Art News Daily
Opening of Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza postponed until 2021
Plus: Jeffery Camp (1923–2020) | Laura Raicovich appointed interim director of Leslie-Lohman Museum | and recommended reading
Whitney lays off 76 staff members
Plus: UNESCO criticises building project near Lebanese archaeological site | Charity auction brings in €2.4m for French health professionals | £700,000 of emergency funding for vulnerable Scottish museums announced | and Hepworth Wakefield to receive gift of nearly 100 artworks
Getty Trust creates $10m fund for arts organisations in Los Angeles
Plus: Royal Albert in Exeter looks set to restitute Canadian objects | La Biennale Paris to sign up for government funding bailout | and Christie’s follows Sotheby’s in announcing staff furloughs | and recommended reading
National Trust for Scotland appoints Philip Long as chief executive
Plus: David C. Driskell (1931–2020) | Sotheby’s furloughs staff as ‘gigaweek’ sales are postponed | National Lottery Heritage Fund announces £50m in emergency support | and temporary mortuary to be established at Irish Museum of Modern Art
Derek Jarman’s Prospect Cottage saved for the nation
Plus: Summer arts festivals in Edinburgh cancelled | Picasso drawing restituted by National Gallery of Art | and Madrid to spend €500,000 on acquiring art
Alan Jones steps down temporarily as president of RIBA
Plus: Italy extends lockdown until 12 April | Metropolitan Museum of Art to pay staff until 2 May | and Suellen Rocca (1943–2020)
Vincent Van Gogh painting stolen from Dutch museum
Plus: US stimulus package of $2tn including funding for arts bodies | Creative Scotland announces £11m in arts funding | and director of Museum of the Bible to return 11,500 antiquities to Iraq and Egypt
Michael Sorkin (1948–2020)
Plus: Kunstmuseum Basel reaches settlement with heirs of Curt Glaser | IMMA concerned about storage of Irish state’s modern art collections | UK independent museums warn of insolvency threat | and recommended reading
This year’s Masterpiece London cancelled and Art Basel postponed
Plus: Further cases of Covid-19 at TEFAF emerge | Cleveland and Hammer among US museums to furlough staff | and Bristol Museum responds to restitution claim over Benin Bronze
Maurice Berger (1956–2020)
Plus: Hong Kong museums close again after second wave of coronavirus | Arts Council England announces £160m emergency funding boost | MOCA LA lays off all part-time staff | and thieves arrested for stealing stones from Notre-Dame
Paul Kasmin (1960–2020)
Plus: Major earthquake damages spire of Zagreb Cathedral | Alberto Uderzo (1927–2020) | and San Francisco Art Institute may close
Manifesta 13 and other biennials postponed
Plus: Arts Council England’s Export Licensing Unit closes until further notice | Francis Alÿs wins the Rolf Schock Prize for visual arts | Arts Council England commissions new guidelines for restitution | Merry Norris (1940–2020)
American Alliance of Museums asks Congress for $4bn for nonprofit museums; NADA asks for relief for New York galleries
Plus: TEFAF New York Spring postponed to replace Fall edition | Kahlil Joseph named 6th winner of Eye Art & Film Prize | Derek Fordjour asks court to dismiss lawsuit from former dealer | and recommended reading
Met anticipates losses of $100m and closure until July
Plus: Opening of François Pinault’s private museum postponed as director steps down | Frieze New York cancelled | and Alan Caiger-Smith (1930–2020)
National Gallery, British Museum and Royal Academy temporarily close
Plus: Online auction house Paddle8 files for bankruptcy | Art Basel launches online viewing rooms | Thieves fleeing Christ Church Picture Gallery may have escaped by boat | and reconstruction of Notre-Dame paused due to coronavirus
Tate, V&A, ICA and Serpentine among major London museums to temporarily close
Plus: Leading UK arts figures call on government to support creative industries | Sotheby’s closes most locations, Christie’s closes last of locations and more fairs postponed | and ancient fragments of Dead Sea Scrolls at Museum of the Bible confirmed by study to be fakes
Three paintings stolen from Christ Church Picture Gallery in Oxford
Plus: National Gallery postpones Artemisia Gentileschi exhibition indefinitely | Arts Council England announces plans to compensate artists and freelancers | Genesis P-Orridge (1950–2020) | and Anicka Yi receives Tate Modern’s Hyundai Commission for Turbine Hall
Louvre announces closure, as do more major museums worldwide
Plus: National Gallery of Art and Smithsonian among US museums closing to contain coronavirus | Art Cologne postponed from April to November | and museums start reopening in China, Japan and South Korea
TEFAF to close early after exhibitor tests positive for coronavirus
Plus: Cleveland Museum of Art receives major works valued at over $100m | Exhibition of Liechtenstein collection cancelled by four museums over report of forced labour during WWII | Los Angeles man pleads guilty to selling fake works by blue chip artists | Nicola Lees named director of Aspen Art Museum | and Emma Talbot wins Max Mara Art Prize 2020
Vatican closes St Peter’s Square to contain Covid-19
Plus: French culture minister tests positive for Covid-19 | Shell ends relationship with Southbank Centre | Security guards investigated over jewellery theft at Dresden’s Royal Palace | and Pam Masi named interim executive director of Erie Art Museum
Museums across Italy shuttered until April
Plus: UK arts organisations express dismay at withdrawal from Creative Europe | Alan Turner (1943–2020) | Scientific tests suggest bones in Kent church belong to Anglo Saxon princess | and Armory Show announces prize winners
Griselda Pollock is first art historian to win Holberg Prize
Plus: Easter Island mayor calls for traffic restrictions after truck hits sacred statue | Italy rejects arrest warrant for prime suspect in Old Master forgery scandal | Henry Cobb (1926–2020) | and US museums restrict staff travel to countries deemed high-risk for coronavirus
Musée d’Orsay receives €20m gift to kickstart major expansion project
Plus: Venice architecture biennale postponed due to spread of coronavirus | British Museum acquires Bronze Age pendant found in Shropshire | and Mophradat announces artists for Consortium Commissions 2020