Sotheby’s reported net income of $85.7 million for the fourth quarter of 2018 today during a call with investors, marking a 12 percent increase over the $76.7 million earned during the same period in 2017.  (more…)

Artist David Hockney found himself trapped in an elevator yesterday in Amsterdam yesterday, after an overloaded carriage stopped between floors.  The artist was rescued by Dutch firefighters.  (more…)

French dealer Marc Labarbe will auction off the recently rediscovered Caravaggio painting Judith and Holofernes (ca. 1607), carrying a €150 million (about $171 million) estimate.  The work’s authenticity has been called into question in past years. (more…)

The Rothko Chapel in Houston will close for the first step of a $30 million restoration and campus expansion by Architecture Research Office. “We’re trying to restore the sanctity of the chapel, very close to what my father had intended for the space,” says Christopher Rothko, the artist’s son who is steering the building committee and capital campaign. (more…)

The Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art in Porto, Portugal has tapped former MOCA head Philippe Vergne as its next director. “Philippe Vergne brings to Serralves an extraordinary expertise in contemporary art and culture, as well as in museum management,” Serralves board president Ana Pinho said in a statement.  (more…)

Turkish-Kurdish artist Zehra Dogan has been released from a Turkish jail after 25 months.  Dogan was convicted of “spreading terrorist propaganda” according to a Turkish court.  “I was waiting for the day when my sentence would come to an end, I am very happy. I extend my thanks to every single person who supported me during this process,” Dogan said. (more…)

The exhibition of the Barack and Michelle Obama Portraits at the National Portrait Gallery has grown the museum’s attendance by leaps and bounds, with 1 million more tickets sold this past year than the year prior, the Washington Post reports.  “I thought this is the closest that I’ll probably ever get to [Obama], and of what he represented — hope and love and progress,” says attendee Kamilah Chambers of Katy, Tex. (more…)

Art News has a piece this week on Pace Gallery‘s recent experimentation with charging admission for its more immersive, digital installations at galleries in Beijing and Palo Alto. “We are pondering it,” says CEO Marc Glimcher. “We are trying to come up with an idea.” (more…)

Raymond Pettibon gets an interview in GQ this week, where he retraces his favorite baseball jerseys, discusses his time in Los Angeles. “Well I haven’t really been in LA for so long,” he says “It’s been ten years, maybe with a few trips in between, places like Bunker Hill are non existent anymore, or places like MacArthur Park have a different feel…so much has changed, at least this is what I‘ve heard.” (more…)

Ghana will participate for the first time this year in the Venice Biennale, opening a national pavilion featuring an impressive lineup of artists including John Akomfrah, El Anatsui, and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, among others.  “This is a historic moment for us in Ghana,” Catherine Afeku head of the nation’s Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture. “Arts and culture are the very soul of a nation, and with our maiden entry to the Venice Biennale, under the leadership of His Excellency, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, I can say, we have arrived.” (more…)

Following her sentencing for tax evasion, Mary Boone has announced she will close her gallery, Art News reports.  “I had 49 wonderful years in art,” she says. “If I’m going to be the Martha Stewart of the art world, I would hope to do it with the same humility, humor, grace, and intelligence that she did. I’m trying to be optimistic and see this as a learning experience.” (more…)

The full collection of sculpture in the holdings of the British Nation will be catalogued online, the Guardian reports. “The variety, the range, is just stunning and what is extraordinary is that it is going to be so much more global,” says Andrew Ellis, director of Art UK, the non-profit in charge of the project. “Paintings are predominantly a western European tradition but the sculpture collection we are bringing together is from across the world, and you can see that already. There are Buddhas, there are Hindu reliefs in Northampton from the 12th century and that is just the first thousand records.” (more…)

The State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg was evacuated on Thursday, February 21 due to a bomb threat, Artforum reports. A number of other institutions in the city received similar threats the same day. (more…)

A new report from SMU DataArts at Southern Methodist University in Dallas notes a drop in large institutions’ non-profit arts funding in recent years, Art News reports.  “With art museums you see a pretty sober picture,” says Zannie Voss, director of SMU DataArts. “If you look at size, small- and medium-size organizations saw an increase in returns on fund-raising over time. It was the large organizations that saw a decrease. What it says is that it’s the large institutions that are encountering the most struggle in this area.” (more…)

The Met has received a gift of ten 17th and 18th century works from Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia from Sao Paolo-based collector James Kung Wei Li. “These are outstanding examples of colonial-era Andean painting, and this gift is truly a turning point in our efforts to expand our holdings of Latin American art,” says director Max Hollein. (more…)

NYC Art dealer Todd von Ammon, formerly of Team Gallery, is relocating to Washington, D.C., Art News reports. “It’s my belief that openings of galleries often garner too much fanfare and the closings of galleries garner too much shame,” he says of the venture. “It’s a very unforgiving business model, and I think one that could be much more flexible than it currently appears.” (more…)

Collector and Felix co-founder Dean Valentine is profiled in the NYT this week, reflecting on his successful fair and his own collecting habits. “I learned a lot of what I know about art from hanging out with dealers in the mid-90s and asking them, ‘Why is this any good?’” the former president of Walt Disney Television and CEO of UPN said. (more…)

Swiss bank UBS has been fined €3.7 billion over alleged assistance in tax evasion for wealthy clients. The bank has been a partner with Art Basel since 1994. “Art Basel has a long-term partnership with UBS and continues working with UBS as its global lead partner,” a spokesperson said. (more…)

The New Art Dealers Alliance has added seventeen new galleries to its ranks, among them Mitchell Algus Gallery and 321 Gallery.  “Each of our new members exemplify NADA’s mission, and are great additions to our growing community,” says director Heather Hubbs. (more…)

MoMA PS1‘s M. Wells Dinette has announced its closure, to be replaced with a new venture by chef Mina Stone.  Stone is already a well-known name in the art world, regularly preparing meals for Urs Fischer’s studio. “I sit down, and like seeing a good work of art, I cannot do anything but enjoy it,” Fischer says of her food. “At times, her meals are true masterpieces! It’s like eating your favorite work of art. Shortly after, it’s all gone. Like a mirage.” (more…)

Artist Ai Weiwei has had his contribution to the film Berlin, I Love You, pulled after concerns over distribution in China. “It was infuriating to find our involvement had been erased,” Ai said on Deutsche Welle television. “The reason we were given for the episode’s removal was that my political status had made it difficult for the production team to secure further funding.” (more…)

The New York Times has a piece on the increasingly real possibility that Britain leave the EU without a deal, noting in particular the challenges it poses for London’s arts scene.  “If there is no deal, it means all shipments between Britain and the E.U. will be subject to customs clearance,” says Victor Khureya, executive operations director at Gander & White, a specialist fine-art shipping company, based in London. (more…)

Carla Pellegrini, the director of Italy’s Galleria Milano and a formative voice in the development of post-war Italian art, has passed away, Artforum reports. Pellegrini was one of the first to bring artists like George Baselitz, Sigmar Polke, Gerhard Richter, and more to the country, and continued to support young artists up until her death.  (more…)

The European Parliament has asked the European Commission to tighten its framework on cross-border restitutions for looted art and cultural goods. “The first priority is to get some attention focused on the topic, then to map areas where progress could be achieved at the European Union level,” says representative Pavel Svoboda. (more…)