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, January 26.
NEED-TO-READ
Museum of African American History Wins Award – British architect David Adjaye’s building for the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC, has been honored with the 2017 Design of the Year Award, marking only the second time in the prize’s history that the distinction has gone to a building. The first time was Zaha Hadid’s Heydar Aliev center in Azerbaijan, in 2014. (The Guardian)
Andy Warhol Takes the Vatican – The Vatican Museums are planning a show dedicated to the Pop artist’s spiritual artworks in 2019. The exhibition will include some religious-themed work, such as Warholl’s Last Supper series, and will then travel to Pittsburgh in time for the 25th anniversary of the Warhol Museum. (The Art Newspaper)
Christo Granted Permission for Floating Sculpture on London Lake – Christo has received the go-ahead from Westminster Council for his proposed large-scale installation on the 40-acre Serpentine lake in London’s Hyde Park. The Mastaba sculpture, 7,506 oil barrels arranged to evoke an ancient Egyptian non-pyramidal tomb, is part of the conceptual artist’s show running at the Serpentine Gallery from June 20 to September 9, and will float on the lake during the summer. (TAN)
Seoul and Tokyo Clash Over New Museum – Only hours into its opening in Tokyo, the South Korean government demanded Japan close a museum dedicated to two groups of disputed islets, which are the source of territorial arguments with both China and South Korea. The state-run museum exhibits documents laying Japan’s claims to the islets. (Strait Times)
ART MARKET
Asia Week New York Announces 2018 Lineup – Forty-three international galleries and five auction houses will participate in this year’s Asia Week, promoting Asian art and culture in the city between March 15 and 24. Bonhams, Christie’s, Doyle, iGavel, and Sotheby’s are all involved, while newcomers among dealers include Cohen and Cohen, Suneet Kapoor, and Tai Modern. (Press release)
Freemans to Auction Dodo Hamilton’s Collection – The auction house will sell the collection of the philanthropist and horticulturist in more than 150 lots spread across two sales. Fine art, including paintings by Paul Cézanne, Childe Hassam, and Daniel Garber, will go under the hammer on April 29. Jewelry, including a 16.56 carat emerald cut diamond and platinum ring, as well as pieces by Cartier and Tiffany & Co., will sell on May 9. (Press release)
1-54 Fair Details Inaugural Marrakech Program – For its Moroccan debut on February 24-25, the contemporary African art fair will showcase 17 galleries from nine countries. Omar Berrada is curating a talks program titled “Always Decolonize!” that will examine how to excise lingering colonial culture embedded in our knowledge and self-representation. Berrada will also take the lead on the talks program in the New York edition of 1-54 in May. (Press release)
Sotheby’s Ramps Up AI Initiative – The auction house’s head of strategy and corporate development has hired a team of data scientists to aid in its strategic collection and use of data. The team comprises blockchain expert Richard Vibert, as well as Andrew Shum and Ahmad Qamar, co-founders of the e-commerce firm Thread Genius, which uses artificial intelligence image recognition to predict taste. (Art Market Monitor)
COMINGS & GOINGS
Art Patron William Jordan Has Died – Jordan, who helped enrich art collections in museums from Dallas to Madrid, died this week at age 77. The philanthropist, advisor, and expert in Spanish art was renowned for his eye for authenticity: In 1988, Jordan discovered that the painting Portrait of Philip III by Diego Velázquez had been mistakenly attributed to another artist. Jordan took it home before donating it to the Prado Museum in 2016. (Dallas News)
João Ribas to Lead the Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art – The preeminent institution in Porto, Portugal, has promoted João Ribas, the museum’s deputy director and chief curator to take over as its director, succeeding Suzanne Cotter. Cotter stepped down last year before joining Luxembourg’s Musée d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean as director. (Artforum)
Delaware Art Museum Receives $15 Million Donation – It’s the largest gift the museum has received in more than 30 years. The generous donation from Gerret and Tatiana Copeland comes at a troubled financial time for the institution, which had to sell four artworks in 2015–16 to stabilize its budget. (Delaware Online)
Song Sanghee Wins Korea Artist Prize – The Amsterdam-based, Korean multimedia artist has won one of Korea’s foremost art prizes, presented by the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea, and the SBS Foundation. Her works are on display at the National Museum alongside the work of the three other finalists: Bek Hyunjin, Kelvin Kyung Kun Park, and Sunny Kim. Each artist received approximately $37,600. (Artforum)
FOR ART’S SAKE
MoMA Shows Previously Unknown Maria Lassnig Films – Next Monday, January 29, MoMA will premier a set of newly discovered and restored films from the 1970s by the Austrian artist from when she was living in New York. The works will also be on view from February 1 at MoMA PS1 as part of a special exhibition. (Press release)
Public Art Munich 2018 Commissions Announced – The second edition of Public Art Munich will engage with artistic perspectives on historic cultural shifts relevant to the city, from the post-war de-nazification to the welcoming of refugees in 2015 to the effects of digital culture and the #MeToo campaign today. (Press release)
Why Art Travel Destinations Are Better Than the Beach – The Telegraph makes a case for why it’s better to let renowned fine-art attractions be your guide when choosing vacation spots than just trying to unplug the brain in some sandy lagoon on the edge of the world. (Telegraph)
FROM OUR PARTNERS
Open Call for Instagram Art Submissions
“Instagram Curated Show”
Mark Borghi Fine Art – New York
Deadline for submissions: January 30th
To start off the new year, the Upper East Side’s Mark Borghi Fine Art will be hosting a show of artworks by the gallery’s Instagram followers—and is now soliciting submissions for the exhibition, with a deadline of January 30th. Set to take place between February 22nd and March 30th, the best works will be selected for the show by Mark Borghi and Katherine Gagnon, who manages the New York gallery. Follow Mark Borghi Fine Art on Instagram at @markborghi, and email submissions to Katherine@borghi.com.
A post shared by Mark Borghi Fine Art (@markborghi) on Jan 18, 2018 at 1:14pm PST