Plus, the Vancouver Art Gallery gets a $100 million gift and Tiffany goes all in on Basquiat (again) with a themed advent calendar.
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 Thursday, November 5.
Holland Cotter on the New Museum Triennial – The current art world penchant for figurative painting is all but absent from the New Museum Triennial, which is dominated by smaller, scrappier works that have no predominant style but which were all somewhat clearly made in lockdown. Works are “dense in detail” and “precious-feeling in a positive way,” writes the critic. (New York Times)
Tiffany’s Unveils Basquiat-Themed Advent Calendar – Tiffany & Co.’s “About Love” campaign featuring Beyoncé, Jay-Z, and a robin’s egg blue Basquiat set the Twittersphere abuzz when it launched in August. Now, the brand is doubling down on its connection to the 1980s art star, releasing a Basquiat-themed advent calendar ahead of the holidays. The four-foot wooden cabinet has 24 doors, behind each of which is a gift. The limited edition costs around $150,000. (ARTnews)
Record Banksy Buyer Paid in Cryptocurrency – It turns out that the undisclosed Asian buyer who bid a record $25.4 million for Banksy’s shredded Love in Bin paid that sum in cryptocurrency. The buyer has a background in crypto (though they are “not particularly” interested in NFTs) and feels a kinship with Banksy’s anti-establishment sensibility. It’s a testament to the new breed of collector shaking up the market; per the Canvas, this buyer has only been dabbling in art for two years, and has never bought from a gallery. (The Canvas)
The Vancouver Art Gallery Receives $100 Million Gift – The Vancouver Art Gallery in Canada has received $100 million from the Audain Foundation, run by collector Michael Audain, to support the construction of a new building for the museum in downtown Vancouver. It is the largest single cash gift to an art gallery in Canadian history. (Van Art Gallery)
Jenna Burlingham Gallery Moves to a 19th-Century Townhouse – A historic former rope merchant’s home and workshop is now the setting for Jenna Burlingham Gallery in Kinsclere, U.K. Works by artists Keith Vaughan, Prunella Clough, and John Piper are on view in the domestic interiors. (Press release)
Liz Sterling and Jonathan Boos Team Up – Liz Sterling, Sotheby’s former director of private sales and chairman of American art, is teaming up with dealer Jonathan Boos to launch a joint gallery space on Madison Avenue in New York. The two will maintain their independent art-advisory businesses. (Artfix Daily)
Penn Gets $4.5 Million Photographic Archive – Investor and philanthropist Bill Miller donated an archive of rare photographic plates by Edward S. Curtis to the University of Pennsylvania Libraries. The images are the product of Curtis’s three-decade long stint photographing Native American tribes across the U.S. in the first half of the 20th century. (ARTnews)
Larry Bell Announces His Largest Work to Date – It’s looking like a busy 2022 for Larry Bell. Ahead of a major solo exhibition of his work at Dia:Beacon in February, the octogenarian artist has revealed he is developing his largest ever outdoor commission, at North Carolina Sate University. Reds and Whites (2021)—a 40 by 40-foot installation of sliced and reconfigured cubes—will be unveiled in spring 2023. Anthony Meier Fine Arts is presenting a solo booth of Bell’s work at the ADAA Art Show this week. (Press release)
Rendering of Larry Bell: Reds and Whites (2021). Courtesy the artist and North Carolina State University.
