Art Industry News: Franz West’s Heirs Win Legal Battle Over Estate + More Must-Read Stories

Plus, why Anselm Kiefer hates the High Line and how Basquiat prices might muddle Basquiat scholarship.

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, June 28.

NEED-TO-READ

Works From Gurlitt Trove Go on Public View for the First Time – Starting November 3, the Bundeskunsthalle in Bonn will display about 250 works from the over 1,200 found in Gurlitt’s apartments, focusing on artworks believed to be stolen from Jewish owners or sold under duress. (The New York Times)

Do Basquiat Prices Muddle Basquiat Scholarship?Two experts weigh in on the effect that headline-making auction prices have on scholarly judgement of a work’s artistic value, focusing on Basquiat’s spectacular entry into the nine-figure club. (Apollo Magazine)

Anselm Kiefer Hates the High Line – Profiled by The New Yorker, the German artist talks about his studio, which can fit one-to-one models of major museums, his love of ruins, and his disdain for the petit-bourgeois ideas behind the High Line. (The New Yorker)

Franz West’s Heirs Win Legal Battle Over Estate – An Austrian court ruled in favor of the late artist’s family, concluding that a foundation established when West was on his deathbed was created improperly. Unless the foundation appeals, any artworks and sales profits are to be handed over to the heirs. (The Art Newspaper)

 

ART MARKET

Max Beckmann Sells for $45.8 Million at Christie’s London – Beckmann’s Birds’ Hell (1937–8), sold for a record £36 million ($45.8 million) without much of a fight to Larry Gagosian, who may or may not have been bidding for collector Leon Black. (artnet News)

Rare Marc Chagall Portfolio Tops London Sale of Prints and Multiples – Chagall’s “Le Cirque,” a portfolio of 38 vibrant lithographs that shows the artist’s fascination with the circus, sold for $191,000 at Bonhams London. (artdaily)

TEFAF New York Fall Releases Exhibitor ListThe fair returns to the Park Avenue Armory in October with 93 dealers, 10 of whom are first time participants at the European fair’s second stateside fall edition. (artfixdaily)

COMINGS & GOINGS

Printer and Photographer Richard Benson Dies at 73 The eminent figure, known for innovative printing techniques such as the use of an offset press and inkjet printers, died last Thursday due to heart failure. (NYT)

Art Gallery of Ontario Appoints Four New Curators – The Canadian gallery has appointed four new assistant curators in Julie Crooks (photography), Alexa Greist (prints and drawings), Wanda Nanibush (Canadian and Indigenous art), and Caroline Shields (European art). (Press release)

Jewish Museum of Florida – FIU Gets a New Director – Susan Gladstone has been named as the new director of the museum partnered with Florida International University. With over 30 years of executive experience, Gladstone will lead the cultural institution into its next era. (Press release)

FOR ART’S SAKE 

Sobey Art Award Finalists Announced – The five artists shortlisted for the Canadian honor are Ursula Johnson, Divya Mehra, Bridget Moser, Raymond Boisjoly, and Jacynthe Carrier. The prize money from the prestigious award has this year been increased to $110,000 CAD, and the winning artist will be announced in October. (Press release)

Threatened Walsall Gallery Saved by Arts Council GrantA four year, £3.5 million grant from Arts Council England has been awarded to the New Art Gallery Walsall in a bid to keep it open despite devastating cuts to public funding. (The Art Newspaper)

Avery Singer Wins Prix Jean-François Prat – New York painter Avery Singer has been announced as the laureate of the 6th edition of the €20,000 prize for emerging contemporary artists. (Twitter)

Chelsea Manning Meets Ai Weiwei – In a moment Manning described on her Instagram as “moving and intense,” the infamous whistleblower met with the Chinese artist as he debuted his 176 Lego portraits of persecuted individuals at the Hirshhorn Museum. (Instagram)

Following her release from prison last month, Chelsea Manning met with contemporary artist Ai Weiwei, who was also controversially detained in 2011. Photo courtesy @xychelsea87 via Instagram.

 


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