Art Industry News: One Third of France’s Galleries Could Be Out of Business by the End of 2020, Survey Says + 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 Thursday, April
9.

NEED-TO-READ

UOVO Under Scrutiny for Laying Off Pro-Union Workers –
The major New York art-handling and
storage company UOVO has asked most of its employees to stay home
with full pay during the city’s lockdown—but it laid off seven
workers, six of whom reportedly played key roles in recent
unionization efforts. The move has caused Teamsters Local 814 to
file charges with the National Labor Relations Board against the
company, claiming they were trying to get rid of pro-union workers
under the cover of a pandemic. (The Art Newspaper)

Collectors Leon and Debra Black Donate $10 Million to
Hospital Workers – Leon
Black, the mega-collector, MoMA board member, and founder of
private equity firm Apollo, and his wife Debra, a Broadway
producer, are donating $10 million to help provide food and
household supplies for the families of healthcare workers. The
couple, who have previously donated many millions of dollars to
MoMA, said they are prepared to match an additional $10 million in
donations from others who step up. (NBC New
York)

Kara Walker’s Tate Installation Will Be
Destroyed – The monumental
fountain Kara Walker created for Tate’s Turbine
Hall, which closed early due to London’s lockdown, will be
dismantled, destroyed, and recycled. The artist had previously
expressed hope that “some aspect of it would have another life”—but
instead, like her 2014 Domino sugar sphinx installation, it will be
destroyed. Fons Americanus was specifically made
from reusable cork, wood, and metal so it could be recycled when
the display ended, according to a Tate spokesperson. (TAN)

Brooklyn Museum Seeks Federal Bailout – Director Anne Pasternak will apply for federal
aid, citing a 15 percent drop in the museum’s $108 million
endowment and a $4 million loss in projected annual revenue due to
the enforced closure. It joins the Jewish Museum, the Rubin Museum
of Art, and a number of other
institutions in applying for the $2.2 trillion stimulus
package’s Paycheck Protection Program, which will allocate $350
billion in loans to payroll protection for small businesses as long
as they keep or rehire their employees. (ARTnews)

ART MARKET

One Third of French Galleries Could Close
– A new report by the French trade association Comité
professionnel des galeries d’art warns that one third of French art
galleries could be forced to close before the end of 2020 as a
result of the losses suffered from COVID-19. The survey’s 168
respondents reported they expect to lose as much as €184
million between March and June due to a decline in expected revenue
from fairs and exhibitions, losses on investments, as well as
decreased sales. (TAN)

Christie’s Moves Hong Kong Auctions to July –
The auction calendar continues to
slide and shift as coronavirus enforces worldwide lockdown and
second waves of the virus take hold. Christie’s has now moved its
marquee Hong Kong sales from the end of May to July 5.
(Art Market Monitor)

COMINGS & GOINGS

NEH Releases $22.2 Million in Aid for US Humanities Projects
– The National Endowment for
the Humanities will award $22.2 million in grants to 224 projects
across the US in addition to the $75 million the NEH is getting
from the federal government as part of the CARES Act. Grant
recipients include the Portland Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum,
and the Norman Rockwell Museum. (Artforum)

Philadelphia Museum Halts Construction – Construction on the Philadelphia Art Museum’s
renovation is on hold after a member of the museum’s security team
tested positive for coronavirus. A local labor union argued that
others working on the site were now at risk, and construction was
suspended “out of an abundance of caution,” a museum spokeswoman
said. (WHYY)

FOR ART’S SAKE

Rube Goldberg’s Daughter Launches a Hand-Washing Competition
– Cartoonist Rube Goldberg’s
granddaughter, Jennifer George, is launching a competition for
families in the spirit of her grandfather’s elaborate contraptions.
The challenge is to build a device that drops a bar of soap into
someone’s hand in 10 to 20 steps. Video submissions are being
accepted until May 31, with the winners to be posted on the Rube
Goldberg website. (New York Times)

Andrea Bocelli Will Perform in an Empty Duomo for Easter
– The Italian opera singer
Andrea Bocelli will deliver an Easter Sunday performance in Milan’s
historic Duomo—but he will be singing to an empty church due to the
public health emergency. The performance of spiritual music,
including Ave Maria, will be livestreamed on YouTube at 7
p.m. CET. (LA
Times)

Zoya Cherkassky’s Paintings Evoke Judaism in a New Virtual
Show – As Jews around the world celebrate Passover,
the Ukrainian artist Zoya
Cherkassky has mounted a new virtual exhibition at Fort Gansevoort
gallery, “Lost Time,” which evokes Jewish life in the time of
coronavirus with dark humor. The curator, Alison Gingeras, first
saw Cherkassky’s gothic responses to the crisis on Instagram.
(NYT)

Seattle’s Artists Paint on Boarded-Up Stores – Plywood
may be going up all over Seattle as shops close due to the
pandemic, but local artists are making sure it doesn’t stay drab. A
handful of artists have coordinated with property owners to paint
lively murals on boarded-up storefronts in an effort to boost morale and bring some color and joy
to the otherwise somber streets. (Seattle
Times)

The post Art Industry News: One Third of France’s Galleries
Could Be Out of Business by the End of 2020, Survey Says + Other
Stories appeared first on artnet News.