COURTESY CHRISTIE’S
ACQUISITIONS AND COMMISSIONS
Who bought Maurizio Cattelan’s Hitler sculpture, Him, for $17.2 million on Sunday at Christie’s? No one knows, still, but as one consultant put it, “There are all sorts of conspiracy theories.” [Page Six]
For his Monumenta commission, Huang Yong Ping is “occupying” the Grand Palais with an installation meant as a metaphor for the rise and fall of power. Most of the installation is the skeleton of a snake that weighs 133 tons. [The Art Newspaper]
LIVES
Martin Friedman, the former Walker Art Center director who radically expanded the museum’s reach to include dance, performance, and film, died yesterday at age 90. “Martin understood that the power of a museum comes from giving voice to artists as well as showcasing their art,” Adam Weinberg, director of the Whitney Museum, said. [Minneapolis Star Tribune]
ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN
The Fondazione Berengo in Venice is planning the first Zaha Hadid retrospective since her death earlier this year. The show will open on May 26, to coincide with the Venice Architecture Biennale. [The New York Times]
The Cooper Hewitt Museum has announced this year’s National Design Awards winners. Moshe Safdie, the urban planner and architect, won the lifetime achievement award. [Artforum]
MUSEUMS
Martine Syms discusses her show at the ICA in London. “I have said it before and I will continue to say that I don’t think art is the most effective form of protest. I don’t think it changes policy, I think it changes discourse, and discourse can change ideas, and for me that’s what it’s about: having that space for conversation,” she said. [The Guardian]
Following the news that the Metropolitan Museum of Art is planning layoffs, a planned $600 million expansion for the museum has officially been put on hold. [The Architect’s Newspaper]
At the American Law School’s annual course on museum law, appropriation, drones, YouTube videos, and brand control were some of the many topics discussed. [The Art Newspaper]
EXTRAS
You can now apply to have Yayoi Kusama redo your bedroom. Thanks to a partnership between AirBnB and Tate Modern, Kusama can fill your room with dots. [The Huffington Post]
If you must, please have a look at one artist’s art selfies at Frieze New York. [Vogue]
Update, 3 p.m.: An earlier version of this post mistakenly stated where Cattelan’s Hitler was sold. It was auctioned at Christie’s, not Sotheby’s. Here’s our report from that evening.