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 Tuesday, July 13.
NEED-TO-READ
9/11 Museum Scraps Anniversary Exhibitions – The 9/11 Memorial & Museum in New York has scrapped plans for ambitious programming commemorating the 20th anniversary of the attacks after budget cuts forced the museum to furlough or lay off around 60 percent of its staff. Curators had previously discussed an exhibition examining music’s role in uniting Americans after 9/11 and other tragedies, but instead, the museum will focus on its “core experience,” according to a spokesperson. (New York Times)
LACMA Is Getting Into NFTs – Tomas Garcia, the AVP of Technology at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, says that no matter what happens with the yo-yoing market, museums like his will inevitably acquire NFTs. “As the landscape continues to develop… NFTs will be bought, sold, stored, lost, and destroyed, but ultimately this is a cultural and historical moment that merits observation and preservation,” he said. (Unframed)
A New Exhibition Reveals Lucian Freud’s Complex Love Life – The celebrated painter is known to have fathered children with a number of different women, but a new exhibition reveals that he also had a passionate love affair in his youth with two male artists, Adrian Ryan and John Minton, which he later tried to cover up. A new show, which opens this week at the Victoria Art Gallery in Bath, brings together the work of the three artists. (Guardian)
Security Guards Will Curate an Exhibition in Baltimore Museum – Security officers, who probably spend more time looking directly at art than curators do, will organize an exhibition at the Baltimore Museum of Art in March 2022. Called “Guarding the Art,” the show will bring together works chosen by 17 participating officers. Acclaimed curator Lowery Stokes Sims will help organize. (Press release)
ART MARKET
Christie’s Scarab Raises Provenance Questions – It turns out that neither the auction house nor the consignor had the right to sell a sixth-century B.C. Ionides Scarab that fetched $250,000 in April at Christie’s New York. U.K. authorities had previously denied the seller an export license. (The Art Newspaper)
Meet Ghana’s Latest Art Star – Kojo Marfo, a former butcher, makes vibrant portraits that are selling out. His works are on view now in a solo show, “Dreaming of Identity,” at JD Malat Gallery in London. (BBC)
COMINGS & GOINGS
The Peabody Museum Will Restitute a Ponca Tomahawk – The Peabody Museum at Harvard University has reached an agreement with the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska and the Ponca Tribe of Oklahoma to restitute Ponca chief and civil rights activist Chief Standing Bear’s Tomahawk. The important heirloom has been in the Peabody’s collection since 1982. (Hyperallergic)
April Freely, Artist Residency Leader, Has Died – The poet, professor, and recently appointed director of the influential Fire Island Artist Residency (FAIR) program has died (no cause was provided but the program said her death was “unexpected”). FIAR described her as “a caring and thoughtful leader, a passionate community organizer, an enthusiastic mentor and a wonderful friend.” (ARTnews)
FOR ART’S SAKE
Glenstone to Launch Richard Serra Hub – Glenstone, the sprawling private museum in Potomac, Maryland, will build a 4,000-square-foot concrete building to hold artwork by sculptor Richard Serra. It will open in spring 2022 and house one of the artist’s newer works. (Press release)
Hito Steyerl on the NFT Craze – The influential German artist will share her take on the economic, cultural, and political implications of crypto art and NFTs in a conversation, “Crypto-capitalism,” livestreamed at Studio Bonn on July 15 at 8:15 p.m. CET. Will these new forms bring opportunities for art and democracy or financialize humanity in an unprecedented way? Only time—and Steyerl—will tell. (Press release)