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Tuesday, 03 May 2016 11:25

The Museum of Modern Art in New York is making a few cutbacks ahead of its $450-million expansion project. The institution has announced that it will offer voluntary buyouts to some of its long-time staffers. In order to qualify for the buyouts, the employee must be at least fifty five years of age and have at least nine years of service at the institution under their belt.

Monday, 02 May 2016 12:05

While the start of May ushers in a flurry of fairs, auctions, and exhibitions in New York City, there’s nothing quite like Collective Design. Launched three years ago by the architect/interior designer Steven Learner, the fair is dedicated solely to collectible design, including furniture, jewelry, and decorative objects. But Learner wants visitors to do more than buy at Collective Design—his goal is for the fair to serve as a conduit for education, exploration, and discovery.

Monday, 02 May 2016 11:48

Sam Sweet, an arts management professor at George Mason University, who previously helmed the Atlas Performing Arts Center in Washington, D.C., has been named Executive Director of the Delaware Art Museum. Sweet, who will replace the museum’s current Director, Mike Miller, will assume his post at the institution on July 1.

Monday, 02 May 2016 11:46

As competition among auction houses has increased dramatically in recent years, so have the stakes for securing big-ticket works of art. While major auction houses like Sotheby’s and Christie’s have long-waived seller commissions for star lots, the companies are turning to more radical measures to lure top collectors. Known as an “enhanced hammer,” auction houses are now waiving commissions as well as giving seller’s a share of the buyer’s fees.

Monday, 02 May 2016 11:45

In an effort to beef up its corporate art collection, Montblanc—the German manufacturer of luxury jewelry, watches, writing instruments, and more—has appointed independent curators Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath as the co-chairmen of its cultural foundation. The duo, who co-founded the multidisciplinary curatorial platform Art Reoriented, will increase the number of contemporary art commissions by emerging artists at Montblanc’s Hamburg headquarters.

Monday, 02 May 2016 11:43

This year’s Armory Show, which took place back in March, was the first with Benjamin Genocchio at the helm. Genocchio, the former Editor-in-Chief of Artnet News, succeeded in his goal to expand the twenty-two-year-old fair’s global reach, welcoming 204 galleries from thirty-six countries worldwide—the fair’s largest international representation to date. For next year’s iteration, Genocchio aims to break down the barriers between modern and contemporary art at the fair.

Friday, 29 April 2016 12:18

Few Americans needed a map to locate “Grandma Moses Country” in the 1950s. For the literal, it could be plotted as that corner of the United States where New York adjoins Massachusetts and Vermont. For most people, though, it was a landscape of the imagination—an idealized and geographically indeterminate place of hill and dale planted with tidy houses and barns and populated by hard-working yeoman families.

Friday, 29 April 2016 12:17

The Vatican’s Gallery of Maps—a 400-foot-long corridor adorned with painted maps of Italy from the sixteenth century—will reopen on Saturday, April 30, following a four-year restoration. Commissioned by Pope Gregory XIII, the frescoed maps had started separating from the walls and were cracked and scratched prior to the overhaul. The damage was due in part to the large number of visitors who pass through the gallery on their way to the Sistine Chapel.

Friday, 29 April 2016 12:16

Louis Kahn’s seminal building for the Yale Center for British Art will reopen on Wednesday, May 11, following a comprehensive, eight-year restoration. The museum, which houses Paul Mellon’s illustrious British art collection, has been closed for the past eighteen months. The restoration has remained faithful to Kahn’s vision and involved refinishing the Modernist building’s woodwork, replacing the exhibition walls’ aging fabric, and installing new carpets.

Friday, 29 April 2016 12:15

After a raid at the Geneva Free Ports uncovered a Nazi-looted Amedeo Modigliani painting earlier this month, collectors have begun removing valuable paintings and sculptures from its tax-free storage vaults. Due to the increased scrutiny that has followed the scandal, many customers have transferred works to facilities in London as well as the Delaware Freeport near Philadelphia.

Friday, 29 April 2016 12:14

On Wednesday, May 11, Sotheby’s New York will auction a trove of postwar and contemporary art estimated to be worth $257 million. The sale will be led by two canvases by Cy Twombly —a blackboard painting, which is expected to fetch $40 million, and a $20-million work from the artist’s gestural Bacchus series. Twombly’s current auction record was set in November 2015 at Sotheby’s, when a different blackboard painting netted $70.5 million.

Thursday, 28 April 2016 14:08

In the 1950s, Los Angeles saw a major population boom, beckoning Americans from across the country to its sun-kissed beaches and sleek, modern homes. The city, which played a pivotal role in the mid-century design movement, quickly developed a reputation as the most stylish and innovative hot spot on the West Coast. As Los Angeles emerged as a design haven, it was only natural that a bustling design quarter develop along with it.

Thursday, 28 April 2016 14:06

Furniture and architectural details from the Four Seasons Restaurant in New York will be auctioned at Wright following the legendary eatery’s closure on July 16. An icon of modern architecture, the Four Seasons features Philip Johnson-designed interiors brimming with stylish mid century furniture by the likes of Hans Wegner, Le Corbusier, and Knoll, as well as tableware by Ada Louise Huxtable. The auction will take place on July 26 in New York.

Thursday, 28 April 2016 13:59

The Minneapolis Institute of Art has named Ghenete Zelleke the James Ford Bell Curator of Decorative Arts and Sculpture. The department is the museum’s largest, boasting 18,000 pieces of furniture, textiles, silver, porcelain, glassware, and sculpture, as well as period rooms. Zelleke succeeds Eike Schmidt, a German art historian, who was recently named Director of Florence’s Uffizi Gallery.

Thursday, 28 April 2016 13:58

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) has received a whopping $75 million from two donors—Elaine Wynn, a museum co-chair and a well-known collector who offered $50 million, and A. Jerrold Perenchio, the former CEO of Univision who gifted the institution $25 million. The funds will go toward LACMA’s $600-million expansion project, helmed by the Swiss architect Peter Zumthor.

Thursday, 28 April 2016 13:57

George A. “Frolic” Weymouth, the founder of the Brandywine River Museum of Art in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, has passed away. He was 78. Weymouth, an accomplished artist, acquired a nineteenth-century mill in 1971 and after an extensive renovation, established the Brandywine River Museum of Art. The institution, which focuses on American art, champions artists practicing in the Brandywine River Valley. The museum owns many works by local artists, including N.C., Andrew, and Jamie Wyeth. On June 2, the Brandywine River Museum will celebrate Weymouth’s legacy with an exhibition of his paintings

Wednesday, 27 April 2016 12:17

Perry Rubenstein, a well-known Los Angeles art dealer, has pleaded not guilty to three charges of grand theft. Rubenstein is accused of failing to pay more than $1 million to Michael Ovitz, co-founder of the Creative Artists Agency and former President of the Walt Disney Company, after selling two Richard Prince paintings for the entertainment exec. Rubenstein is being held on $1 million bail.

Wednesday, 27 April 2016 12:16

A new documentary by filmmaker Randall Wright explores the work of the pioneering British Pop artist, David Hockney. Hockney, who rose to prominence in the 1960s, is best known for his flat, colorful portraits, landscapes, and still lifes. The film, aptly titled Hockney, forgoes the biographical approach, focusing instead on the painter’s work and his artistic approach. The documentary premieres in New York and Los Angeles this week.

Wednesday, 27 April 2016 12:15

The Broad, Los Angeles’ newest contemporary art museum, will implement a new ticketing system starting on May 1. The institution, which opened in September 2015, has been attracting huge crowds thanks to its stellar collection, eye-popping architecture, and free admission policy. In an effort to combat overcrowding, the museum will release timed tickets a month in advance of desired entry.

Wednesday, 27 April 2016 12:14

The London-based auction house, Phillips, is ramping up its watch department with the appointment of new specialists in New York, Hong Kong, and Geneva. Focused mainly on twentieth and twenty-first century art, Phillips launched its watch department in 2014. The new hires include Douglas Escribano, Vice President and Head of Sale for Christie’s watch department, Amy Chow, who worked for the Beijing-based auction house China Guardian, and Alex Ghotbi, who comes from the Swiss luxury watch manufacturer Vacheron Constantin.

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