Art Movements

Art Movements is a weekly collection of news, developments, and stirrings in the art world.

Three Tunisian artists wrongly suspected of terrorist activities were sentenced to one year in prison and each fined 1,000 dinars (~$494) for consumption of cannabis. Armed police arrested Fakhri El-Ghezal, Atef Maatallah, and Ala Eddine Slim, citing a suspicious bag and Maatallah’s beard as evidence of suspected terrorist activity.

According to records filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Sotheby’s accepted 80 employee buyouts — or 5% of its global work force of 1,600.

Ed Ruscha donated a collection of his prints to the Tate. The artist also promised to donate one impression of every future edition he creates to the museum.

Artist Rehab Nazzal claimed that she was shot by a sniper while photographing a “skunk” truck — a controversial vehicle used for crowd control — in Bethlehem.

Art teacher Brent McDonald was fatally shot in Belltown, Seattle. McDonald taught at Coyote Central, a nonprofit space dedicated to creative courses and training for young adolescents.

Vasudeo S. Gaitonde‘s “Untitled” (1995) was sold at Christie’s for just over 293 rupees ($4,415,008), a world record for a work of Indian art.

The New Orleans City Council voted 6–1 to remove four confederate statues from the city.

Historic England launched a campaign to raise awareness of the destruction, loss, and theft of postwar public art. The public body published a list of 37 works that have been lost, destroyed, or stolen.

The International Council of Museums published a “red list” of Libyan antiquities endangered by the country’s ongoing civil war.

As part of a new partnership with Squarespace, the Brooklyn Museum will introduce free admission every Thursday night from 6–10pm starting January 21.

New Zealanders will vote between Kyle Lockwood‘s design for a new national flag, and the country’s existing emblem in a public vote due to be held in March. The architect’s “Silver Fern” design received the most votes in a public referendum of new flag designs.

US designer Michael Raisch submitted designs inspired by the work of his daughter’s preschool class to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Emblem Design Competition.

Architect Mark Foster Gage unveiled his design for a new Manhattan skyscraper embellished with Gothic sculptural flourishes.

Preservationists criticized plans by Orange Coast College to demolish a number of campus buildings designed by architect Richard Neutra.

Pussy Riot’s Maria Alyokhina announced plans to open the New Balkan Women’s Museum in Montenegro. According to the Independent, the museum’s staff would consist entirely of women.

The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art is the highest-ranked museum on Yelp.

James Turrell‘s beloved Skyspace installation “Meeting” (1986) will reopen at MoMA PS1 in the summer of 2016.

A visiting PhD student determined that “The Begger,” a painting in the collection of the Museum of Art in Ein Harod, was stolen by the Nazis.

Brooklyn’s Open Source Gallery is hosting a soup kitchen every night from 7–9pm through December 31. According to DNAinfo, the meals are for “homeless people or others who are hungry or down on their luck, as well as neighbors and supporters of the gallery.”

Agnolo Bronzino‘s “Allegorical Portrait of Dante” (1532–1533) went on display at the Italian Cultural Institute in Manhattan.

Canada unveiled Canada 150, a new typeface to celebrate the country’s 150th birthday. Designed by Raymond Larabie, the font unites the Latin characters of French and English with the syllabic characters of Canada’s indigenous dialects.

Cairo’s Egyptian Museum will temporarily allow visitor photography through January 7.

Gothamist took a look at the New York Public Library’s collection of Sylvia Plath “juvenilia,” a selection of letters and drawings composed during the poet’s childhood.

Researchers conducting a geological survey in the Polish town of Walbrzych have yet to find any evidence of an apocryphal Nazi train carrying gold and gems.

Transactions

The British Museum acquired the “Lampedusa Cross” (2013), one of a number of wooden crosses made by carpenter Francesco Tuccio to memorialize the Lampedusa disaster. Over 360 refugees died when a boat caught fire and sunk of the coast of Lampedusa on October 3, 2013.

The Toledo Museum of Art acquired a Saibai Island mask.

The original hitchBOT will go on permanent display at the Canada Science and Technology Museum.

The Carnegie Museum of Art received a $350,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to fund the second phase of its project Art Tracks: Standardizing Digital Provenance Documentation for Cultural Objects.

The St. Louis Art Museum acquired Horace Pippin’s “Sunday Morning Breakfast” (1943).

Transitions

Nancy Spector was appointed deputy director and chief curator of the Brooklyn Museum.

Andrew D. Hamingson was appointed president of the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council.

Catherine Opie was elected to the Warhol Foundation’s board of directors.

Jeffrey Evenson was appointed chairman of the Corning Museum of Glass’ board of trustees.

Tom Loughman was appointed director and CEO of the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art.

Timothée Chaillou resigned as creative director of the Also Known as Africa (AKAA) art fair.

Kitty Scott was appointed co-curator of Liverpool Biennial 2018. Julie Lomax was appointed the Biennial’s director of development.

Emma Enderby was appointed associate curator at Public Art Fund.

Benjamin Genocchio, the editor-in-chief of Artnet News, was appointed executive director of the Armory Show.

Accolades

Magali Reus was awarded the 2015 Prix de Rome.

Obituaries

Benedict Anderson (1936–2015), Professor Emeritus of International Studies, Government & Asian Studies at Cornell University. Best known for Imagined Communities (1983).

Richard Constable (1932–2015), artist. Great-great-grandson of John Constable.

Peter Dickinson (1927–2015), poet and author. Twice awarded the Carnegie medal.

Derek Hyatt (1931–2015), artist.

Christopher Middleton (1926–2015), poet.

Charles S. Moffett (1945–2015), curator and Impressionism scholar.

Nancy Sandars (1914–2015), archaeologist.

Hema Upadhyay (1972–2015), artist.