Art Movements

Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, “Diego Ortiz de Zúñiga” (ca 1655), oil on canvas, 44 1/2 x 37 in, private collection, United Kingdom (courtesy Sotheby’s)

Art Movements is a weekly collection of news, developments, and stirrings in the art world. Subscribe to receive these posts as a weekly newsletter.

Bartolomé Esteban Murillo‘s portrait of aristocrat Diego Ortiz de Zúñiga (ca 1655) went on display at the Frick Collection. Long considered to be a copy, the painting was reattributed to Murillo after art scholar Benito Navarrete Prieto travelled to Penrhyn Castle in north Wales to view the work. “I thought ‘people have always said it’s a copy, it’s got to be a copy,’” Xavier F Salomon — the co-curator of the Frick’s exhibition — told the Guardian. “Which is, of course, a mistake art historians should never make. Go with your gut feeling and you should follow up. I didn’t.”

An audit by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) concluded that Documenta 14 would have been profitable had it not operated an additional site in Athens. According to a report by Artnet, Adam Szymczyk, the quinquennial’s artistic director, was excluded from PWC’s presentation for the show’s board of directors and shareholders. The exhibition’s budget deficit reportedly amounts to $8.3 million.

A Kickstarter campaign to create a memorial to Félicette the cat — the first cat in space — was successfully funded.

The Pentagon claimed ownership of artwork created by detainees at Guantanamo Bay according to a report by Carol Rosenberg at the Miami Herald.

Gavin Delahunty abruptly resigned as the Dallas Museum of Art’s senior curator of contemporary art, citing accusations of “inappropriate behavior.”

David Edward Lewis, a longstanding tenor with Opera Australia, was charged with child sex offenses.

Photographer Gianfranco Gorgoni sued the artist Christo and the Smithsonian Institution for copyright infringement. Gorgoni claims he was not properly paid or credited for his work documenting Christo and Jeanne-Claude’’s project “Running Fence” (1972–76).

Bernardo de Mello Paz, the founder of the Inhotim Institute in Rio de Janeiro, was sentenced to nine years and three months in prison for money laundering.

The remains of Mungo Man, Australia’s oldest known human skeleton, were ceremoniously buried at a secret location in New South Wales, following a long campaign by Indigenous Australians.

The grave of Walburga “Wally” Neuzil, a wartime nurse and muse to Egon Schiele, is to be restored as a monument following its discovery in Croatia two years ago.

Bartholomeus van der Helst’s “The Headmen of the Longbow Civic Guard House” (1653) will go on display at TEFAF Maastricht in March. The work is currently undergoing restoration at the Amsterdam Museum.

Transactions

Paula Modersohn-Becker, “Selbstbildnis mit zwei Blumen in der erhobenen linken Hand” (“Self-Portrait with Two Flowers in her Raised Left Hand,” 1907), oil on canvas, 21 3/4 x 9 6/8 in, the Museum of Modern Art, gift of Debra and Leon Black, and The Neue Galerie, gift of Ronald S. Lauder

The Neue Galerie and the Museum of Modern Art jointly acquired a self-portrait by Paula Modersohn-Becker (1876–1907).

The Nationalmuseum acquired drawings by Edme Bouchardon (1698–1762), François Boucher (1703–70), and Nicolas Bernard Lépicié (1735–84).

The Toledo Museum of Art completed the first phase of its endowment campaign, raising $43 million.

A prop of Robby the Robot from Forbidden Planet (1952) sold at Bonhams for $5,375,000, a record for a movie prop at auction.

A first edition of Philip K. Dick’s 1965 novel, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, was sold at Swann Auction Galleries for a record $16,250.

C.R.W. Nevinson‘s “A Dawn, 1914” (1916) was sold at Sotheby’s Modern and Post-War British Art sale for $2,479,481, an auction record for the artist. Sir Winston Churchill’s last ever painting, “The Goldfish Pool at Chartwell” (1962), was sold at the same auction for $473,418 (including buyer’s premium), a figure five times its estimate.

Christopher Richard Wynne Nevinson, “A Dawn, 1914” (1916), oil on canvas, 22 1/4 x 18 3/4 in (courtesy Sotheby’s)

Transitions

The German government appointed Hans-Jürgen Papier as president of its advisory panel on Nazi-looted art.

Rebecca M. Nagy announced her retirement as director of the Harn Museum of Art.

Marianne Eileen Wardle was appointed director of the University of Wyoming Art Museum.

François Hébel was appointed managing director of the Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation in Paris. The organization announced that it will relocate to a new space in the Marais next year.

Tavares Strachan was appointed to the boards of the Rhode Island School of Designs and the MIT List Visual Arts Center [via email announcement].

The Blanton Museum of Art appointed Holly Borham as assistant curator of prints, and Claire Howard as assistant curator of modern and contemporary art.

The Fisher Landau Center for Art in Long Island City closed. The Emily Fisher Landau Foundation, which has already pledged over 400 artworks to the Whitney Museum of American Art, announced that it will shift its operations toward exhibition loans and grant fundraising for up-and-coming artists.

Paris city council announced plans to open an archive dedicated to the LGBT movement in France.

The Association of International Photography Art Dealers announced five new members: Beetles+Huxley, Gilles Peyroulet & Cie, Holden Luntz Gallery, IBASHO, and Photographica FineArt Gallery.

Artist collective Vox Populi relocated to its original space following a fire last June.

Judith Eisler is now represented by Casey Kaplan.

Judith Hopf is now represented by Metro Pictures.

Judith Hopf, “UP” (2016), installation view, Museion, Bolzano, Italy (photo by Massimiliano Pescio)

Accolades

Zanele Muholi was awarded France’s Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters.

Oreet Ashery received the 2017 Derek Jarman Award.

Shigeru Ban was awarded the Mother Teresa Memorial Award for Social Justice.

The Malcolm McLaren Award was presented to Kemang Wa Lehulere at the grand finale of Performa 17.

Clark Ashton and Michi Meko were announced the winners of the 2017 Atlanta Artadia Awards.

Opportunities

Art UK and the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art launched “Write on Art,” a new art history award for 15–18 year olds. The deadline for entry is February 26, 2018.