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 Wednesday, March 16.
NEED-TO-READ
Queen Joins Cultural Boycott Against Russia – The Royal Collection has withdrawn permission for a loan of three 17th-century swords to the Kremlin Museums in Moscow. The weapons were due to be included in an exhibition on dueling sponsored by the sanctioned Russian oligarch and former fencer Alisher Usmanov. The Queen’s collection, which confirmed it withdrew permission for the loan in mid-February, is among several European institutions that have pulled loans from the show, which has now been postponed indefinitely. (Guardian)
Wait, Anna Delvey Actually Isn’t Being Deported – The socialite scammer Anna “Delvey” Sorokin has avoided deportation to Germany following her release from ICE detention on March 14. Sorokin’s lawyers convinced a court to stop the deportation at the eleventh hour because the deadline for her latest appeal has not yet passed. U.S. authorities are reportedly to be working toward a new deportation date. (Dazed)
Francis Kéré Wins the Pritzker Prize – The Burkinabe architect and social activist Francis Kéré has won the 2022 Pritzker Architecture Prize. Kéré, who is the first Black person to win the field’s highest honor, said he hopes to shift the paradigm in architecture. “It is not because you are rich that you should waste material,” he said. “It is not because you are poor that you should not try to create quality. Everyone deserves quality, everyone deserves luxury, and everyone deserves comfort.” (designboom)
Art Collector Wins Right to Sell Hirst Painting – British art collector Robert Tibbles has been granted permission to sell a Damien Hirst painting after a judge dismissed a case brought against Tibbles by his father, Nigel Tibbles, who helped his son buy the painting in 1998 for £68,000 ($88,800) with a short-term loan. (Law360)
MOVERS & SHAKERS
Ex-NFL Player Turns Curator – Former NFL player and collector Keith Rivers has organized “Courage Before Expectation,” an exhibition at New York’s Flag Art Foundation. His selections include Carmen Herrera’s hard-edge abstraction, mixed-media wall sculpture by Sonia Gomes, and intimate pastels by Etel Adnan. (ARTnews)
Louvre Abu Dhabi’s Richard Mille Art Prize Awarded – Bahraini American artist Nasser Alzayani won the Louvre Abu Dhabi’s inaugural $50,000 Richard Mille Prize. He decided to split his winnings with the six other artists who were shortlisted for the award. After the Turner Prize did it, at this point it would be rude not to, right? (ARTnews)
Nicolas Berggruen to Open Second Venice Space – The new Berggruen Arts and Culture Center has chosen Sterling Ruby as its first artist in residence. He will create a multi-year installation at Palazzo Diedo beginning in April to coincide with the Venice Biennale. (Press release)
FOR ART’S SAKE
Russia Is Wondering How to Get Its $1.5 Billion Art Collection Home – The Russian ambassador to France has voiced concern over the return of the $1.5 billion Morozov collection, which is currently on view at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris. The show, slated to close on April 3, includes 200 masterpieces by Van Gogh and Picasso, among others. “It is not a secret that, given the current situation and all the drastic measures that have been taken, including on flights between Russian and France, there are problems,” Russian diplomat Aleksey Meshkov said. The works are on loan from the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, the Pushkin Museum in Moscow, as well as institutions in Belarus and Ukraine. (Bloomberg)
Valentin Serov, Portrait du collectionneur de la peinture moderne russe et francaise Ivan Abramovitch Morozov, Moscou (1910). Coll. Ivan Morozov, 1910. Galerie nationale Trétiakov, Moscou / The State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.
Auguste Renoir, Portrait of the Actress Jeanne Samary, Paris (1877).Coll. Ivan Morozov, 26 November 1904. Musée d’Etat des beaux-arts Pouchkine, Moscou / Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow.
Vincent Van Gogh, The Prison Courtyard, Saint-Rémy (1890). Coll. Ivan Morozov, 23 October 1909. Musée d’Etat des beaux-arts Pouchkine, Moscou / Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow.
Installation view of “La Collection Morozov. Icônes de l’art moderne,” at the Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris. ©Fondation Louis Vuitton / Marc Domage.