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 27.
NEED-TO-READ
Dia Redresses Its Gender Imbalances – Jessica Morgan, director of the Dia Art Foundation, has made big strides in improving gender parity at the institution. Historically supporting an all-male roster, Dia now has an entirely female curatorial team and has begun to acquire bodies of work by women like Dorothea Rockburne and Mary Corse. (The New York Times)
Sixth Painting From Gurlitt Trove Identified as Nazi Loot – As parallel exhibitions of the Gurlitt collection open next week in Germany, another work from the trove has been identified as Nazi loot. Its provenance was confirmed thanks to a nearly imperceptible hole in the painting, which had also been noted by an art historian who worked at the Jeu de Paume during the French occupation. (The Art Newspaper)
LA Academy Museum Gets an Opening Date – Thanks to new leadership and funding, the repeatedly delayed Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles is finally scheduled to open its doors in 2019. And due to some 11th-hour design tweaks by architect Renzo Piano, the museum “no longer seems destined” to join “the list of Piano’s biggest flops.” (LA Times)
Celebrated Book of Hours Poised to Leave UK – An illuminated manuscript made for King Francois I may soon leave the UK and return to France for the first time since 1720. The London dealer SJ Phillips is reportedly in negotiations to sell the treasure to the Louvre following the expiration of its export ban last year. (Telegraph)
ART MARKET
Yves Bouvier Sells Art Storage Company – The “freeport king” sold Natural Le Coultre, his Gevena-based art-storage company, to the French shipping company André Chenue for an undisclosed sum. The buyer beat out American competitors for the company, as Bouvier’s legal battle with Dmitry Rybolovlev continues. (Tribune de Genève)
Malaysia Issues Interpol Notice for Jho Low – The financier and art collector, whose whereabouts remain unknown, is being pursued for questioning in the multibillion-dollar money-laundering probe into the state fund 1MDB. Low has not been charged with any crime. (Arab News)
Want to Buy Isabella Stewart Gardner’s Old House? – Now, you can. The Murray Hill townhouse built for the legendary art patron is listed for $4.22 million and comes with six en suite bedrooms and 12-foot ceilings. Unfortunately, you must provide your own art. (NYPost)
COMINGS & GOINGS
New York JCC Gets Gifted a Jenny Holzer – The Upper West Side nonprofit will be renamed the Marlene Meyerson JCC following a $20 million gift from the late philanthropist’s foundation. The foundation has also commissioned Jenny Holzer to create a site-specific work about community. (NYT)
Boca Raton Museum Announces Renovation – The museum’s facade and environs will undergo a $1.5 million renovation scheduled to be complete by January. (Press release)
Seattle Art Museum Gets Grant for Conservation Center – The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation granted the museum $3.5 million for a conservation and study center specializing in Asian paintings. The new facility, which will serve the museum’s own collection as well as those of other institutions, is due to open in 2019. (Press release)
FOR ART’S SAKE
Two Paintings Stolen by Nazis Returned – Strasbourg has returned two paintings—one by Flemish Renaissance painter Lucas Gassel and another by Dutch Golden Age master Roelant Savery—to Austria. They were stolen by Nazis from Vienna in 1938 and sent to Berlin to decorate the executive office. (Connaissance des Arts)
Art-World Satire The Square Debuts in the US – After winning the Palme d’Or at Cannes this year, The Square has reached cinemas in the US. The Times invited the film’s director Ruben Ostlund to narrate a scene in the film that documents a curious art performance involving a man playing a monkey. (NYT)
Burning Man’s Nude Sculpture Rejected for DC Site – The 45-foot-tall nude sculpture, called R-Evolution, which was proposed for the National Mall in Washington, DC, was rejected due to concerns that it might damage the underlying turf and soil. (Curbed)
Unseen Images of John Lennon Revealed – Stashed away in a junk drawer for more than 30 years, a set of 26 negatives of previously unseen photographs of Lennon were brought to the Beatles Story museum in Liverpool for valuation. They include intimate portraits of the musician taken in 1970, a turning point in his career. (BBC)
FROM OUR PARTNERS
“Friends With POP! (Masters of Minimalism)”
Dean Borghi Fine Art – New York
October 21 – November 30
Surveying the groundbreaking work of John Chamberlain, Frank Stella, and the painter Neil Williams, Dean Borghi Fine Art’s latest show has verve to spare. Spotlighting three artists who went beyond the confines of their mediums and into new terrain, it groups talents whose main similarity is their individual uniqueness.
Untitled (Chevron), 1970
Untitled (Chevron), 1970