From Homemade Masterpieces to the Death of David Driskell: The Best and Worst of the Art World This Week

Catch up on this week's news—fast.

You can make your own masterpiece too! Courtesy of @tussenkunstenquarantaine Instagram.

BEST?

Germany’s Generosity – Just days after the government unleashed a €500 million emergency stimulus package, German art workers received checks in the mail to help them deal with unexpected financial troubles.

Quarantine Creativity – An Instagram account featuring people recreating artworks from everyday objects has become a social media sensation.

Artist Groups Come to the Rescue – In separate initiatives, the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation and the J. Paul Getty Trust will give a combined $15 million in emergency aid to artists and arts organizations affected by the coronavirus.

A Betwitching Story – The remarkable story of Agnes Pelton and her transcendental paintings feature in this week’s episode of the Art Angle Podcast, which has also been published in written form as an extended interview.

Kashing in on Kanye – The rapper’s high school drawings were valued by an expert on Antiques Roadshow as worth up to $20,000.

Art at Home – Photographers are turning to Instagram to show off homemade quarantine still lifes.

Institutional Support – The massive cultural space Officine Grandi Riparazioni in Turin Italy is being transformed into a hospital for patients dealing with COVID-19.

Tents for Triage – The production company Art Market Productions is pivoting from building art-fair tents to building field hospitals.

WORST?

Remembering David Driskell – The artist and curator, who is renown for his scholarly emphasis on black art in America, died from coronavirus at the age of 88.

Auction Houses Furlough – Major auction houses Christie’s and Sotheby’s are furloughing staff and instituting pay cuts for executives as the economic fallout from the coronavirus widens.

SFMoMa Slashes Staff – SFMoMA, which faces $8 million in losses, is also enacting sweeping measures to tighten costs by laying off or furloughing its own workers.

Mourning the End of an Era – Five artists spoke to Artnet News about their experiences at the San Francisco Art Institute, which faces what could be a permanent closure.


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