One of the images from a child immigrant being detained at one of the many Catholic Charities Humanitarian Respite Centers at the US/Mexico border. (all images courtesy American Academy of Pediatrics)
Week in Review is a weekly collection of news, developments, and stirrings in the art world. Subscribe to receive these posts as a weekly newsletter.
During a visit to the Catholic Charities Humanitarian Respite Center in McAllen, Texas, Dr. Sara Goza of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) received three marker drawings that offer insight into the world that children detained in US government detention centers at the US–Mexico border are forced to endure. | Hyperallergic
The Smithsonian Institution has expressed interest in acquiring marker drawings by these children. | NYT
Convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein returned to court this week on sex-trafficking charges. Members of the art world are among Epstein’s defenders and victims. | Hyperallergic
“The Life of George Washington” (1934) (© Tammy Aramiam/GWHS Alumni Association)
Victor Arnautoff’s “The Life of George Washington” was painted at George Washington High School in 1934 under the Works Progress Administration. Recently, the school board voted unanimously to paint over it, becoming a contentious topic on public art preservation. | Hyperallergic
Over 500 academics, scholars, and professionals have signed an open letter published in the academic journal Nonsite, decrying its destruction, calling it “an important work of art, produced for all Americans under the auspices of a federal government seeking to ensure the survival of art during the Great Depression.” | Curbed
The Antiquities Trafficking and Heritage Anthropology Research (ATHAR) Project has published a critical report on West Asian antiquities trafficking taking place more or less out in the open on Facebook. | Hyperallergic
Melania Trump’s monument near Sevnica in Slovenia (image courtesy Brad Downey)
A life-size wooden sculpture of Melania Trump recently appeared on top of a tree pedestal on the green banks of the Sava river, close to the First Lady’s hometown in South Slovenia. Artist Brad Downey commissioned a Slovenian folk sculptor to create a monument with a chainsaw, calling the First Lady a “strange figure with an interesting life.” | Hyperallergic
78 artists signed a letter demanding that the UK’s National Portrait Gallery end its relationship with the oil company BP, which has sponsored the museum’s Portrait Award for the last 30 years. Signatories include artists Antony Gormley, Anish Kapoor, and Rachel Whiteread. | Hyperallergic
A vigil for artist Devra Freelander, who was killed by a truck while riding her bike in Brooklyn, escalated into a spar about bike safety between mourners, bike activists, and truck drivers. | Hyperallergic
Egon Schiele, “Self-Portrait with Physalis” (1912) (via Wikimedia Commons)
The heirs of Fritz Grünbaum, an Austrian cabaret singer whose art collection was looted by the Nazis before he was murdered at the Dachau concentration camp in Germany in 1941, can keep possession of two Egon Schiele drawings that belonged to Grünbaum’s collection, a New York appellate court ruled on Tuesday, July 9. This and other notable sales and acquisitions are chronicled in our latest Transactions story.
Opportunities
Miami’s Art in Public Places Program and Miami Dade County Department of Aviation (MDAD) are seeking South Florida-based visual artists and artist teams to create integrated artworks in two areas of the Miami International Airport. Applications are due on July 15 and 22, respectively. [Miami Dade Public Art]
Learn about other opportunities you can apply for this month in our latest “Opportunities for Artists in July 2019.”
This Week in the Art World
Naudline Pierre, “Deal Kindly and Truly With Me” (2018). Oil on canvas, 56 × 52 in. (Courtesy the
artist)
Cory Arcangel and Andy Robert are now represented by Greene Naftali gallery. | ARTnews
Paul Baker Prindle was named director of the University Art Museum at the California State University, Long Beach, which will soon be rechristened as the Carolyn Campagna Kleefeld Contemporary Art Museum. | Artforum
Jacqueline Brightwell was appointed director of the Bradbury Art Museum at the Arkansas State University in Jonesboro. |
Fariba Derahkshani, Timme Geerlof, and Annuska Pronkhorst have joined the supervisory board of the Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art in Rotterdam. | Artforum
John Edmonds was awarded the Brooklyn Museum‘s inaugural UOVO Prize for emerging Brooklyn-based artists. | BK Reader
Anne Ellegood was appointed executive director of the Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. | via email announcement
Jamie Goldblatt Manné was named co-director of Kayne Griffin Corcoran. | ARTnews
E. Jane, Naudline Pierre, and Elliot Reed were selected as the 2019-20 Studio Museum Artists in Residence. | via email announcement
KAWS is no longer represented by Perrotin gallery. | ARTnews
Nina Miall will curate the seventh TarraWarra Biennial in Healesville, Australia, in August 2020. | Artforum
Annie Morris is now represented by Timothy Taylor gallery. | via email announcement
The 12 artists shortlisted for the Prix Pictet photography prize were announced: Shahidul Alam, Joana Choumali, Margaret Courtney-Clarke, Rena Effendi, Lucas Foglia, Janelle Lynch, Ross McDonnell, Gideon Mendel, Ivor Prickett, Robin Rhode, Awoiska van der Molen, and Alexia Webster. | via email announcement
Betye Saar and Alfonso Cuarón will be honored at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s Art+Film Gala on November 2. | via email announcement
Himali Singh was awarded Frieze’s Prize for Emerging Artists. | TAN
Thor Shannon was named director of David Zwirner gallery in New York. | ARTnews
St Fagans National Museum of History was announced as Art Fund‘s 2019 Museum of the Year. | via email announcement
Hollis Taggart gallery has named Paul Efstathiou as director of contemporary art and Jillian Russo as director of exhibitions. | via email announcement
Timm Ulrichs was awarded the 2020 Käthe Kollwitz Prize. | Artforum
Vielmetter Gallery is expanding its location in downtown Los Angeles and closing the Culver City front. | ARTnews
Joan Weinstein was appointed director of the Getty Foundation. | via email announcement
David Zwirner will open a gallery in Paris this fall. | via email announcement
In Memoriam
The facade of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, of which Philip Freelon was the lead architect (via Ron Cogswell’s Flickrstream)
Ben Barenholtz (1935–2019), film exhibitor, distributor, and producer | IndieWire
Paul Benjamin (1938–2019), actor | NYT
Cameron Boyce (1999–2019), film and television actor | LA Times
Artur Brauner (1918–2019), Holocaust survivor and German film producer | Hollywood Reporter
Steve Cannon (1935–2019), poet and founder of the East Village’s A Gathering of the Tribes | The Villager
Martin Charnin (1934–2019), lyricist, writer, and theatre director | Seattle Times
Michael Colgrass (1932–2019), musician, composer, and educator | NYT
Valentina Cortese (1923–2019), actress | Guardian
Douglas Crimp (1944–2019), art historian, critic, curator, and AIDS activist | New Yorker
Gary Duncan (1946–2019), guitarist and singer | NYT
Phil Freelon (1952–2019), an architect whose design influence is found among major museums, specifically dedicated to Black culture, in the United States | Hyperallergic
João Gilberto (1931–2019), singer, songwriter, and guitarist who pioneered the bossa nova genre | NYT
Eberhard Havekost (1967–2019), contemporary German painter | ARTnews
Arte Johnson (1929–2019), comic actor | Washington Post
Mickey Kapp (1930–2019), record producer who made mixtapes for astronauts | NYT
Leon Kossoff (1926–2019), British figurative painter | Apollo Magazine
Spiro Malas (1933–2019), bass-baritone opera singer and actor | Opera News
Vivian Perlis (1928–2019), musicologist who founded Yale University’s Oral History of American Music | NYT
Marie Ponsot (1921–2019), poet | NYT
Sid Ramin (1919–2019), orchestrator, arranger, and composer | NYT
Jack Renner (1935–2019), sound engineer and counter of the Telarc International Corporation | Billboard
Rip Torn (1931–2019), actor, voice artist, and comedian | The Wrap
Max Wright (1943–2019), actor | Hollywood Reporter
The Latest
Manhattan DA’s Office Is After Its Own Antiquities Trafficking Informant
Lebanese art dealer Georges Lotfi, who once helped authorities seize looted antiquities, is now accused of doing his own share of trafficking too.
What Our Fantasies About the European “Middle Ages” Say About Us
An exhibition depicts how people have reimagined the medieval period in the centuries since, and how they have revealed their own interests and ideals with each new interpretation.
The Newark Museum of Art Presents Jazz Greats: Classic Photographs from the Bank of America Collection
Photographers Antony Armstrong Jones, Milt Hinton, Chuck Stewart, Barbara Morgan, and more capture a breadth of legendary and local musicians and performance artists. On view through August 21.
One of China’s First Modern Sculptors Has a New York Retrospective
During his 84-year life, Liu Shiming helped shape a new Chinese cultural image rooted in the contributions and sacrifices of everyday people.
Brazilian Nights From an Animal’s Point of View
Playing at several film festivals this late summer, Ana Vaz’s It Is Night in America asks the viewer to take on unusual perspectives.
LGBTQ+ Art, Literature, and Historical Ephemera Up for Auction at Swann
Art and photographs, publications from the 19th and 20th centuries, manuscripts, posters and more are set to cross the auction block on August 18.
The Very Expensive Dental Work of the Ancient Maya
The sealant used for gem-crusted ancient Maya teeth had medicinal properties that prevent tooth infections and decay, according to a new study.
Brooklyn Public Library Is Inviting You to Borrow From Their Vinyl Collection
Patrons can listen to a collection of 400 titles at the library and borrow them for up to three weeks.
Apply Now for the 2023 Joyce Awards
The grants will provide $450,000 for six new commissions across disciplines by artists of color working with cultural organizations in the Great Lakes.
Luke Gilford’s Tender Photographs of Gay Rodeos
The Los Angeles-based photographer offers an updated version of the mythologized American cowboy, calling rodeos “the traditional drag of America.”
An Artist Chases the Ghost of Her Father
At its core Line Berg’s Fra Far manifests the anguish of a family whose loved one is convicted of a serious crime.
The Book Club That’s Been Discussing the Same Proust Novel for 20 Years
At first, simply watching people read In Search of Lost Time might seem dull; by the end, you’ll be itching to read or reread it yourself.