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 this Thursday, February 3.

NEED-TO-READ

Wide Gender Pay Gap Persists at Auction Houses – There has been little progress on closing the gender pay since 2018, according to newly released figures. At Bonhams U.K., the pay gap grew to 52.4 percent, with women earning 48 pence for every £1 that men earned. Meanwhile, things are improving in the public sector: the Victoria and Albert Museum, for example, paid women 7.2 percent less in 2017-2018, and it now pays women 14.1 percent more. (The Art Newspaper)

Manuel Mathieu Is Suing a Moped Driver Who Ran Over Him – The rising star painter is suing the driver of a moped who ran over him in 2015 for £27 million pounds in damages. The artist said that the accident has left him with brain damage that has been an impediment to his career. (Evening Standard)

Manhattan Gallery Sued Over Mark Rothko Painting Ownership – Edward Tyler Nahem Fine Art is being sued for $10 million by Brussels-based Galerie Jacques De La Beraudiere, which claims it hasn’t been able to sell a Rothko work, Untitled (Red, Yellow, Blue, Black and White), from 1950, because Nahem won’t name the anonymous owner it sold the work to nearly 20 years ago. Galerie Jacques said the art industry is now a place of “greater transparency,” but a lawyer for Nahem said the lawsuit was “frivolous.” (New York Post)

Accusations of Bullying Prompt Asian Art Museum Departures – The San Francisco institution is facing accusations of a toxic workplace. In around two years, three staff members have departed the contemporary art department and cited director Abby Chen’s actions as a manager as the reason. She has been accused of transphobia, bullying, and unprofessional behavior. (KQED)

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Solange Launches Ceramics Artist Residency – Saint Heron, Solange’s multidisciplinary arts platform, is launching a ceramic residency backed by Kering’s Women in Motion. The inaugural ceramic artists are Dina Nur Satti, Armina Howada Mussa, Lalese Stamps and Kenya Cree, who will all attend a month-long residency led by mentors Tracie Hervy and Anina Major. (Press release)

Andria Hickey Appointed Chief Curator at the Shed – After three years as a curator at Pace Gallery in New York, Andria Hickey will depart the mega-gallery to become chief curator at the Shed. She takes up the post on March 2, and will lead the venue’s visual arts program alongside artistic director and CEO Alex Poots and senior program advisor Hans Ulrich Obrist. (ARTnews)

Florence Bourgeois Will Head FIAC and Paris Photo – The director of Paris Photo for the past seven years, Florence Bourgeois, will now also helm FIAC. The news coincides with the revelation that Art Basel’s parent company paid millions to take over FIAC’s usual venue, the Grand Palais, in its October time slot. Bourgeois will replace FIAC’s director for 18 years, Jennifer Flay, who is rumored to be moving to Art Basel to lead its new Paris fair. (TAN)

Givenchy Collection to be Sold in Paris – Christie’s will host a sale of fine and decorative art from the collection of legendary fashion designer Hubert de Givenchy, including more than 1,200 lots of French and European Furniture and works of art. The sale takes place in Paris from June 14 to 17 and online from June 8 to 23. (Press release)

FOR ART’S SAKE

Berlin to Get a Georg Grosz Museum in a Former Gas Station – The celebrated German artist, who was born in Berlin, created work about the city’s life and its suffering during the 1920s. The avid anti-Nazi left Germany before the breakout of World War II. In May, a private museum called the Little Grosz Museum will open in a former gas station that is being revamped and converted for the space. It will be run with its own funds in cooperation with the artist’s estate, initially for five years, with the hope of turning it into a permanent institution. (Press release)

A rendering of the future museum. © planungsbüro brakel, Berlin