VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
IN EUROPE
Here’s a handy breakdown of what the Panama Papers reveal about the art market. Among other things, the leaked documents reveal just how complicated the provenance of an artwork at auction can be. [The New York Times]
A case in point: The tangled story of how a 1918 Amedeo Modigliani painting was looted by the Nazis and ended up in possession of an offshore company allegedly owned by the Nahmads, and how the Panama Papers shed light on all of this. [Deutsche Welle]
Theaster Gates is the 2017 winner of Germany’s Kurt Schwitters Prize. He’ll now receive his first show in Germany, at the Sprengel Museum, in Hannover. [The Art Newspaper]
The British Museum might be moving to London’s Olympic Park. If it does, it will be part of a cultural hub known as Olympicopolis, which may also end up housing a British branch of the Smithsonian. [The Art Newspaper]
IN THE MIDDLE EAST
Saddam Hussein’s palace is now going to be a museum, in hopes that the Iraqi city of Basra will become a cultural destination. [National Geographic]
Armed police have enforced the partial demolition of Cairo’s Townhouse gallery, which has already had a tumultuous year. Previously, it was thought that the gallery would close, and this news only raises more suspicions that this may still be the case. [The Guardian]
IN ANTARCTICA
Antarctica is launching its first biennale next year. Everything will be documented on film, in case you don’t actually feel like traveling to Antarctica. [The Art Newspaper]
IN THE U.S.
At Coachella this year: Grimes, Run the Jewels, Sia—and some really big outdoor sculptures. [The Los Angeles Times]
Noah Purifoy at the Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus, Ohio. [Contemporary Art Daily]
THE ART MARKET
Art can only be commodified under circumstances, says sociologist Olav Velthuis. “That’s why the commercial art gallery has to look like a museum, where references to commerce are suppressed, as opposed to a supermarket.” [Dis Magazine]
Part of Marion Boulton Kippy Stroud’s art collection is going up for auction. Stroud, who died last summer, is best known for having founded Philadelphia’s Fabric Workshop, and the proceeds will go to the institution. [Philly.com]