Sotheby’s Closes Breuer Building Deal—And More Art Industry News

Plus, Art Basel announces the exhibitor lineup for its 2025 Hong Kong edition.

The Breuer Building. Photo: Christina Horsten/picture alliance via Getty Images.

Our weekly news roundup is an extension of Paint Drippings, which drops first in 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. 

Art Fairs

 Exhibitors at the fourth edition of Art Collaboration Kyoto said it takes time to make sales but the real value of the fair is in its “personal” touch. Seoul’s Johyun Gallery sold Park Seo-bo’s Ecriture No.130417 (2013) for between $450,000 and $500,000—the highest reported sale of the fair. (Artnet News)

 India Art Fair announced that 116 exhibitors will be participating in its 2025 edition at the NSIC Exhibition Grounds in Delhi this February, including Galleria Continua, Lisson, Carpenters Workshop, and David Zwirner. (Press release)

Art Basel released the lineup of exhibitors and programming for its 2025 Hong Kong edition, which will be held in the city in March. While the number of exhibitors remains the same as last year, there has been a roughly 20 percent turnover among participants. Among those not returning are Alison Jacques and Helly Nahmad. Some of the new names include Berry Campbell and Blank Projects. (Artnet News)

TEFAF will include 266 exhibitors in its next Maastricht edition, which will run March 15–20, 2025. First-time participants include Marianne Boesky, Richard Saltoun, and D’Lan Contemporary. (Press release)

Auction Houses

– Sotheby’s announced the completion of the purchase of the Breuer Building at 945 Madison Avenue on Monday, November 4. Formerly the home of the Whitney Museum, the building will be adapted and redesigned by architects Herzog and de Meuron. The auction house also completed is $1 billion deal with the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund, ADQ, last week. (Press releases)

a close up of the sculpture a spade-shaed head with a blank expression

Detail of Leonora Carrington, La Grande Dame (1951). Photo: Sotheby’s.

– The Union League Club of Chicago is selling Monet’s Apple Trees in Blossom (1872) at Christie’s this month to fund a $10 million restoration of its storied building. The piece has hung on the members-only club’s walls since 1895. It bought the work for just $500 from a member, John Barton Payne. (Artnet News)

– A towering “cat woman” sculpture by Leonora Carrington, estimated to fetch up to $7 million, will star in Sotheby’s marquee evening sales in New York this month. It arrives at auction as a heated debate among experts and family members over the authenticity of Carrington’s late bronze sculptures has broken out. (Artnet News, The Art Newspaper)

Galleries

Jessica Silverman announced representation of Atsushi Kaga, Roberts Projects has added Luke Agada to its roster in association with Monique Meloche Gallery, and Galerie Vallois is now representing Duke Riley. (Press releases)

a man sits in a well lit studio surrounded by bright paintings

Atsushi Kaga. Photo: Johanna King.

Janine Cirincione, formerly of Sean Kelly Gallery in New York, has joined Gagosian as a director; she will work with artist Titus Kaphar. (Press release)

Christiana Ine-Kimba Boyle has left her position as senior director at Pace to become a partner and co-owner at Canada. (Wet Paint)

– Next week, Paula Cooper Gallery will open a month-long pop-up in Shanghai during the West Bund and Art021 art fairs. The show will bring together work by gallery artists such as Carl Andre, Sophie Calle, Donald Judd, Sol LeWitt, and Eric N. Mack. (Press release)

Museums and Institutions

– The Clark Art Institute, in Williamstown, Mass., received a gift of some 331 artworks from former board member Asa O. Tavitian. The donation includes pieces by artists such as Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Jan van Eyck, and Peter Paul Rubens. It also includes $45 million to endow a curatorial position to oversee the collection and to fund a wing named for the donor. (Artnet News)

The Ford Foundation announced a $10 million grant to the Studio Museum In Harlem. It will permanently endow the position of director and chief curator, which is currently held by Thelma Golden. (Press release)

Brooke Kamin Rapaport, the head of the public art program at Madison Square Park in New York, is stepping down after 11 years. (Press release)

a woman with blonde hair and a black dress stands against a white wall with shadows

Florencia Rodriguez, CAB 6’s artist director. Courtesy of Chicago Architecture Biennial. Photo: Noah Sheldon.

Florencia Rodriguez has been tapped as the director of the Chicago Architecture Biennial. Its 10th edition will run from September 12, 2025 through February 2026. (Press release)

– The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts has announced the appointment of Deborah Willis, as board chair and the election of three new board members, Johanna Burton, Paul Chan, and Kemi Ilesanmi. (Press release)

Prizes and Awards

The Pinchuk Art Center in Kyiv, Ukraine, has awarded Bangladeshi artist Ashkifa Rahman its Future Generation Art Prize, which comes with $100,000. (Press release)

The University of Chicago and the Gray Center for Arts and Inquiry have established a new artist prize and fellowship program, to begin in 2025.  Facilitated by the Gray Center and founded by KAVAH, a family philanthropic initiative, each fellow will be awarded funding based on the scope of their collaboration. The inaugural awardees are contemporary artist Tiffany Chung and historian Mark Bradley. (Press release)
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