Donald Trump is reportedly eyeing Sylvester Stallone to chair the National Endowment for the Arts.  “It’s been widely and wrongly assumed that a Trump presidency will be hostile to the arts,” a source told the NY Post.  “But Mr. Trump feels this sort of A-list appointment is precisely the shot in the arm that the industry needs.”  (more…)

Marta Riniker-Radich, The Cartridge Box (2016), all photos via Osman Can Yerebakan for Art Observed

Marta Riniker-Radich’s U.S. solo debut at Swiss Institute opened a few days prior to presidential elections, a note that gives the show an increasingly ominous note in the wake of Donald Trump’s ascendancy on the back of a conservative, militaristic worldview.  Drawing on this culture of perceived oppression and the systems of resistance that stem from their, her works dismantle the safety and innocence of the American home, while problematizing notions of escapism, and the notions of artificiality attached to middle-class domesticity.  Featuring notes from American militia members documenting their testimonials about emergency supply goods, and combining these with a series of artifacts and objects playing on dual uses and pluralities of violence and utilitarianism, Every Home A Fortress Every Heart A Blossom brings the political separatism of these American subcultures to the fore.  “When I opened the box I was like a kid on Christmas morning. I looked over each and every piece checking for defects,” says an anonymous member about a uniform they received.  “I found none.” (more…)

A Manhattan federal court judge has dismissed the lawsuit over Cady Noland’s disavowal of a work after unapproved restoration work.  The dismissal stems in part from plaintiff Scott Mueller’s delay in filing claims against the artist and her gallery, Michael Janssen Gallery. (more…)

Bern’s Kunstmuseum has been named the recipient of the Cornelius Gurlitt art trove, after a Munich court dismissed a challenge to his will by his cousin Uta Werner.  “It is good that we now all have clarity,” says German Culture Minister Monika Grütters. (more…)

Sotheby’s is continuing its series of acquisitions and hires in the last weeks of 2016, bringing on Rauschenberg Foundation CEO Christy MacLear to advise on artist estates and foundations.  “We are extremely pleased with the development of our advisory services business both in terms of impact with new and existing clients as well as for Sotheby’s shareholders,” CEO Tad Smith said in a statement. “Expanding into advisory services for artists and artist endowed foundations is an exciting new frontier and we are thrilled that Christy is here to lead such an important initiative for us.” (more…)

Joyce Pensato is profiled in the New York Times this week, as the artist gives a tour of her new studio, and discusses her continued interest in cartoons and figurines.  “I got into Mickey Mouse early on, really, because of his shape. The ears, the eyes, the circles, how simple he was but also how great those shapes looked in a painting. And I think I’ve made him a Mickey who is not just a happy Mickey; he’s got a lot more substance than that, more character.” (more…)

A French court of appeals has upheld the two-year suspended sentence for Pierre Le Guennec, the electrician convicted of stealing a trove of works from Pablo Picasso.  The discovery of the works was one of the largest finds of Picasso works since the artist’s death in 1973. (more…)

A recent report has found an increase in arts education funding in New York schools under the de Blasio administration, marking some of the widest arts education the city has seen in a decade.  “Most importantly for me, is that many of these programs are now serving English Language Learners and students with special needs,” says Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña. “There has never been a time in New York City where these students have been as well served through the arts.” (more…)

Gina Malek, Transfer (2016), via Magic Beans

Painter Gina Malek’s new show, Underlinings, on view at Magic Beans Gallery in Berlin, is an exercise in essentialism.  The artist’s works, which draw on the fading mechanics of the human body, memory and movement, here take on a range of scenes and figures, each time drawing on juxtapositions of the body and space, and the points of conversation, transition or intermingling that stem from her approach to the canvas.

Gina Malek, Underlinings (Installation View), via Magic Beans    (more…)

The Prado has received a royal portrait recently attributed to Velázquez from an American art historian.  “I lived with this painting for almost 30 years and I acquired it thinking that it was what it is, although with the thought that eventually I would donate it somewhere,” says William B. Jordan, who donated the painting. (more…)

Josef Albers, Grey Steps, Grey Scales, Grey Ladders (Exhibition View), via Art Observed

On view at the David Zwirner Gallery, Grey Steps, Grey Scales, Grey Ladders delves into Josef Albers’s life-long exploration of color, form and space, focusing in particular on his works in white, grey and black, and featuring a range of his most acclaimed square paintings, as well as other abstract works from the course of his career.  A highly influential artist in the abstract movements of the early 20th Century, his works, shown in an open conversation, demonstrate the process of creating through rhythm and gradation. (more…)

High-profile departures continue at Christie’s as CEO Patricia Barbizet announced she would be leaving the auction house.  Her replacement is Guillaume Cerutti.  “I came to do a number of things,” Barbizet said. “They are now done.” (more…)

Thomas Schütte, Bronzefrau I (2000), via Art Observed

Profiling an enigmatic and often irreverent approach to both the human body and sculpture as a medium, Skarstedt has brought a series of works by Thomas Schütte to its Chelsea location.  A continuation of his Frauen series, the show combines a thorough selection of etchings with a small series of sculptures, exploring his craft as both a skilled draughtsman and studied artist in both the exploration and critique of the practice of sculpture, joining together works from the past two decades to draw new historical comparisons and conceptual linkages in the artist’s practice.

Thomas Schütte, Stahlfrau Nr. 4, (1999), via Art Observed

(more…)

Troy Brauntuch, Untitled (2016), via Petzel

Currently on view at Petzel Gallery’s Chelsea exhibition space, Texas-based painter Troy Brauntuch has executed a new series of paintings drawing on familiar themes and techniques in the exploration and elaboration of the image itself.  Continuing an interest in the modes of image production, and the networks of meaning these images ultimately engage with, the artist’s ghostly, ephemeral images draw on their own histories, and the shadowy modes of visualization that the artist has long embraced. (more…)

Sean Scully, Landline Bloom (2016), via Art Observed

Timothy Taylor Gallery’s Mayfair exhibition space has compiled a series of Sean Scully’s monumental abstract paintings, recent works that tower above the viewer while engaging them with deep, meditative arrangements of color.  Shown in conjunction with a collection of sketches, notes, letters and diary entries, the show’s expansive focus offers a rare look into the Irish painter’s psychological and conceptual investment in his works.  The series, Landline, has been ongoing since 2013, and continues to offer the artist an opportunity to refine and reshape his approach to the canvas through a narrow, yet endlessly inventive engagement with the power of mark-making, and the purity of delineation between linear planes, both explored through the expressive capacity of color. (more…)

The Art Market Monitor analyzes the deal that allowed Brett Gorvy to leave Christie’s for a partnership with Dominique Lévy, speculating on Gorvy’s consignments and value to the auction house.  Gorvy will “act as a consultant on some specific consignments and projects in 2017 working with the client and Christie’s – predominantly the ones he/we have already secured,” according to the auction house. (more…)

Dallas auction house Heritage Auctions is suing Christie’s over alleged theft of listings from its website, Artnet reports.  The suit accuses Christie’s recently acquired Collectrium database of stealing data on artworks and other objects currently listed on its site. (more…)

Ernesto Neto, The Serpent’s Energy Gave Birth To Humanity (Installation View), via Art Observed

Filling the main exhibition space at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery with another of his signature, finger-crocheted structures, artist Ernesto Neto has opened a new show in New York, reprising past works with this material and technique applied towards varied explorations of the spiritual, sexual, and communal in a single architectural space.  The show, which uses the Old Testament myth of temptation and expulsion from the Garden of Eden, to extend and explore the space of the human body as metaphor for both the tale’s moral implications, and contemporary explorations of social space. (more…)

The U.S. Congress has passed the Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery Act, which will standardize the statute of limitations for legal claims against looted art.  “Artwork lost during the Holocaust is not just property,” Republican Texas senator John Cornyn says. “To many victims…it is a reminder of the vanished world of their families.” (more…)

The Art Market Monitor has a piece on money laundering in the art market, pointing out the logistic issues and challenges that ultimately make its potentials far less promising, and likely less widespread, than some media narratives would suggest.   (more…)

Tracey Emin has abandoned a disputed plan to demolish a building in East London to build a new studio space, The Guardian reports.  “Great care was taken to design this delightful, modest building on Bell Lane to blend with the traditional scale of the narrow streets around it,” says Henrietta Billings, director of Save Britain’s Heritage.  “Just a few hundred meters away from the office towers of the City, the historic streets in this area buzz with life thanks to their human scale – in spite of intense development pressures. We are delighted that the building has been reprieved.” (more…)

The Independent Art Fair, which runs concurrently with the Armory Show in March of 2017, has announced its exhibitor list for its next edition, returning a strong selection of galleries including Carlos/Ishikawa, Karma and Maureen Paley.  The fair opens with a private viewing on March 2nd. (more…)

Hank Willis Thomas has joined the Public Art Fund’s Board of Directors, after working with the organization for several years prior on major projects.  “2017 is a significant year for Public Art Fund, and we’re thrilled that Hank, an artist with whom Public Art Fund has a wonderful history, has joined our Board,” says Nicholas Baume, Public Art Fund’s director and chief curator.  “His thoughtful and boundary-pushing work in the public realm, as well as his engagement with questions and issues at the core of our current moment, make Hank an in invaluable addition to our board leadership.” (more…)

The New Yorker reports on the ongoing challenges Western institutions, among them the Guggenheim and Louvre, are facing in their construction projects in Abu Dhabi, including ongoing protests both at home and on-site.  “No one should be asked to exhibit or perform in a building that has been constructed and maintained on the backs of exploited employees,” reads an open letter on the new Guggenheim buidling from a group of artists including Hans Haacke and Barbara Kruger. (more…)