Mary Beard has been rejected from a trusteeship at the British Museum over perceived “pro-Europe” views. “This is an absolute scandal. The trustees of the British Museum exist to protect its intellectual, academic and political independence,” says fellow trustee Sir John Tusa. “Government interference in putting in placemen or placewomen is a corruption of public life. Will any Remainer now expect to be punished by the government?” (more…)

As coronavirus fears amplify, a number of major museums in Japan will close for the following weeks, with The Mori Art Museum closed from February 29 to March 13. (more…)

Painter Mary Lovelace O’Neal gets a profile in the NYT this week. as she opens her first solo show in NYC in over 20 years.  “I’m reluctant to call myself an abstract expressionist or a minimalist,” she says. “I call myself a painter. What I can do is paint and make things that are powerful. Galleries want to codify you. Every time you move away from the doctrine, you get questioned. Being unruly is my nature. As for doctrinaire, I had to blow it up.” (more…)

The LA Times has published a selection of readers’ comments on the LACMA teardown plan, showcasing the institution’s opposition to its new plan.  “LACMA signed an agreement with the Ahmanson Foundation long ago, and I don’t blame the foundation one bit for not going along with LACMA’s new plan,” one reader writes. “To me it seems like LACMA wants to make the museum more like a website or theme park ride.” (more…)

Collector Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo has dropped plans for an arts complex in the Madrid area of Matadero.  “The feasibility studies carried out by the architects David Adjaye and Arturo Franco led to the conclusion that it was not possible to convert Matadero’s Nave 9 into an exhibition space to the [quality] standards we believe are essential for a contemporary art venue,” she says. “The fundamental reasons are to do with the existing structural problems of the building itself, that cannot be solved.” (more…)

Judy Francis Zankel, a trustee and and secretary of the Cooper Hewitt board who resigned following the dismissal of Caroline Baumann, has notified the Smithsonian that she has removed the institution from her will. “I find your treatment of Caroline Baumann to be unconscionable and disgraceful,” she wrote. (more…)

The Louvre has temporarily closed over concerns of coronavirus in Paris, Art News reports.  “The museum is currently implementing (or has implemented) all measures recommended by competent authorities to protect agents and visitors,” a spokesperson says. (more…)

A Mark Rothko from the estate of Donald Marron sold for about $70 million, Bloomberg reports.   The sales mark an initial flurry since it was announced that the Marron family would bypass the auction houses and sell directly through Gagosian, Pace and Acquavella. (more…)

Ulay

Performance artist Ulay has passed away after a battle with lymphatic cancer this week in Ljubljana, Slovenia, aged 76. (more…)

Luhring Augustine will open its new space in Tribeca on May 1st, a 3,500 square foot space on White Street.  The inaugural exhibition will showcase a selection of sculptures and works on paper by the late Lucia Nogueira.  (more…)

Grayson Perry has won the prestigious Erasmus Prize, one of the Netherlands’ highest honors. “I always love a medal. I’ll probably design an outfit to match,” he said.  (more…)

The 2020 Getty Medal, the highest honor given by the J. Paul Getty Trust, will go to philanthropist Alice Walton, artist Martin Puryear, and scholar Kwame Anthony Appiah. “The Getty Medal recognizes excellence and impact in cultural areas that help expand our understanding and appreciation of the world around us,” says David Lee, chair of the Getty Board of Trustees. “This year we are thrilled to honor three influential and transformative leaders.” (more…)

Brazilian collector and mining magnate Bernardo Paz has been cleared of charges in a money laundering case, Art News reports.  “I’m glad the truth came out and for being officially exonerated,” he says. “Now I hope to be able to focus my attention exclusively on my companies and on art, which is what really matters to me.” (more…)

Van Gogh’s Sunflowers are currently being held in quarantine in Japan, after part of a traveling exhibition of works was held due to museum closures in the country. “We are consulting closely with our partners … we hope that the exhibition will be able to open on 17 March 2020, or as soon as possible after that,” a statement from the loaning institution, London’s National Gallery reads. (more…)

Carla Accardi at Andrew Kreps and Bortolami, via Art Observed

The first entry in what’s sure to be a bustling week spanning the end of February and start of March in New York, the ADAA Art Show has opened its doors at the Park Ave armory again this week, offering an early start on the mass of exhibitors opening across the city in the days to come.  With its usual focus on tightly-curated programming and laser-focused booth concepts, the show once again offering an impressive opening note on the week, with packed hallways and excited buyers buzzing about the aisles.

Paul Fagerskiold at Peter Blum, via art Obsered

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A piece in Art News looks at recent research into the provenance of the Elgin Marbles, and asks if Britain committed fraud to claim legal ownership of the pieces. “The more I dug into the issue, the more I began twitching,” says David Rudenstine, a constitutional law professor at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University. “The British position just didn’t sound right.” (more…)

Artist Haegue Yang is profiled in the NYT, discussing recent work at MoMA and her busy work schedule. “What comes along with the intensity of the work is you almost lose yourself,” she says. “I think the confusion is good to have.” (more…)

A group of experts charged with evaluating works for loan at the Uffizi Gallery have quit en masse over the decision to send a Raphael work to Rome. “Keeping us busy for months drafting lists which are then ignored undermines the very existence of the committee,” reads an open resignation letter. “We think that the mass resignation of the scientific committee of Italy’s most important museum makes a rethink inevitable, and a redefinition of the role of the scientific committees in the management of autonomous museums.” (more…)

João Ribas has been as hired executive director and vice president for cultural partnerships at REDCAT in Los Angeles. “João brings a deep practice of working directly with artists on presenting new work and has been a great champion of free expression and diversity, values made important to him from his own experience growing up as an immigrant in Newark, N.J.,” says CalArts President Ravi Rajan. (more…)

Artist Michael Rakowitz will install a sculpture on the shores of Margate, featuring a soldier pointing an accusatory finger towards Parliament.  “The sculpture in Margate points towards [the UK] Parliament and the Foreign Office, where the decision to invade Iraq was made, and where these veterans who are now peace activists feel their moral injury began,” Rakowitz says. (more…)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has altered the provenance of The Rape of Tamar, attributed to the French artist Eustache Le Sueur, noting the work was owned by a Jewish art dealer, Siegfried Aram, who fled Germany, and who claimed that the work had been taking illegally by businessman Oskar Sommer. “We updated the online provenance information, with the confirmation that the painting in dispute between Aram and Sommers was the same as the Met’s,” the museum said in a statement. (more…)

The Louvre’s blockbuster Leonardo da Vinci drew 1,071,840 visitors over its four month run, doubling its previous attendance record of 540,000 visitors.  “It is wonderful that, 500 years after his death, an artist of the Italian Renaissance continues to fascinate the general public so much,” says Jean-Luc Martinez, the Louvre’s president. (more…)

A former director of Mary Boone Gallery has filed a lawsuit alleging that the dealer and her companies engaged in an “unlawful scheme” involving the sales of a number of works and a failure to pay profits to the director as agreed. “Our client, James Oliver, who worked dutifully for Ms. Boone and Mary Boone Gallery for over 24 years, was deceived and divested of significant sums from Ms. Boone’s allegedly improper and unlawful conduct,” says lawyer Brett Gallaway. (more…)

Sotheby’s will sell 26 works from the collection of renowned West Coast collectors Harry “Hunk” and Mary Margaret “Moo” Anderson, including Clyfford Still’s 1947-Y-No.1 valued at $25 million–$35 million. The works will go on sale this May in New York. (more…)