Art Industry News: The Louvre Backpedals on Making Pre-Booking Mandatory + Other Stories

Art Industry News is a daily digest of the most
consequential developments coming out of the art world and art
market. Here’s what you need to know on this Monday, October
14.

NEED-TO-READ

Protest Art Is Going Viral in Hong Kong – The graphic art inspired by the pro-democracy
protests in Hong Kong is growing increasingly powerful. It is also
being spread with unprecedented speed as protesters circulate
images of works of political street art and graphic design online.
The most popular artwork channels the aesthetics of popular
culture, as well as art history, and much of it features the
movement’s heroes—such as the young woman who was shot in the eye
by police, and a demonstrator who fell to his death from a building
while being arrested. (New York
Times)

UK Museums Are Getting a £250 Million Government Boost –
After years of funding cuts by the
Conservative government, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has promised
to inject £250 million ($314 million) over five years into cultural
institutions. It is one of many spending pledges made ahead of an
expected general election. Critics point out that nearly 1,000
libraries were forced to close between 2010 and 2018, and many
regional museums have made staff redundant due to budget cuts. The
department for digital, culture, media, and sport, is setting aside
£125 million ($157 million) for libraries and museums.
(BBC)

The Louvre Makes a
U-Turn Over Pre-Booked Tickets – This summer, the
Paris museum announced it would make pre-booking obligatory, but it
has now rethought that decision. According to a recent statement,
pre-booking will be implemented only when it is deemed “necessary,”
citing the Paris Olympic Games in 2024 as a potential situation
when visitors will need to reserve tickets online. The special
measure to control crowds will remain in place for its Leonardo da
Vinci blockbuster, which opens on October 24. Last year, the
Louvre attracted a record 10.2 million visitors, confirming its
status as the most-visited art museum in the world. (Le
Figaro)

Jeffrey Epstein Figures In a Legal Battle Over a $200 Million
Brancusi – In a new twist
to an ongoing $200
million lawsuit, John H. McFadden is countersuing the New York
art collector Stuart Pivar for libel and
defamation. McFadden has
cited Pivar’s ties to the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein in
his lawsuit. Pivar initially launched the suit against McFadden,
accusing him of “stealing” a $100 million Brancusi bust after he
reneged on a deal. But McFadden alleges Pivar sold the sculpture, a
cast of Brancusi’s Mademoiselle Pogany II, to the Philadelphia Museum of Art for well
under market value ($100,000) because he was in dire need of cash,
and his name was too tarnished by his connections to the late
Epstein to attract any buyers. (Philadelphia
Inquirer)

ART MARKET

US Tariffs Could Hurt Print and Photo Markets in Europe –
US collectors of photographs and
prints could be hit by new tariffs imposed by the US on a variety
of European products. From October 18, the US is imposing a 25
percent import duty on items, including books, photographs, and art
lithographs printed within the past 20 years in the UK or Germany.
(ARTnews)

New York’s Mid-Season Auctions Rose 12 Percent This Year
– New York’s mid-season
contemporary art sales at three major auction houses totaled $64
million, almost 12 percent more than last year. Nearly a quarter of
the sales volume came from the top ten lots sold, signaling a shift
away from the middle market. (Art Market
Monitor)

John Richardson’s Manhattan Home Is For Sale –
The primary home of the late art
historian and Picasso biographer, John Richardson, is going up for
sale. The collector’s formerly art-filled seventh-story apartment
at 73 Fifth Avenue is on the market for $7.2 million.
(NYT)

COMINGS & GOINGS

Italian Painter Ettore
Spalletti Has Died – The Italian artist, who is best
known for his cool monochrome paintings, has died at 79. Close in
spirit to US Minimalist artists, Spalletti was better known in
Europe than America. (ARTnews)

Shortlist Announced for Max Mara Art Prize for Women
– London’s
Whitechapel Gallery, Collezione Maramotti, and Max Mara have
announced the five shortlisted artists of the Max Mara Art Prize
for Women. They are: Allison Katz, Katie Schwab, Tai Shani, Emma
Talbot and Hannah Tuulikki. The winner of the 8th edition will be
announced in early 2020. (Art Daily)

FOR ART’S SAKE

A Brooklyn Museum
Visitor Dies After a Fall – A New York-based attorney
fell to his death after trying to slide down a banister. The
accident happened during the monthly “First Saturdays” program at
the museum on the weekend. He died of his injuries the next day.
(Hyperallergic)

MoMA Rehangs Starry Night
Post-Hairgate – MoMA has been proudly sharing
behind-the-scenes videos, including conservators at work, ahead of
its reopening to the public on Sunday, October 21. Everything is in
order for the highly anticipated event. Well, just about
everything. Our eagle-eyed, senior business reporter Nate Freeman
did find one thing out of
place: A white hair, stuck to the surface of Van Gogh’s
Starry Night. (Instagram) (artnet
News)

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Pre-Booking Mandatory + Other Stories appeared first on artnet
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