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 Wednesday, January 23.
NEED-TO-READ
Shutdown Puts Major Tintoretto Show in Jeopardy – The ongoing government shutdown has set back preparations for the National Gallery of Art’s hotly anticipated Tintoretto exhibition by several weeks. The first retrospective of the 16th-century Italian master in North America, “Tintoretto: Artist of Renaissance Venice,” is slated to open March 10—but while federal staff are furloughed, no one can prepare the exhibition space. Fears are growing that the show may have to be postponed like others at the National Portrait Gallery and the National Museum of African Art. New dates can’t be announced until the shutdown is over. (Washington Post)
Serbia Names Pick for Venice Biennale – The 52-year-old Serbian artist Djordje Ozbolt will represent his country at the 58th Venice Biennale. The painter’s darkly comic, surreal paintings and sculptures combine traditional European motifs—landscape, portraiture—with symbols taken from Asian, African, and Christian traditions. Ozbolt’s project will be titled “Regaining Memory Loss.” (Press release)
Gerhard Richter Feels “Abused” by Oscar Nomination – The film loosely based on Richter’s life, Never Look Away, has been nominated for two Oscars, best foreign language film and best cinematography. The painter has not held back his dislike for the picture, which he says distorts his life story. Other art-related films that snagged Oscar nominations include Julian Schnabel’s Van Gogh biopic At Eternity’s Gate, for which Willem Dafoe has been nominated for best actor, and If Beale Street Could Talk, which received two nominations and contains work by four artists. (Deutsche Welle, Variety)
Haus der Kunst Names Expert Commission in Director Search – The Berlin institution has formed a commission of experts to stand in for two years while it seeks out a replacement for Okwui Enwezor, who stepped down as artistic director last June. Led by Bice Curiger, the artistic director of the Vincent van Gogh Foundation and former artistic director of the Venice Biennale, the commission will oversee programming and strategy and will establish a search committee to appoint a new director. Joining Curiger on the committee are the director of Munich’s Brandhorst Museum, Achim Hochdörfer, and the art collector Ingvild Goetz. (The Art Newspaper)
ART MARKET
Phillips Names New Senior Vice President – Takako Nagasawa, who most recently served as head of private sales at Sotheby’s, has been appointed Phillips’s senior vice president and international expert in 20th-century and contemporary art. Based in New York, she will focus on developing the auction house’s presence in Asia. (ARTnews)
Hauser & Wirth to Rep Mika Rottenberg – The New York-based artist, known for her surreal video installations that explore labor issues, is now exclusively represented by Hauser & Wirth. Rottenberg was represented by the veteran New York gallery Andrea Rosen until it closed in 2017. (Press release)
Clare McAndrew Launches Online Market How-To Guide – An online course on how to navigate today’s art market led by the economist behind the Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report is now available online. Called “Art Market Economics,” the course is written and presented by McAndrew. (Antiques Trade Gazette)
Bruce Silverstein Gallery Represents Daido Moriyama – The Japanese photography master has joined Chelsea gallery’s roster. Moriyama will have a solo exhibition at the gallery this fall, featuring a selection of historic black-and-white photographs as well as more recent work in color. (Press release)
COMINGS & GOINGS
Rubin Foundation Names Art and Social Justice Grantees – The Shelley and Donald Rubin Foundation has announced 57 New York–based organizations that will receive financial support for projects that use art as a tool for advocacy. The Queens Museum and the Studio Museum in Harlem are among the list of 2019 recipients. (Artforum)
Aaron Fowler Wins Seattle Art Museum Prize – The 2019 Gwendolyn Knight and Jacob Lawrence Prize, which comes with a solo show at the museum and $10,000, has been awarded to multimedia artist Aaron Fowler. The award is given out biannually to an emerging black artist. Previous winners include Theaster Gates and Sondra Perry. (ARTnews)
MacDowell Colony Awards 2019 Fellowships – The prominent residency in Peterborough, New Hampshire has named 86 fellows (half of them, women) for its winter and spring seasons. Including creatives like composers, poets, and architects as well as artists, each fellowship is valued at around $10,000. (ARTnews)
FOR ART’S SAKE
New Prize for French Art Historians – A new initiative called the Lambert Prize aims to increase support for the publication and dissemination of scholarly writing by French art historians. The laureates will receive €5,000 ($5,675) for their thesis and a publisher will receive an equivalent grant to make a book of their doctoral research. (Tribune de l’Art)
The Getty Finishes Conservation of King Tut’s Tomb – King Tutankhamun’s tomb has a new ventilation and filtration system, the result of a 10-year collaborative conservation effort by the Getty Conservation Institute and the Egyptian Ministry of Culture. The historic site had noticeable brown spots, flaking, and abrasions on the walls, especially the parts with public access. (TAN)
2Pac’s Sexy Sketch Sells for $21,000 – A pornographic drawing of a couple in flagrante delicto and a hand-drawn love letter sold at Steiner Auctions for $21,000 in December. The rapper made them while in prison for his girlfriend at the time, Desiree Smith. (Complex)
Doug Aitken’s Mirage House Is Coming to Gstaad – Doug Aitken’s outdoor installation, which debuted at Desert X in 2017, is returning to public view—this time in colder climes. His trippy, reflective structure will be presented in the snowy mountains of Gstaad from February 1 to 3 as part of an alpine arts festival. (Instagram)