E. Simms Campbell, “A Night-Club Map of Harlem” (1932) (courtesy Swann Auction Galleries) (click to enlarge)
Art Movements is a weekly collection of news, developments, and stirrings in the art world.
Florentijn Hofman, the artist best known for his giant inflatable duck sculpture, claimed that a large duck used by Brazilian protestors amounts to plagiarism. Brazilian industrial group FIESP commissioned the duck — which was produced by the same factory that created one of Hofman’s ducks — to be used in the ongoing protests against Brazil’s president Dilma Rousseff.
Several women who have accused Bill Cosby of sexual assault criticized the National Museum of African American History and Culture‘s decision not to mention their accusations in written material that will accompany an exhibit dedicated to the entertainer when the museum opens in September. In response, the museum pledged to incorporate information about the allegations into its Cosby display.
The Denver Art Museum returned the Torso of Rama to Cambodia. The sandstone sculpture, which was acquired by the museum in 1986, was stolen from the Koh Ker temple during Cambodia’s civil war (1967–75).
E.S. Campbell’s “A Night-Club Map of Harlem” (1932) sold at Swann Auction Galleries for $100,000 (with buyer’s premium), a price well over the high estimate of $60,000 and a record for the artist. Campbell drew the map, which features musicians such as Cab Calloway and Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, for the centerfold of Volume 1, Number 1 of the 1932 Manhattan Magazine. It was reproduced in Esquire (where Campbell became a regular contributor) nine months later.
Veronese, “Venice Triumphant” (ca. 1581) (courtesy Department for Culture, Media, and Sport) (click to enlarge)
The UK’s culture minister Ed Vaizey placed an export bar on Veronese‘s “Venice Triumphant” (ca. 1581), a preparatory sketch Veronese made for “The Apotheosis of Venice.” The drawing was sold by the Earl of Harewood to a foreign buyer for £15.4 million (~$21.9 million), making it the third most expensive European drawing ever sold at auction.
Russian investigators altered the charges against artist Pyotr Pavlensky for a performance in which he torched the front door of the Federal Security Service’s Moscow headquarters. Pavlensky is now being charged with “damaging a cultural heritage site,” a crime that carries the same maximum sentence as the previous charge of vandalism.
The University of New South Wales published an Indigenous Terminology Guide encouraging students to state that Australia was “invaded, occupied, and colonised,” as opposed to “settled” or “discovered.” “Language cannot be regarded as a neutral or unproblematic medium,” the guide states,” and can cause or reflect discrimination due to its intricate links with society and culture.”
The Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art announced plans to transform a defunct Kraft cheese plant in Bentonville into a contemporary art space.
Elizabeth Murdoch launched the Freelands Artist Award, a $100,000 annual prize for a mid-career female artist based in the UK.
Andy Warhol‘s first New York studio space went on sale for an asking price of $9.975 million.
The artist-run exhibition space FJORD is looking to raise $10,000 on Indiegogo in order to secure a new space in the Crane Arts Building in central Philadelphia.
Joseph Wright‘s “An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump” (1768) went on display at Tate Britain. The painting is presented alongside the only known sketch of the painting.
Le Corbusier‘s tapestry “Les Dés Sont Jetés” (“The Dice Are Cast,” 1959) went back on display at the Sydney Opera House, 57 years after Jørn Utzon commissioned the work.
Le Courbusier, “Les Dés Sont Jetés” (“The Dice Are Cast,” 1959) (photo by Dan Boud, courtesy Sydney Opera House) (click to enlarge)
Transactions
The Scottish National Portrait Gallery acquired Allan Ramsay‘s portrait of Prince Charles Edward Stuart (1720–88).
Isaac Julien‘s “Ten Thousand Waves” (2010), an installation film inspired by the 2004 Morecambe Bay cockling disaster, was jointly purchased by the Towner Gallery in Eastbourne and the Whitworth in Manchester.
The Getty Foundation announced $8.45 million in exhibition grants to 43 southern California organizations scheduled to participate in Pacific Standard Time: Los Angeles/Latin America.
Microsoft donated $1 million to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Michael Douglas donated his personal film collection of 35mm and 16mm prints to the George Eastman Museum.
M+ acquired two works by multimedia artist Tiffany Chung.
London’s National Portrait Gallery acquired Glenys Barton’s sculpture of journalist and broadcaster Baroness Joan Bakewell.
Glenys Barton, “Baroness Joan Bakewell” (2014) (photo © National Portrait Gallery, London)
Transitions
Blank Forms, Recess, and the Swiss Institute became W.A.G.E. Certified.
Nina Zimmer was appointed director of the Zentrum Paul Klee and the Kunstmuseum Bern.
Lynda Roscoe Hartigan was appointed deputy director of the Peabody Essex Museum.
Carl Heron was appointed director of scientific research at the British Museum.
Kathryn MacKay was appointed associate film curator at the University of California’s Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive.
Thelma Golden, Soumaya Slim, and Caroline Grainge were appointed to the Los Angeles Country Museum of Art’s board of trustees.
Cheyenne Westphal, Sotheby’s worldwide head of contemporary art, will leave the auction house next month.
Philanthropist Shari Behnke announced that the New Foundation Seattle will close at the end of May due to an illness in her family. According to The Stranger, the Foundation’s staffers first learned of the decision from Behnke’s press statement.
The Untitled art fair will expand to San Francisco next year.
Greene Naftali will open a temporary exhibition space in Williamsburg — dubbed the Greene Naftali Garage — on April 8.
Hauser & Wirth now represents the estate of artist Lygia Pape (1927–2004).
Obituaries
Aerial view of the Principality of Sealand (via Wikipedia) (click to enlarge)
David Baker (1931–2016), jazz performer, composer, and educator.
Joan Bates, aka Princess Joan of Sealand (1929–2016), wife of Paddy Roy Bates who declared himself the head of state of Sealand — a micronation consisting of an abandoned military platform off the coast of Suffolk.
Terry Brain (1956–2016), animator. Co-created the popular television series The Trap Door (1984–86).
Ronnie Corbett (1930-2016), comedian and actor. Best known for The Two Ronnies.
Gegam Grigorian (1951–2016), opera singer.
Zaha Hadid (1950–2016), architect. The first woman to be awarded the Pritzker Prize and the RIBA Gold Medal.
Jim Harrison (1937–2016), poet and author. Best known for Legends of the Fall (1979).
Imre Kertesz (1929-2016), writer. Awarded the 2002 Nobel Prize for Literature.
Peter Stanford (1927–2016), founding president of the South Street Seaport Museum.