Art Industry News: What Will the First $1 Billion Painting Be? Larry Gagosian Has an Idea + More Must-Read Stories

Plus, new details on France's cultural development deal with Saudi Arabia and an art consultant pleads guilty to filing a false tax return.

Larry Gagosian, 2017. Photo: Harold Cunningham/Getty Images.

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, May 11.

NEED-TO-READ

The Louvre Benefits From Saudi-French Deal – A new 10-year deal gives France an almost exclusive role in developing the kingdom’s heritage and tourism at its World Heritage Site. The Louvre is a lead partner and much of the windfall, which could be many billions of euros, is earmarked for France’s museums and monuments. (The Art Newspaper)

Bloomberg Rolls Out $43 Million Arts Program – More than 200 cultural organizations in seven cities will benefit from the newly expanded Bloomberg Philanthropy arts innovation program. Projects in Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Denver, New Orleans, Pittsburgh, and Washington, DC, will receive the $43 million investment. (New York Times)

What Will Be the First $1 Billion Painting? – During a recent Wall Street Journal panel, Larry Gagosian mused that a Van Gogh might be the first painting to sell for $1 billion. If he knew which painting would hit the mark, “I’d want to buy it now,” he joked. Phillips’s CEO Edward Dolman, also on the panel, predicted a Picasso or Leonardo da Vinci would ultimately take the prize. (ARTnews)

Art Consultant Pleads Guilty to Stashing Millions in Swiss Bank – New York-based art consultant Lacy Doyle, who advised the Museum of Modern Art in the 1980s, could face up to three years in prison after pleading guilty to hiding a $3.7 million inheritance in a Swiss bank account registered to a fake foundation. (TAN)​

ART MARKET

The Bidders Who Missed Out at the Rockefeller Sale – Meet the people who wanted to buy David and Peggy’s Georgian tea caddy, Mexican silver ice pail, and other antiques—but were priced out. “I definitely went a little more than I thought I was going to,” said Christopher Gohr, a 48-year-old line cook who was attending his first auction, after one sale. “Once I hit my cap, it was like, ‘OK, what the heck?’” (NYT)

Christie’s to Sell Another Gare by Monet – Missed out on the Rockefeller’s $32 million Monet sold in New York this week? You have another chance to get one: Monet’s celebrated Paris railway station view, La Gare Saint-Lazare, Vue extérieure (1877), will be sold at Christie’s London in June with estimate of $29 million to $38 million. The work comes from the collection of Texas couple Nancy Lee and Perry Bass. (TAN)

Lehmann Maupin Heads to the High Line – The New York gallery is opening a second New York space this fall at West 24th Street and 10th Avenue near the High Line. Lehmann Maupin’s new, three-floor, 8,500-square-foot gallery will launch with a Liza Lou solo show—including a 100-foot-long woven painting inspired by Monet. (Artforum)

COMINGS & GOINGS

MoMA Appoints New Design Chief – Rob Giampietro previously served as a design manager at Google. As MoMA’s new director of design, he will join the museum’s new creative team, which also includes director of marketing and creative strategy, Rob Baker, and its director of editorial and content strategy, Leah Dickerman. (ARTnews)

Archibald Prize Won by Yvette Coppersmith – The Melbourne artist won Australia’s prestigious $100,000 prize with a self-portrait. Her original idea was to paint New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. But when Ardern was unavailable, she decided to paint herself with the PM as the inspiration. All’s well that ends well: After her victory, she received a congratulatory call from Ardern. (ABC)

Toronto Biennial Curatorial Team Named – The first edition of the Toronto Biennial of Art, which is set to run from September to December 2019, has announced three members of its curatorial team: Candice Hopkins, who was a curator at documenta 14, Tairone Bastien, and Ilana Shamoon. (Press release)

FOR ART’S SAKE

Germany to Return Stolen Artifacts to Alaska – Nine Alaskan burial artifacts brought to Germany by adventurers in the 19th century will be returned to indigenous Pacific Coast communities next week. Germany’s SPK Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation will hand over the objects—including two broken masks, a child’s cradle and what is thought to be a shamanic figure—to envoys of the Chugach peoples in Berlin. (Deustche Welle)

Berlin’s Käthe Kollwitz Museum on the Move – The state of Berlin has stepped in to help the privately owned Käthe Kollwitz Museum, which had been on the hunt for a new home after the lease ended on its current location. In 2019, the museum will move to a new site in west Berlin that is owned by the state. (TAN)

Pavilion for Cruising Comes to the Venice Biennale – The Cruising Pavilion, which is designed like a public restroom and includes contributions from the Italian artist Monica Bonvicini and Danish artist Henrik Olesen, among others, is challenging this year’s Venice Architecture Biennale theme of “freespace.” The naughty unofficial pavilion opens at Spazio Punch on May 24. (Press release)

First Look at New York’s Poster Art Museum – The first museum dedicated to poster art is coming to Chelsea, and renderings of what viewers can expect are now available. Called Poster House, it is due to open in 2019. A pop-up taster show last fall featured flyers from Max’s Kansas City and CBGB as well as classic Madison Avenue campaigns. (Curbed)

LTL Architects/Courtesy Poster House.

LTL Architects/Courtesy Poster House.

LTL Architects/Courtesy Poster House.


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