Art Industry News: The Internet’s Boyfriend Keanu Reeves Is Now Dating a Conceptual Artist + Other Stories

by admin

Nov 5, 2019

artnet

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 Tuesday, November
5.

NEED-TO-READ

Lawyer Slams the British Museum as
a Repository of Stolen Goods – A leading human rights lawyer has spoken out
against the British Museum for continuing to display what he calls
“pilfered cultural property,” including the Parthenon sculptures
and Benin bronzes. In a new book titled Who Owns History? Elgin’s Loot and the Case for
Returning Plundered Treasure, Geoffrey Robertson says the museum should
“wash its hands of blood” and return all the treasures that were
acquired by colonizers without consent. Robertson, who worked
on a report on the
reunification of the Parthenon sculptures for the Greek government
with Amal Clooney and
the late Norman Palmer, accuses both the UK government and trustees
at the British Museum, as well as other encyclopedic institutions
around the world, of not engaging properly with restitution
requests. (Guardian)

The King Tut Show Is Heading to
Boston – The blockbuster
exhibition of burial items from King Tut’s tomb has added another
stop on its 10-city international tour: Boston. The show, which
is currently on view
at London’s Saatchi Gallery, has already stopped in Los Angeles and Paris
and will go on to hit cities in Australia, Japan, Canada, and South
Korea. The priceless artifacts are traveling the world to raise
money for Egypt’s $1 billion Grand Egyptian Museum, where they will
go on permanent display following the tour. The precise location
for the Boston showing has yet to be confirmed after Boston’s
Museum of Fine Arts passed up the chance to host the blockbuster,
which comes with a hefty fee reported to be north of $6 million.
(The Art
Newspaper)

Keanu Reeves Is Dating an Age-Appropriate Artist
– Yes, it appears to be
official: art figures really are the most desirable
partners. After a number of Hollywood
leading ladies paired off with art dealers and artists, Keanu
Reeves—who, as everyone knows, always makes the best decisions—has
followed suit. Rumors that the actor was linked to artist Alexandra
Grant appeared to be confirmed when they stepped out holding hands
on the red carpet at the LACMA Art + Film Gala over the weekend.
The duo co-founded the publishing house X Artists’ Books in 2017,
having previously collaborated on two books of poetry. The American
artist often draws on exchanges with writers for her text-based
work and also founded the project grantLOVE, which sells original art to raise funds for
arts non-profits. Reeves is better known as a collector of
motorcycles than contemporary art, but he has been spotted at art
fairs in the past. (Vulture)

Banker Faces $111 Million Fine for Picasso on a Yacht –
In an ongoing case, the millionaire
Spanish banker Jaime Botín admitted in court that he took his
Picasso out of Spain, but denies the painting was headed to Geneva
for sale, which would have evaded an export ban. If found guilty,
the 83-year-old faces a fine of $111 million and four years in
jail. Picasso’s Head of a
Young Woman (1906),
which the banker kept on his yacht, has been at Madrid’s Reina
Sofía museum since it was seized off Corsica by police in
2015. (El
Pais)

ART MARKET

A Norman Rockwell Painting Could Fetch $2.5 Million at
Phillips – Phillips’s November
evening sale in New York will include Norman Rockwell’s 1958
painting Before the
Shot. The painting of a
boy in the doctor’s office, which has never been sold publicly
before, carries an estimate of $2.5 million to $4.5 million. (Art Market
Monitor)

Art World Caught Up in UK Dirty
Money Report – The UK art
market continues to enable money launderers, claims a new report
by the anti-corruption
organization Transparency International. The report, which is based
on 400 criminal cases, states that “criminals [are] frequently
using the UK to invest in corrupt wealth into luxury property,
yachts, jets, and art.” The organization suggests the government
ought to have greater outreach to the art world to offer advice
about how to avoid doing business with bad
actors. (TAN)

Marilyn Monroe’s Menorah Heads to Auction –
A piece of Judaica with Hollywood
sheen is heading to auction. Monroe’s silver menorah was a gift
from the parents of playwright Arthur Miller, whom she married in
1956. It is being sold by a private collector at New
York’s Kestenbaum & Company on November 7 with an estimate
of $100,000 to $150,000. (Art
Daily)

COMINGS & GOINGS

Rubell Museum Expansion Opens Next Month – The omnipresent Miami-based collectors Mera and
Don Rubell are preparing to cut the ribbon on the highly
anticipated expansion of their Rubell Family Collection in Wynwood.
The new 100,000-square-foot, Annabelle Selldorf-designed museum is
opening in Miami’s Allapattah neighborhood next month, just in time
for Art Basel Miami Beach. (WSJ)

BAM Is Getting an Art Gallery – The Brooklyn Academy of Music, a longtime
presenter of dance, theater, and film in the New York borough, is
taking on the art world. It will open the Rudin Family Gallery, a
space dedicated to contemporary art and named in honor of BAM
supporter and art collector Beth Rudin DeWoody, on November 6. The
inaugural exhibition, “When a Pot Finds Its Purpose,” features work
by LA-based artist Glenn Kaino. (Wall Street Journal)

Marco Fusinato Will Represent Australia at the Venice
Biennale – You may still
be digesting the last Venice Biennale, but Australia is already
planning for the next one. The Melbourne-based artist and musician
Marco Fusinato has been tapped to represent the country at the 2021
Biennale. Fusinato is best known for his mixed-media recordings,
performances, and installations. The exhibition will be curated by
Artspace Sydney’s executive director Alexie Glass-Kantor.
(Artforum)

FOR ART’S SAKE

Jessica Chastain to Star as Troubled Artist in Upcoming Film
– A film adaptation of the
tragicomic novel Losing
Clementine will star
Jessica Chastain as the lead character, Clementine Pritchard. In
Ashley Ream’s 2012 novel, Pritchard, a world-famous artist, gives
herself 30 days to tie up loose ends and plan her suicide.
(Deadline)

Staff at Montreal’s Contemporary Art Museum Go on Strike
– Around 30 curators,
registrars, educators, and information workers demonstrated outside
the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal on October 30 for a
one-day strike. According to the strikers, 54 percent of the
museum’s professional staff are on temporary contracts without
benefits, insurance coverage, or paid vacation. (Canadian
Art)

Plans to Mark 30 Years Since the Fall of the Berlin Wall Are
Underway – The road to
Brandenburg Gate in Berlin is lined with tens of thousands of
jotted-down hopes and dreams in a massive installation by American
artist Patrick Shearn. The participatory piece, which Shearn
describes as a kinetic poetic installation, commemorates the fall
of the Berlin Wall, which took place on November 9, 1989.
(Mauerfall 30)