Last week, Wet Paint got to the bottom of what exactly the non-gallery Gems is all about and took you behind the scenes of the art world’s high-powered lesbian and bisexual backgammon league. Here’s what else made a mark around the industry…
Art Fairs
–Untitled Art Fair has been acquired by the event group South Florida Ventures, a subsidiary of Informa Markets. In 2019, Informa acquired Art Miami Fair Group, which runs Art Miami, Art Wynwood, CONTEXT, and Palm Beach Modern + Contemporary. The 2024 edition of Untitled will run from December 4 to 8. (Press release)
–The Los Angeles-based textile artist Gary Tyler has won this year’s Frieze Los Angeles Impact Prize. The award includes $25,000 and a solo presentation at Frieze Los Angeles (February 29 to March 3). Tyler’s practice largely draws on his personal experience as a wrongfully incarcerated Black man. He learned how to quilt during his 42 years behind bars (eight of them in solitary confinement); he was released from prison in 2016. (The Hollywood Reporter)
–Take a look at some of what sold at Zona Maco this year, including a $300,000 Mark Ryden piece from Kasmin, sculptures by Jose Dávila for up to $85,000 through Sean Kelly, and a piece by Julian Schnabel for$450,000 at Pace. (Artnet News)
Auction Houses
–Francis Bacon’s 1963 painting Landscape near Malabata, Tangier will lead Christie’s 20th/21st Century Evening Sale in London this March with a presale estimate of £15 million to £20 million ($18.8 million to $25 million). Bacon created the work as a tribute to the love of his life, Peter Lacy. (Artnet News)
–Arianna Huffington is selling Françoise Gilot’s Portrait of Geneviève with a necklace of doves (1944), estimated between £150,000 and £200,000($188,000 and $250,000), at Sotheby’s next month. Huffington says she wants Gilot to be more widely exposed as an artist in her own right, rather than remembered as Pablo Picasso’s wife. Gilot, who died last year, gifted Huffington the work in 1986; the two became friends while the latter was writing her book Picasso: Creator and Destroyer (1988). The March 6 auction will be Gilot’s first appearance in a major sale in London or New York. (Financial Times)
Francis Bacon, Landscape near Malabata, Tangier (1963). Courtesy of Christie’s Images Ltd. 2024.
Galleries
–The shuttered Simon Lee Gallery in London, which was put into court-ordered administration in the U.K. last year, owes an estimated £10 million (about $12.6 million ) to 153 creditors, including artists and other galleries, according to documents filed by its joint administrators. (Artnet News)
–Massimodecarlo is expanding its footprint in Asia by opening an office space in Seoul’s Gangnam district this March. The location will offer by-appointment-only viewings. (Press release)
–Ceysson & Bénétière is opening a new gallery space in Tokyo, its first location in Asia. (Artnet News)
–Emmanuel Perrotin and Paris-based dealers Tom-David Bastok and Dylan Lessel announced that they have agreed to end the secondary-market collaboration they launched in Paris and Dubai in late 2020. (Artnet News)
Institutions, Biennials, and Organizations
–Front International: Cleveland Triennial for Contemporary Art, which was founded by Cleveland philanthropist Fred Bidwell in 2016, has been cancelled and the organization will be dissolved due to a lack of funding. (Artnet News)
–The Hispanic Society Museum and Library in New York has appointed Mark Rosenberg as its new chairman. Rosenberg succeeds Philippe de Montebello, who significantly raised the museum’s profile over the last decade.
–The Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden has appointed Aaron Seeto its deputy director. Seeto was the founding director of Museum MACAN in Jakarta, where Venus Lau has just taken over.
–The Museum of Modern Art in New York received a $4 million fee for quietly returning a painting by Marc Chagall, once owned by a Jewish gallery in Germany during the Nazi era, to the heirs of the original owner. (Artnet News)
–After major displays at the Venice Biennale and the Carnegie International, Mire Lee has been awarded the annual commission for Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall. The installation will open October 8, during Frieze Week. (Artnet News)
Legal News
–Alejandro Prevez, the man suspected of killing Brent Sikkema, has testified that the gallerist’s ex-husband paid him $200,000 to commit the murder, prompting authorities to seek the arrest of Daniel Sikkema. (Artnet News)
–Tove Langridge, the owner of TW Fine Art gallery in Brisbane, Australia, has been charged with theft after he refused to return works given to him on consignment. (Artnet News)
Paint Drippings is excerpted from The Back Room, our lively recap funneling only the week’s must-know art industry intel into a nimble read you’ll actually enjoy. Artnet News Pro members get exclusive access—subscribe now to receive this in your inbox every Friday.