A piece in the Art Newspaper this week asks why the British Museum is still accepting money from Big Tobacco.  “The cigarette companies have never begged art museums to take their money—just the opposite is true,” says Alan Blum, the director of the Center for the Study of Tobacco & Society at the Univeristy of Alabama. “Arts organizations beat a path to Philip Morris and thus in my opinion should be considered full collaborators in the burnishing of the company’s image.” (more…)

The NYT has a piece this week on Da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi, which was intended to anchor the collection of the Louvre Abu Dhabi, but which has not been seen since its purchase. “It is tragic,” says Dianne Modestini, a professor at New York University’s Institute of Fine Arts and a conservator who has worked on Salvator Mundi.  “To deprive the art lovers and many others who were moved by this picture — a masterpiece of such rarity — is deeply unfair.” (more…)

The NYT has a profile on Mary Boone this week, her rise to power, and her current jail sentence for tax evasion. “We used to say that Mary brought the uptown gallery downtown,” says Eric Fischl. “She knew she was showing artists whose work was going to become expensive, she knew the idea of bohemian SoHo was over, and she knew that the relationship the arts had to the media was changing, and that this element of glamour was going to be a part of the telling of the story of art and artist. For good or for worse.” (more…)

Mere hours after artist JR’s installation at The Louvre went on view, his paper covering over the museum’s glass pyramid has been torn to shreds. “The images, like life, are ephemeral,” he posted online about the damage to the work. “Once pasted, the art piece lives on its own. The sun dries the light glue and with every step, people tear pieces of the fragile paper. The process is all about participation of volunteers, visitors, and souvenir hunters.” (more…)

Manhattan dealers Nicelle Beauchene and Franklin Parrasch will collaborate on a new project space called Parts & Labor in Beacon, New York, Art News reports. “It’s definitely a collaboration,” Beauchene says. “It’s super flexible, and we want everyone to feel good.” (more…)

Artist KAWS has demolished his previous auction record after selling a work at The sale featured pieces from the collection of streetwear magnate Nigo, which achieved around $28 million, across 33. (more…)

One of Francis Bacon’s iconic “screaming popes” will go on sale at Sotheby’s New York on May 16th, The Guardian reports, carrying an estimate of upwards of $20 million. It is being sold from the collection of Seattle couple Richard Lang and Jane Lang Davis. (more…)

A piece in Vanity Fair this week charts the battle between Larry Gagosian and David Zwirner over the Franz West estate, and the messy “We bumped into each other a couple of times, but there was no love lost on either side after he left,” Zwirner says of his prior working relationship with the artist. (more…)

The exhibition of Kaws’s Companion floating in the harbor of Hong Kong has been cancelled after inclement weather. “After a week of relaxing time at the Victoria Harbour Hong Kong, Companion thanks all fans for visiting, with special gratitude to the marine staff who have worked and safeguarded Companion 24-7 non-stop at the harbor,” says curator Lam Shu-kam. (more…)

The Frick Museum has added four new members to its board.  “The Frick will greatly benefit from the strong professional and philanthropic experiences of our new Trustees, all of whom are generous supporters and active members of the institution,” says Ian Wardropper, the director of the Frick. “I look forward to working with them more closely through what promises to be a critical and rewarding time for us.” (more…)

Filmmaker Agnès Varda, whose work has long explored the nuances of humanity, has passed away at the age of 90. “I have been a photographer, then I turned into a filmmaker, then I turned into a visual artist,” Varda said of her career, and her ever-shifting oeuvre.  (more…)

Artist Natalie Frank has joined Salon 94, Art News reports. “[Salon 94′ has such an incredible legacy of working with women artists and artists of color and artists with working narrative, both personal and political,” Frank says. (more…)

A blockbuster Van Gogh show at The Tate Britain is under pressure from foundering Brexit negotiations, as British and Dutch governments work to assure the show’s lenders that their works would not be subject to hefty import taxes when they are shipped back from the UK following a possible no-deal Brexit. “Going to the UK was never a problem, but some museums were a bit concerned – would their works be able to come back?” a Dutch government source says. “They wanted guarantees that they would have their works back in time, and without having to pay high import taxes.” (more…)

A painting believed to be a copy of a Botticelli piece has been authenticated as an original produced by the artist’s workshop, The Guardian reports. “Botticelli is very recognizable, and if you know even a little bit about art history, you would look at this painting and say, that’s a Botticelli,” says Rachel Turnbull, English Heritage’s senior collections conservator. “But, for sure, there are things out there that purport to be a Botticelli and probably aren’t. So we just wanted to be very careful about what we were saying.” (more…)

A piece in the NYT spotlights The Shed’s potential contributions to New York, and how it can help improve conditions for the city’s artists. “What the city also needs is less the creation of new spaces and more a reorientation toward funding what might fill the ample range of stages we already have,” says writer Zachary Woolfe. “We need a revision of what cultural giving means: Artists creating new work should be the primary beneficiaries of extended support, not buildings.” (more…)

The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden has acquired Yayoi Kusama’s reconfigured version of her first Infinity Mirror Room, Phalli’s Field, Art Newspaper reports.  The museum hosted a number of the artist’s Infinity Rooms in a recent blockbuster show. “The exhibition had such an impact on the museum, and we began to think about adding something to the collection,” says Director Melissa Chiu.  (more…)

The 99% Invisible podcast this week discusses Barnett Newman’s Who’s Afriad of Red, Yellow and Blue II, a painting famed for eliciting violent reactions from viewers, including one man who slashed the piece. “At the time people would write really long and elaborate letters to say how much they hated this painting,” says filmmaker Barbara Visser.  (more…)

Highlights from the collection of S.I. Newhouse will head to Christie’s New York this spring, 11 works expected to tally $130 million. “He had the best eye and the best collection of postwar paintings ever put together,” said his friend David Geffen, “I bought a lot of it.” (more…)

Attendance at Britain’s cultural institutions grew by nearly 9% last year despite a decrease in numbers of overseas tourists, The Guardian reports.  “Our assumption is that the biggest growth here has been in us Brits going to more museums, galleries and visitor attractions across the UK. The really big growth stories have been in the regions of the UK, particularly Northern Ireland, Liverpool and Birmingham, which is absolutely brilliant,” says Bernard Donoghue, the director of the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions. (more…)

MoMA PS1 has settled with curator Nikki Columbus after the curator claimed the museum rescinded a job offer after she had a child. “What happened to me was wrong and clearly against the law,” Columbus said in a statement. “I decided to speak out in order to protect other women at MoMA PS1 and beyond.” (more…)

Renowned art crimes detective Arthur Brand has handed Pablo Picasso’s 1938 painting Portrait of Dora Maar back to investigators, a work stolen from a yacht off the coast of France in 1999, and which Brand has tracked for almost 15 years.  “[Contacts] told me, ‘It’s in the hands of a businessman who got it as payment, and he doesn’t know what to do with it,’” Mr. Brand said in an interview. “I talked to the two guys and we made a plan to get it out of his hands.” (more…)

Algeria has “deferred” its first-time participation in the Venice Biennale until 2021, citing financial and preparatory problems, according to the Art Newspaper.  “In the context of the annual financial support of the Ministry of Culture […], the commission charged with examining the financing of cultural and cinematographic events has decided to defer […] Algeria’s participation in the 58th Biennale of Contemporary Art in Venice […] due to the closeness of the date of this cultural meeting and preparation imperatives,” a statement reads. “The commission has also recommended that the best conditions be gathered for Algeria’s preparation in the next edition of this international event in 2021.” (more…)

Thomas J. Lax has been promoted to a new position as curator of performance and media art at MoMA, Art News reports. “I am thrilled to be named curator at this vital moment, when MoMA is asking renewed questions about how art matters in the world and in our everyday lives,” he says. “I look forward to working closely with artists, collaborating with museum colleagues, and contributing to a history of modern and contemporary art animated by black feminist thought.” (more…)

Purdue Pharma and members of the Sackler family have settled a lawsuit with the state of Oklahoma, paying $275 million. The news comes just one day after the Sackler Trust announced that it would “temporarily pause” giving gifts to museums and other institutions.  (more…)