Weekly Art News Round-up
Oliver Wapshott, Friday, 5th June 2009
1. The world's top artists flood to Venice for Biennale:
77 countries will compete for international recognition at the 54th annual Venice Biennale, described by some as the ‘art world’s Olympics’, where countries send their best artists to exhibit in pavilions, one for each nation. Although the price of tickets has been raised from $20 to $25 (£16) this year, attendance is expected to number a respectable 400,000 before the end of the fair in November.
2. Yale turned a blind eye to ownership of Van Gogh bought from the Soviet Union:
A descendant of Ivan Morozov, the former owner of ‘Night Café’, is suing the University, claiming that the work was acquired illegally by the Communists in the 1918 revolution. The painting then worked its way through a number of private galleries and collections until Yale bought it in 1961, having turned ‘a blind eye’ to its dubious provenance, according to the attorney representing Morozov’s heir.
3. Renoir 'mythical scene' painting stolen from Rome in 1984 turns up in Treviso:
The owner claimed to have bought the painting at a rummage sale, but was unable to verify this, leading the Italian police, working in conjunction with Interpol, to discover that the painting had been stolen 25 years ago. A value has not yet been estimated, but Captain Di Stefano suggested that it ‘must be pretty high because Renoir did not paint that many mythical scenes’.
4. French Billionaire Pinault (owner of Gucci, YSL) opens gallery in Venice:
Francois Pinault (ranked first in ArtReview’s list of the most powerful people in modern art and ranked 39th richest person in the world by Forbes, and owner of a majority share in Christie’s since 1999) has transformed Dogana del Mare, the 17th-century customs house on the Grand Canal in Venice, into a second home for his amazing collection of contemporary art.
The collection, which includes works by Jeff Koons, Cindy Sherman, Cy Twombly, Takashi Murakami and the Chapman brothers, as well as upcoming artists Matthew Day Jackson, Adel Abdessemed, Nate Lowman and Kai Althoff, has been housed in the 18th-century Palazzo Grassi, but space there quickly ran out.
To manage this impressive collection, Pinault poached Jean-Jacques Aillagon, the French culture minister and former Pompidou Centre director.
5. Rare Gainsborough at auction in LA for £1,000 uncovered, worth £500,000:
Antiques Roadshow presenter Philip Mould has uncovered the real identity of the artists behind a painting previously thought to be by an imitator of the Dutch landscape artist Ruisdael. Mould’s examination led him to believe that the study of Cornard Wood was painted by the famous 18th-century landscape painter Thomas Gainsborough when he was just a schoolboy.
6. Germany donates $70,000 (£43,400) to Frida Kahlo Museum, Mexico:
The donation will help to restore the works and collection of Kahlo and her husband Diego Rivera, two of Mexico’s most prominent 20th-century artists. The museum, in Mexico City, has been struggling for money since the swine flu pandemic earlier this year reduced visitors by 90%. Kahlo’s father moved to Mexico from Germany in 1891 at the age of 19, and the German Ambassador says that the donation will ‘deepen cultural dialogue’.
APPOINTMENTS/PRIZES
7. LA MOCA sacks Director of Collections, removes post altogether:
Following the 17 redundancies and cancellation of four exhibitions last week, the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art has this week sacked Robert Hollister, the Director of Collections and Registration. The museum will not replace Hollister, but will instead share his work between the three remaining registrars.
8. Sir Peter Blake, Anthony Gormley amongst judges of Telegraph/Saatchi School Art Prize worth £12,000:
The Saatchi Gallery-Sunday Telegraph Art Prize for Schools will be judged by a panel of Sir Peter Blake, sculptor Antony Gormley, Ekow Eshun, Camila Batmanghelidjh and Andrew Graham-Dixon. They will choose from a shortlist of 18 works by artists between the ages of four and 18, and will award £10,000 to the winning artist’s school art department, while the artist will receive £2,000.
9. Cintas Foundation announces Emilio Sanchez Award winner 2009:
The Cuban artist Gladys Triana has been announced as the winner of the 2009 Emilio Sanchez Award in the Visual Arts, winning a prize of $15,000 (£9,300).
Live PR article
10. Performa announces 2009 commissions:
Performa, the foundation that provides funding for performance artists, has announced the recipients of its commissions. The commissions will fund nine artists’ projects for their biennial, which runs from 1-22 November. The artists are Guy Ben-Ner, Omer Fast, Yang Fudong, Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Yeondoo Jung, Mike Kelley, Art Lindsay, Wangechi Mutu/Imani Uzuri, and Christian Tomaszewski.
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