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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, October 13.
NEED TO READ
Cornelius Gurlitt’s Art Dealer Speaks – The dealer Eberhard Kornfeld has spoken publicly for the first time about his former client Cornelius Gurlitt, whose massive collection of suspected Nazi-looted art was discovered by Munich police in 2012. Kornfeld revealed that Gurlitt, who lived off the sales of work from his collection, made regular trips from Munich to Zurich to retrieve the proceeds in cash. (Swissinfo)
Eli Broad Walks Away From Public Life – The billionaire philanthropist, age 84, plans to retire to spend more time with his family and catch up on his reading. “I am just tired,” Broad says. The endowment for the Broad Foundations is $2.5 billion, and his philanthropy has had an indelible—and sometimes controversial—impact on the education, art, and medical fields. (New York Times)
Manohla Dargis Reviews Ai Weiwei’s Documentary – The Times‘s co-chief film critic is a fan of the artist’s new film Human Flow, which is officially out in the US today. Dargis praises the film, which traces the ebbs and flows of the worldwide refugee crisis, for its effective use of drone footage and focus on the individual. (NYT)
British Art Stars Donate to Grenfell Charity Auction – In the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire, in which 80 people died last June, major art-world figures are turning out to support a new charity for the fire’s survivors. Wolfgang Tillmans, Antony Gormley, Tracey Emin, and Sarah Lucas, are among those donating works to the cause. (Reuters)
ART MARKET
Gary Nader to Sell $100 Million in Art – The art dealer plans to sell off a slew of blue-chip works from his collection to fund his long-stalled private museum in downtown Miami, which he says will serve as “a platform for artists from Mexico to Chile.” His holdings range in price from several hundred thousand dollars to $15 million, he claims. (Miami New Times)
Unseen Camille Claudel Works Come to Auction – The Claudel family is offering never-before-seen works by the sculptor and graphic artist. The collection includes 20 sculptures in bronze and terra cotta, as well as plaster casts and preparatory models used for some of her most famous works. (Press release)
How Do Auction Houses Continue to Survive? – Considering they have been around since the 1700s, it is a wonder that auction houses have continued to thrive with a business model developed centuries ago. Ted Loos examines the unprecedented upheavals that have finally forced auction houses to re-examine their old ways. (NYT)
Proceeds From Basquiat Sale to Fund Charter Schools – Some feel-good art-world news: The anonymous consignor of Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Red Skull (1982), which sold for $21.5 million at Christie’s London last week, has requested that all proceeds go to charter schools in New Jersey and Miami. (ARTnews)
COMINGS & GOINGS
Art Gallery Ontario Names New Deputy Director – Julian Cox, the chief curator and founding photography curator of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, has been appointed chief curator and deputy director of the AGO. He will take up the post in early January. (Press release)
Aldrich Museum Director Steps Down – Alyson Baker is stepping down as executive director of the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, Connecticut, in December after six years in the post. (ARTnews)
Gagosian to Represent Mary Weatherford – The gallery will represent the work of the Los Angeles artist around the world—except in LA, where she will still show with David Kordansky. Weatherford will make her debut with Gagosian later this month in New York as part of a group show called “L.A. Invitational.” (ARTnews)
DIA Hires New Prints Curator – The Detroit Institute of Arts has appointed Clare Rogan as its new curator of prints and drawings. She begins her new role on December 4. Rogan was previously curator at the Davison Art Center in Connecticut. (Press release)
FOR ART’S SAKE
Walker Art Center Raises $78 Million for Renovation – The Minneapolis institution has secured more than $78 million to fund its campus renovation plan, grow its operating endowment, and add major public artworks. More than 330 households, corporations, foundations, and government agencies contributed to the cause. (Press release)
Leeds Art Gallery Reopens After Two Years – The museum is reopening its doors today after almost a two-year hiatus during which its historic Victorian building underwent essential repairs. To celebrate the opening, the work of Joseph Beuys will be shown in Leeds for the first time since 1983 as part of the “ARTIST ROOMS” initiative. (Press release)
Want to Buy Picasso or Botero’s Home? – Deep-pocketed fans of these two artists rejoice: Picasso’s mansion on the French Riviera—where his last wife shot herself—is hitting the auction block next Thursday, and is expected to sell for over $24 million. If that’s out of your price range, you can also purchase Botero’s Upper East Side duplex for a more reasonable $6 million. (Press release and Curbed)
Jeff Koons Expands His Louis Vuitton Line – The American artist has penned an article in which he explains the art-historical interests that inspired his latest collaboration with Louis Vuitton. New additions to the series include bags riffing on Manet, Monet, and Gauguin. “The whole series can be thought of as my own artistic DNA,” Koons writes. (Harper’s Bazaar)