COURTESY THE MET
Places to Live
Eric Boman at New York takes us inside the home of Cheryl and John Mowinckel, who live in a 4,000-foot loft in the Flatiron. It was once the home and studio of Lenore Tawney, an artist who worked in fiber, and the Mowinckels honor her by changing very little in the apartment. It maintains the fluidity of a home studio. “You can enter a bedroom, pass through a bathroom, study, and dressing area, and reappear through the library!” Cheryl Mowinckel says. [New York]
The collectors Jake and Ruth Bloom are selling their mansion at in Sun Valley, Idaho, putting it up for auction for $11 million. Jack Flemming at the Los Angeles Times explores the house, which was designed by Frederick Fisher & Partners Architects, the firm that worked on building out MoMA PS1 in Long Island City, Queens. [The Los Angeles Times]
Museum Happenings
Simon Baker has been named the new director of the European House of Photography, the organization announced. [The European House of Photography]
The Louvre has shut down its lower level due to dangerous flooding in Paris. “The water level is expected to reach 20 feet by Saturday, which is 13 feet higher than its normal height, according to the latest official weather bulletin,” Paul Pradier of ABC News reports. [ABC News]
Scientists are trying to get the conservative donor Rebekah Mercer removed from the board of the Natural History Museum in New York due to her efforts to spread anti-climate change propaganda. Alexander C. Kaufman at HuffPost reports that a letter has been signed by more than 200 professionals, and that it states, “Rebekah Mercer and the Mercer Family Foundation, political kingmakers and the financiers behind Breitbart News, have given tens of millions to organizations who broadcast climate science denial and block policy and technological solutions to the climate crisis.” [HuffPost]
Michelangelo, of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s show of drawings by Michelangelo, the artist. [The Met]
Bob Keyes at the Portland Press Herald takes us inside this year’s biennale at the Portland Museum of Art, which opens today. “The exhibition highlights their diverse perspectives and interests, and is intended to make a statement about the impact and power of art in what [Guest Curator Nat] May called ‘this historical moment that we’re all experiencing together,'” Keyes writes. [The Portland Press Herald]
Lives of the Artists
January marks not only the opening of a grand Georg Baselitz retrospective at the Beyeler Foundation in Basel, Switzerland—it’s also the artist’s 80th birthday. Torsten Landsberg at Deutsche Welle takes a look at the long career, which began when a duo of risqué paintings caused a sensation in Germany, prompting charges of obscenity—and causing his market to skyrocket. [Deutsche Welle]
News from the Sundance Film Festival: Magnolia Pictures has acquired the U.S. distribution rights of Kusama — Infinity, a documentary about Yayoi Kusama by the filmmaker Heather Lenz. Patrick Hipes of Deadline explains to readers of the Tinseltown industry rag that Kusama has a “legacy of artwork spans painting, sculpture, installation art, performance art, poetry, and novels and continues today — her installation “Infinity Mirrors” recently sold out its run at L.A.’s The Broad museum, and she’s considered the world’s top-selling artist.” [Deadline]
Market Matters
More news from Sundance: Dan Schindel at Hyperallergic goes inside The Price of Everything, an art market documentary that premiered by the slopes in Park City this week. [Hyperallergic]
Sotheby’s has acquired the AI startup Thread Genius to try and match potential clients with art they may be interested in. Katya Kazakina at Bloomberg explains that the trio that founded Thread Genius “previously worked at the Spotify streaming service where they helped develop the technology behind its music recommendations. At their own firm they applied a similar approach to the fashion industry, using AI to understand customer tastes based on visual recognition.” [Bloomberg]
On the Road
Hayley Krischer has a story on the cover of the New York Times travel section this weekend about going with her best friends girlfriends to Marfa, Texas, that art hub in the middle of the desert. The headline sums it up nicely: “Thelma and Louise, With a Happier Ending.” [The New York Times]