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, November 29.

NEED-TO-READ

Calvin Klein Hooks Up With Warhol Foundation – The fashion label, which has been incorporating some Warhol works under designer Raf Simons, has announced a multiyear partnership with the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. Calvin Klein has committed to supporting the foundation’s art grants and, in return, the label will get unprecedented access to the Warhol’s estate, including many works that have not yet been published. (Press release)

Holland Cotter on the Louvre Abu Dhabi – The New York Times critic praises the new museum’s architecture, engaging narrative, and innovative mix of Middle Eastern and Western art history—but he describes its version of history as “sugarcoated and incomplete.” (The New York Times)​

Museum of Selfies Comes to LA – Step aside Museum of Ice Cream, there’s a new gimmick in town. A museum dedicated to selfies is popping up in Glendale in January with a focus on self-representation through the ages. There’ll be Insta-ops too, with tongue-in-cheek exhibitions focused on the food selfie, the bathroom selfie, and iPhones photoshopped into famous works of art. (Time Out)

BP Portrait Award Increases Prize Money – The National Portrait Gallery plans to increase the prize money for the BP Portrait Award, making it one of the largest prizes in any global arts competition. The purse for first prize has gone up from £30,000 ($40,212) to £35,000 ($46,914) as the gallery launches a call for entries for 2018. (Press release)

ART MARKET

Whitney Acquires 32 Works From the Biennial – The Whitney has acquired 32 works from this year’s biennial, up from 12 in 2014. They include some of the show’s most photographed installations, by Samara Golden, Raúl de Nieves, and Larry Bell. Artists making their debut in the collection include Celeste Dupuy-Spencer, Carrie Moyer, and Puppies Puppies. (ARTnews)

More on What Trump’s Tax Plan Means for Art – Proposed reforms to US tax legislation, including changes in charitable income tax deductions and the reduction of estate tax, could reduce the incentive for wealthy people to donate art and money to museums. (The Art Newspaper) (Read artnet News’s own analysis here.)

Iraqis Swarm Picasso Selling Show in Baghdad – Locals are lining up to see 42 works by the likes of Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí, and Joan Miró at the Hiwar Gallery, one of the few to remain open in the city. The gallery’s anonymous benefactor—an Iraqi collector—said he would have preferred to open a museum, but couldn’t make the requisite guarantees for the security of the works. (AFP)

COMINGS & GOINGS

Art Students League Taps New Executive Director – The New York art school has appointed artists’ rights and intellectual property lawyer Michael Rips as its new executive director. Rips has advised clients including David Salle, the estate of Dan Flavin, and the Dia Art Foundation. He succeeds Ira Goldberg, who retired in January. (Artforum)

AFA Names New Director of Exhibitions – Frances Wu Giarratano is the new director of exhibitions at the American Federation of Arts in New York. She joins the federation from Para Site in Hong Kong, where she served as deputy director. (ARTnews)

Massive Sculpture Goes into Storage at Denver Art Museum – The $150-million renovation of the museum’s Gio Ponti-designed North Building made headway earlier this week with the dismantling of Mark di Suvero’s 16-ton sculpture known as Lao Tzu. Over 50,000 objects must be packed away in removing the Acoma Plaza fixture, which has been there since 1996. (Denver Post)

FOR ART’S SAKE 

Iñárritu on the Inspiration for His VR Work – The Oscar-winning director says that the story of a woman who died crossing the Mexican-US border while her son survived inspired Carne y Arena (Virtually Present, Physically Invisible), the VR experience now on view at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. (Los Angeles Times)

Court Limits Use of ‘David’ Images – A civil court in Florence has ordered a tour company to remove images of Michelangelo’s David from its marketing materials after the museum alleged that the company, which sells tour packages to the Accademia, had violated its right to charge a reproduction fee. (Guardian)

Lorde’s Album Art Hung in the Louvre – Talk about dedication. A fan briefly put the cover artwork from Lorde’s album “Melodrama” in the Paris museum. Her now-viral images reference Lorde’s number “The Louvre,” in which she sings: “But we’re the greatest/ they’ll hang us in the Louvre/ down the back, but who cares—still the Louvre.” (Vice)

FROM OUR PARTNERS

“The Collection of Peggy and David Rockefeller”
A world tour of the Spring 2018 Christie’s auction preview
Sponsored by VistaJet

A VistaJet plane. Image courtesy of VistaJet.

Beginning this month, the treasures in Christie’s upcoming auction from the collection of Peggy and David Rockefeller are embarking on a world tour, with stops in Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, and New York. As the sponsors of this grand journey, the private aviation company VistaJet is also offering three exclusive opportunities to experience the collection:

“The World of Art Experience” — For customers who wish to travel by private plane to all four legs of the collection’s tour, VistaJet will transport clients and their art at no additional cost on flights anytime, anywhere, and throw in a yearlong membership to the global arts club the Cultivist.

“The Direct Experience” — For customers flying on VistaJet to any single tour destination, the company will provide a complimentary membership to VistaJet Direct, a $10,000 value that gives clients access to special rates on flights that can be booked from their smartphone.

“The Rockefeller Experience” — For up to 10 select customers traveling via VistaJet to New York, the company will provide a behind-the-scenes tour of the Rockefeller collection, followed by an Upstate New York banquet and a tour of the traveling exhibition when it reaches New York.

Peggy and David Rockefeller. Photo by Arthur Levine; image courtesy of VistaJet.

Christie’s. Image courtesy of VistaJet.