Art Industry News: Sam Durant’s Controversial ‘Scaffold’ May Not Burn After All + More Must-Read Stories

Plus, Condo New York brings 20 international galleries stateside and Philippe de Montebello complains that museums have become entertainment centers.

Sam Durant, Scaffold. Courtesy of the artist, Blum & Poe, Paula Cooper Gallery, Praz-Delavallade and Sadie Coles HQ. Photo by Rosa Maria Ruehling.

Art Industry News is a daily digest of the most consequential developments coming out of the art world and art market. Here’s what you need to know this Tuesday, June 6.

NEED-TO-READ

Dakota People Question Decision to Burn Sam Durant’s Scaffold – The controversial sculpture, installed at the Walker Art Center, has been dismantled following consultation with local Dakota leaders, who are now debating whether it is necessary to burn the piece after all. (New York Times)

Philippe de Montebello Says Nobody Knows How to Look at Art Anymore – Accepting an award at the New Criterion gala, the former director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art derided museums’ tendency to position themselves as entertainment venues, and emphasized the hard work it should take to really look at a work of art. (New Criterion)

Should Arts Organizations Accept Money From the Koch Brothers? – As Trump withdraws from the Paris climate accord, Philip Kennicott calls for arts organizations to boycott philanthropy from the Koch brothers (the patrons behind the Met’s outdoor fountain, for instance), whose money has funded campaigns to undermine climate change science. (Washington Post)

Why documenta and Skulptur Projekte Münster Are Artists’ Favorite Shows – Nairy Baghramian, Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Douglas Gordon, and Jeremy Deller speak about why the two German art shows, which coincide this year and open this week, are great for artists. (The Art Newspaper)

London and DC Tie for Top Spot on World Museums Chart – While London welcomed the world’s largest number of visitors to its museums last year, four of the city’s institutions made it onto the Themed Entertainment Association’s list of top 20 most popular museums; four museums in DC also made the cut. (The Guardian)

ART MARKET

Condo New York Brings 20 International Galleries to Manhattan – The co-operative project, launched in London in 2016, will stage its first edition in New York City this month. Twenty galleries in Chelsea and downtown will share their spaces with international colleagues like Croy Nielsen and Carlos/Ishikawa. (ARTnews)

Bonhams to Auction Rediscovered Parmigianino Sketch – The London auction house is offering a 16th-century drawing by the Renaissance master (est. £15,000–20,000), a preparatory drawing for the Wise and Foolish Virgins painting in the sanctuary of Santa Maria della Steccata in Parma. (Press release)

COMINGS & GOINGS

New Associate Director for Sugar Hill Children’s Museum – Lauren Kelley has been with the Sugar Hill Children’s Museum of Art & Storytelling in Harlem since 2013. She steps into to her new role after the former associate director, Suzy Delvalle, left last year for Creative Capital. (ARTnews)

Linda Pace Foundation in San Antonio Breaks Ground – Designed by David Adjaye after a dream vision (seriously) by Pace, the $16 million building, which will be dedicated to contemporary art, has begun construction and is set to be completed late next year. (Glasstire)

Jewish Museum of Florida Names Director – Previously the museum’s acting director, Susan Gladstone is now making it official. (Miami Herald)

FOR ART’S SAKE 

Former Louvre Director Donates Collection to Town of Les Andelys – Pierre Rosenberg will donate 800 paintings and 3,000 drawings to the northern French town, whose council has decided to turn a local care home into a museum and research center dedicated to painter Nicolas Poussin. (The Art Newspaper)

Owner of Largest Collection of Star Wars Memorabilia Robbed – Steve Sansweet of San Francisco keeps more than 400,000 Star Wars collectibles at his home and museum, Rancho Obi-Wan, which he says was slowly robbed of $200,000 worth of memorabilia over a period of years by a long-time friend. (Art Daily)

Museum for Art and Trade Hamburg Hosts Exhibition of Keith Haring Posters – Thanks to a donation of Haring’s posters from collector Claus von der Osten, the Hamburg museum has more than 100 posters of view by the artist, spanning his entire career. (Art Daily)

art industry news

Keith Haring, Ignorance = Fear, Silence = Death, Fight Aids Act Up, (1989) ©Keith Haring Foundation

Installation view.

Keith Haring, Crack Down!, (1986) ©Keith Haring Foundation.

 


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