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 Friday, April 28.
NEED-TO-READ
Masterworks Struggles – The fractional art-ownership start-up has reportedly put the kibosh on a recent funding round in the face of potential regulatory scrutiny. Ex-employees also claimed that the company’s brokers pressured their clients into making risky investments, accusations that Masterworks has denied. (New York Post)
Children’s Museums Are Growing Up – A new report highlights recent efforts by children’s museums to expand their offering to include more activities, education opportunities, internships and even mental health support for young people. (New York Times)
Climate Protesters Target Degas Sculpture – In a throwback to the climate actions of last year, two anonymous activists wearing black suits smeared red and black paint over a glass display case containing the French Impressionist’s Little Dancer Aged Fourteen sculpture at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. They have since been detained. (Forbes)
Yvonne Jacquette Dies at 88 – The New York artist recorded and celebrated the city’s famous skyline in her aerial-view paintings, based on her own views from an airplane window. Her work is in the collections of the Met, the Whitney, the Brooklyn Museum and the Hirshhorn. (ARTnews)
MOVERS & SHAKERS
NYC Development to Feature Blue-Chip Public Art – The newly-opened Manhattan West mixed-use development in Midtown New York City will feature works by Christopher Wool and Charles Ray. Wool’s large-scale mosaic, Crosstown Traffic (2023) and Ray’s sculpture Adam and Eve (2023) will be unveiled on June 5. (The Art Newspaper)
SFMoMA Names New Leadership – Gamynne Guillotte has been appointed chief education and community engagement officer at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Guillotte joins Sheila Shin, the recently named chief experience officer, under the new leadership of former Baltimore Museum of Art curator Christopher Bedford. (Press release)
Clearing Gallery Moves to Manhattan – The longtime Bushwick-based gallery has decamped from its Brooklyn home to the Bowery neighborhood in Manhattan. Founder Olivier Babin cited the “glass ceiling of Bushwick” preventing artists from the commercial success their Manhattan counterparts enjoy. (ARTnews)
STPI Changes Leadership – The creative workshop and gallery in Singapore has announced that its director Rita Targui has stepped down after nearly a decade. Executive director Emi Eu will be acting head of the organization until further notice. (Press release)
FOR ARTS SAKE
Ellsworth Kelly’s Works Donated to Museums – Ahead of the anniversary of what would have been Kelly’s 100th birthday, the late artist’s husband Jack Shear is giving 146 works worth more than $16 million to 19 American museums, along with $27.5 million in grants. Four institutions, which Kelly valued most (MoMA, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, and SFMoMA) will receive 25 works that they each chose. (New York Times)
Minimalist painter Ellsworth Kelly photographed in his New York City studio in 1968. Photo by Jack Mitchell/Getty Images.