New York Mayor Bill de Blasio has named Tom Finkelpearl, current executive director of the Queens Museum, as the city’s cultural-affairs commissioner.  “He’s a visionary museum director,” says Robin Cembalest of ARTnews magazine. “You need an advocate to come out to explain how art can help people, create communities. He totally fits.” (more…)

The upcoming vote on an artist resale royalty in the United States has major auction houses sending high-powered lobbyists to Washington, in an attempt to prevent the bill from passing.  The bill, which would pay artists a percentage of any auction sale, has many resellers nervous over the ostensible impact the additional charges would have on growing sale prices, while advocates are pushing the bill’s inclusion of artists in the creation of new wealth.  “To me, the bill is a question of fundamental fairness,” says Representative Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), who introduced the bill. (more…)

Hyperallergic reports on Congress’s 2014 Omnibus Appropriations Bill, which was released yesterday with the National Endowment for the Arts seeing a funding amount of $146.02 million, only slightly down from last year’s $146.26 million. The funding amount comes after a fractious several months of negotiations, including a proposed cut of 49% to the NEA by the House last year.  The Arts in Education Program was also rewarded a similar amount of $25 million, which is up from last year’s $24.6 million. (more…)

Vilma Bautista, the former secretary to Philippine first lady Imelda Marcos, has been sentenced to two to six years in prison in New York for attempting to sell Impressionist masterpieces belonging to the Philippine government, which vanished when Marcos’s husband was overthrown.  Bautista will remain free on bail while her case is undergoes an appeal.  “The court agrees with the people, the evidence was overwhelming,” presiding Justice Renee A. White said. “But you never really know what the appellate division will do on any case.” (more…)

Collector Budi Tek’s Yuz Museum in Shanghai is looking to be the first museum of Contemporary Western Art in China, showcasing the flexibility and freedom that privately-owned museums hold as an advantage over government-run institutions.  The trend looks to continue, with 400 new private museums already opened in the country this year. (more…)

The British government export ban has been placed on a 17th century self-portrait by Anthony Van Dyck, giving time for British galleries to raise the £12.5 million needed to keep the painting in the country.  “I hope that placing a temporary export bar on this magnificent painting will allow time for a UK buyer to come forward and ensure it remains here in the UK.”  Said British Cultural Minister Ed Vaizey.

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The Smithsonian Institution has tallied a total cost of $2.8 million caused by the government shut down this past month, including all gift shop and cafeteria revenues the museum normally takes in.  The museum was also forced to conclude a number of loans prematurely, including the rarely exhibited codexes of Leonardo Da Vinci.   (more…)

The ongoing government shutdown has had far-reaching implications for national museums and galleries, many of which rely on major donations from private patrons to keep their doors open the rest of the year.  Unable to welcome important guests or potential donors, the current shutdown has kept museums like the National Gallery of Art from attracting new donors (whose contributions make up to 30% of the institution’s operating budget).   (more…)

Capitalizing on Atlantic City’s immense casino tax funds, New Jersey governor Chris Christie has launched a major public art campaign, installing large-scale works around the city.  A number of artists have already been recruited for the project, including Robert Barry, Kiki Smith, and John Roloff, with more to be announced soon.  “What makes my heart race is to bring artists into new situations where they have to interact with the people,” says curator Lance Fung. “There are around 30 million visitors here every year, and most of them are not art people.”  (more…)

Moscow Biennale Curator Catherine de Zegher has spoken on the current calls for a boycott of Russian art and art events, stating that she has no intent on a boycott or cancellation of the event to protest the current state of civil rights for Russian LGBT citizens.  “I’m not a big believer in provocation,” De Zegher says. “Art that is very provocative is like fast food almost. It flares up, then it’s finished. Of course I do believe in activist gestures, and movement and action, but I think art works in a different way.” (more…)

Hyperallergic has posted a thorough exploration of the debate surrounding the brutalist architecture and Picasso murals currently at risk of demolition at Oslo’s Regjeringskvartalet government center, badly damaged in a 2011 car-bomb attack.  Tracing the history of the design, the works, and the debate surrounding their preservation or destruction, the article places brutalism at the center of the debate, noting the continued destruction of many of its architectural masterworks based on their purported unattractiveness.  Joern Holme, the head of the Directorate for Cultural Heritage, echoes this statement, saying: “We can’t demolish the best of a cultural era just because we find it ugly today.” (more…)

Beginning May 1st, The Smithsonian Institution will initiate rolling cuts to the hours of certain museum institutions, and will close other galleries to compensate for the sequestration budget cuts.  The cuts, which consisted of a 5% reduction of the total budget, has been handled by scaling back travel and training programs, but museum leaders warn that major sacrifices may be necessary if the reductions remain in place through 2014. (more…)

China is currently considering legislation that would guarantee artists royalty payments anytime their art is resold at auction.  These rights to a percentage of an artist’s resale price, referred to as “droit de suite” rights, are part of a new copyright law proposal that would bring China closer to European copyright standards, and is already causing fierce debate in the Chinese art market.  “Droit de suite may stifle the development of the market,” wrote Ji Tao, an auction industry expert at China Culture Daily, but: “From the point of view of the artists and authors, droit de suite is a good thing, because every transaction means gains.” (more…)