Art Industry News: Did a Baptist Minister Steal Art From Edward Hopper’s Estate? + Other Stories

Plus, Ed Ruscha's 'Chocolate Room' will be seen at MoMA, and Anna May Wong will appear on a quarter.

Edward Hopper, Conference at Night (1949) (Photo by Francis G. Mayer/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images)

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 Thursday, October 20.

NEED-TO-READ

What’s Up With Moscow’s New Museum? – The highly anticipated GES-2 House of Culture, backed by Russian billionaire Leonid Mikhelson, was to be an international art hub. The war and an opinionated backer with close ties to Russian president Putin has stalled all of that. (The Art Newspaper)

Why Art Feels Different Today – In a wide-ranging interview with Maya Perry, Artnet News’s own critic Ben Davis talks about his new book, Art in the After-Culture, and the major shifts in art of the last few years. (Dissent)

How Did One Guy Get All These Hoppers? – As the Whitney opens a new Edward Hopper show that incorporates memorabilia from the family of a Baptist minister from Hopper’s hometown, the Times investigates the long-simmering charges leveled by Gail Levin, former Whitney curator, that Reverend Arthayer R. Sanborn took advantage of the Hoppers, accessing their home and acquiring art to which he was not entitled, and selling off artworks anonymously. Levin has gone so far as to publish a fictionalized account detailing how she believes the scheme happened. The Whitney says it has found “no basis” for the claims. (New York Times)

Housing Activists Criticize NYC Art Center – The Ronald O. Perelman Performing Arts Center, a $500 million arts center in New York named after the billionaire Trump donor, is scheduled to open in 2023. Activists are calling for more affordable housing instead. (Hyperallergic)

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Ed Ruscha Gets MoMA Retrospective – Organized by curator Christophe Cherix and set for next September, the major look at Ruscha’s career will will include his only single-room installation, Chocolate Room (1970). (TAN)

Art to Support Parkinson’s Charity – Sculptures inspired by the brain made by artists including Tracey Emin and Gavin Turk will be sold to raise money for the U.K.-based charity on November 9 at Christie’s London. Prior to the sale, the 12 works will be displayed at Koppel X in Piccadilly, and accompanied by workshops open to the public. (TAN)

Catskills Art Space Debuts New Look – Celebrating its fiftieth anniversary, the renovated Catskill Art Space in New York’s Sullivan County is rebranding with major loans of art, and is putting on view major pieces by James Turrell and Sol LeWitt. (NYT)

The New York Art Book Fair’s Triumphant Return The Printed Matter-organized fair returned last week for the first time since 2019 to a new venue in Chelsea—and was swarmed with scenesters and art book fanatics. (ARTnews)

FOR ART’S SAKE

Anna May Wong to Grace U.S .Currency – The late actress, considered to be Hollywood’s first Chinese American film star, will have her visage on quarters entering circulation in the next week. An activist and prolific actress, Wong is the first Asian American to appear on US currency. (NPR)

A new US quarter dollar is seen featuring, Anna May Wong, the first Chinese American film star in Hollywood.. Photo by the U.S. Mint via Getty Images.


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