Art World A Mysterious Steel Monolith Was Discovered in the Utah Desert. Is It a Work of Art—or the Work of Aliens? Theories about who or what is behind the object have started circulating online. By Artnet News, Nov 24, 2020
Art World From Coast to Coast, US Museums Are Closing Again as COVID’s Second Wave Takes Hold Institutions in Illinois, Texas, Minnesota, Colorado, and Washington, DC, are among those shutting down. By Taylor Dafoe, Nov 19, 2020
Law John Hinckley, Who Tried to Assassinate Ronald Reagan, Can Now Share His Art With the World, a Judge Rules The 65-year-old hopes to sell his art on Etsy and upload his music to streaming services. By Artnet News, Oct 29, 2020
Art World A French Tech Entrepreneur Has Seeded a $119 Million Investment Fund for Startups Expanding Access to Culture The fund will invest in entrepreneurial projects that “produce a measurable social impact.” By Artnet News, Oct 23, 2020
Auctions A Pair of Michael Jordan’s Game-Worn Sneakers Sold for $615,000 at Christie’s, Setting a New Record for the Category The auction house's first dedicated sneaker sale brought in $932,000 across 11 lots. By Taylor Dafoe, Aug 17, 2020
Law The New Museum’s Union Has Filed Charges With the National Labor Relations Board Over Recent Layoffs The museum acted in a “discriminatory and retaliatory” way in laying off union members, the complaint argues. By Taylor Dafoe, Aug 10, 2020
Law Days After More Than 80 Philadelphia Museum of Art Employees Were Laid Off, the Institution’s Workers Have Voted to Unionize The bargaining group will include every museum employee who works at least four hours a week, and will be the only wall-to-wall museum union in the country. By Taylor Dafoe, Aug 6, 2020
Art World ‘It’s the Difference Between Staying Afloat and Sinking’: US Art Workers Are Left Adrift as Weekly $600 Unemployment Checks Evaporate One phase of the government's stimulus plan has ended, leaving many self-employed artists and gig workers with little in the way of support. By Taylor Dafoe, Aug 4, 2020
Art World Need a New Perspective on the Future? Looking at Abstract Art Can Change the Way You Think About Time, a New Study Says Researchers show that our minds perceive representational and abstract art very differently. By Tanner West, Aug 4, 2020
Politics German Curator Hella Mewis, Who Was Kidnapped in Baghdad Earlier This Week, Has Been Freed by Iraqi Security Forces The motive for the abduction remains unclear. By Taylor Dafoe, Jul 24, 2020
Art World Arts Nonprofits in New York Have Lost a Staggering Total of Half a Billion Dollars Since March, a New Study Says Small organizations have been hit the hardest, while museums, on the whole, are in a much better position to withstand the blow. By Taylor Dafoe, Jul 16, 2020
Law In a Big Win for Yves Bouvier, a Monaco Judge Throws Out Dmitry Rybolovlev’s Charges Against the Swiss Art Dealer The decision effectively ends the case against Bouvier in Monaco. By Taylor Dafoe, Jul 9, 2020
Law Jeff Koons, Gagosian Gallery, and Many Other Blue-Chip Art Operations Received Millions of Dollars in Government Stimulus Money The US government has released the names of businesses that received more than $150,000 in federal stimulus loans. By Taylor Dafoe, Jul 7, 2020
Politics After Rebuking Statue Toppling, President Trump Signs an Executive Order to Create a National Garden of Monuments to ‘American Heroes’ The monuments must be “lifelike or realistic” and not “abstract or modernist.” By Taylor Dafoe, Jul 6, 2020
Art World The Gun-Toting, Palace-Dwelling Couple Who Confronted Protesters Are Major Art Collectors. In Fact, They Fancy Themselves the New Medici Mark and Patricia McCloskey live in a Renaissance-style palazzo with artworks by Anthony van Dyck and Paul-Joseph Jamin. By Artnet News, Jun 30, 2020
