Olga Hirshhorn, the collector and widow of Hirshhorn Museum founder Joseph Hirshhorn, has passed away at the age of 95.  “I had to choose whether to learn about art or finance or mining,” Mrs. Hirshhorn said of her early years married to her husband, “and I chose art.” (more…)

A Bulgarian artist has delivered a coy sculptural work to the European Central Bank, a giant chunk of aluminum that will be replaced with a finished sculpture when the institution achieves all of its stated goals and its staff is fully “satisfied.”  “This will of course never happen because a serious institution is never satisfied,” artist Nedko Solakov says. “I just let the people imagine what the sculpture would look like.” (more…)

Ai Weiwei has reportedly found what he thinks are “listening devices” in the walls of his studio.  The artist posted photos and video of the devices, which were found during a renovation of his studio.  “There will always be surprises,” he noted. (more…)

Serge Lasvignes, the President of Centre Pompidou, has announced a string of new plans for the institution, including a series of pop-up exhibitions in Korea and China, and exhibitions focusing on Arte Povera and Beirut. “My aim is to start a dialogue with foreign [art] centers which will enable us to build our collections for the future,” he says. (more…)

Three men in suits posing as authorities at the Beijing Biennale reportedly attempted to destroy works at the Armenian pavilion, Artforum reports.  The men entered the pavilion and sought to remove works by artist Karen Mirzoyan depicting lands contested by Azerbaijan.  “For now I can say that our team and artworks are safe,” said pavilion curator Anna Garrigan.  (more…)

The body of Sebastiano Magnanini, a former Italian art thief, was found in London’s Regent’s canal near Kings Cross this week, the Guardian reports.  “His life in Italy, before coming to London, will inevitably form part of the investigation, but at this early stage we are not looking at organized crime as a motive,” says Investigator Rebecca Reeves. (more…)

A group of artists are being evicted from studio spaces across three Ninth Street buildings in the Gowanus neighborhood of Brooklyn.  “For the overall arts and creativity in Gowanus, this is a huge loss,” says Abby Subak, executive director of Arts Gowanus.  “The implications for this go beyond Gowanus and are being felt by the entire artist community of New York City.” (more…)

The New York Times profiles the work of curator Koyo Kouoh, who has built a reputation for bringing contemporary African Artists to the wider art world.  “She has always been somebody who was interested in much more than just contemporary art, and these are the strong people of today,” says Chris Dercon, director at the Tate Modern. “She is very interested in possible links, not only in other disciplines, especially literature, but also to have a much wider view of what visual art means, especially in Africa.” (more…)

The Dia Foundation is no longer planning on a new building project in Chelsea, the Art Newspaper reports, as new Director Jessica Morgan is pushing for a more active use of the Foundation’s existing space in the city.  “I want to be programming constantly in Chelsea again because it makes no sense to have this incredible real estate and to be renting it out,” Morgan says. “It’s essential that we have a presence in the city.” (more…)

London’s Royal College of Art has suspended admissions for the incoming year’s design interactions course due to a shortage of teaching staff for the program.  “Several tutors left this summer instead of working their notices until December,” says an anonymous alumnus. (more…)

The New Yorker profiles the Korean art group Tansaekhwa this week, as the group of post-war conceptualists prepare a selling exhibition of work split between Christie’s locations in New York and Hong Kong.  “I am unbelievably happy,” says included artist Ha Chong-Hyun. “I’m eighty-one years old. Back in the day, Koreans didn’t live this long. I shouldn’t be here. But to have this happen in my lifetime, I can’t be more thankful.” (more…)

Rhizome has appointed Zachary Kaplan as the organization’s new executive director.  “Zach is a proven leader and a passionate advocate for Rhizome’s mission. He brings a wealth of experience and a strong vision to this evolving organization, and we’re excited for him to shape the future of Rhizome,” says Greg Pass, the chairman of Rhizome’s board. (more…)

Banksy has announced that the materials from his Dismaland installation in Weston-super-Mare will be sent to migrants and refugee camps in Calais, France.  “All the timber and fixtures from Dismaland are being sent to the ‘jungle’ refugee camp near Calais to build shelters,” a statement on the artist’s site read. “No online tickets will be available.” (more…)

China’s economic slump and campaign against graft has many forecasting slow sales in the country’s once thriving art market, the SCMP reports, although those outside the secondary market remain optimistic.  “Now in fact is a better time because the speculators go away and we can focus on working with seasoned collectors and find new clients,”says Andy Hei, co-chairman and director of Fine Art Asia. “Prices will be more rational.” (more…)

An historic drought in Utah has brought water levels around Robert Smithson’s Spiral Jetty to their lowest point since 1963, a point which many familiar with the work state is part of the work’s execution.  “The current thinking by most is that Robert Smithson would have loved to see the environmental changes that occur around his artwork, so there is no real talk of intervention,” Bonnie Baxter, the director of the Great Salt Lake Institute. (more…)

Bloomberg looks ahead to the coming November auctions in New York, and previews the ongoing position battles the auction houses are taking as the secondary market continues to skyrocket.  “It is ruthless out there,” said Wendy Cromwell, an art adviser. “You need to do what you need to do in order to get the consignments you want.” (more…)

Soho nonprofit gallery Artists Space will temporarily suspend exhibitions while it sorts out a dispute with its landlords over construction work.  “The underlying agenda is to bully us until we move out,” says gallery executive Stefan Kalmár. “But that is not going to happen.” (more…)

Cheim & Read Partner Adam Sheffer has been appointed as the new president of the ADAA.  “As Chairman of The Art Show, Adam has been an especially important force in shaping the high standard of artistic quality and connoisseurship that distinguishes our fair each year,” said Linda Blumberg, ADAA’s executive director said in a statement. “And through his renowned leadership of Cheim & Read’s rigorous and dynamic program, Adam commands a great deal of respect from his colleagues, making him an ideal successor to Dorsey Waxter’s terrific work.” (more…)

The Whitney’s move to the foot of the Highline has resulted in double the number of visitors during the four month span than the museum saw in the previous year.  “People feel so strongly about the Whitney because it’s a museum that is very much in and of New York,” Museum President Adam Weinberg said. “The Whitney is a spirit, not a place.” (more…)

The French government has thrown its hand in the ring for the purchase of one of the two Rothschild Rembrandts currently offered for sale, part of an effort to split the works between the Netherlands and France, despite the Netherlands seeming desire to take both pieces.  “I’m still confident that we’re heading in the right direction,” says Dutch parliament leader Alexander Pechtold, who is working to secure the pieces. “The seller wants to keep them together and made an arrangement with the Rijksmuseum, so that’s the phase we’re in now.”
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The estate of Philip Guston is now represented by Hauser and Wirth, the New York Times reports.  The gallery will open its first show of the artist’s work in the spring, and was selected “especially because Iwan Wirth has been such a Guston enthusiast for years,” says Musa Mayer, Guston’s daughter. (more…)

An article in Fortune notes the increasing difficulty to authenticate works in the current market, as more and more collectors are willing to resort to litigation to intimidate and block the process.  “One year our legal bill ran up $7 million,” says Joel Wachs, the Warhol Foundation’s director. “The cost to defend them became so great, we got tired of giving money to lawyers. We’d rather be giving it to artists.”  (more…)

Hartwig Fischer has been appointed the new Director of the British Museum, making him the first foreign director in over 200 years.  He will replace the outgoing Neil MacGregor. (more…)

Harvard University has relaunched its Student Print Rental Program, allowing students to rent original prints by artists as impressive as Matisse and Picasso from the school collection, intended for hanging in dorms and student residences.”We want (students) to be inspired by it, to absorb something special in addition to what might already be going up on their walls,” says Jessica Diedalis, the curricular registrar at the Harvard Art Museums. (more…)