Art Industry News: German Painter A.R. Penck Dies + More Must-Read Stories

Plus the appointment of the Venice Biennale prize jury and new strategies to survive the cost of art fairs.

The artist A.R. Penck. Photo Tollkühn/Ullstein Bild/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 Thursday, May 4th.

NEED-TO-READ

The Neo-Expressionist German Painter A.R. Penck Has Died – The artist, whose peers include Georg Baselitz, Jörg Immendorff, and Markus Lüpertz, passed away on May 2 at the age of 77 of a “lengthy illness.” (Press Release)

Rei Kawakubo Built a Scale Model of the Met to Prep for Survey — The perfectionist Comme des Garçons designer constructed a life-sized, 160,000-square-foot facsimile of her exhibition in Japan before installing the show, which she intends to be the only one during her lifetime, her husband and business partner Adrian Joffe said during a Times Talk with Costume Institute curator Andrew Bolton and New York Times fashion critic Vanessa Friedman. (Times Talk)

Plans Revealed for Obama’s Presidential Library and Museum Take a look at the initial plans for the much-anticipated Barack Obama Presidential Center, set to open in Chicago’s Jackson Park by 2021 and designed by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects. (designboom)

Who’s the Most Powerful Woman in the New York Art World? – According to a lengthy New York Times profile piece, it’s Lisa Phillips, director of the New Museum since 1999. (New York Times)

ART MARKET

Inside the Modigliani Forgery Epidemic — Milton Esterow does a deep dive into the mystery surrounding Modigliani, one of the world’s most expensive—and most-faked—artists. The mess is fit for a feature film, complete with death threats, hoaxes, and thefts. (Vanity Fair)

Sotheby’s Appoints Two New Heads of European Sculpture — The auction house has announced that Alexander Kader and Margaret Schwartz, who have a combined five decades of experience at Sotheby’s, will share the title of Co-Worldwide Head of European Sculpture & Works of Art. (Press Release)

Dealer Frances Beatty Partners With Her Son to Launch New Gallery  Located in 34 East 69th Street, and sharing the building with David Zwirner’s third New York space, Adler Beatty (the son’s name is Alexander Adler) will deal in Old Master, Modern, and contemporary art and offer advisory services. (Press Release)

Galleries Devise New Strategies For Surviving Art-Fair Costs – Emerging dealers are struggling with the financial demands associated with participating in art fairs around the world. Some of them are thinking outside the box and coming up with controversial solutions, like reducing the proportion of sales proceeds that go directly to the artist. (ArtFCity)

COMINGS & GOINGS

Prize Jury Appointed for 57th Venice Biennale – The jury, which will award a number of prizes (including the Golden Lion for Best National Participation and the Golden Lion for Best Artist in the International Exhibition) is composed of the curators Francesca Alfano Miglietti and Amy Cheng, the writer Ntone Edjabe, Tate’s senior curator Mark Godfrey, and Museo Reina Sofía’s director Manuel J. Borja-Villel, who’s also been appointed president of the jury. (Press Release)

Haegue Yang Takes Up Teaching Position at the Städelschule – The South Korean artist is replacing Michael Krebber at the prestigious art school in Frankfurt. (Monopol)

Monterey Art Museum Appoints New Director – The California-based museum has announced that Stuart A. Chase, former executive director of the History Miami Museum, will be its new executive director. (Artforum)

FOR ART’S SAKE

Anish Kapoor Gifts Public Sculpture to Dutch Museum In September, the Museum De Pont in Tilburg will celebrate its 25th anniversary in style: by receiving a new artwork by Anish Kapoor, making Tilburg the first Dutch city to house a public sculpture by the British artist. (Press Release)

Sheila Hicks Is Taking Over the High Line – The 83-year-old American artist, best-known for her textile-based works of monumental scale, will unveil her ambitious High Line commission, spanning 650 feet of fabric, in late May. (New York Times)

Dia Art Foundation to Receive Six Brice Marden Works The private collector and longtime Dia trustee Frances Bowes has bequeathed six paintings created by Brice Marden between 1971 and 1991 to the New York-based foundation. (ARTnews)

People Will Probably Love Sweden’s New Museum of Failure Set in Helsingborg, about 45 minutes north of Malmö, this museum celebrates commercial mistakes, including Apple’s few unsuccessful devices and President Donald Trump’s 1989 version of Monopoly. Schadenfreude for the masses? (Condé Nast Traveler)

Here’s a Masterpiece by A.R. Penck:

A.R. Penck's <em>BMW Z1</em>, 1991. Via Pinterest.

A.R. Penck’s BMW Z1, 1991. Via Pinterest.

Seriously, that is one big painting.

Seriously, that is one big painting.


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