COURTESY PINTERST
A Museum Sells Work
The battle continues up at the Berkshire Museum of Art in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, over whether or not the institution should sell work to create a $40 million endowment to allow for a $20 million renovation, and other fundraising. The controversy has placed the small museum into the national spotlight, as arts committees around the country take turns condemning the decision to auction off the work, which could include two works by Norman Rockwell. [The Washington Post]
The move to sell work does have its supporters, including an opinion writer for The Boston Globe, who suggests Washington, D.C., should look to the Berkshire Museum to be a model of how to slash spending. [The Boston Globe]
Institutional Scandal
People are still angry at Dana Schutz over Open Casket, her painting that was included in this year’s Whitney Biennial of Emmett Till, sparking some calls for the ICA in Boston to take down its current Schutz show. [Jezebel]
Robert M. Rubin, the commodities trader turned art collector who served as the president of the Georges Pompidou Foundation, condemns Jeff Koons’ move of giving a work to the Palais de Tokyo, in Paris, but making the people of Paris pay for it. [Le Monde]
An O.J. Simpson Museum will pop-up in Los Angeles. [CNN]
Famous Figures
Miley Cyrus, when asked what she wants to do next, told a radio station “I’d love to come to New York again and be able to show my art in an actual gallery. That’s something I’d never done before, so I’d love to do it again.” The singer collaborated with Jeffrey Deitch for a concert in Miami during Art Basel, and presented some of her visual art at Milk Studios in New York, but apparently she doesn’t consider these events something that is shown “in an actual gallery.” [Just Jared]
Here’s chat with Paris-based fashion designer and collector Agnes B., who was an early supporter of Jean-Michel Basquiat [W]
The Grotjahn Market
Several collectors of the work of Mark Grotjahn discuss why they like his work. David Geffen, who is described here as a “media mogul,” proclaims that Grotjahn is “the most important artist of his generation.” [The New York Times]
Branding
This trend story on using art to sell various luxury items has a subhead that reads, in full, “Borderline obnoxious?” [Forbes]
Real estate developers are acquiring large sculptures to brand buildings. 56 Leonard will have an Anish Kapoor and Sky, on the West Side, has a Yayoi Kusama. [The New York Times]
Extra!
Here’s Philip Guston’s daughter Musa Mayer discussing her father’s legacy. [The Telegraph]
And take a look at Monika Sosnowska’s show at Kurimanzutto in Mexico City. [Contemporary Art Daily]