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News
Works from the Lang collection will go up for auction at Sotheby’s contemporary evening sale in New York, led by a painting from Francis Bacon’s famed “Screaming Pope” series, Study for a Head (1952), with an estimate between $20 million and $30 million.
[ARTnews]
New York state has joined the list of state and local governments to sue the Sackler family, which has also been turned down by several arts institutions that have taken donations from it in the past. [ABC7 New York]
Sotheby’s will auction off works by 35 artists to benefit the Hammer Museum’s New Artist Fund in May. The sale includes pieces by Ed Ruscha, Jonas Wood, Mark Bradford, and Kevin Beasley. [New York Times]
Museums
Take a look at the stunning new National Museum of Qatar in Doha, which was designed by the Pritzker Prize-winning architect Jean Nouvel. [Dezeen]
Plans for LACMA’s biggest new building project have passed an environmental impact report, with slightly reduced and amended designs now ready to go to the county’s board of supervisors. A vote will be conducted over whether to release more funds for the $650 million project. [Los Angeles Times]
Hong Kong
ARTnews contributor Janelle Zara reports on the Art Central Hong Kong fair, where 75 percent of exhibitors hail from the Asia Pacific. [ARTnews]
Kaws’s giant inflatable Companion, which has been floating on the Victoria Harbor during Art Basel Hong Kong, retired two days ahead of schedule due to poor weather conditions.
[South China Morning Post]
Friday Reads
Artists including Hito Steyerl, Coco Fusco, and Raqs Media Collective mourned the loss of curator Okwui Enwezor. Fusco wrote, “Since he passed, my mind has been flooded with memories of him—laughing, arguing, cajoling, and scolding me when he thought I should know better or push myself harder. I hope to be haunted by that voice for the rest of my days.” [e-flux]
A look into the competition between Larry Gagosian and David Zwirner as they battle for the estate of Franz West, including a note that Zwirner once dreamed of being a jazz drummer. [Vanity Fair]
Speaking of high stakes, here’s a photo of the Queen of England at Hauser & Wirth Somerset, taking a gander at a Catherine Goodman show. [Instagram]