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 Monday, July 31.
NEED-TO-READ
Art’s Role in High-End Real Estate Deals – Developers are commissioning high-end art for the lobbies of New York City condominiums in a bid to make properties more appealing. Examples include a 20-foot-tall, nearly 40-ton Anish Kapoor to be installed at 56 Leonard in Manhattan and an installation by Hellbent at 50 Greenpoint in Brooklyn. (New York Times)
OJ Simpson Museum Comes to LA – On August 18, Coagula Curatorial will open a five-day pop-up “OJ Simpson Museum” in LA’s Chinatown. It will present items ranging from t-shirts sold on the streets of LA during his trial to paintings inspired by the football star. Naturally, a white Bronco will be parked outside. (Los Angeles Times)
Annie Leibovitz Collection Saga Continues – A Canadian government panel has declined to certify a full collection of 2,070 photos by the photographer as culturally significant. The museum that owns them, Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, was allegedly seeking the accreditation for tax purposes. (NYT)
Street Artists Revive Bulgarian Village – Young Polish artists have installed large outdoor murals in the small Bulgarian village of Staro Zhelezare, which has a population of less than 500. Villagers are welcoming the works with open arms, hoping that they will go viral and attract tourists. (Reuters)
ART MARKET
Spring Latin American Sales, Analyzed – Less than half the lots on offer sold during the spring sales; the combined total for Christie’s, Sotheby’s, and Phillips was a lackluster $42 million. One high point, however, was Francisco Zuniga’s Grupo de cuatro mujeres de pie, which sold at Christie’s for over $3.1 milllion. (Art Market Monitor)
How Mark Grotjahn Came to Own His Market – He may not like to talk about it, but the Los Angeles-based artist exerts considerable influence over his own market—and it’s paying off. Robin Pogrebin examines how Grotjahn flouts convention by declining exclusive arrangements with galleries and selling work directly from his studio. (NYT)
Charity Auction Tests the Market for Haitian Art – Piasa will host an auction later this year with Haitian works from Le Centre d’art in Port au Prince, which was devastated by the 2010 earthquake. While the proceeds will go towards the institution, the auction also serves as a testing ground for how Haitian works might do in the market. (The Art Newspaper)
Fake Giacomettis Created for Film Destroyed – The filmmakers behind the new Alberto Giacometti biopic Final Portrait had some unorthodox clean-up to do after filming. They were asked by the estate to destroy the hundreds of fake works they had created for fear the sculptures might resurface on the market. (Guardian)
COMINGS & GOINGS
Met Makes New Staff Appointments – Although Thomas Campbell’s successor has yet to be named, the Met is making some other in-house staff changes. Quincy Houghton was promoted to deputy director of exhibitions and Kim Benzel will lead the department of ancient Near Eastern art, among other promotions. (ARTnews)
The Art Newspaper’s Editor Steps Down – After almost a decade with the London- and New York-based art publication and just over a year as editor, Javier Pes is leaving The Art Newspaper. Pes will remain with the paper until September and then plans to “write about a greater variety of artists and museums and pursue other projects.” (TAN)
ArtCenter/South Florida Hires Dennis Scholl as Director – The Miami Beach non-profit, which helps to provide affordable artist studios, will use revenue generated from the sale of one of its buildings to appoint art-world veteran Dennis Scholl as president and chief executive from September 1. (NYT)
Mitch Cairns Wins Archibald Prize – The Sydney artist and four-time finalist was finally awarded the AU$100,000 ($80,000) prize for a stylized oil portrait of his partner, contemporary artist Agatha Gothe-Snape. (Artforum)
FOR ART’S SAKE
Postal Museum Opens in London – In September, for the first time ever, members of the public will be able to ride a one-kilometer loop of underground tunnels used as the city’s “Mail Rail” for most of the 20th century—and as a hiding place for priceless works of art during the Blitz. (Press release)
9/11 Museum Welcomes 10 Million Visitors – In the three years since its opening, the 9/11 Museum has received over 10 million visitors. The museum has seen a 23 percent boost in local visitors since the introduction of its “Our City. Our Story” campaign. (Press release)
Whitney Gets Major Edward Hopper Gift – New York’s Whitney Museum of American Art has received a generous donation of 4,000 archival materials ranging from notebooks to ticket stubs kept by the enigmatic American artist. The gift comes from the Arthayer R. Sanborn Hopper Collection Trust. (Press release)
Portrait of Edward Hopper in the sand dunes at Cape Cod, c.1930-1940, The Sanborn Archive at the Whitney Museum of American Art, Frances Mulhall Achilles Library. Gift of the Arthayer R Sanborn Hopper Collection Trust. Series: Personal Papers, Edward Hopper, Photographs. Courtesy The Whitney Museum.
An Edward Hopper Notebook. Courtesy The Whitney Museum of American Art.