COURTESY PHILIPS
Restitution
In a speech last night in Berlin, businessman and philanthropist Ronald Lauder slammed Germany for what he views as its lack of efforts on restituting property stolen during the Nazi era. “The fact that we are still dealing with this topic is simply not acceptable,” he said, and, “Germany has promised much, but has, so far, done the bare minimum to solve this problem.” [ARTnews]
Movement
Frieze, which runs art fairs in London and New York, is making plans to expand to Los Angeles next January, Charlotte Burns and Allan Schwartzman, of the Sotheby’s firm Art Agency, Partners, write in their In Other Words newsletter. [In Other Words]
The Massachusetts Appeals Court judge ruled that the state’s attorney general can have an extension through Monday to complete her review of the Berkshire Museum’s attempt to deaccession works, including two key Norman Rockwell paintings, the Berkshire Eagle reported. The decision had been widely expected, but the judge added, “No further extension should be anticipated,” meaning that details of her investigation may soon be public. [The Berkshire Eagle]
Santa Monica’s Shoshana Wayne Gallery announced that it has moved to a temporary location at 1541 Ocean Avenue, Suite 200, in the city, and that it will share information about a new exhibition space soon. [SWG]
The Talent
The Yellowstone Art Museum in Billings, Montana, has hired Brian W. Knicely as its executive director. Knicely is coming to Big Sky Country from the Evansville Museum of Arts, History & Science in Indiana, where he was executive director, KULR8 reports. [KULR8]
Architecture
North Carolina’s Asheville Art Museum is on track to open its $24 million renovation project this fall, according to John Boyle, who pens the “Answer Man” column for the Asheville Citizen-Times. (A bonus: the article also delves into the question of whether coal ash is recyclable.) [Asheville Citizen-Times]
The Art Newspaper reports that Jamie Fobert Architects has been hired by the National Portrait Gallery in London to complete a £35.5 million (about $50.5 million) renovation of its building. The museum has raised about 60 percent of the necessary funding. [The Art Newspaper]
In Curbed, Alexandra Lange writes about the importance of preserving iconoclastic postmodern architecture, even when it may not be easy to love, even when it is hated. [Curbed]
Photography
The infamous photograph of the national police chief of South Vietnam executing a Vietcong fighter in Saigon, which is credited with helping to shift opinion in the United States against the Vietnam War, turned 50 years old yesterday. Seeing it, Robert J. McMahon, a historian at the Ohio State University, told the New York Times, “people began to question whether we were, in fact, the good guys in the war or not.” [The New York Times]
Cincinnati’s FotoFocus Biennial said that its 2018 edition, which opens in October, will be titled “Open Archive” and include work by Derrick Adams, Diane Arbus, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Lyle Ashton Harris, Malick Sidibé, and many more. [ARTnews]
For the third straight year, Aperture has been nominated for an “Ellie” for general excellence by the American Society of Magazine Editors. [ASME]
Potpourri
Go grab another cup of coffee and perhaps another pastry, and hold on tight to your chair: The Atlantic has a number of absolutely amazing photographs shot by NASA’s Curiosity rover on Mars. There are glorious landscapes and selfies, a sunset and an iron-nickel meteorite, and quite a bit more. In all, the rover has sent 468,926 images back to our planet. [The Atlantic]