Art Movements

Roy Lichtenstein, “Robert F. Kennedy” (1989), lithograph after 1968 original, National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Time Magazine (© Estate of Roy Lichtenstein)

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

According to a report by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), only 110 of the 1,728 recorded symbols (monuments, markers, and flags) commemorating the Confederacy across the US have been removed following the Charleston church shooting in 2015.

Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the UK Labour Party, vowed to return the Parthenon Marbles to Greece if elected prime minister.

Roy Lichtenstein’s portrait of Robert Kennedy went on view at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery. The display of the work, which was commissioned by TIME magazine, coincides with the 50th anniversary of the senator’s assassination.

Around 100 employees of the Museum of Modern Art demonstrated outside the annual Party in the Garden gala, demanding better benefits in the ongoing contract negotiations with the Museum.

French President Emmanuel Macron launched a new lottery to raise funds for the restoration of endangered heritage sites.

The Pérez Art Museum Miami announced a documentary exhibition examining Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s site-specific installation in Biscayne Bay, “Surrounded Islands” (1983).

Christo and Jeanne-Claude, “Surrounded Islands,” Biscayne Bay, Greater Miami, Florida 1980–83″ (1983) (photo by Wolfgang Volz)

The Victoria & Albert Museum launched an appeal for members of the public to donate clothes and photographs toward its collection of work by Dame Mary Quant. An exhibition of the fashion designer’s creations — which are synonymous with the swinging 1960s — will open at the museum in April 2019.

Frieze offered a 10% discount to exhibitors affected by extreme heat conditions during its most recent New York fair.

Artist eL Seed abandoned fundraising for the second part of “The Bridge” (2017), a sculpture installed along the security fence of North and South Korea’s demilitarized zone.

A Roman chamber tomb from the 4th century BCE was discovered by accident after an earthmover opened a hole onto it during the construction of a new aqueduct.

According to the Guardian, the Dutch city of Eindhoven will be the first in the world to offer habitable homes made by a 3D printer.

A painting by Sir Stanley Spencer was returned to its owners after police discovered it under a drug dealer’s bed alongside three kilos of cocaine and 15,000 ecstasy tablets.

Transactions

Unidentified dinosaur specimen from Wyoming sold by Aguttes auction house in Paris for $2.3 million (photo courtesy Aguttes)

The fossilized skeleton of a 150 million-year-old carnivorous theropod dinosaur was sold by French auction house Aguttes for €2,019,680. This and other notable sales and acquisitions are chronicled in our latest Transactions story.

Transitions

Andria Hickey, the senior curator of the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland, will join Pace Gallery as its new senior director and curator.

Okwui Enwezor stepped down as artistic director of the Haus der Kunst.

Andrea Schlieker was appointed director of exhibitions and displays at Tate Britain.

The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art announced a number of transitions on its board of trustees. Robert J. Fisher will serve as chair, Diana L. Nelson will become president, and Charles M. Collins will assume the role of vice chair. Julie Mehretu joined the board as an artist trustee.

Lyndel King will step down as director and chief curator of the Weisman Art Museum at the University of Minnesota, in 2020.

Omar Kholeif stepped down as senior curator and director of global Initiatives at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago.

The Worcester Art Museum appointed Claire Chandler as director of curatorial affairs and curator of European art.

Paul Smeets was appointed to succeed Konrad Bernheimer as chair of paintings for TEFAF Maastricht.

Thomas Galbraith was appointed CEO of Leslie Hindman Auctioneers.

ArtPrize promoted Kevin Buist to artistic director.

Sarah Needham was appointed executive director of the Hill Art Foundation.

Amanda Dotseth was appointed curator of the Meadows Museum at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.

Christie’s appointed Jennifer Zatorski as president, North and South America.

Robert Dimin joined Norte Maar’s board of directors.

The Dia Art Foundation announced a $78 million campaign to renovate its New York galleries.

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts will absorb the Brodsky Center for Printmaking and Papermaking from its current location at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey.

Artist Alex Ito and curator Howie Chen opened a new project space in Brooklyn named Chen’s. The address has not been publicly disclosed and is only provided upon request.

Kasmin gallery announced the opening of a fourth space in Chelsea that will include a rooftop sculpture garden.

Accolades

Henry Taylor, “See Alice jump” (2011), acrylic on canvas, 76 1/2 x 113 in (© Henry Taylor, courtesy of the artist and Blum & Poe, Los Angeles / New York / Tokyo)

Henry Taylor was awarded the Robert De Niro Sr. Prize.

The Carl & Marilynn Thoma Art Foundation presented its 2018 Arts Writing Awards in Digital Art to Mary Flanagan and Dawn Chan.

The Art Foundation Pax announced the inaugural winners of its Pax Art Award: !Mediengruppe Bitnik (established by Domago Smoljo and Carmen Weisskopf), Lauren Huret, and Fragment.in (founded by Laura Perrenoud, Mar Dubois, and David Colombini).

The Wexner Center for the Arts at Ohio State University announced its 2018–19 Wexner Center Artist Residency Award recipients: Edmund de Waal (visual arts); Mark Lomax II (performing arts); and Barbara Hammer, Bill Morrison, and Natasha Mendonca (film/video).

The National Endowment for the Arts announced its 2018–19 NEA Big Read Grants.

Opportunities

The National YoungArts Foundation (YoungArts) is accepting applications for its National Arts Competition. Entry is open to 15- to 18-year-olds working toward visual, literary, design, and performing arts goals.

The Queens Council on the Arts is accepting applications for its 2019 Queens Arts Fund grant cycle.

Obituaries

Malcolm Morley, “Melee at Agincourt” (2017), oil on linen, 76 x 114 in (courtesy Sperone Westwater, New York)

Alexandr Askoldov (1932–2018), Soviet-era director. Best known for his lone feature, Commissar, which was banned by censors during the 1960s.

Jill Ker Conway (1934–2018), author, feminist, and the first female president of Smith College.

Eddy Clearwater (1935–2018), blues musician.

Ted Dabney (1937–2018), electrical engineer. Cofounder of Atari.

Clarence Fountain (1929–2018), musician. Founding member of the Blind Boys of Alabama.

Barry R. Harwood (1947–2018), curator of decorative arts at the Brooklyn Museum.

Clyde Hopkins (1946–2018), painter.

Connie Kurtz (1936–2018), gay rights activist.

Elaine Markson (1930–2018), literary agent known for her support of feminist authors.

Malcolm Morley (1931–2018), artist. First recipient of the Turner Prize.

Joe Pintauro (1930–2018), playwright.

Irving Sandler (1925–2018), art historian and critic. Cofounder of Artists Space.

Kate Spade (1962–2018), fashion designer.

René Yañez (1942–2018), artist and activist.