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# Art Movements
- URL: https://hyperallergic.com/art-movements-115/
- Published: 2015-09-04T23:50:20.000Z
- Updated: 2025-11-24T16:43:06.000Z
- Description: This week in art news: "Algie" the inflatable Pink Floyd pig was withdrawn from auction, only one student enrolled in USC's Roski School of Art and Design MFA program, and Sotheby's announced the sale of A. Alfred Taubman's art collection.
- Author: Tiernan Morgan
- Tags: News, Art Movements, #wp, #wp-post, #image-position-hidden, #Import 2025-11-24 07:13 (2014, 2015, part 3)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/09/8664441990_8fec36baa1_o.jpg)

A replica of Algie the pig floating above Battersea Power Station in 2011 (via Flickr/Neill Sharp)

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

The inflatable pig that appeared on the cover of [Pink Floyd](http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-suffolk-34084817?ref=hyperallergic.com)‘s [*Animals*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animals%5F%28Pink%5FFloyd%5Falbum%29?ref=hyperallergic.com) (1977) was withdrawn from auction. “Algie” was touted as the star lot for a sale of iconic stage props produced by [Air Artists](http://www.airartists.co.uk/?ref=hyperallergic.com). The company decided to offer Algie to the band before the sale. The upcoming auction, organized by [Durrants](http://auctions.durrants.com/auction-listing.asp?aid=352&ref=hyperallergic.com), includes several other iconic Pink Floyd inflatables, including the school master from *The Wall* (1979).

[Sotheby’s](http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-34151471?ref=hyperallergic.com) will sell the art collection of its former owner, A. Alfred Taubman, later this year. Taubman, who passed away in April, was jailed for his role in the [commission-fixing scandal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sotheby%27s?ref=hyperallergic.com#Price%5Ffixing%5Fscandal) between Sotheby’s and Christie’s. The collection includes works by Modigliani, Picasso, and Gainsborough.

Research by a UK pressure group, the [Taxpayers’ Alliance](http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-34150322?ref=hyperallergic.com), concluded that the government only displays about 3% of its art collection nationwide.

The [British Museum](http://theartnewspaper.com/news/museums/158825/?ref=hyperallergic.com) will loan objects and host a series of exhibitions for the La Caixa banking foundation in Spain. *The Art Newspaper* reported that the bank is expected to pay the museum around €2 million (\~$2.2 million) in loan fees.

A woman from South Korea on a fully funded scholarship began her MFA at the [USC’s Roski School of Art and Design](http://www.laweekly.com/arts/uscs-once-heralded-mfa-program-opens-with-only-one-student-5972279?ref=hyperallergic.com) — the only student enrolled in the program this semester. The school’s entire first-year MFA class [dropped out](https://hyperallergic.com/entire-first-year-mfa-class-drops-out-in-protest-at-the-university-of-southern-california/) last May in protest over the school’s “unethical treatment of its students.” A [petition](https://hyperallergic.com/usc7-mfa-class-presents-university-administration-with-petition-to-remove-dean-muhl/) demanding the removal of the school’s Dean, Erica Muhl, currently has over 850 signatures.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/09/10731940_1642688809311869_1990818726_n.jpg)

The original facade of the first Whitney Museum of American Art (prior to its restoration), located on 8 West Eighth Street (photo by Instagram/@michaelferguson) (click to enlarge)

The $500,000 restoration of the inaugural [Whitney Museum of American Art’s facade](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/01/nyregion/original-whitney-museum-briefly-opens-for-public-viewing.html?ref=hyperallergic.com) will be unveiled on September 25\. Hyperallergic’s brief history of the Whitney Museum’s various incarnations can be read [here](https://hyperallergic.com/the-changing-facades-of-the-whitney-museum/).

NYU removed [Bill Cosby](http://nyulocal.com/on-campus/2015/09/01/nyu-bill-cosby-film-workshop/?ref=hyperallergic.com)’s name from the title of their Future Fillmmakers Workshop, a program for high school students.

Brooklyn property blog Brownstoner reported that the house at [104 Central Avenue](http://www.brownstoner.com/blog/2015/08/bushwick-mural-house-sold-cafeteria-la-mejor-closing-104-central-ave/?utm%5Fcampaign=coschedule&utm%5Fsource=twitter&utm%5Fmedium=Brownstoner&utm%5Fcontent=Bushwick%20Mural%20House%20to%20Be%20Razed%20for%20Apartments%20as%20Sellers%20Close%20Nearby%20Cafe) in Bushwick — appreciated by locals for its mural facade of the neighborhood — was sold for $1,285,000\. The seller, Jeremy Sapienza, is also closing his cafe business. “We’re closing because I haven’t made a dime in two years,” Sapienza told Brownstoner. “Bushwick is a nightmare on earth full of obnoxious yuppie brats, and I’m tired. Maybe that’s not a nice angle, haha.”

Casa Vicens (1888), the first house designed by [Antoni Gaudí](http://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/conservation/158808/?ref=hyperallergic.com), will open as a museum in Fall 2016.

Archaeologists discovered a 1,600-year-old [Roman mosaic](http://archaeologyinbulgaria.com/2015/08/28/archaeologists-discover-1600-year-old-roman-mosaics-from-ancient-serdica-in-bulgarias-capital-sofia/?ref=hyperallergic.com) in Sofia, Bulgaria.

[Jeff Koons](http://theartnewspaper.com/news/news/158831/?ref=hyperallergic.com)’s “Pluto and Proserpina” (2010–13) will go on display beside the replica of Michelangelo’s “David” outside of Palazzo Vecchio later this month.

The [Brooklyn Botanic Garden](http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/brooklyn/tree-son-artist-finds-brooklyn-sandy-sculpture-torn-article-1.2342825?ref=hyperallergic.com) dismantled an art work inspired by Hurricane Sandy without informing the artist. “I fell to my knees,” Roderick Romero told the *Daily News*. “I was just devastated, embarrassed and shocked.”

Author [Frederick Forsyth](http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-34101822?ref=hyperallergic.com), best known for his thriller *The Day of the Jackal* (1971), revealed that he worked for MI6 for over 20 years.

### Transactions

A study by Chmura Economics and Analytics concluded that the [Virginia Museum of Fine Arts](http://vmfa.museum/pressroom/news/virginia-museum-of-fine-arts-generated-more-than-145m-for-the-state-2/?ref=hyperallergic.com) generated $145 million for the state of Virginia during the 2014 fiscal year.

The [Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art](http://thewadsworth.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/8%5F31%5F15%5Fgrand%5Freopening%5Frelease.pdf?ref=hyperallergic.com) completed its 5-year, $33 million renovation project. The museum added 16,000 square feet of exhibition space (an increase of 27%) by utilizing former storage space.

[USC Libraries](http://news.usc.edu/85649/photographer-wayne-thoms-archive-heads-to-usc-libraries/?ref=hyperallergic.com) acquired the archive of architectural photographer Wayne Thom.

### Transitions

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/09/kmm_szapocznikow.jpg)

Alina Szapocznikow, “Bellies” (1968). Kröller-Müller Museum (via Wikipedia) (click to enlarge)

[Harold Koda](http://wwd.com/fashion-news/fashion-scoops/harold-koda-retire-costume-institute-metropolitan-museum-10209050/?ref=hyperallergic.com), the curator of the Metropolitan Museum’s Costume Institute, will retire early next year.

[Franklin Sirmans](http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/09/04/arts/design/perez-art-museum-miami-names-franklin-sirmans-as-new-director.html?%5Fr=1&ref=hyperallergic.com) was appointed director of the Pérez Art Museum.

Artist [Jean-Marc Bustamante](http://artforum.com/news/id=54771?ref=hyperallergic.com) was appointed the new director of the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts. French culture minister Fleur Pellerin [fired](http://artforum.com/news/id=53379?ref=hyperallergic.com) the former director, curator and theorist Nicolas Bourriaud, in July. Bourriaud’s termination led to accusations of political nepotism in the French press.

The second iteration of the [Singapore Art Fair](http://theartnewspaper.com/market/art-market-news/158851/?ref=hyperallergic.com) was cancelled.

[Casey Kaplan gallery](http://www.artnews.com/2015/09/02/hugh-scott-douglas-joins-casey-kaplan-in-new-york/?ref=hyperallergic.com) began representing Hugh Scott-Douglas.

The estate of Alina Szapocznikow is now represented by the [Andrea Rosen gallery](http://www.artnews.com/2015/09/01/andrea-rosen-gallery-now-represents-the-estate-of-alina-szapocznikow/?ref=hyperallergic.com).

### Accolades

[Matt Saunders](http://artforum.com/news/id=54778?ref=hyperallergic.com) was awarded the 2015 Rappaport Prize.

### Obituaries

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/09/screen-shot-2015-09-04-at-2-08-26-pm.png)

The slogan made famous by the trailer for “The Last House on the Left” (1972) (screenshot via Youtube)

[Barbara Brecht-Schall](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/03/theater/barbara-brecht-schall-guardian-of-fathers-plays-dies-at-84.html?ref=hyperallergic.com) (1930–2015), actress. Daughter of Bertolt Brecht.

[Wes Craven](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/31/movies/wes-craven-a-master-of-slasher-horror-films-dies-at-76.html?ref=hyperallergic.com) (1939–2015), film director. Best known for *The Last House on the Left* (1972) and the *Scream* (1996–2011) franchise.

[Blondell Cummings](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/02/arts/dance/blondell-cummings-dancer-of-lifes-everyday-details-dies-at-70.html?ref=hyperallergic.com) (1944–2015), dancer and choreographer.

[Noah Davis](http://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-noah-davis-20150831-story.html?ref=hyperallergic.com) (1983–2015), artist.

[Kyle Jean-Baptiste](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/30/nyregion/kyle-jean-baptiste-actor-in-les-miserables-dies-in-fall.html?ref=hyperallergic.com) (1993–2015), actor.

[Oliver Sacks](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/31/arts/oliver-sacks-wrote-awakenings-and-cast-light-on-the-interconnectedness-of-life.html?ref=hyperallergic.com) (1933–2015), neurologist and author.

[Nelson Shanks](http://www.philly.com/philly/news/323329061.html?ref=hyperallergic.com) (1937–2015), artist.