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 12th.
NEED-TO-READ
Is Athens the Next Art Capital? – BBC Culture seems to think so, citing interviews with artists Michael Landy and George Drivas as well as the Athens branch of Documenta 14 as examples of why the Greek city might have usurped Berlin as the new go-to spot for artist-run spaces. (BBC)
A Sneak Peek at LA’s new Marciano Museum – Here’s a preview of Guess co-founders Paul and Maurice Marciano’s contemporary art museum, which will open to the public on May 25 inside a former Scottish Rite Masonic Temple. (Los Angeles Times)
A Princess’s Tomb Possibly Discovered in Egypt – Inside a 3,800-year-old pyramid in Dahshur in Egypt, archaeologists may have uncovered the burial chambers of a princess named Hatshepset, after finding a wooden box inside the chamber with hieroglyphs inscribed with the name. (LiveScience.com)
Post-‘Girls’ Life for Artist and Actress Jemima Kirke – The Girls star gives an interview in her Red Hook studio, where she paints large-scale portraits of close friends, including one of her fellow HBO costar Allison Williams. (W)
ART MARKET
Ex-Wife Gets $584 Million and Modern Art Collection – In the UK’s biggest-ever divorce settlement, a London oil billionaire was ordered to pay his ex-wife 41.5 percent of their total marital assets, amounting to £454 million (approximately $584 million), a figure that includes a collection of Modern art valued at £90.5 million ($117 million) and an Aston Martin. (Financial Times)
Chinese Investors Are Now Buying Local – Since the Chinese government imposed tighter controls on capital spent outside the country in 2015, the Chinese art market is getting a boost as a popular way for its wealthy to invest; it is poised to see a 30 percent surge in 2017. (CNBC)
Monaco’s Growing Art Scene – De Jonckheere Gallery, which specializes in Flemish paintings and, since 2012, also in masters of Modern art, will inaugurate its new space on Monaco’s Avenue Princesse Grace—one of the most expensive streets in the world—on June 22, adding to the city’s growing art scene. (Press release)
COMINGS & GOINGS
Anne Imhof Nabs the 2017 Absolut Art Award – Continuing her unstoppable rise to art stardom, the German artist behind the most talked-about pavilion in Venice won over this year’s jury, headed by Daniel Birnbaum, with her proposal to create a work set in the salt desert in Death Valley. She receives a $20,000 stipend and a budget of $100,000 to produce the new work. (Press release)
New Museum Promotes Margot Norton to Curator – Having joined the museum in 2011 as an assistant curator, Norton moved up to associate curator in 2015, and has now been promoted to curator, tasked with she overseeing research and exhibitions. (Press release)
The High Museum of Art Announces New Chief Curator – Kevin W. Tucker will take up his new post as the chief curator of the High Museum of Art in Atlanta on June 1, and will oversee the rearrangement of the institution’s permanent collection. (Press release)
FOR ART’S SAKE
Johnny Depp’s Spending on Art Comes to Light – A lawsuit involving the movie star and his former business advisors has revealed just how much he spends on art—and its not a small amount. Depp is said to have spent millions on art, including works by Andy Warhol, Amedeo Modigliani, and Leonor Fini. (Vulture)
Forgers Now Making Fake Bob Dylan Works – A painting passed off as a 1968 original by singer-cum-artist Bob Dylan was purchased by a London dealer in 2014, raising red flags that Dylan may be a new favorite for forgers. (The The Guardian)
Mural of Trump Kissing the Pope Appears Near the Vatican – Less than due two weeks before the US President and Pope Francis are due to meet, a mural depicting the two embraced in a kiss has shown up on a wall near the Vatican in Rome. In it, the Pope dons a saintly halo while Trump sports devil horns. (Huffington Post)
A collage shows Pope Francis kissing US President Donald Trump with a caption by Italian artist TvBoy. Image Andreas Solaro/AFP/Getty Images.