Plus. Julian Schnabel's former New York townhouse hits the market and here's what it costs to help Venice recover from last month's flood.
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, December 13.
Here’s How Much It Costs to Help Save Venice – Venice is still working to recover from devastating floods last month, the worst the city has seen since 1966. Want to help? Bloomberg takes a look at the various funding options offered by the Save Venice foundation. For $500, you can fund a day’s pay for a conservator, while for $2,200, you can help install, repair, or replace stainless steel flood barriers. And if you’ve got $1.1 million lying around, you can single-handedly help preserve Santa Maria Assunta, one of the oldest churches in Venice’s lagoon. (Bloomberg)
Solange Releases Surprise Extended Cut of Her Visual Album – The Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter and artist Solange Knowles, who recently closed out the Venice Biennale with a mesmerizing performance, has just dropped an extended cut of the interdisciplinary performance art film for her latest album, When I Get Home, which includes a new song and new scenes at the Rothko Chapel. The original album, which saw the artist collaborate with the artist Jacolby Satterwhite, among others, has toured museums and institutions worldwide, including LACMA, the Brooklyn Museum, and the V&A. (Press release)
Is Stonehenge the Most Important Room of All Time? – Stonehenge is history’s most influential room, according to a jury of designers and architects assembled by T Magazine. They were tasked with identifying 25 spaces that have changed the way we live and the way we think about beauty pegged the ancient stone circle in the South of England as their top choice. The judges determined that to qualify as a room, something needed walls, but not a ceiling, and a monumental gathering place like Stonehenge seemed to fit the bill. The open-air chamber “stands as an indelible template for enclosure, space and ambitious monumentality.” (Bonus: check out these surreal photos of families on vacation at Stonehenge.) (T Magazine)
V&A Acquires Controversial Rodin Bronze – The V&A in London has been gifted an erotic sculpture of the ballet dancer Vaslav Nijinsky in memory of the late modern dance patron Robin Howard. The sculpture was widely understood to be a defense of a controversial production featuring a young amorous faun that was hailed at the time as both “filthy” and “revolutionary.”(Guardian)
Art and Tax Fraud Lawsuits Are on the Rise – Lawyers were busy in 2019, as the number of cases in which art dealers appear to have acted fraudulently was on the rise. Among them: veteran gallerist Mary Boone, who went to jail for tax evasion, and Inigo Philbrick, who is facing a wave of suits for allegedly selling works he did not own or selling works more than once. Rising prices at the top of the market offer great opportunities, notes Georgina Adam, but demand equally huge investments—so when things go wrong, an unprincipled actor can spiral fast. (TAN)
How the Top 200 Collectors Are Changing – Over the past 30 years, ARTnews has been assembling an annual list of top collectors and their blue-chip preferences. But the list itself, and what qualifies as the most sought-after art, has begun to change. Relatively new additions to the list include Pamela J. Joyner and Alfred J. Giuffrida; Raymond J. McGuire and Crystal McCrary; and Kasseem “Swizz Beatz” Dean and Alicia Keys. (ARTnews)
Princeton Museum Names Associate Director – Beginning January 27, Chris Newth will become the associate director for collections and exhibitions at the Princeton University Art Museum, which is currently being redesigned by architect David Adjaye. Newth joins the institution from the MFA Boston, where he served as senior director for exhibitions strategy and gallery display. (Artforum)
The Registrar of the Year Works at the Hirshhorn – The Hirshhorn’s chief registrar, Rajshree Solanki, won Atelier 4’s new $5,000 registrar of the year prize, and has decided to give the money to the Smithsonian Institution’s Office of Fellowships and Internships. Solanki says she wants to support the Smithsonian’s minority internship program, where she got her start. (ARTnews)
Rhizome Names a New Editor and Curator – The New Museum has named the 26-year-old critic, artist, and curator Aria Dean as the new editor and curator of its art and tech nonprofit, Rhizome. Dean was previously an assistant curator of net art and digital culture at the organization. (ARTnews)
Schnabel’s Old House Is for Sale – If you want to live like an artist, consider putting in a bid for the Greenwich Village townhouse previously owned by artist Julian Schnabel (and now owned by his first wife, collector Jacqueline Schnabel). The five-story Italianate townhouse is about 6,600 square feet, with four bedrooms and an art studio. While it’s no Palazzo Chupi, the artist did design the elaborate fireplace and dining room table himself. It’s on the market for $18.5 million. (Wall Street Journal)
See JR and Jerry Saltz Bro-ing Out – The Pulitzer Prize-winning critic Jerry Saltz sits down with the French street artist JR for an in-depth interview at the Brooklyn Museum, where JR is the subject of his largest exhibition to date. The 36-year-old street artist and the prominent art critic have more in common than you might think: both are self-taught outsiders. (The artist grew up living with his grandmother in the projects outside Paris; Saltz was a truck driver until age 41.) The artist explains that he didn’t even know there was an art world until he was in it, and to this day, he doesn’t work with big brands because of a disdain for advertising, which is also the reason for his black and white color palette. He also explains why he always dons his trademark fedora and shades—he hasn’t taken a photo without them since he was 13: the semi-anonymity helps him to cross borders to do projects in places like Mexico and the Middle East. The interview will be in Playboy‘s upcoming Equality issue, on newsstands December 17. (Playboy)
JR and Jerry Saltz at the Brooklyn Museum. Photo: Dina Litovsky for Playboy.
JR and Jerry Saltz at the Brooklyn Museum. Photo: Dina Litovsky for Playboy.
JR and Jerry Saltz at the Brooklyn Museum. Photo: Dina Litovsky for Playboy.
JR and Jerry Saltz at the Brooklyn Museum. Photo: Dina Litovsky for Playboy.
JR and Jerry Saltz at the Brooklyn Museum. Photo: Dina Litovsky for Playboy.
