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 Friday, April 6.
NEED-TO-READ
More Accusers Come Forward Against Richard Meier – Four more former employees have come forward to speak about their experiences with the Pritzker Prize winner, bringing the total number of women who have publicly accused him of sexual misconduct to nine. Other former employees said Meier’s behavior was an open secret at the company. He is currently taking a six-month break from the firm. (New York Times)
Hank Willis Thomas and Kate Gilmore Among Guggenheim Winners – The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation has awarded this year’s fellowships to 175 artists, academics, and scientists. Hank Willis Thomas earned one for his photography, joining his mother Deborah Willis, who became a Guggenheim fellow in 2005. The fine arts fellowships were awarded to Mequitta Ahuja, Dave Hullfish Bailey, Amy Feldman, Kate Gilmore, and David Schutter, among others. (Artforum)
Heirs Win Back Nazi-Looted Schieles – The heirs of Austrian Jewish cabaret performer Fritz Grünbaum, who died in Dachau, have won their legal battle to reclaim two works by Egon Schiele. They sued the London-based dealer Richard Nagy after the Nazi-looted works were spotted in his booth at a New York’s Salon of Art + Design fair in 2015. (Press release)
The Terra Foundation and Alice Walton Join Forces – The Detroit Institute of Arts will share exhibitions with smaller institutions in Michigan and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, with museums in New England and New York State thanks to a $2.4 million grant from the Terra Foundation and Alice Walton’s nonprofit Art Bridges, Inc. The pilot projects are part of a $15 million collection-sharing initiative. (The Art Newspaper)
ART MARKET
Frieze New York Announces Artist Projects – A special live art program at Frieze New York this May will include Hank Willis Thomas, who will present embroidered fabric works that number the lives lost by gun violence in recent years, and Adam Pendleton, whose Black Dada Flag (Black Lives Matter) will fly for six months on Randall’s Island. Other participants include Renée Green, Alfredo Jaar, and Dave McKenzie. (Press release)
Bonhams to Sell Ancient Chinese Bronzes and Early Ceramics – The auction house will offer the Reid famiy’s collection in two parts across two cities, Sydney and London, next month. The collection includes 40 early Chinese ceramics as well as a very rare archaic bronze food bowl from the late Shang Dynasty with an estimated value of £180,000–240,000 ($252,065–336,085). (Press release)
Iranian Art Gallery Opens in London – Cama Gallery—the first gallery devoted to Iranian art in Britain—opened its doors on Thursday in London with an exhibition of work by 18 Iranian artists. None of the artists were able to attend the opening, however, because they were unable to obtain visas. (Guardian)
COMINGS & GOINGS
Yarat Names New Director – The nonprofit space in Baku, Azerbaijan, has appointed Suad Garayeva-Maleki as its new artistic director. Garayeva-Maleki has been the space’s chief curator since 2014. She succeeds Björn Geldhof, who is returning to the PinchukArtCentre in Kiev, where he was previously deputy director. (ARTnews)
ICA Philadelphia Gets $4.5 Million in Grants – The Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania has secured two hefty new gifts that will be used to endow its chief curator and associate curator positions. Daniel and Brett Sundheim and Andrea B. Laporte donated the combined $4.5 million. (Press release)
Francis Alÿs Wins EYE Prize – The EYE Filmmuseum has awarded the Mexico City-based, Belgian-born artist this year’s $35,000 art and film prize. The judges praised Alÿs’s poetic and sensitive work, including in war-torn northern Iraq. Videos by the previous three prize winners—Hito Steyerl, Ben Rivers, and Wang Bing—are now on show at the Amsterdam museum. (ARTnews)
New Art Prize for Artists with Autism – The inaugural Spectrum Art Prize has announced its shortlist of seven artists. The new $14,000 prize for artists on the autism spectrum is being judged by artists including Richard Billingham and Mark Wallinger. The winner will be announced in May, and work by the shortlisted artists is due to go on view at London’s Saatchi Gallery that same month. (Press release)
FOR ART’S SAKE
François Pinault Gives €3 Million to Save Victor Hugo’s House – The luxury goods magnate has pledged €3 million ($3.7 million) to save Hauteville House in Guernsey after Paris’s mayor said the city council could not afford to fund any renovations. The French novelist spent 15 years in exile on the Channel Islands in the 1800s and penned Les Miserables in the house. Now owned by the city of Paris, it has been converted into a museum that draws 20,000 visitors annually. (ITV News)
Twombly Relights Jerry Saltz’s Fire – Two Twombly shows at Gagosian in New York have sent the critic into nostalgic ecstasy. In his review, Saltz recalls first seeing the artist’s “aphrodisiacal” abstracts, which he says fired up a “Kama Sutra of urge.” He calls the (non-selling) shows of late paintings and five decades’ worth of drawings spectacular and unmissable. In a message to the dealer, he adds, “Thank you, Larry.” (Vulture)
Roma Women Fight Back in Berlin – The inaugural Roma Biennial opens on April 8 in Berlin—and work by female artists is at the forefront. Their work aims to challenge widespread prejudice against the minority ethnic group and the stereotype that Roma women are “housewives, beggars, or whores,” said participant Sandra Selimovic. (Reuters)
Remembering Rosa Parks’s Courage – Georgia Tech in Atlanta has unveiled a new public statue depicting the civil rights activist Rosa Parks. The sculpture by Martin Dawe shows Parks as an old woman and at age 42, the year she famously refused to move to the back of a segregated bus and sparked the Montgomery bus boycott. The two figures are separated by an empty seat. (Georgia Tech)