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The Headlines
MUSEUM BULLETINS. Major museums in the United States made little headway in diversifying their collections between 2008 and 2020, according to a study by art journalists Julia Halperin and Charlotte Burns, the Art Newspaper reports. Robert Stein, the Milwaukee Art Museum’s deputy director, has been named chief information officer at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. And the new restaurant at the National Gallery in London, Ochre, which was designed by the local firm Red Deer, is featured in Hospitality Design; its cocktail menu features drinks inspired by works by Seurat, Canaletto, and many more.
Related Articles
THE WAR IN UKRAINE. Earlier this year, Ukrainian collectors Victor and Elena Pinchuk sold a Jeff Koons Balloon Monkey (2006–13)—at Christie’s, raising some $11.5 million for humanitarian aid in Ukraine. Now more big-ticket items are heading to auction to support the country. On Wednesday at Sotheby’s, American philanthropist Mitzi Perdue is offering an emerald ring (the gem is from a storied shipwreck) with a top estimate of $70,000; proceeds are also going to humanitarian efforts. Meanwhile, Ukraine said it has won a court ruling in Croatia to auction off a $200 million yacht seized from sanctioned oligarch Viktor Medvedchuk, the Guardian reports. Named Royal Romance, it was built in 2005 and can support 14 guests and 21 crew members.
The Digest
Philanthropist Adrienne Arsht donated $10 million to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to support its MetLiveArts performance series, a record gift for the New York institution’s Department of Live Arts. Arsht also gave $5 million to the program in 2020. [Press Release/The Met]
The cover of the latest issue of New York magazine—“Reasons to Love New York”—includes on its cover a bustling street scene with notables like artists Marilyn Minter, Alex Katz, Laurie Simmons, and Hank Willis Thomas, dealer Ebony L. Haynes, Senator Chuck Schumer, and director Spike Lee. It was shot by Pelle Cass. [Curbed/New York Magazine]
The closely watched Kochi-Muziris Biennale in India said that 90 artists have been selected for its fifth edition, which opens December 12. They include Joan Jonas, CAMP, Christine Sun Kim, Haegue Yang, and Richard Bell. More than 40 new works have been commissioned. [Biennial Association]
A petition is calling for the School of the Art Institute of Chicago to rescind the honorary degree that it awarded to Ye (formerly Kanye West) in 2015, in light of the antisemitic comments the rapper and designer has made. Many in the art field have been not condemned those remarks, Alex Greenberger recently noted in ARTnews. [Artnet News]
Prices are climbing for couture costume jewelry at auction, with strong demand coming from bidders aged 25 to 35, according to one expert in the field. Earlier this year, 1948 earrings made by Lina Baretti for Chanel (and once owned by her) hammered for €5,700 ($5,970) at a Paris house, trouncing their €300 estimate.
[The New York Times]
An unknown object—80 feet long, made of metal and wood—has been spotted in the sands of Daytona Beach Shores in Florida, with some speculating that it may be a shipwreck or NASCAR spectator stand. Storms and erosion in the state have been revealing all sorts of unusual artifacts in recent years. [The New York Times]
The Kicker
THE KING OF NEW YORK. The Whitney Museum’s current Edward Hopper show looks at how the artist depicted his beloved hometown, beautiful New York. It is a thrilling affair that may inspire you to go wander Manhattan’s streets, and if you do, the Whitney has something special to offer, James Barron reports in the New York Times: an online map that reveals where Hopper painted many of his most iconic works. Not everything that he depicted still exists, alas. The Sheridan Theater, for one, has vanished. “We had to settle for the park where the theater once stood,” a Whitney spokesperson told Barron. Such disruptive changes are, of course, the blessing and the curse of living in New York City. [NYT]