A major work by artist Joseph Wright of Derby, Two Boys with a Bladder (1769-70), will leave the UK for the J. Paul Getty Museum after a buyer was unable to be found. “We look forward to sharing this spectacular painting with our visitors and scholars in the context of our other 18th-century collections,” says director Timothy Potts. (more…)
A gloomy portrait in the national collection of Norway has been authenticated as the work of Vincent Van Gogh, The Guardian reports. “The Oslo self-portrait depicts someone who is mentally ill,” a statement from the Van Gogh Museum reads. “His timid, sideways glance is easily recognizable and is often found in patients suffering from depression and psychosis.” (more…)
A dentist in Neuss, Germany is accused of trying to present 20 fake Picasso works as authentic, using fake certificates to sell them to auction houses. “If you see the Picasso estate and tell them these works fell from the sky or you picked them up from the bric-a-brac market, there is little chance anyone will believe you,” says a lawyer for Picasso’s son Claude Ruiz-Picasso. (more…)
The Guggenheim will open a major retrospective of the the work of Alex Katz in 2022, Art News reports. The show will be organized by Katherine Brinson, curator for contemporary art at the Guggenheim; Nancy Spector, artistic director and chief curator; and Levi Prombaum, a curatorial assistant who worked on the two part Robert Mapplethorpe show last year. (more…)
Ugo Rondinone, thanx 4 nothing (A Tribute to John Giorno) (Installation View), via Gladstone
When the poet John Giorno passed away late last year, he left behind a lifetime of artistic adventurism and exploration, a reputation for his tireless support of the arts and his energetic commitment to collaboration, connection and creativity. It makes sense then, that one of the first shows to celebrate the artist since his passing would be a collaboration with his husband, artist Ugo Rondinone, at Gladstone Gallery. Open now, the show features the artist’s captivating 2015 video piece thanx 4 nothing, (more…)
A painting discovered inside the walls of an Italian art gallery has been confirmed as a Gustav Klimt. “It’s with no small emotion that I can tell you the work is authentic,” Piacenza prosecutor Ornella Chicca said in a statement. (more…)
The new edition of Felix LA is set to open next month, with William J. Simmons taking on curating the special projects. “I was thinking through imagination at this time when we’re beleaguered by questions of identity,” Simmons says. “We’re all kind of afraid. Where is the optimism in all of this? Where is queer and feminism optimism in all of this? These are artists who are engaging with hope and fear and criticality — and more often than not, they turned out to be queer people, or women-identified artists, or both.” (more…)
Zoé Whitley, the current senior curator of London’s Hayward Gallery has been tapped as the new head of Chisenhale Gallery. “I’ve been inspired by Chisenhale Gallery’s program since I first became a curator,” Whitley said in a statement. “I’m honored to have been selected to lead its next chapter as director and excited by the challenges and possibilities for artistic collaborations to come.” (more…)
The Honolulu Biennial will switch to a triennial format for 2022, with Melissa Chiu, the director of Washington DC’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden taking on curator duties. “The Honolulu Biennial has had tremendous impact in Hawai’i in a very short period of time, and, in thinking about the opportunities ahead, the Honolulu Biennial Foundation unanimously agreed that a triennial format was the best platform for our future growth and success,” the foundation’s board of directors said in a statement. (more…)
Artists Tschabalala Self has an interview in Art News this week, giving the magazine a tour of her New Haven studio. “I think people expect me either to have this super noncritical admiration for black American pop culture tropes, which I don’t have, or to have this disdain for it, which I also don’t have,” she says of her work. “I’m someone who just has to absorb all of it. I’m not personally invested in attaching value judgments.” (more…)
The Park Avenue Armory and National Black Theatre has invited ten New York City cultural institutions for 100 Years | 100 Women, a project celebrating the 19th amendment to the US Constitution giving women the right to vote. The show will feature 100 women artists. “I expect a very lively, informative and massive gathering in our Drill Hall next May when the Armory, with National Black Theatre and our other amazing partner organizations, present to the public the micro-commissions of 100 women artists that reflect on the realities of conferred citizenry since the 19th Amendment was passed 100 years ago,” says Rebecca Robertson, the founding president and executive producer of Park Avenue Armory. “The chorus of the different artistic voices will no doubt offer many perspectives on where we have been and where we are going.” (more…)
Hong Kong real-estate tycoon Joseph Lau is the seller of David Hockney’s A Splash, which will go to auction at Sotheby’s London this February. Lau was sentenced to five years in prison for bribery and tax evasion but has avoided jail time by staying outside mainland China. (more…)
A group of artists are interviewed in MoMA’s magazine this week, discussing their relationships with the late John Baldessari. “It’s taken me about 40 years to realize that Baldessari’s studio was the model I’ve used to structure all of my subsequent studio spaces,” says Christopher Williams. (more…)
Following the controversy surrounding former employee Joshua Helmer, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney has called for the Philadelphia Museum of Art to revamp its personnel policies. “The [Kenney] Administration did express to PMA leadership that it should review and strengthen its policies regarding anti-fraternization and sexual harassment, and require training for all staff,” Kenney spokesperson Deana Gamble said. (more…)
The Church, a new residency program created by Eric Fischl and April Gornik has tapped Sara Cochran, former director and chief curator of the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art in Arizona, as the executive director and chief curator. “She contacted me to ask if I would find it awkward if she applied for the job, and of course it was quite the opposite—I was thrilled,” Fischl says. (more…)
Auction houses have been asked to submit proposals for the sale of the collection of Harry and Linda Macklowe a $700 million collection they were ordered to sell as part of divorce proceedings. The anticipated date for sale is this spring. (more…)
Ragen Moss, Senior Borrower (with Mezzanine Borrower) (2019), via Bridget Donahue
Currently on view at Bridget Donahue, artist Ragen Moss has hung an octet of peculiar hanging sculptures. Referred to at points as “couples” and as “animals,” the show seems to take on the atmosphere of animals moving about an enclosure, watched closely by the viewer to glimpse moments of personality and persona. The works, on view through the end of the month, offer a particularly impressive chance to observe and explore the nature of viewing, and the concept of nature itself. (more…)
Artist Tamara de Lempicka continues a market streak this winter as her piece Portrait de Marjorie Ferry heads to auction at Christie’s Impressionist and Modern Sale in London.“Tamara de Lempicka’s striking portraits came to symbolize the exuberance and freedom of the post-war society during the 1920s and early 30s,” says Keith Gill, the head of Impressionist & Modern Art evening sales at Christie’s. (more…)
Painter Henry Taylor has joined the roster at Hauser & Wirth, which will share representation with Blum & Poe. “After an incredibly fruitful 10 years of success together, Blum and Poe is pleased, going forward, to continue to do great work alongside Hauser & Wirth,” says Tim Blum. (more…)
Ceciliy Brown has been tapped as the next artist to present work at Blenheim Palace. “The idea of showing work in a stately home would never have occurred to me but I was invited to do it and I immediately thought ‘what a fabulous idea’ and ‘what fun’, really,” she says. “It is completely out there and different to anywhere else I’ve shown my work.” (more…)
Lothar Baumgarten, Tropenhäuser (Guayana), Conservatorie (Guayana) (1969-1972:2012), via Marian Goodman
Currently on view at Marian Goodman in New York, artist Lothar Baumgarten is the subject of a posthumous show focusing on a body of work he helped compile before his passing. “The Early Years” focuses on the formative works that shaped his oeuvre, and functions as an homage to one of the most important German artists who influenced a subsequent generation, not to mention an artist who has worked with the gallery since the 1980’s.
Lothar Baumgarten, Kosmos (1968), via Marian Goodman
Doryun Chong, deputy director and chief curator of the M+ Museum in Hong Kong gets a profile in Art News this week, as he prepares to open the space to the public. It is my vision, but it is also the natural consequence of the work we are doing that this is going to be a … multidisciplinary contemporary collection like no other in Asia,” he says. “No institution has come up with this sort of vision with the policy, resources, and infrastructure that is already there.” (more…)
One of Damien Hirst’s iconic pill cabinets is heading to auction, part of a selection of works by collector Robert Tibbles at Phillips next month. “I was shown good stuff, and I chose good stuff. The truth is, the valuations have always remained remarkably stable,” the collector says. “Ultimately, I had this epiphany and realized, actually, [the collection is] complete.” (more…)