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
– Irene Kim, Art Basel‘s global head of VIP relations, is stepping down, effective immediately. Collector Alain Servais, a frequent commentator on the art industry who shared the news on X (formerly Twitter), wrote: “v sudden and no announced successor. Very unlike Art Basel.” (X)
– Speaking of Basel: Its parent company, MCH Group, initiated a process with its event logistics and marketing firm, Expomobilia, that could lead to layoffs for some of its 80 staffers, to “enable long-term profitable and sustainable growth,” per MCH. Expomobilia provides exhibition design for Art Basel’s fairs. (Press release)
– Singapore Art Week returned for its 13th edition last week, with fairs like Art SG and SEA Focus running alongside Sotheby’s sales. Vivienne Chow has a full report from the Lion City, where a bevy of new art foundations are opening. (Artnet News)
Auction Houses
– On Thursday, Sotheby’s offered an upbeat take on its lackluster 2024 results, which saw total global sales fall 23 percent, to $6 billion, from $7.8 billion in 2023. (Artnet News)
Sotheby’s auctioneer Oliver Barker overseeing the bidding for Maurizio Cattelan, Comedian (2019) at Sotheby’s on November 20, 2024. Courtesy of Sotheby’s.
– Next month, Sotheby’s will accept Ether and Bitcoin in its inaugural sale in Saudi Arabia. It’s the first time that an entire live auction of physical works has been open to cryptocurrencies. (Financial Times)
– According to the Artnet Price Database, the 10 most expensive artworks sold at auction in December included a $12.5 million Botticelli, a $9.9 million Giacometti, and a $4.5 million Fu Baoshi. (Artnet News)
– Phillips announced several appointments in Asia: Mizuka Seya, as regional director and senior specialist, Japan; Cindy Lim, as senior specialist for Modern and contemporary art; Rebecca Hu, as specialist and head of sale, Modern and contemporary art; and Rainie Xiaoyu Ma, as associate specialist, Modern and contemporary art. (Press release)
Galleries
– JDJ gallery in New York will transition to a year-round collaborative experiment, staging shows at its Tribeca space with two other galleries, Deanna Evans Projects and Chozick Family Art Gallery, led by Rebekah Chozick, a former director of Rachel Uffner Gallery. Find out why on this week’s Art Market Minute. (Art Market Minute)
– Nova Contemporary will open a five-floor flagship gallery in Bangkok’s Bang Rak district on March 29. (The Back Room Exclusive)
– Los Angeles’s Gaga Gallery will close permanently after its current show by Mathieu Malouf. (Instagram)
Brook Hsu, 2024. Photo: Vinnie Smith. Courtesy of Gladstone Gallery.
– Gladstone Gallery added Brook Hsu to its roster, Nazarian Curcio now reps Kour Pour, Mariane Ibrahim has taken on global representation of Michi Meko, and Sean Kelly Gallery has brought Ana González aboard. (Press releases)
Museums and Organizations
– The British Museum partially closed Friday after a recently dismissed contractor allegedly hacked its I.T. systems, disrupting platforms used for ticketing. (The Guardian)
– A Munich science and technology museum removed a portrait of billionaire tech entrepreneur Elon Musk from an exhibit after he made a gesture at inauguration event for Donald Trump that many interpreted as a Nazi salute. (Artnet News)
– TEFAF said that the Musée Condé, Château de Chantilly in France is the recipient of its annual TEFAF Museum Restoration Fund. The museum will use the money to restore the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, one of the most important illuminated manuscripts from the Middle Ages. (Press release)
– The Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum acquired 175 works in 2024. Highlights include Theaster Gates’s sculptural piano Sweet Sanctuary, Your Embrace (2023); Gordon Parks’s portraits of Helen Frankenthaler and Reverend Ernest Franklin Ledbetter; Laurie Anderson’s site-specific Four Talks Gallery (2021); and Martine Gutierrez’s Indigenous Woman (2018) series. (The Back Room Exclusive)
Portrait of Laurie Anderson in Four Talks at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., 2021.
Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Ron Blunt.
– The British Art Market Federation picked Tom Christopherson as its chairman. He succeeds Martin Wilson, who stepped down to become CEO of Phillips. (Press release)
– Baroness Minouche Shafik was named the chair of the trustees of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. (Press release)
Tech and Legal News
– Swiss financier and collector Jacob “Jacqui” Safra is suing Christie’s, claiming the auction house acted in bad faith by declaring him in default on a $63 million advance agreement to sell his collection, including Albert Einstein letters, Old Master works, and antiques. He alleges Christie’s improperly sold the Einstein letters, achieving just 35 percent of their low estimate in a “fire sale.” The auction house denies the claims and plans to sell another 25 lots in three February sales. (Artnet News)
– A representative for Munich’s prosecutor’s office said that Galerie Thomas co-manager Silke Thomas, the daughter of the gallery’s founder, Raimund Thomas, is in custody as the office pursues a criminal investigation linked to the gallery’s bankruptcy filing last summer. (Artnet News)
– Two insurance companies are fighting a $19.7 million claim by the owners of 25 paintings that they say are by Jean-Michel Basquiat that were seized by the FBI in 2022 from the Orlando Museum of Art in Florida as alleged forgeries. (Artnet News)
A fake Jean-Michel Basquiat the FBI seized from the Orlando Museum of Art. Photo courtesy of the United States Attorney’s Office Central District of California.
– The British government set up a 26-member advisory council “to champion a new, hard-nosed approach to soft power.” It includes Tristram Hunt, the director of the Victoria and Albert Museum, and Peter Bazalgette, the chair and pro-chancellor of the Royal College of Art in London. (The Art Newspaper)
– A Delhi court ordered the seizure of paintings by M.F. Husain from the Delhi Art Gallery, due to their “offensive” depictions of Hindu gods Hanuman and Ganesha. (The Hindu)
RIP
– The trailblazing Minimalist painter Jo Baer died on Tuesday at 95. (Artnet News)
– Zhang Wei, a pioneer of abstract painting in China, died at 73. (Spurs Gallery/Instagram)
P.S.
– Artnet has partnered with the Association of Women in the Arts to launch a pivotal survey to uncover the realities of women’s roles, salaries, benefits, and career advancement opportunities in the fine arts sector. We strongly encourage you to take part and share with your colleagues before it closes on Monday, February 3. (Artnet News)
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