Art Industry News: Leonardo DiCaprio Sold Off His Warhol Drawing of a Cat for $140,000 to Aid the Bahamas + 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 Wednesday, December
12.

NEED-TO-READ

The Rise of the Art Forgery Industry – In the past four decades, art forgery has
become the third-highest-grossing criminal trade in the world,
behind drugs and weapons, according to UNESCO. The sheer amount of
money circulating in the global art market ($67.4 billion in 2018)
and the ease of forging modern paintings (sales brokered online and
for lower-profile assets often skip the due diligence process)
is fertile ground for
forgers. What’s more,
there is often a disinterest in catching criminals because in many
cases, the alleged “victims” actually benefit from the con,
Vice contends, because they were using the art
to move money around. (Vice)

Police Release a Photo of the Getaway Car From Dresden’s
Jewel Heist – Investigators are still searching for clues
in the heist of priceless
diamonds from Dresden’s Green Vault; two and half weeks after
the two robbers broke into the museum
through a window and took off with jewelry and other diamond-encrusted
pieces, police have released a photo of the getaway car, a
white Audi A6, the same one that was later found on fire in a
parking lot. (Monopol)

Leonardo DiCaprio’s Warhol Drawing Sold for $140,000 –
The actor Leonardo DiCaprio’s
Warhol, Cats/Pink
Sam, fetched $140,000 at
Sean Penn and Lenny Kravitz’s CORE x Let Love Rule gala for the
Bahamas in Miami. The event raised more than $3.2 million for the
cause, and DiCaprio also put down $35,000 on a package that
included a private dinner by the Argentine chef Francis Mallmann
and a stay at the Faena Hotel. (Page Six) 

Here’s How the Berkshire Museum Is Using Its Art Money –
The Berkshire Museum recently
reported to the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office exactly how
it is using profits from its controversial deaccessioning of 22
works from its collection last year. The art sale missed its target
of $55 million, which
the museum attributes to the legal
challenges that
scuppered the original (and heavily marketed) auction plans.
The Berkshire
Eagle‘s investigation
editor thinks this was compounded by the bad
press the sale was
getting, discouraging people to bid. Most of the money that was
made is being used to plug the museum’s recurring deficit, as well
as capital projects. Around $3 million is required by the AG’s
office to be used “for the good of the collection.”
(New England Public
Radio)

ART MARKET

White Cube Will Represent the Bram Bogart Estate
– The gallery has announced the representation of
the estate of Dutch-born Belgian artist Bram Bogart
(1921−2012), whose layered works blur the line between painting and
sculpture. In January, White Cube will open a solo exhibition
of works the artist made between the 1960s and early 1990s at
its Mason’s Yard location. (Press release)

COMINGS & GOINGS

Ruby City Names Elyse A.
Gonzales Director – The San Antonio museum has named Elyse
A. Gonzales its new director. The David Adjaye-designed
contemporary art center opened last month and houses a 900-work
collection of the late artist and philanthropist Linda Pace.
Gonzales most recently served as acting director of the
University of California, Santa Barbara’s Art, Design &
Architecture Museum. (Artforum)

Hammer Museum Names New
Board Members – The institution at UCLA has named three
new board members: Apple Music’s Larry Jackson, philanthropist and
collector Carla Emil, and Creative Artists Agency’s Joel Lubin.
(The Hollywood
Reporter)

FOR ART’S SAKE

London Has a Museum of Neoliberalism – The
Museum of Neoliberalism opened in the Lewisham borough of South
London last month. The project looks at the history, artifacts, and
effects of the neoliberal era. There is a bottle of an Amazon
worker’s urine and an installation of iPhones scrolling through
articles showing the marketing of private life, including a piece
from Bloomberg asking, “Could your stress levels be
affecting the economy?” (Prospect)

Artist Shantell Martin
Teams Up With Model Karlie Kloss to Encourage Girls to Code
– British artist Shantell Martin has designed a
limited-edition hoodie to benefit the nonprofit Kode With Klossy.
The “Kode More” hoodie is imprinted with coding symbols, and
profits from the $52.50 garment will go towards Kloss’s coding
training program for young women. (WWD)

The post Art Industry News: Leonardo DiCaprio Sold Off His
Warhol Drawing of a Cat for $140,000 to Aid the Bahamas + Other
Stories appeared first on artnet News.