The heirs of Piet Mondrian are claiming ownership of four paintings in the Kaiser Wilhelm Museum in Krefeld, the New York Times reports. “Museums should have done provenance research on all the paintings in their collection,” says Sally Yerkovich, a professor of museum ethics at Columbia University in New York. “If they have items of unclear provenance, they should publish these gaps.” (more…)
The Polish art world is staging a call for a massive demonstration against fascism, lead by an international exhibition decrying far-right politics. “In the face of increasingly frequent attacks on people with different colors of skin [and] in the context of the brutal contempt demonstrated towards minorities—the National Museum in Krakow has an important mission to fulfill,” the group wrote in an open letter to the director and vice director of the institution. “[You have] a chance to play an important role in educating Polish society,” an open letter reads. (more…)
Artist Pope.L gets a profile in the NYT this week, as he continues to push politically and socially resonant subjects with his work, explored here through his project bottling and reselling water from Flint, Michigan. “I believe there is something aesthetic about being socially engaged, being involved in your community,” he says. “There’s a beauty to making work that interacts with people, and I think there’s a way to describe and talk about it — and to do it well.” (more…)
Downtown gallery Regina Rex has closed its doors, adding another space to the list of dealers abandoning spaces in Manhattan. “It was a great pleasure and privilege to be a part of that community for three years,” the gallery said in a statement. (more…)
Tomas Saraceno at Tanya Bonakdar, via Art Observed
The early weeks of March in New York are notoriously packed with art. There’s the usual string of exhibitions and openings, coupled with the ever-growing number of art fairs taking up space across the city during Armory Art Week. With that in mind, it’s no wonder that the ADAA might look outside this marathon week in hopes of reaching a broader fair-going public. That gambit seems to have paid off this year, as the ADAA Art Show opened its doors at the end of February, setting itself apart from the mass of exhibitors opening their doors in the coming days. (more…)
Wolfgang Tillmans is featured in The Guardian this month, as the artist promotes his new project What Is Different?, which reflects on the current state of the world, and modern political conditions. “We have known for some time that there are people who feel drawn to esoteric conspiracy theories,” he says. “What is new, however, is that hard facts are no longer believed by wide segments of the population. During the past two years, I have come to realize that if 30% of the electorate are resistant to rational argument, we are on a slippery slope.” (more…)
Sophie Kitching, Ausblick (2018), Rasmus Søndergaard Johannsen, LL 31012018 (2018), installation view -46,08°, fffriedrich, photo by Robert Schittko
The night sky, with the reflecting light of the full moon or the gloom of the new moon, offers a polarity of attraction and rejection that not only affects natural phenomena like high and low tide but also works as a mirror for the contemplation of basic human dispositions. Gazing into the stars, the astronomical objects or their formal representation, comes from the curiosity to see what lies beneath the surface of things. This ability to go beyond the boundaries of time, space and fiction, and the fascination for the infinity of the outer space has been a constant source of inspiration for artists.
-46,08°, fffriedrich, installation view
Frankfurt-based project space fffriedrich presents such parallel visual worlds in the exhibition ‘-46,08°’ featuring works by Rasmus Søndergaard Johannsen, Sophie Kitching and Anselm Schenkluhn. For all three artists, the moon and the stars function as symbols, become subjects of iconographical experiments or are actively implicated in their creative process. The works on view move between personally and scientifically oriented approaches and explore various craft techniques in their artistic development. Presence and absence, shadow, illusion and dissolution are recurring concepts in their work.
Mexico City powerhouse Kurimanzutto will open a project space in New York, Art News reports. “The opening of our project space in New York marks an essential development for our growing family of artists as a meeting point for their ideas,” Mónica Manzutto says. “With this new project we seek to establish even stronger connections to institutions, artists, and art professionals who have accompanied us across our evolution.” (more…)
As The Met transitions to charging admission fees, the New York Times speaks to a range of artists over its change in policy. “When I lived in New York in the 1980s, economically it was very bad for me. But I would come to the Met all the time and pay a penny,” says Ai Weiwei. “And when I could afford to I paid more. When I was back in China, I would very proudly show them this pay-as-you-wish policy as an example of what was positive about the U.S., that even in this capitalistic society, there was a door, a light.” (more…)
Barbara Gladstone has joined the board of Artists Space, Art News reports. “2018 will be a big year building up to [moving into] the new building,” says executive director and chief curator Jay Sanders. “Barbara comes at the perfect time. Her skill set and expertise in building careers and working with artists is so apropos to some of the things we are doing right now. She has immediately been incredibly helpful.” (more…)
Pablo Picasso, Femme au beÌret et aÌ€ la robe quadrilleÌe (Marie-TheÌreÌ€se Walter) (1937), via Sotheby’s
The first tests of the Impressionist and Modern market for 2018 are now in the books, as Sotheby’s capped a brief but action-packed sale this evening in London, ultimately achieving a final of £118,932,000 despite a handful of unsold works. There was little room for error in the 21-lot sale, which seemed primarily organized around several marquee works and a selection of works that garnered very little interest. (more…)
Pablo Picasso, Mousquetaire et nu assis (1967), via Christies
With a few brief wobbles, the first evening of two weeks of auctions in the British capital has concluded, bringing solid results and a final of £114,103,000 for Christie’s auction house this evening. The sale saw most of its premiere works moving quickly over the course of the evening, with 11 works going unsold, including one of the sale’s lead lots, a Kees van Dongen portrait.
Edgar Degas, Dans les coulisses (1882-1885), via Christies
Mauritshuis Royal Picture Gallery in The Hague will take Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring off view for two weeks to perform research on it. “The expertise and the scientific equipment are coming from the whole world, converging on this one painting, this one masterpiece,” paintings conservator Abbie Vandivere says. “We’ll see how much information we can gain with the technology at our disposal in a very short period of time — two weeks, working 24 hours a day, day and night.” (more…)
Mafia member turned informant Gaetano Grado has spoken out on the theft of Caravaggio’s Nativity with St Francis and St Lawrence, which he says was presented to Gaetano Badalamenti, the head of the Sicilian Mafia Commission known as the Cupola, who then sold the work to a Swiss dealer. (more…)
The Outsider Art Fair is preparing to open up shop in Basel, the New York Times reports. “It’s not going to be a smaller version of Art Basel or something,” Andrew Edlin, the owner of the Outsider Art Fair, says. “You know when you walk in, you’re entering a whole different thing.” (more…)
Pablo Picasso, Femme au beÌret et aÌ€ la robe quadrilleÌe (Marie-TheÌreÌ€se Walter) (1937), via Sotheby’s
Marking the first major test of the secondary market for this 2018, the major auction houses are preparing to open their doors for a series of marquee evening sales in London this coming month. Trying both the Impressionist/Modern and Post-War categories with top selections of works, the sales at Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Phillips will offer a look at just how strong the market is rebounding since a long stretch of inactivity and stagnancy. (more…)
A group of French arts professionals have signed a letter in support of artist Jeff Koons’s gift to the city, Art News reports. “Remember the polemics over the Centre Pompidou, the Louvre Pyramid or the columns of [Daniel] Buren, in keeping with the history of The Burghers of Calais or the Balzac of Rodin?” the op-ed reads. (more…)
Pace Gallery has taken on representation of Vito Acconci’s Acconci Studios, in partnership with Art Agency, Partners, the gallery announced in a statement. “A truly innovative creator and agitator who was foundational to contemporary art today, Acconci fits perfectly within Pace’s program of leading 20th and 21st century artists and estates,” said Marc Glimcher, Pace Gallery President and CEO. “There’s still so much of his practice to uncover and reexamine and we’re thrilled to join with Maria Acconci to share Vito Acconci’s vision and expand his legacy around the world.” (more…)
Frieze has announced plans for a Los Angeles edition of its fair, to be held February 14 to 17, 2019, the Art News reports. Bettina Korek of ForYourArt has been appointed executive director of Frieze LA, with Ali Subotnick serving as the fair’s curator. “Frieze is in a unique position to create a successful fair in LA because of our experience in London and New York and our partnership with Endeavor, who have deep roots in LA and will work with us to bring a fantastic audience to the fair,” founder Victoria Siddall says. (more…)
The Whitney Museum in New York has appointed Adrienne Edwards as its Engell Speyer Family Curator and Curator of Performance. She previously worked with Performa, where she organized various thematic presentations, including last year’s “Afroglossia,” focused on African performance art. “Adrienne has distinguished herself as one of the most innovative curators working in performance today by engaging artists across diverse disciplines and often challenging them to explore new genres and experimental forms,” Scott Rothkopf, the deputy director for programs and the chief curator at the Whitney, said. “She brings to the Whitney a wonderful complement of scholarly rigor, social commitment, and a deeply humane understanding of artists and their audiences.” (more…)
Work by Santiago Serra including pixelated photos of 24 people referred to as “political prisoners,” including Catalonian separatist politicians, has been removed from the ARCOMadrid fair in Spain, after organizers feared criticism over the work’s inclusion. Serra responded that the move “damages the international reputation of the art fair and the Spanish state.” (more…)
The New York Times has a piece on the delay to produce a Kara Walker piece in New Orleans, and the artist’s long road to getting the work completed and installed. “It was a learning experience,” Walker says of the project. “How far do I need to go with my work for it to do what I need it to do, and how much support do I need for that?” (more…)
Tania Bruguera will create the next Hyundai Commission for Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall, the museum announced this week. “Tania Brugera is well known for the highly original and compelling way in which she addresses major political concerns of our time,” says director Frances Morris. “I look forward to seeing how she activates the public forum of the Turbine Hall.” (more…)