Art Movements
This week in art news: Swiss authorities seized antiquities looted from Palmyra, dozens of artists were evicted from a Baltimore studio building, and the mayor of the Greek island of Milos demanded the Louvre return the Venus de Milo.
Art Movements is a weekly collection of news, developments, and stirrings in the art world.
Swiss authorities seized nine antiquities looted from Palmyra and other ancient sites in Libya and Yemen at the Geneva Free Port. The artifacts were discovered during a customs inspection in 2013 and were authenticated last year. A criminal investigation was concluded last month without any convictions.
City officials evicted dozens of artists from their spaces at the Bell Foundry in Baltimore, citing a variety of safety violations.
Gerasimos Damoulakis, the mayor of the island of Milos, launched a petition advocating for the return of the Venus de Milo. The year 2020 will mark the 200th anniversary of the statue’s discovery.
Forty countries agreed to approve a $100-million fund to protect cultural heritage sites at the UNESCO-backed Safeguarding Endangered Cultural Heritage summit in Abu Dhabi.
A hand from an Egyptian Mummy was returned to Egypt by US authorities as part of “Operation Mummy’s Curse.” The cloth-wrapped hand arrived in a parcel at Los Angeles International Airport with a customs label identifying it as a movie prop worth $66.
The FBI held a repatriation ceremony to mark the return of a marble Roman statue to Italy. The “Torlonia Peplophoros” was stolen from the Villa Torlonia in Rome in 1983 and was recovered by the FBI in 2015. According to the Bureau’s press release, the FBI’s Art Crime Team has recovered over 14,850 items nationwide since its inception in 2004.
An iron gate stolen from the Dachau concentration camp two years ago was recovered in Norway following an anonymous tip.
The heirs of Jewish art dealer Alfred Flechtheim sued Bavaria in a US court to claim eight paintings that were allegedly sold under duress following the Nazis rise to power. The paintings, which include works by Max Beckmann, Paul Klee, and Juan Gris, are currently in the possession of the Bavarian State Paintings Collection.
The 2015 Turner Prize-winning collective, Assemble, sold three houses in Liverpool for £90,000 each (~$113,000). The houses were sold with an “anti-gentrification” clause designed to ensure that the homes remain affordable for local residents.
Ten leading arts professionals called on the UK government to explain its decision to block the appointment of Althea Efunshile from the board of Channel 4. Efunshile, the deputy chief executive of Arts Council England, was the only non-white, female candidate to be recommended by Ofcom, the UK’s communications regulator.
The Electronic Literature Organization (ELO) and Electronic Textual Cultures Lab (ETCL) at the University of Victoria, Canada, agreed to host the Turbulence.org website. The non-profit, which is dedicated to commissioning net art, announced in May that it would have to go offline due to increased operating costs.
Jeff Koons collaborated with Jake Carpenter, the co-founder of the Chill Foundation, to create a snowboard named the “Philosopher.” Created as an edition of 50, each board will be sold to raise funds for the foundation.
A court ruled that the town of Publier in eastern France must remove a statue of the Virgin Mary within three months in order to comply with a national ban on religious symbols in public places. If the sculpture is not removed, the town will be fined €100 (~$105) for each day it remains in place.
Instagram shut down an account used by artist Jay Isaac following a complaint by the National Gallery of Canada. The museum objected to the artist’s use of copyrighted material and feared that his handle, @nationalgalleryofcanada, was confusing social media users. The artist stated that he established the account in order to call attention to the diversity of Canadian art. “I kind of meant it as a joke,” Issac told the BBC. “It wasn’t a matter of imitation, but the idea of mimicry and mimicry as a potentially subversive act.”
The Art Institute of Chicago will offer free admission to 14-to-17-year olds beginning in the new year.
Transactions
The Het Noordbrabants Museum acquired an 1885 watercolor by Vincent van Gogh.
Judy and Leonard Lauder donated $5 million to the Portland Museum of Art, the largest matching gift in the museum’s history.
Oakland’s mayor, Libby Schaaf, announced the provision of $1.7 million in philanthropic grants to support affordable spaces for artists and arts organizations following last week’s deadly warehouse fire.
Sotheby’s purchased Orion Analytical, a scientific research firm with expertise in provenance research.
The Artist Pension Trust merged with MutualArt.com to form MutualArt Group.
The UK purchased the capsule used by astronaut Tim Peake to return to Earth. The Russian Soyuz TMA-19M capsule will go on display at the Science Museum in London next year.
Anish Kapoor purchased a $13.58 million apartment in Tribeca.
Ken Hakuta, the nephew of Nam June Paik, donated 10 of the artists works and a $1 million to the Harvard Art Museums.
Transitions
Steven Mnuchin, the son of art dealer and gallerist Robert Mnuchin, resigned from his board position at the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art. Mnuchin was recently appointed the next Treasury Secretary by President-elect Donald Trump.
Isolde Brielmaier, Victoria Mikhelson, and Michael Xufu Huang joined the New Museum’s board of trustees.
The Worcester Art Museum appointed five new board members: Susan M. Bassick, Andrew T. Jay, Dana R. Levenson, Ronald L. Lombard, and Anne-Marie Soullière. Lisa Kirby was appointed to succeed Joseph J. Bafaro, Jr. as the board’s president.
Patty Isacson Sabee will be step down as CEO and director of the Museum of Pop Culture at the end of the year.
Carmon Colangelo was appointed dean of Washington University’s Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts.
Brett Gorvy, Christie’s chairman and international head of postwar and contemporary art, will leave the auction house to partner with art dealer Dominique Lévy.
Katarzyna Wielga-Skolimowska was fired from her position at the Polish culture institute in Berlin. According to TAZ, the cultural manager and director was targeted for her Jewish-themed programming and was fired following sustained pressure from Poland’s right-wing PiS-led government.
Brian Richmond resigned as curator of human origins at the American Museum of National History following a formal complaint of sexual assault and allegations of sexual harassment.
Amy Landau was promoted to director of curatorial affairs and curator of Islamic and south and southeast Asian art at the Walters Art Museum.
Zachary Cahill was appointed curator of the University of Chicago’s Gray Center for Arts and Inquiry.
Grace Kook-Anderson was appointed curator of northwest art at the Portland Art Museum.
William T. Williams is now represented by the Michael Rosenfeld Gallery.
The ISE Cultural Foundation NY will close indefinitely on December 31, 2016.
Accolades
Helen Marten was awarded the 2016 Turner Prize.
The City of Montreal awarded the Pierre-Ayot Prize to Nicolas Grenier, and the Louis-Comtois Prize to Aude Moreau.
Philip Smith was awarded the 2016 Miami Beach NADA Artadia Award.
The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art announced the winners of the 2017 SECA Art Award: Liam Everett, Alicia McCarthy, Sean McFarland, K.r.m. Mooney, and Lindsey White.
Leo Villareal and architects and urban planners, Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands, won the competition to illuminate London’s bridges.
Obituaries
Mauro Fiorese (1970–2016), artist, curator, and education.
Joris Ghekiere (1955–2016), painter.
Ferreira Gullar (1930–2016), poet and art critic.
Greg Lake (1947–2016), musician. Member of the progressive rock bands King Crimson and Emerson, Lake and Palmer.
John M. Miller (1939–2016), artist.
Stanley Reynolds (1934–2016), journalist, literary critic, and author.
Ousmane Sow (1935–2016), sculptor.
Robert A. Wilson (1922–2016), publisher and owner of the Phoenix Book Shop.
