Art Movements
This week in art news: Pablo Picasso's former electrician admitted he lied in court about how he obtained hundreds of the artist's works, Barbara Kruger created a new work featuring Donald Trump for the cover of New York magazine, and Carel Fabritius's beloved painting "The Goldfinch" went on displa
Art Movements is a weekly collection of news, developments, and stirrings in the art world.
Pablo Picasso’s former electrician, Pierre Le Guennec, claimed that he lied in court when he stated that the late artist had given him 271 works in a cardboard box. Le Guennec now claims that Jacqueline Roque, Picasso’s second wife, gave him the works in a rubbish bag after the artist’s death. The Picasso family filed a complaint against Le Guennec and his wife after they approached the estate seeking authentication certificates for hundreds of works in 2010.
Carel Fabritius’s “The Goldfinch” (1654) went on temporary display at the Scottish National Gallery. The painting’s popularity surged following the publication of Donna Tartt’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Goldfinch (2013), in which the protagonist steals the work following a terrorist explosion at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Only a dozen works have been attributed to Fabritius. The artist was killed in the Delft Explosion (1654) at age 32.
Iranian artists and brothers Hossein Rajabian and Mehdi Rajabian penned a letter protesting their confinement and imprisonment at Iran’s notorious Evin Prison.
A New York Supreme Court judge denied a motion to dismiss a lawsuit against David Zwirner and his gallery. Art dealer Fabrizio Moretti claims that the gallery violated New York’s Arts and Cultural Affairs Law when it allegedly altered the edition and dimensions of a “Gazing Ball” sculpture by Jeff Koons after Moretti had purchased a version in 2013.
The German baked goods manufacturer Dr. Oetker announced that it identified four works in its company art collection that may have been looted by the Nazis.
Egypt’s Ministry of Antiquities prohibited its staff from entering into any dealings with the Toledo Museum of Art following the institution’s recent deaccessioning of Egyptian artifacts.
Barbara Kruger designed the cover for the latest issue of New York magazine — a black and white close-up of Donald Trump emblazoned with the word ‘Loser.’ “[We] were drawn to it, in part, for the three ways in which it could be interpreted,” stated the magazine’s editor-in-chief Adam Moss, “as Trump speaking (single word epithets being his specialty); as a description of Trump; and as a call on the election result.”
Morris Adjmi Architects released renderings of the “Roulston House” development at 9th Street and 2nd Avenue in Gowanus. Industrie Capital kicked out hundreds of artists from the warehouse complex in order to gut the building ahead of a $90 million renovation. According to New York Yimby, asking rents will start around $45 per square foot.
The French president, François Hollande, will propose that the Louvre‘s new conservation facility be used as a safe haven for artifacts rescued from war zones at a terrorism and culture conference in Abu Dhabi next month.
The Museum of Modern Art announced the release of One and One Is Four: The Bauhaus Photocollages of Josef Albers, the first publication to include all of the photo-collages that Josef Albers created at the Bauhaus.
The City of Helsinki and the Helsinki Supporting Foundation will announce a new funding proposal for the construction of a Guggenheim Museum next week.
The Ulrich Museum of Art completed its nine-year conservation project of Joan Miró’s only mosaic mural, “Personnages Oiseaux” (“Bird People,” 1977–78).
The Wall Street Journal announced that it will reduce its coverage for certain areas in its print edition, including the arts, due to a decline in print advertising. The paper has offered buyouts and has warned staffers of possible layoffs.
Bernard “Tony” Rosenthal’s public sculpture, “Alamo” (1967) (popularly known as “the cube”) was reinstalled in Manhattan’s Astor Place.
The Metropolitan Opera accepted the apology of the man who caused a terrorism scare after scattering his friend’s ashes during a performance last week. “I appreciate the sincerity of your apology and the innocence of your intentions, even though misguided,” the Met’s general manager, Peter Gelb, stated. “I trust that your future visits to the Met will be without incident, and that you will continue to proselytize about your love of opera to all those who will listen.”
Transactions
The National Portrait Gallery in London launched a fundraising appeal to acquire Thomas Lawrence’s 1829 portrait of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington. The gallery has already raised £1 million (~$1.2 million) toward the asking price of £1.3 million (~$1.6 million).
Eric and Susan Smidt pledged $25 million in support of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art‘s current campaign.
The Dia Art Foundation announced the creation of the Sackler Institute following a “generous” gift from the Dr. Mortimer and Theresa Sackler Foundation.
Bill Sick, the chairman and CEO of Business Resources International, donated $2 million to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. The gift will endow a professorship held by artist Nick Cave.
Gordon W. Bailey donated 35 contemporary artworks to the Speed Art Museum.
The Garfield Weston Foundation donated £500,000 (~$623,000) toward the Glasgow School of Art‘s Mackintosh Campus Appeal. The school’s Mackintosh building, named for its designer, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, was severely damaged by a fire on May 23, 2014.
Conni Gordon donated $500,000 to the NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale.
Professor Sally Stein, the widow of artist Allan Sekula (1951–2013), donated her husband’s library of 15,000 volumes to the Clark Art Institute.
Paul George Lawler‘s “Fly to South Sea Isles/Via Pan American” (c. 1938) was sold at Swann Auction Galleries’ Rare and Important Travel Posters sale for $20,000 (with buyer’s premium) — an auction record for the artist.
Transitions
Kristen Shepherd was appointed director of the Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg.
Evan Garza was appointed director of Rice Public Art at Rice University in Houston.
Carolyn Marsden-Smith was appointed associate director for exhibitions at the J. Paul Getty Museum.
Regine Basha was appointed the director of Pioneer Works’s residency program.
Greece opened its first contemporary art museum — the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Athens (or ΕΜΣΤ).
The reopening of the Pergamon Museum will be delayed until 2023 due to a doubling of estimated renovation costs.
Herzog & de Meuron won the competition to design the Museum of the 20th Century in Berlin.
Theaster Gates launched Dorchester Industries, an artisanal and craft training apprenticeship program for underemployed residents of Chicago’s South Side.
Current Space purchased its current space from the City of Baltimore. The art collective has also gained ownership of a neighboring building.
Hauser & Wirth expanded into 548 West 22nd Street in New York, the former site of the Dia Art Foundation. The gallery is reportedly leasing the space for $3.8 million a year.
The Pollock-Krasner Foundation selected Paul Kasmin Gallery to represent its holdings of works by Lee Krasner. The gallery also announced that it now represents artist Bosco Sodi.
Accolades
Jeremy Shaw was awarded the 2016 Sobey Art Award.
Alicia Henry was awarded the 1858 Prize for Contemporary Southern Art.
Jasmina Cibic was awarded the 2016 MAC International Ulster Bank Prize.
Christopher Tolkien, the son of JRR Tolkien, was awarded the Bodley Medal by the University of Oxford’s Bodleian Libraries.
Rodney McMillian was awarded the inaugural Suzanne Deal Booth Art Prize.
Obituaries
Gillon Aitken (1938–2016), literary agent.
Natalie Babbitt (1932–2016), children’s author and illustrator.
Alan Collins (1928–2016), sculptor.
Mike Daniels (1928–2016), revivalist jazz musician.
James Galanos (1924–2016), fashion designer.
Colin George (1929–2016), actor and director. Founding artistic director of the Crucible Theatre.
Curly Putman (1930–2016), songwriter.
Benedict Read (1945–2016), art historian. Victorian sculpture specialist.
Sean Rudolph (1958–2016), art dealer.
Norman Sherry (1925–2016), biographer of Graham Greene.
Robert Weber (1924–2016), cartoonist for The New Yorker.
Bobby Wellins (1936–2016), jazz saxophonist.
