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, February 23.
NEED-TO-READ
Cultural Heritage Damage Emerges in Wake of Earthquakes – In the ancient Turkish city of Antakya, the oldest church in the world, the 1st century Antioch Orthodox Church, and the oldest in the country, the 7th century mosque Habib-I Nejjar, were reduced to rubble. The city has been hit by three earthquakes, causing a massive loss of life and damage to the city. Here is how you can help. (Euronews)
MoMA Creates Just Above Midtown Archive – The famed New York art space known for launching the careers of many Black artists will now have an established archive at the museum. The archive was made possible thanks to a grant from the Mellon Foundation. An exhibition about the pioneering gallery recently closed at MoMA. (ARTnews)
Art Dealer Pleads Guilty to Hawking Fake Warhol – Palm Beach’s Daniel Elie Bouaziz pleaded guilty to money laundering and selling a counterfeit artwork by Andy Warhol. He has been charged after a sting operation in 2022 by FBI’s Art Crime Team caught him selling fake artworks, including work purported to be by Jean-Michel Basquiat and Roy Lichtenstein to at least six people. His sentencing will take place in May. (Department of Justice)
Deadline Looms for U.K. to Keep Historic Reynolds Painting – The National Portrait Gallery is scrambling to keep Portrait of Omai by Joshua Reynolds in the U.K. The deadline to raise enough money is coming up on March 10, after which time it may be sold to a foreign buyer. The price tag is £50 million; the museum is apparently in secret negotiations with the Getty Museum in California to jointly buy it. (Independent)
MOVERS & SHAKERS
£20 Million Freud Painting to Be Auctioned at Sotheby’s – A portrait by Lucian Freud of one of his children has a big price tag on it. It heads to the London auction on March 1. Ib Reading features the girl reading Marcel Proust’s 4,000-page novel Remembrance of Things Past. (Guardian)
Alexander Gray Associates Decamps from Chelsea – The veteran Chelsea gallery is moving to Tribeca, joining the likes of James Cohan, Luhring Augustine, and Timothy Taylor in the new arts hub. The new space, set to open in early 2024, will be located at 384 Broadway on the same block as JTT, Andrew Kreps, P.P.O.W., and 125 Newbury. (ARTnews)
Photo London Exhibitors Are Announced – 110 galleries from more than 50 countries have been named for the fair. There will be a special focus this year on Iranian photographers: one highlight is O Gallery, Tehran, will feature work of Mohammedreza Mirzaei alongside rare prints by Kaveh Kazemi, whose photographed the 1979 revolution. The fair will run from May 11 through 14 2023 at Somerset House. (Press release)
F1 Car Driven by Romain Grosjean Heads to Museum – The battered and charred Haas car driven by Grosjean in the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix will go on view at the IFEMA in Madrid as part of an exhibition dedicated to Formula 1. The fiery crash, which saw Grosjean trapped in the burning car for 28 seconds before escaping, is the worst safety incident in F1’s recent history. (Jalopnik)
FOR ART’S SAKE
Stars Head to Museums During the Berlin Film Festival – The Berlinale, one of the world’s preeminent film festivals, is on this week around the German capital. Film industry legends were spotted at a few of the city’s museums, including Willem Da Foe, lead actor of the art world thriller Inside, which had its world premiere on Monday, who was seen at KW Institute for Contemporary Art. Da Foe was also at the Neue Nationalgalerie, alongside Alexander Skarsgard, star from The Northman, and Cate Blanchett, who attended a reception to inaugurate the museum’s new film initiative. Director Klaus Biesenbach plans to introduce film into the museum’s programming and collection—it will play a vital role in the Museum of the 20th Century being built next door and set to open in 2026. (Press release)
Cate Blanchett and Klaus Biesenbach © Nationalgalerie – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin / Photo: Stephanie von Becker
Alexander Skarsgård © Nationalgalerie – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin / Photo: Stephanie von Becker
Director Wim Wenders, Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation head Herrmann Parzinger and director Volker Schlöndorff at the Neue Nationalgalerie. © Nationalgalerie – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin / Photo: Stephanie von Becker