Art Industry News is a daily digest of the most consequential developments coming out of the art world and art market. Here’s what you need to know on this Tuesday, October 26.

NEED-TO-READ

America’s North Faces Its Own Monument Reckoning – Monuments in the American South explicitly champion proponents of slavery and the Civil War, but monuments in the North have their own dark histories. W. Ralph Eubanks explores how statues in Boston and Cambridge actively obscure the achievements of Black Americans in favor of propagating a white savior narrative. “The question that remains in Boston, and across this country,” he writes, “is how we can amend the American story through our monuments without tearing them all down.” (New Yorker)

Seoul’s Gallerists Reflect on the Influx of International Dealers – Lured by young collectors and a favorable tax system, international dealers are flocking to Seoul, where they threaten to crowd out local art businesses. But some contend that isn’t a bad thing. Heejin Park, who worked at a local gallery before moving over to Gladstone when it opened a Seoul branch earlier this year, said: “Local galleries need to wake up, learn to compete with the real deal, and survive the market change.” (The Art Newspaper)

Anderson Cooper Handled His Mom’s Art Sales in Secret – Be kind when navigating art sales on Instagram—you never know who you might be dealing with. In a recent appearance on  Late Night With Seth Meyers, Anderson Cooper revealed how he helped his mother, Gloria Vanderbilt, sell her art on Instagram. For three years, the CNN anchor adopted the persona of a “woman of a certain age” named Monica who would answer inquiries from prospective buyers. “Literally, I’d be in Baghdad, you know in between things I’d be like, ‘Would you like a laminated white frame?’—as Monica,” Cooper recalled. (Yahoo! News)

England’s Culture Sector Gets a Major Funding Boost – The U.K. government has allotted a hefty £850 million ($1.2 billion) in additional funding to the culture sector to help it bounce back from the pandemic. Museums such as the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, Tate Liverpool, and the Imperial War Museum in Duxford will share between them £300 million ($414 million) for maintenance over the next three years. Another £125 million ($173 million) will help the Natural History Museum establish a new scientific research center in Oxfordshire and £14  million ($19.3 million) will support Blythe House moving its collection into a modern storage facility. (TAN)

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Christie’s Will Take Part in China International Expo – Christie’s will participate for the first time in the China International Import Expo in Shanghai, which will be held between November 5 and 10. The auction house will present works by Camille Pissarro, Marc Chagall, Zao Wou-ki, and others at its booth. (Press release)

Art Taipei Closed With High Turnout – Asia’s oldest art fair concluded with a higher than expected turnout for its five-day run, with attendance up 65 percent from last year’s 70,000 despite stringent travel restrictions and social-distancing measures. The event, which featured 120 galleries, saw an influx of new local buyers, organizers said. Galleries surveyed estimated that 50 percent of the buyers they came into contact with this year were new. (Press release)

Could Buckingham Palace One Day Become a Museum? – A royal historian expects that under Prince Charles’s upcoming reign, the mostly sealed-off Buckingham Palace could be opened up for tours more extensively. The central London palace, where no family member lives, is undergoing undergoing a 10-year restoration program that costs British taxpayers £369 million ($509 million). (Express)

FOR ART’S SAKE

The Real-Life Art Dealer Behind the French Dispatch – In Wes Anderson’s new movie, which is several films within a film, one story focuses on art dealer Julien Cadazio (Adrien Brody), who is based loosely on the 20th century Old Masters dealer Joseph Duveen, a wheeler-dealer who made a fortune selling European art to newly rich Americans. (ARTnews)

Fondazione Merz Opens in Palermo – The Fondazione Merz, a contemporary art center named after Italian artist Mario Merz, is opening a second location today in Palermo, Italy. The foundation is taking over the former factory space Zisa Arti Contemporanee and will run it for at least three years under the name ZACentrale. The inaugural group show features an all-star lineup including Lawrence Weiner, Rosa Barba, and Joan Jonas. (Press release)

Lida Abdul’s Time, Love and the Workings of Anti-Love (2013) and Lawrence Weiner’s Built at the edge of the grass (2007). Courtesy the artist; Galleria Giorgio Persano, Torino; Fondazione Merz.