Art Industry News: Artemisia Gentileschi Was About to Have Her Moment. Now Her Historic Survey Has Been Postponed Indefinitely + 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, March 16. For
an up-to-the-minute list of recent art world cancellations and
postponements, have a look here.

NEED-TO-READ

How the Gardner Security Head
Befriended an Art Thief – The
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum’s head of security has struck up an
unlikely friendship with a retired art thief and career criminal.
Anthony Amore is happy to have the occasional lunch with Myles
Connor, who once stole a Rembrandt from Boston’s Museum of Fine
Arts but was in jail at the time
of the Gardner heist.
Connor claims he cased the museum with someone involved in the
unsolved crime. Ulrich
Boser, the author of a book on the Gardner heist, says Amore may
have an ulterior motive for the unlikely friendship: “It makes
sense to me that Anthony is reaching out and having conversations
with people like that.” (Boston
Globe)

California Man Pleads Guilty in Art
Fraud Case – Philip Righter
has pleaded guilty to
trying to sell fake
works by Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Keith
Haring in a fraud
worth more than $6 million. Righter forged paperwork to support his
claims of authenticity, used the forgeries as collateral for loans
that he defaulted on, and falsely claimed to have donated art to
charity in order to secure tax breaks. The West Hollywood-based,
43-year-old fraudster told prospective buyers that he had inherited
some of the works from his grandmother. After he is sentenced in
Florida, he will be transferred o California, where he faces
additional charges. (New York
Times)

Landmark Artemisia Gentileschi Show Called Off
– The National Gallery has made what it describes as
an “unprecedented” decision to indefinitely postpone its highly
anticipated Artemisia Gentileschi exhibition, which was
originally scheduled to open on April 4, because of the coronavirus
pandemic. The museum said in a statement that it was “very
disappointed” about having to postpone the first-ever major UK
exhibition of the female Old Master, but called the move “sadly
unavoidable.” The show, which was inspired by the museum’s $4.5 million acquisition of
a self-portrait by the artist in 2018, will be rescheduled at a
to-be-determined date. (The Art
Newspaper)

Arts Council England Takes a Coronavirus Lead –
The government-funded Arts Council
has announced it is making mitigating the impact of coronavirus its
“number one priority for the next three months.” The arts funding
body will refocus some grant programs to help compensate individual
artists and freelancers for lost earnings. It also pledged to bring
forward grant payments to organizations it supports to assist with
their cash flow. Although
the UK government is still advising
museums and arts organizations to remain
open, ACE warns: “if you
are a public-facing venue you may have to close for a period of
time.” (ACE)

ART MARKET

Christie’s Closes Most Locations
– Christie’s is joining dozens
of art businesses in temporarily closing the majority of its
offices around the world due
to coronavirus, but its London auction house remains
open. There will be reduced
staff in Amsterdam, Geneva, and Paris. For an up-to-the-minute list
of arts-related closures (and reopenings), click
here. (ARTnews)

Will Coronavirus Revive Interest in
Local Fairs? – The commentariat seems to be divided as to
whether smaller or larger fairs are the ones that will emerge
stronger following the coronavirus crisis. Our columnist Tim
Schneider notes in this week’s Gray Market
that postponements to an increasingly crowded fall will likely
result in some kind of consolidation.
The Times suggests that smaller fairs, like the
Dallas Art Fair and Art Brussels, will double down on local art
collectors as travel declines. (NYT)

COMINGS & GOINGS

France Shuts Down Eiffel Tower as
Part of Lockdown – France
ordered the closure of the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, and
the Musée d’Orsay, as well as all cafés, restaurants, cinemas,
and nonessential shops starting Sunday. Having recorded at
least 3,600 infections of COVID-19, the country has banned all
gatherings of more than 100 people, but pressed ahead with plans
for nationwide municipal elections on Sunday. (AP)

Italian Architect Vittorio Gregotti
Has Died of the Virus – The
92-year-old architect died in Milan from pneumonia after
contracting coronavirus. The renowned architect designed the 1992
Olympic Stadium in Barcelona, the Arcimboldi opera theatre in
Milan, and the new
opera house in Aix-en-Provence, France. (Monopol) 

FOR ART’S SAKE

Bernard Arnault Orders LVMH Perfume
Factories to Make Hand Sanitizer – The luxury conglomerate owned by top art
collector Bernard Arnault plans to begin fabricating hand
sanitizer, which it will supply to France free of charge.
Facilities that produce fragrances and cosmetics for Christian
Dior, Guerlain, and Givenchy will temporarily be converted into
factories to make hydroalcoholic gel for French health authorities
and hospitals. (The
Cut)

Museum Workers Search for Clarity
Amid Health Emergency – Part-time workers at museums are concerned that
organizations have been vague about payment as they shutter amid
the coronavirus outbreak. A spokesperson for the Metropolitan
Museum of Art said all workers will be paid during the temporary
closure—but sources inside the museum say that they were told that
part-time and full-time workers will receive pay for the next two
weeks only. (ARTnews)

Anish Kapoor’s Bean Put in Lockdown
– Chicago’s Millennium Park
remains open, but Kapoor’s Cloud Gate (also known affectionately among throngs of
Instagrammers as The
Bean) is in quarantine, with no visitors permitted
nearby. All park events
have been canceled through April 12. (Block
Club)

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to Have Her Moment. Now Her Historic Survey Has Been Postponed
Indefinitely + Other Stories appeared first on artnet
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