The UK’s National Trust will cut 1,296 jobs in an attempt to save £100 million in the face of the ongoing challenges of the coronavirus pandemic.  “In July, we announced that job losses and budget cuts were inevitable after almost every aspect of the charity’s income was hit by the coronavirus crisis,” a trust statement reads. “We proposed making almost 1,200 compulsory redundancies, saving £60m of our annual staff budget. But following a wide-ranging consultation with affected staff, the number of compulsory job losses has reduced by half.” (more…)

Billionaire Tom Gores, owner of U.S. prison phone company Securus Technologies, has left his position as trustee at LACMA. “Paraphrasing a salient question at last week’s board meeting: ‘Okay Tom, we appreciate your efforts to “take the hill” and reform Securus. But why does LACMA have to take the hill with you?’ The simple answer is: You don’t,” he said in a letter to the museum. “Effective immediately, I resign my position on the board and forego all ties to the institution.” (more…)

The Museum of Chinese in America, previously the victim of a savage fire in its Chinatown exhibition space, has recevied a $3 million grant from the Ford Foundation, which is more than the entire year’s budget for the museum. “This is an absolute game changer for us,” says museum president Nancy Yao Maasbach. (more…)

Nancy Spector has left the Guggenheim, following an investigation into allegations of mistreatment and racism from curator Chaédria LaBouvier, who organized a Basquiat exhibition at the museum as their first solo black curator.   “The museum cannot be taken seriously as a good faith actor in its commitment to affirming diversity,” the letter said, “without grappling honestly and humbly with its failure in regards to the treatment of Chaédria LaBouvier.” (more…)

Artist Frank Bowling has been knighted by the Queen of England, part of her annual birthday honor’s list. “Trained in the English art school tradition, my identity as a British artist has always been crucial to me and I have viewed London as my home since arriving in 1953 from what was then British Guiana,” Bowling says. “To be recognized for my contribution to British painting and art history with a knighthood makes me extremely proud.” (more…)

Gagosian has launched a new project, Gagosian Premieres, which aims to capitalize on the recent popularity of auctions and streaming media during the challenging era of COVID-19. (more…)

François Pinault has set the opening date for his Bourse de Commerce museum for January 23, 2021. “Not only will it add to the European landscape of institutions devoted to presenting contemporary art, but after the difficult year experienced by France and the world in 2020, it will contribute to the renaissance of the Parisian cultural sphere,” he says. (more…)

Bloomberg looks at the sale of a Botticelli work in the upcoming January Old Masters Sales at Sotheby’s, expected to fetch $80 million, and how the owner’s private foundation has saved him tens of millions in capital gains taxes.  “He donated it and got a large deduction which sheltered his income,” says Ralph Lerner, co-author of Art Law – The Guide for Collectors, Investors, Dealers and Artists. “And now his foundation will have all this money tax-free while satisfying its charitable purpose.” (more…)

Artist Charles Gaines has created a fellowship for black MFA Students at CalArts, where he has been a longtime member of the faculty. “I have spent my whole teaching career at CalArts working—not alone but with others—on diversity and inclusion in order to increase the presence of the minority voice in society,” Mr. Gaines says.  (more…)

TEFAF has extended the delay for its 2021 edition, moving it once again from March to May as COVID-19 concerns continue to mount. “It is our hope that by pushing the dates of TEFAF Maastricht to later in the spring, we make physical attendance possible, safe, and comfortable for our exhibitors and guests,” says chairman Hidde van Seggelen. “The safety of our TEFAF community is our utmost priority as we fulfill our commitment to inspiring art lovers, collectors, and institutions, while simultaneously doing our part to cultivate an adaptable art market in which our dealers can thrive.”  (more…)

London’s Cromwell Place, a new, customized arts venue for exhibitors and arts professionals, gets a spotlight in the NYT this week.  “I like the built-in industry flexibility,” says David Maupin, co-founder of Lehmann Maupin. “It provides a space we can do a multitude of things with.” (more…)

Marina Abramovic has an interview in The Guardian this week, showcasing her small home upstate and speaking on a range of topics, including her relationship with the late Ulay, her longtime collaborator. “It’s really easy to say you can forgive someone, but to really forgive with your whole heart is the hardest thing in the world,” she says. “But truly, I forgave him in the deepest way. We had made some incredible, important work. When it was wonderful, it was wonderful; when it was hell, it was hell.”  (more…)

Following multiple delays, Berlin’s long-awaited Humboldt Forum museum complex will open in December.  Its main program will launch a few months later. (more…)

Dana Schutz is now represented by David Zwirner Gallery, moving on from Petzel Gallery to join the mega-gallery.  She will continue to show with Thomas Dane in London. (more…)

Architect Peter Zumthor gets a profile in The New Yorker this week, as discussions continue over his controversial redesign of LACMA. “You can feel I am alone, with very few people supporting me,” he says. “I don’t have the right education, or I refuse to have the right education.” (more…)

Dealer Linda Givon, the founder of Johannesburg’s Goodman Gallery, has passed away at the age of 84. “She was a rock in her championship of liberated voices, pens, cameras, pencils, and brushes, and the role of art in a new South Africa,” says Neil Dundas, senior curator at the gallery. “Her influence will be felt for a very long time and her legacy is enormous and shall be treasured by many.” (more…)

A piece in the NYT this week reports on a challenging work at the New Museum, noting low pay, low morale, and questionable ethics in major decisions. “There was very much an ends-justify-the-means approach to what staff were asked to do in the name of realizing some very ambitious exhibitions,” says former director of exhibitions management director Sam Rauch. “And there is no question it takes a toll.” (more…)

Kaywin Feldman, director of the National Gallery of Art, Washington DC, speaks up on the delay of the Philip Guston show announced this past month, noting a focus on including black voices in the planning of the show’s new form. “Number one in today’s America—because Guston appropriated images of black trauma—[is that] the show needs to be about more than Guston. And we weren’t prepared for that. And that’s one of the reasons why I just want to pause and just think about what that means. Also, related [to this], an exhibition with such strong commentary on race cannot be done by all white curators. Everybody involved in this project is white,” she says. “We definitely need some curators of color working on the project with us. I think all four museums agree with that statement.” (more…)

Ai Weiwei is interviewed in The Guardian this week, discussing new work and the public reaction to Donald Trump’s contraction of COVID-19. “People were just laughing and celebrating on social media,” he said. “The attitude was, ‘You lose, Trump!’ It is so sad that a nation has been brainwashed to that degree. They take the relationship with America so personally, and yet they have no understanding left about common human feeling. That is what an authoritarian regime can do by limiting the information the public get: brainwash people so they do not feel that way any more.” (more…)

In an effort to maintain solvency, London’s Royal Opera House will sell a David Hockney portrait of the late Sir David Webster at auction. “This was a really tough call,” says Alex Beard, the ROH’s chief executive. “But we have to face the situation we are in and if we can remain viable and get through this, then we can get back to employing people in the future.” (more…)

In a first major test, the Venice flood barriers were able to hold water from flooding during “acqua alta.” “We found a difficult situation and slowly, slowly we’ve been able to resolve things,” says Giuseppe Fiengo, one of the commissioners who have overseen the project since 2014. “The important thing is that today, for the first time, with high water, Venice didn’t flood.” (more…)

The Whitney has postponed the next edition of the Whitney Biennial to 2022. “We wanted to make sure artists had the space and time they needed to do their best work,” says chief curator Scott Rothkopf. (more…)

The Centre Pompidou is facing a possible three year closure for essential maintenance. “No substantial work has been done on the building since it opened in 1977,” says president Serge Lasvignes. “There are two hypotheses: either we do [the refurbishment] by closing it completely and it will last three years. [Or] we stay open and it will last seven years. But this poses additional problems, including that of asbestos removal.” (more…)

MoMA PS1’s chief curator Peter Eleey will step down at the end of the year.  “The many impacts of the pandemic—on the museum, on the city, and on all of us—have moved me to think about the next chapters in my work and my life, and I have decided to step down as Chief Curator at the end of the year,” he says. (more…)