Installation view of Mark Wallinger’s “Self Reflection” at the Freud Museum London (photo by Karolina Urbaniak/Freud Museum London)
Art Movements is a weekly collection of news, developments, and stirrings in the art world.
Germany’s culture minister, Monika Grütters, announced plans to reform the Limbach Commission, the restitution panel founded to mediate disputes related to Nazi-looted art. The Commission has been repeatedly criticized for a perceived lack of transparency and for its failure to appoint a Jewish member.
Australia’s resale royalty scheme has generated over $4 million for artists since it was introduced in 2010, according to the not-for-profit group Copyright Agency.
Mark Wallinger installed a mirror on the ceiling of Sigmund Freud’s study as part of his current exhibition at the Freud Museum London.
The current issue of VAULT Magazine (courtesy VAULT) (click to enlarge)
Distributors censored the latest issue of Vault by adding yellow stickers over an image of Lisa Yuskavage’s painting “Brood” (2005–2006). The stickers were used to the obscure the nipples of the painting’s pregnant female figure.
Israel’s supreme court ruled that Franz Kafka‘s manuscripts belong to the National Library of Israel. Kafka instructed his friend Max Brod to burn his manuscripts after his death, a request Brod failed to carry out. Before his death in 1968, Brod instructed that the author’s papers should be given to the “Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the municipal library in Tel Aviv or another organization in Israel or abroad.”
Abigail and Thomas Rockwell — the granddaughter and middle son of artist Norman Rockwell — launched a petition advocating for the removal of Deborah Solomon’s book, American Mirror: The Life and Art of Norman Rockwell, from the Norman Rockwell Museum. In her biography of the artist, Solomon speculates that Rockwell may have been gay and that his interest in painting preadolescents “was shadowed by pedophilic impulses.”
The Greek government approved construction plans for the first mosque in Athens for over 150 years.
The Jewish Museum launched its first ever Kickstarter campaign to raise $30,000 for its upcoming exhibition, Take Me (I’m Yours).
A fire damaged the roof of 190 Bowery. Developer and art collector Aby Rosen purchased the 72-room mansion from photographer Jay Maisel for $55 million in 2014.
Transactions
Brett Weston, “Joshua Trees, Desert Landscape” (1942), vintage gelatin silver print, 8 x 10 inches, gift from the Christian Keesee Collection (courtesy Bruce Museum) (click to enlarge)
The Bruce Museum announced that it received a gift of 50 Brett Weston (1911–1993) photographs last year. The donation was made by collector Christian Keesee.
A full-length portrait of the 5th Earl of Carlisle (1748–1825) by Joshua Reynolds was acquired for the UK via the Acceptance in Lieu scheme.
Christof and Ursula Engelhorn donated 58 artworks, including pieces by Eugène Delacroix, Joseph Beuys, and Cy Twombly, to the Bavarian State Paintings Collections.
Maria Cox donated 50 works to the Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville. The gift is the second bequest made to the museum by Cox and her late husband, Donald. The collection includes works by Philip Guston, Keith Haring, and Joan Mitchell.
Michael Jordon donated $5 million to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African History and Culture. The sports star also donated a basketball jersey from the 1996 NBA finals.
The National Museum of Australia acquired a truck that was used by workers to transport supplies during the Gurindji Strike (aka the ‘Wave Hill Walk-Off’).
The Fitzwilliam Museum acquired a pair of 17th-century pietre dure cabinets. According to the museum’s press release, the cabinets were “almost certainly” commissioned by a member of the papal Borghese dynasty.
A unique pair of ebony and rosewood cabinets, inlaid with pietre dure (semi-precious stones), and mounted with gilt-bronze (Rome, c. 1625) (© Sotheby’s London, courtesy Fitzwilliam Museum) (click to enlarge)
Transitions
Charlotte Eyerman resigned her position as executive director and CEO of the Monterey Museum of Art (MMA).
Michael Miner was appointed director of development at the Palm Springs Art Museum.
Liam Gillick was appointed artistic director of the Okayama Art Summit, a new triennial contemporary art exhibition.
Kelly Shindler was appointed senior specialist for exhibitions and public interpretation at the Pew Center for Arts & Heritage.
The Norton Priory Museum was reopened following an extensive redevelopment.
Gallery Diet was renamed Nina Johnson.
Shara Hughes is now represented by Rachel Uffner Gallery.
Shara Hughes, “Mirage” (2016), oil, acrylic and enamel on canvas, 68 X 60 inches (courtesy the artist and Rachel Uffner Gallery)
Opportunities
The Walker Art Center is accepting applications for a two-year interdisciplinary fellowship within its visual arts department. The deadline for applications is Friday, August 19.
Obituaries
Pete Fountain (1930–2016), clarinetist and jazz musician.
Dave Hendley (1952–2016), photographer.
Kippa Matthews (1962–2016), photographer.
Patrice Munsel (1925–2016), soprano.
Ernst Neizvestny (1925–2016), artist and sculptor. Designed Nikita Khrushchev’s tombstone.
Johnny Nicholson (1916–2016), owner of the Café Nicholson in New York, a popular haunt of “the New Bohemians.”
Geoffrey Rigden (1943–2016), painter.
Peter Rodriguez (1926–2016), painter and founder of San Francisco’s Mexican Museum.
Elliot Tiber (1935–2016), provided the permit for the Woodstock Festival (1969).
Harry Titcombe (1934–2016), illustrator and wildlife artist.