To receive Morning Links in your inbox every weekday, sign up for our Breakfast with ARTnews newsletter.
The Headlines
COURTROOM DISPATCH. A trial is currently underway in France of a Ukrainian man, Vadym Huzhva, who is accused of stealing a Paul Signac painting from the Musée de Beaux-Arts in Nancy, in the northeast of the country, in 2018, the Guardian reports. The canvas, Le Port de La Rochelle (1915), was recovered in 2019, when police in Kyiv raided a home in a murder investigation. The suspect there said that Huzhva pulled off the theft; Huzhva denies having anything to do with it. French police believe three other people were involved, but all are currently in prison in Ukraine, according to the AFP. Huzhva is also accused of at least three other art heists throughout France.
Related Articles
SPELL IT OUT. First, the good news. The newly opened section of Manhattan’s Grand Central Terminal for the Long Island Rail Road features a quotation from artist Georgia O’Keeffe on one of its walls: “One can’t paint New York as it is, but rather as it is felt.” Now, the bad news. O’Keeffe’s name is missing its second F in the carved inscription, Bloomberg reports. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s comms director, Tim Minton , commented in true New York style: “We clearly f-ed this one up and it’s being fixed.” In other O’Keeffe news, Antiques Roadshow has published her recently unearthed recipe for a warm custard, which includes this advice: “If barbaric, top with vanilla ice cream!!”
The Digest
The National Gallery of Art has acquired a painting by George Morrison, its first work by a Native American Abstract Expressionist. The D.C. institution acquired its first painting by a Native American artist in 2020—a piece by Jaune Quick-to-See-Smith. [The Art Newspaper]
Severe rainfall on New Zealand led to flooding at the Auckland Art Gallery late last week, and hundreds of artworks had to be moved out its basement. The institution closed early today in anticipation of more rain. [ArtReview and The Sydney Morning Herald]
The Souls Grown Deep Foundation has established a new program to sell prints to support the more than 30 Black artists and estates from the American South that it has long championed. The pieces—showing work by Thornton Dial, Nellie Mae Rowe, and many more—are available unframed for $30 to $85. [ARTnews]
What is said to be the largest sphere in the world is under construction in Las Vegas, and slated to open later this year with high-tech spectacles on offer. The MSG Sphere at the Venetian will be 366 feet tall and 516 feet wide, and showcase the work of “world-class artists and creators,” according to Lucas Watson, the president of MSG Sphere. [Courthouse News Service]
AWARDS SEASON: Artist Ebony G. Patterson (who is co-artistic director of the next Prospect triennial in New Orleans) is the 2023 recipient of the $50,000 David C. Driskell Prize from the High Museum of Art, per ArtDaily, and artist Dominique White has won the $10,000 Foundwork Artist Prize, per e-flux.
The Kicker
DO WHAT YOU LOVE. Artist Adam McEwen has a show up at Gagosian in London that includes some new entries in his series of obituaries for notables who are still living. Dolly Parton and Grace Jones are among his latest subjects. Before making it as an artist, McEwen wrote obituaries, and in the Guardian, he shared his not-so-fond memories of that job. “You’re reading about people who have done stuff, and here is you, not really doing what you want to do,” he said. “My memory is that I was in a cage that I couldn’t get out of.” Keep grinding, artists. A day job is not forever. [The Guardian]