Art Industry News: The Metropolitan Museum of Art May Be Closed, but the Met Gala Is Still On + Other Stories

by admin

Mar 13, 2020

artnet

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 on this Friday, March 13. For
an up-to-the-minute list of recent art world cancellations and
postponements, have a look here.

NEED-TO-READ

Rembrandt’s Forgotten Paintings of Black People –
Rembrandt painted several portraits
of black people, which, like those of his contemporaries, had been
largely overlooked until a young curator decided to research them.
Stephanie Archangel has joined forces with art historian Elmer
Kolfin to co-organize an exhibition of the Dutch master’s paintings
featuring black people. Most feature male and female servants but
the collection also includes prosperous freemen living in
Amsterdam. Three were commissioned by the sitters, one of whom was
a Brazilian slave owner based in Africa. The show at the
Rembrandthuis in Amsterdam (which is temporarily closed) features
56 works. Archangel, who is a curator at the Rijksmuseum, says:
“There were many more artworks out there.” (New York
Times)

Who’s on the Hook When Large Art Events Get Canceled? –
Art Basel is “in
active discussions” with its insurer about its canceled fair in
Hong Kong. Many other
organizers of fairs and other large-scale events may not have
policies that cover disease-related cancelations and postponements,
leaving them (and exhibitors) to foot the bill. Getting insurance
against communicable diseases and other disasters outside
organizers’ control is expensive. Torsten Jeworrek, a board member
of Munich Re AG, recently said the German reinsurer was part
of a consortium that extended cancellation insurance to this
summer’s Tokyo Olympics. It has “three-digit-millions exposure,” he
said. (Wall Street
Journal)

The Met Gala Is Going Forward – The Costume Institute of the Metropolitan
Museum of Art is still planning to forge ahead with its
star-studded fashion gala, although the New York museum has
closed after two staffers were tested for
COVID-19. Nancy
Chilton, the chief external relations officer for the institute,
told The Cut: “We are proceeding as planned and look forward to a
wonderful evening,” adding that the museum is keeping a close eye
on the situation. The red-carpet fundraiser, which is known as the
Oscars of the fashion world, is due to take place on May 4.
(Buzzfeed)

Sydney Biennale Rejects Art’s Eurocentrism – Works by Indigenous, First Nation, and artists
of color dominate the 2020 edition of the exhibition. Organized by
the Australian artist Brook Andrew, who has Indigenous ancestry,
the show challenges the traditional hierarchies of the art world.
Andrew has worked with a tighter budget after the departure of longstanding corporate
sponsors and a number of private philanthropists in the wake of the
2014 edition. Wildfires that reached Sydney’s suburbs also made the
exhibition touch-and-go at one point. Standout works include the Ghanaian artist Ibrahim Mahama’s monumental
installation of signature hessian sacks in the main venue on
Cockatoo Island. The Mexican artist Teresa Margolles, meanwhile,
has created a powerful memorial to Mexico’s hundreds of murdered
women in the form of a room surrounded by blood-red
curtains. (Guardian)

ART MARKET

Sotheby’s Preps African Art Auction – Works by the Nigerian artist
Ben Enwonwu will lead
Sotheby’s next Modern and
contemporary African art sale, which is due to take place on March 24 in
London. The artist’s 1953 portrait of Princess Sefi
has a high estimate of £300,000
($378,000). (Africa
News)

New York’s Big Galleries Close – Pace, Gagosian, and Hauser & Wirth are
shuttering their New York spaces as a precaution to prevent the
spread of COVID-19. Zwirner is keeping one space in Chelsea open
but closing the other, as well as its Upper East Side space. Hauser
& Wirth is also closing its Los Angeles gallery, but Pace is
keeping its Palo Alto outpost open. (Artnet
News)

Art Brussels Is Postponed Until June – Art Brussels has announced it is postponing the
event due to take place in April until late June. Organizers took
the decision in line with the Belgian government’s health
recommendations. The fair’s new dates are Thursday 25 to Sunday 28 June.
(Press
release)

COMINGS & GOINGS

Hyperrealist Sculptor J.
Seward Johnson Jr. Has Died – The creator of
lifelike sculptures has died of cancer at age 89. He is perhaps
best known for his sculpture of a seated businessman reviewing the
contents of his briefcase, which survived the World Trade
Center attacks in 2001. Firefighters are said to have tried to save
it, thinking it was a real person. (NYT)

Smithsonian Joins
Museums That Are Closing – The Museum of Modern Art in New
York, the Whitney Museum in New York, the National Gallery of Art
in Washington, DC, the Guggenheim Museum in New York, and, now, the
Smithsonian Institution have said they will close in an effort to
preserve public health. You can check out our up-to-the-minute
coverage on art world closures, postponements, and cancelations
here. (ARTnews)

Artadia Announces 2020
Los Angeles Winners – Artadia has awarded 2020 grants to
the Los Angeles-based artists Beatriz Cortez, Amir H. Fallah, and
Suné Woods. Cortez and Woods will receive $10,000, and Fallah will
get $25,000 as the Marciano Art Foundation Artadia Awardee.
(Press
release)

FOR ART’S SAKE

Studio 54 Denizens Look
Back Ahead of Brooklyn Museum Show – While the
museum is closed as of today, which puts the kibosh on its highly anticipated
show,”Studio 54: Night Magic,” you can at least read the
stories of those who attended the legendary nightclub from the
comfort of your own home. Fashion designer Norma Kamali recalls the
need for escape: “New York was bankrupt, a disaster. Everybody was
leaving. At Studio 54, everybody could shake free of the doom and
gloom.” (NYT)

Game-Changing Ancient
Art Discovered in Basque Cave – Drawings in
the painting-rich Basque region show that distinct Paleolithic
cultures survived side-by-side for millennia. In recent years,
archaeologists equipped with sophisticated tools have discovered 17
previously unknown painting sites in the Basque region dating to
this Paleolithic period. (Haaretz)

Palazzo Strozzi Puts
Saraceno Show Online – Florence’s Palazzo Strozzi is
rolling out a digital platform to
explore urgent questions about the future and human relationships,
topics which course through the acclaimed exhibition by Argentinian
artist Tomás Saraceno that is on view in the shuttered museum.
Called “IN TOUCH,” the public platform will to share images,
videos, stories and readings. (Press release)