continuing his advocacy on Lesbos, Ai Weiwei is creating a work of art from over 14,000 life jackets, in an attempt to bring attention to the crimes committed by people smugglers in the Aegean.  “This work aims to mobilize the global community regarding the crime carried out daily in the Aegean by ruthless people smugglers,” a statement reads. (more…)

The New York Times has a profile on Peter Fischli, one half of duo Fischli/Weiss, on the opening their career retrospective at the Guggenheim this week.  “There’s a phrase in German — schiefe Ebene — which you kind of use to mean things going downhill,” he says at one point, gazing down the museum’s curved walkway. “And I think about this image of 30 years of art rolling down the hill. And I think, in this case, maybe it’s a good thing!” (more…)

Coverage of the lawsuit between the De Sole Family and Ann Freedman continues in Art News this week, with Mark Rothko’s son taking the chair Monday, and noting that he does not authenticate any of his father’s work.  “I believe I described it as ‘beautiful,’” Rothko said of the work. “I believe it was descriptive, but I didn’t want to go further than that.”   (more…)

The College Board is changing the structure of its AP art history program, seeking to rewrite cultural bias that has long been a contentious part of its focus.  “It’s just isn’t acceptable anymore,” says Ronda Kasl, the Met’s first curator of Colonial Latin American art . “But it takes a while to remedy.” (more…)

Artist Philippe Parreno has been selected by Tate Modern and Hyundai Motor as the newest commission for the museum’s Turbine Hall, set to open later this year.  This is the second commission sponsored by Hyundai, after Abraham Cruzvillegas’s installation last year.   (more…)

The Art Newspaper profiles a Starbucks location in Chelsea that is currently selling work from young artists, with proceeds benefitting Free Arts NYC.  “The space we’ve dedicated to art within our store enables emerging artists to gain exposure for their work in Chelsea,” says Lara Behnert, head of the chain’s global art program. (more…)

Paul Chan’s publishing house Badlands Unlimited has opened a brick and mortar location on the Lower East Side, titled Y.oung P.ublisher 99¢ & Up.  The space is run in conjunction with local business owners Mr. and Mrs. Yu, and will feature the company’s books alongside daily necessities and household items.  “Badlands publishes books that are as essential as toiletries,” says Micaela Durand, director of Badlands. (more…)

MoMA has announced the recipient of its 2016 Young Architects Program award, a massive awning constructed from strands of string, and hung over the MoMA PS1 Courtyard.  The work, designed by Escobedo Solíz Studio, is described as “neither an object nor a sculpture standing in the courtyard, but a series of simple, powerful actions that generate new and different atmospheres.” (more…)

Dealer Larry Gagosian and the Qatar royal family have reached a temporary agreement on the ownership of the Picasso bust currently in dispute.  The work will be held at Gagosian Gallery until its the conflict is adjudicated.  The disagreement around the work revolves around multiple sales of the piece, with both the royal family and Gagosian claiming purchase of the piece from the artist’s daughter, Maya Widmaier-Picasso. (more…)

An undercover sting in Istanbul has recovered Woman Dressing Her Hair, a Picasso piece stolen from a New York collector several years ago.  The thieves had demanded $7,000,000 for the piece. (more…)

Art Basel has published the exhibitor list for the 2016 edition of its flagship fair, consisting of 287 galleries from Switzerland and abroad, that will trek to Switzerland this June.  (more…)

The WSJ looks at the efforts of The Met to cater to more contemporary and modern art in its collections and exhibitions, noting the challenges the storied institution faces from the city’s great number of curators, museums and galleries, and its vision for the future.  “The Met used to talk about itself as 17 museums under one roof, and I have very actively been seeking to break down that notion,” says Director Thomas Campbell. “We are a single museum with a single collection.” (more…)

The LA Times profiles Thomas P. Campbell, and his tenure as Director of the Met, including his work on the Breuer Building project, and the difficult financial straits he was thrust into when he took the position in 2008.  “It was by no means a slam dunk,” he says.  “I spent the first six months of being director going through a contraction of the institution. We had to contract by 10%. And while we were doing that, we were trying to plan for the future.” (more…)

Yves Bouvier is the subject of a lengthy profile by the New Yorker this week, focusing not only on his history as head of the National Le Coultre freeport and his current conflicts with Dmitriy Rybolovlev, but also on the logistical systems that he oversees as the company’s owner.  “To be invisible is the best way to make business,” he says.   (more…)

The Temptation of St. Anthony, a work held in the collection of a Kansas City museum, and long attributed to the followers of Hieronymus Bosch, has been authenticated as a work of Dutch master himself after analysis in the Netherlands.  “It’s the same painting, and all of a sudden you see it with more affection,” says Julián Zugazagoitia, director and CEO of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, which owns the work. “It’s like your child who just won the Nobel Prize. You love your child just as much, but you’re bragging more about it to your cousins and friends.” (more…)

The Louvre and the nation of Iran have negotiated a historic deal agreeing to shared exhibitions, and collaborations on publications, scientific visits and training sessions, as well as cooperation on archaeological digs.  The agreement was signed during an Iranian diplomatic visit in Paris, at the Elysée Palace. (more…)

Continuing his show of solidarity with Syrivan refugees on the Greek isle of Lesbos, Ai Weiwei has posed in a photograph recreating the scene of a drowned Syrian child.  “The image is haunting and represents the whole immigration crisis and the hopelessness of the people who have tried to escape their pasts for a better future,” says India Art Fair co-owner Sandy Angus. (more…)

A rightwing group in Israel has drawn criticism for attacks on Israeli artists and writers, who they have accused of being “infiltrators inside [Israeli] culture.”  “Every time publicly elected officials in the state of Israel try to undertake the task they were given in the most democratic and legitimate way by the people,” says Matan Peleg, the head of the group, “we encounter an automatic smear campaign by ‘people of culture’ who try to paint themselves as enlightened, as progressive and as ‘knowing better’ than the public.”  (more…)

Sotheby’s narrowed the sales gap on the Taubman estate this week with a strong sale of Old Masters works this week, bringing in a total of $24,128,750 which fell squarely within estimate.  The auction house has estimated a shortfall of several million on the original $515 million estimate. (more…)

Pyotr Pavlensky, the Russian dissident and artist who last year set fire to the doors of the Federal Security Service in Moscow, has reportedly been sent to Serbsky State Scientific Center for Social and Forensic Psychiatry for evaluation.  The center has a reputation for diagnosing political activists as insane during the Soviet era.  “The Investigative Committee wants to demonstrate that I am crazy,” Pavlensky said in an interview several months ago. “And to show their own craziness, I do what they want, but my way.” (more…)