The Guardian profiles a recent project by artist Emma Stibbon, whose work documents the results of climate change on landscapes previously depicted by famed landscape artists like JMW Turner. “When we think of the Alps,” she says, “we think of iconic white peaks. By the end of this century, there probably won’t be any snow.” (more…)

A protest in Paris by the Yellow Vests group led the Musée d’Orsay to close early on Saturday, Art News reports. The closures were caused by fierce clashes between protestors and police, which threatened passerby and visitors to the museum. (more…)

The Stedelijk Museum has issued a cryptic statement that it had come to an agreement with former director Beatrix Ruf “to leave the past behind.” Ruf will not return to her position, but “may however, be invited to be involved in a specific exhibition or in other museum projects, under the responsibility of a future, as yet unappointed, artistic director.” (more…)

Fashion and art collective Vaquera has been tapped by MoMA PS1 for one of its Sunday Sessions this year in Queens. “When MoMA asked us to do a Sunday Session, we were excited to do something new that would allow us to collaborate with a large group of non-fashion creatives. A free-form play seemed perfect,” the group said in a statement. (more…)

rchThe Guardian looks at the growing field of “research architecture,” and how its practitioners are redefining the line between art and architectural practice. “There’s this idea of really working as detectives,” says Lorenzo Pezzani, a professor at Goldsmith College’s Centre for Forensic Architecture.  (more…)

The increasing attention to African-American modernism has led to increased efforts at counterfeiting the work of artists like Romare Bearden, Alma Thomas and more. “It’s a whole generation: you could go from A to Z through the list, from Charles Alston to Charles White. I am seeing fakes attributed to all of them,” dealer Michael Rosenfeld says.“You simply can’t go back to the source any more, and there is only a handful of people who worked first-hand with a lot of these artists while they were alive,” he says.  (more…)

Christie’s will sell a series of works from the collection of dealer Richard L. Feigen this spring, Art Newspaper reports. Many of the works are expected to achieve record prices for the artists on sale. “Feigen has made countless and startling discoveries throughout his career and continues to champion the field of Old Masters,” says Francois de Poortere, head of Christie’s Old Masters department. “It is an honor to be offering several of his most cherished paintings.” (more…)

Hirshhorn Museum Board Chair Daniel Sallick has commented on the closure of the Smithsonian during the shutdown as a look at a “life without some of our essential culture.” “The lesson we kept returning to at the end of the day is that the public wants and needs our government to work,” he says.  “And that applies no less to government-sponsored cultural institutions.” (more…)

The 60-foot tall demon statue centerpiece from Damien Hirst’s Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable has been sold to the Palms Casino, Art News reports. While the sale price was not disclosed, the piece’s price tag in Venice was $14 million.  (more…)

The settlement of a lawsuit over the paintings of filmmaker and artist Derek Jarman has cleared the way for a major retrospective at the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA) in Dublin in November. “We don’t know Derek Jarman the painter, but that was his primary practice,” says Sean Kissane, the curator at IMMA.  (more…)

Phillips is planning to add a selling exhibition of African American artists to its calendar this winter, featuring work by Fred Wilson and Kehinde Wiley, among others.  “It gives proper recognition to these extraordinary artists of the mid-20th and early 21st centuries alongside their contemporaries,” says Arnold Lehman. (more…)

Lauren Wittels has been named a partner at Luhring Augustine, promoted up from her position as the gallery’s senior director. “Lauren’s contribution to the gallery program and her dedication to the artists and clients of the gallery certainly warrants such well-deserved recognition, and we congratulate her and look forward to many more fruitful years of collaboration,” says Roland Augustine, a co-owner of the gallery.  (more…)

Artist Nicola L., known for her feminist practice in sculpture, videos, and performances, has passed away at the age of 81.  Curator Ruba Katrib confirmed her passing.  “Nicola was dedicated to art and politics, never concerned with prescriptive modes of making,” Katrib said. “She embedded her singular vision into hybrid-forms of sculpture, painting, clothing, performance, furniture, and early interactive pieces, while also making films and writing plays.” (more…)

The Louvre has shattered all ticket office records last year with more than 10 million people viewing its collection, the result of foreign tourists and an added bump in visits following the release of a Beyoncé music video filmed at the museum.  (more…)

The Chinese nation’s persecution of its Uyghur peoples has led to a number of artists being imprisoned.  “So many have been taken away,” says Tahir Hamut, a Uyghur poet and film-maker who escaped to the US. “Most of the more famous cultural figures have all been arrested. Their families won’t say for certain, because their families are afraid.” (more…)

The latest victim of the US Government shutdown, the National Gallery of Art has shuttered, one day after the Smithsonian network of musuems, which includes the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden closed due to lack of funds. (more…)

The Municipality of Amsterdam has appointed four new supervisors to the board of the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, including Carla Aalse, Henriëtte Prast, Maarten Doorman, and Homme ten Have. “In the best interests of the museum, it is time to bring the recent turmoil to an end and start afresh,” interim board chair Madeleine de Cock Buning and Jos van Rooijen said in a letter, referring to the departure of former director Beatrix Ruf.  (more…)

A long-running legal battle in France over artist resale royalties has been decided in favor of Christie’s efforts to shift responsibility for payments to the buyer, after the Supreme Court allowed the auction house to charge the buyer of paintings at auction for the royalty rates.  “The Cour de Cassation handed down its decision on 9 November 2018 regarding the SNA case,” says a Christie’s spokesperson. “It agrees with the Christie’s France reasoning and overturns the judgments of the Court of Appeal of Versailles in this case.”  (more…)

The New York Times has a piece on the collection of Harlan and Olivia Fischer, which focuses heavily on the use of glass in sculpture. “When Olivia and I started collecting glass, the feeling was similar to how I felt in high school when I discovered jazz,” Harlan says. (more…)

The New York Times profiles Italy’s new, nationalist Government and its aggressive stance on promoting and defending its culture. “Being from the League, it’s our way of seeing the country, the society and the world,” Lucia Borgonzoni, Italy’s under secretary for culture, says. (more…)

The Art Newspaper profiles Hermitage Museum head Mikhail Piotrovsky and his efforts to spearhead cultural diplomacy through his museum.  “The last bridge to be blown up should be a cultural one,” he says. (more…)

Sister Wendy Beckett, the formerly cloistered Roman Catholic nun who became an international star for her BBC documentary series on art and art criticism, has passed away at the age of 88.“Nothing is more humiliating than being on television,” she said of herself, underscoring her humility and charm even in the face of her widespread recognition. “You make such a fool of yourself.” (more…)

One of Louise Bourgeois’s first large-scale Spider sculptures will leave its home in the atrium of the Museum of Modern Art in São Paulo for a tour of Brazilian art museums. The tour is designed as an effort to “democratize” the museum’s holdings, according to Eduardo Saron, the institute’s cultural director. (more…)

A group of four independent art dealers are opening a collaborative space in Brussels, Art News reports. La Maison de Rendez-Vous, as it is called, will be operated by LambdaLambdaLambda,  Lulu, Misako & Rosen and Park View/Paul Soto. “The project began with Paul [Soto, owner of Park View/Paul Soto] wanting to open a second space in Brussels, and then just developed momentum out of our time together in Buenos Aires and other cities,” the group said in a statement. “We also have similar approaches to programming which tends to be more curatorial than commercial. The fact that we all inhabit such different geographies and times zones is a bonus in terms of the diversity that we’ll naturally bring to the table.” (more…)