The Art News Top 200 Collectors list is out for 2021, featuring a range of collectors that includes actor Cheech Marin, Jeff Bezos and Roman Abramovich. (more…)

Artist Julie Mehretu will join the Whitney board, just the third artist in the museum’s history to do so. “The Whitney’s founder, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, believed that artists were essential to defining, challenging and expanding culture and that the museum should be a site where artists and audiences engaged openly with untested ideas,” says director Adam D. Weinberg. “Today, more than 90 years later, this history informs who we are and how we serve our public, and our trustees, along with our staff, help to ensure that we redouble our commitment to American art and artists.” (more…)

Work by artist Kerry James Marshall will replace two Confederate-themed stained-glass panels at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., the NYT reports. “It will have to be work that is able to synthesize a multiplicity of ideas and sentiments about what the country represents for all of us,” Marshall says. “There will be some kind of imagery that presents itself as an invitation to reflection on the meaning of America now.” (more…)

Korakrit Arunanondchai has an interview in Art Newspaper this week, as the artist opens a major show of his work at the Migros Museum in Zurich, where he reflects on the dense layering of cultural, personal and societal symbolism in his work. “I felt like I wanted to paint on denim because denim constantly signifies Western globalization and the soft power of America.” he says. “Today, one in seven people in the world have denim. It felt like that was the thread or the canvas I wanted to build my practice upon. But now I think the series has gone full circle, it goes back to my grandfather, to the idea of death, to the source of the fire itself.” (more…)

The Geneva public prosecutor has dropped a criminal investigation into the operations of Swiss art dealer Yves Bouvier, the NYT reports. “Although there are still some gray areas as to the legal nature of the relationship between the parties, even on the assumption that Yves Bouvier was the agent of the complainants, the objective constituent elements of the offense have not been met,” the ruling reads. (more…)

The Met will sell off more than 200 prints and photos from its collection to raise funds amid a budget shortfall caused by the pandemic. “The Museum approaches deaccessioning with the same degree of strategy and deliberation as we apply to acquisitions “It will take years until we can expect the full return of tourism revenue,” says director Max Hollien. (more…)

John Booth, the venture capitalist and major donor to the Tory party is the new chair of the National Gallery. “I’m delighted to take up this role as the National Gallery prepares to celebrate its 200th anniversary in 2024,” Booth says. “The gallery’s amazing collection, including so many of the world’s greatest paintings, belongs to the whole nation and we look forward to sharing it afresh with visitors as we emerge from the pandemic, and as we continue to grow our international digital presence.” (more…)

As the Fondation Louis Vuitton prepares to show the collection of Russian brothers Ivan andMikhail Morozov. “Without this collaboration and huge program of restoration, it was impossible to organize the exhibition,” says advisor Jean-Paul Claverie. (more…)

Faith Ringgold will have her first New York retrospective at the New Museum in 2022.  (more…)

The Museum of Contemporary Art has announced that Johanna Burton will now serve as the sole and first female director of the museum, as Klaus Biesenbach heads to Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin. “We congratulate Klaus on the honor of being appointed as the director of the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin,” reads a MOCA statement. “We wish him the best and thank him for his contributions to MOCA.” (more…)

After a sit-down between the mayor of Amsterdam and the heirs of a Jewish owner of a Kandinsky work hanging in the the Stedelijk, the city has announced it will return the work to the family. “This is a historic injustice that is being put right,” says the family’s lawyer, Simon van der Sluijs. (more…)

Beijing’s UCCA Center for Contemporary Art will open a new location in the Sichuan province of Chengdu, the Art Newspaper reports.  “Chengdu is one of the most exciting and rapidly growing cities in China and we have been closely following its development and accomplishments in the arts in recent years,” says UCCA director and chief executive Philip Tinari.  (more…)

Johanna Burton has been named the new executive director of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. “MOCA’s artist-centered mission dovetails with my own commitment to creating platforms that foster artistic innovation and emphasize deep connections to audiences,” she says in a statement. “By pursuing these goals and supporting the efforts of MOCA’s team, I’m looking forward to extending the museum’s legacy while strengthening bonds both within the institution and with the public.” (more…)

The Art Newspaper reports on the increasingly strict restrictions on travel into Switzerland for Art Basel this year, and the increasing pressure to postpone or cancel the event.  (more…)

Gallerists Dominique Lévy, Brett Gorvy, Amalia Dayan and Jeanne Greenberg Rohatyn will join forces to create LGDR, a project working as a consortium to organize shows and represent artists. “We’ve been looking at ourselves in the mirror and trying to understand who we are and what is the best way to address our clients,” says Gorvy. “What is the business model that is appropriate? We don’t have to do everything, but we can do anything.” (more…)

The Banksy piece that shredded itself shortly after sale in 2018 will go back under the hammer at Sotheby’s, The Guardian reports, offered with a  £4-6m estimate.  (more…)

Gallerist David Kordansky and artist Mindy Shapero give W Magazine a tour of their Los Feliz home, showcasing their collection of art and furniture. “I think Dave would be happy if all the walls were white,” Shapero says. “He wants the art to sing, right? I want the art to sing too, but along with everything else.” (more…)

The Mayor of Amsterdam is in talks with the descendants of the former owner of a Kandinsky painting, who are seeking to reclaim the work from the Stedelijk. (more…)

Artist Julien Nguyen has an interview this month in the New York Times, discussing his work and how video games like Starcraft informed his practice. “You’re building your empire and conquering different parts of the world or space,” he says. “I wanted to become a concept artist who designs all the characters and spaceships and buildings.” (more…)

Artist Lee Young-chul is the first name tapped to represent South Korea at next year’s Venice Biennale.“It is not known whether more artists will join the Korean Pavilion. It is up to the artistic director,” an official said. “But it is rare for a single artist to represent the pavilion.”
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Artist Barbara Kruger has an interview on Art Newspaper this week, discussing her work, projects, and the current zeitgeist.  “Thank God I’m an artist and not an internet or TikTok or movie star,” she says. “Any time I go to a gala, all those people are fighting to get on the red carpet, but the photographers don’t give a flying fuck about artists.” (more…)

As U.S. troops leave Afghanistan, and the country prepares for the rise of the Taliban, museums and collections are bracing for threats to their collections.  “We didn’t expect this to happen so quickly,” said Noor Agha Noori, head of Afghanistan’s Institute of Archaeology in Kabul.  (more…)

Sotheby’s will sell 11 Picasso works owned by MGM Resorts, estimated at a combined value of around $100m.“We are committed to creating an even more inclusive collection that maintains the breadth of our existing portfolio while giving a greater voice to artists from underrepresented communities,” says Ari Kastrati, the chief hospitality officer of MGM Resorts. (more…)

Stefan Kalmár will leave his position as director of London’s Institute of Contemporary Arts, a post he’s held since 2016. “Directorships should never be for life—fixed tenures should be the norm not the exception,” he said. (more…)