news February 07, 2011

International News Digest

Delays at Amsterdam’s Stedelijk Museum; Details Announced for Manifesta 9; Schlingensief’s Work Goes Virtual in Preparation for Venice; Der Standard Weighs in on VIP Art Fair

NEW DELAYS FOR AMSTERDAM’S STEDELIJK MUSEUM

The opening of Amsterdam’s Stedelijk Museum is facing a setback. Eurotopics cites the Dutch daily NRC Handelsblad, which reports that construction on the museum’s new building has stopped because the construction company filed for bankruptcy. According to the newspaper, the latest delay is nothing new because an impasse has been going on since 2004. “Delays, delays, nothing but delays,” notes the editorial, which lays blame with the city. “Now, construction work has stopped, and Amsterdam is launching into a new round of talks. There must be an end to

news January 31, 2011

International News Digest

Belle Haleine Appears in Berlin; Ads on Paris Monuments; The Louvre Behind Bars; Challenges to Louis Vuitton Project; Opposition to Berlin’s “Kunsthalle” Exhibition.

BELLE HALEINE IN BERLIN

Marcel Duchamp’s only surviving readymade, the perfume flask Belle Haleine, Eau de Voilette, 1921, made a rare and brief appearance last week in Berlin. As Monopol and the Süddeutsche Zeitung report, the work used to be part of Yves Saint Laurent’s private collection until it was auctioned off two years ago for eleven million dollars in Paris. The buyer remains unknown. This solo exhibition––for only three days and nights––marks the work’s first appearance since the auction. Unlike Duchamp’s other readymades, which disappeared after their exhibition, Belle Haleine survived

news January 24, 2011

International News Digest

Beuys Conflict Continues; Banksy Bail Refused; Jury is Still Out on Panahi

BEUYS CONFLICT CONTINUES

Another point of contention has arisen between Joseph Beuys’s heirs and the Museum Schloss Moyland foundation, which is home to a considerable collection of the artist’s works. As dpa and Monopol report, Schloss Moyland has gone ahead with a new research prize named after Beuys, despite protests from his family. The “Joseph Beuys Prize for Research” is doted with $14,000 and will be awarded for the first time this November to a young researcher who has made a major contribution to studies about Beuys, who died almost twenty-five years ago on January 23, 1986. The artist’s

news January 17, 2011

International News Digest

Pompidou Criticized After Purchase of Sehgal Work; Art Basel Jury Turns Down Eigen + Art and Giti Nourbakhsch; Parisian Museums “Disconnected” from Parisian Life?; Art’s Birthday

POMPIDOU CRITICIZED AFTER PURCHASE OF SEHGAL WORK

Not everyone is happy with a recent acquisition made by the Centre Pompidou: Tino Sehgal’s This Situation, 2007. As Le Monde’s Michel Guerrin reports, the artist Fred Forest has used the purchase to reopen an ongoing debate about the prices museums pay for artworks. In the early 1990s, Forest asked the public museum to be more transparent about acquisitions to avoid paying higher prices. In 1997, the Conseil d’Etat (State Council) sided with the Pompidou while noting that museums actually pay lower “privileged prices” which could not be divulged

news January 11, 2011

International News Digest

Rosemarie Trockel Wins Kaiserring Prize; Cattelan Gives Finance the Finger; Janette Laverrière (1909–2011); Disappearing Lightbulbs.

ROSEMARIE TROCKEL WINS KAISERRING PRIZE

Rosemarie Trockel has been awarded the prestigious Kaiserring (King’s Ring prize) by the city of Goslar, Germany. As Monopol and dpa report, the annual prize has been given since 1975 to international artists, including Joseph Beuys, Anselm Kiefer, Georg Baselitz, Christo, Jörg Immendorff, Bridget Riley, and, most recently, David Lynch. This year’s jury praised Trockel’s versatility and innovation along with her conceptual and multimedia works, which have earned international renown through both solo and group exhibitions. Born in 1952 in Schwerte, Germany,

news January 03, 2011

International News Digest

Bauhaus Magazine Revived; Support for Imprisoned Iranian Filmmakers; Smoking: Cultural Heritage; Farewell to Kodachrome; Slavoj Žižek Weighs in on Ecological Disasters

BAUHAUS MAGAZINE REVIVED

After an eighty-year break, Bauhaus magazine is set to return in 2011. As Monopol and the Süddeutsche Zeitung report, the announcement was made by Philipp Oswalt, the director of the Bauhaus Dessau foundation. “We want to inform the public twice a year about what’s going on in the Bauhaus context,” said Oswalt. The original magazine, which ran from 1926 to 1931, played a key role in introducing new artistic, design, and architectural concepts from Walter Gropius and his circle. “We want to cover more from the work that we are doing and to reflect upon it,” added Oswalt.

news December 29, 2010

International News Digest

New Director for Heidelberg’s Kunstverein; C/O Berlin Misses Out on Berlin’s Jewish Girl’s School; Falckenberg Collection to be Loaned to Hamburg’s Deichtorhallen; Le Monde on Mathaf; Snow Problems for Pompidou Centre Metz.

NEW DIRECTOR FOR HEIDELBERG’S KUNSTVEREIN

Susana Sáez has been named the new director of Heidelberg’s Kunstverein. As Monopol reports, Sáez replaces Johan Holten, who will take on the directorship of the Kunsthalle Baden-Baden on April 1, 2011. Sáez, a German-Spanish national born in 1975 in Zaragoza, Spain, studied art history and literature in Berlin. Her work with the departing director Holten dates back to 2004. “With Susana Sáez as the commissioned director, the exhibition program that has been adopted until spring 2012 will be carried out at a high level,” said the head of the board of

news December 20, 2010

International News Digest

Yvon Lambert Collection to Remain in Avignon; Berlin’s Temporary Kunsthalle Moves to Vienna; Niemeyer Creates Foundation at 103; Fluxus Art Purchase Causes Controversy in Lithuania; Louvre Succeeds with Online Donations; Young Bulgarian Artists Hijack Socialist Past.

YVON LAMBERT COLLECTION TO REMAIN IN AVIGNON

The dealer Yvon Lambert, who recently considered moving his private collection away from Avignon, France, has had some encouraging news. As Agence France-Presse reports, the Avignon municipal counsel went through two votes, which ended with positive results for both the collection and its financing. The Lambert collection will receive an additional subsidy of $60,000 to cover an amount overstepped in the 2010 budget. Moreover, the city agreed to renew the agreement among the state, the collection, and the city for another three years, until 2013.

news December 13, 2010

International News Digest

Yvon Lambert to Remove Collection from Avignon?; Johan Holten to Head Kunsthalle Baden-Baden; Uli Sigg’s Panda Purchase; Berlin Biennial Asks Artists for Political Positions.

YVON LAMBERT TO REMOVE COLLECTION FROM AVIGNON?

Yvon Lambert is having second thoughts about keeping his collection of contemporary art in Avignon, France. As Agence France-Presse reports, the dealer is “seriously” contemplating taking back the 350 works because he believes that the city has not paid enough attention to them. The collection was given to Avignon ten years ago and is currently housed in the Hôtel de Caumont, an eighteenth-century building that belongs to the municipality. The center is co-funded by the city, the region, and the French state. According to Lambert, “the technical

news December 06, 2010

International News Digest

Roman Abramovich Wins Competition to Develop New Holland Island; Chillida-Leku Museum Closes Doors; MAC/VAL Directors to Head Nuit Blanche; Cardiff and Bures Miller Win Kollwitz Prize; Anselm Kiefer at the Collège de France

ROMAN ABRAMOVICH TO OPEN MUSEUM IN SAINT PETERSBURG?

Roman Abramovich may be expanding his art portfolio in Russia. According to a report from the Süddeutsche Zeitung’s Sonja Zekri, the Russian billionaire may be planning to build a museum for modern art on the New Holland island in Saint Petersburg. Abramovich recently won an open competition to develop the three-hundred-year-old docklands on the artificial island, which held the first Russian military harbor. Abramovich now plans to invest four-hundred-million dollars over the next two to five years––an investment that may include a space to

news November 29, 2010

International News Digest

Bank of Ireland Sells Off Collection; Monet Exhibition Opened Twenty-Four Hours; Controversial Show on Gaza Reopens in Paris; Exhibition Attacked in Austria

GOING, GOING, GONE: BANK OF IRELAND SELLS OFF COLLECTION

The Bank of Ireland has begun to sell off its art collection. As Agence France-Presse reports, the decision has attracted criticism of a “cultural suicide” as well as interest from investors. Last week, the auction began at Dublin’s Shelbourne Hotel where 145 paintings and sculptures were put on the block, including Paul Henry’s painting Clouds at Sunset which was sold for a modest $87,000. At the end of the auction, 144 works from the lot had been sold for a total of $1.9 million, an amount that will hardly put a dent in the country’s

news November 22, 2010

International News Digest

Rome Gets Ready for New MACRO; Berlusconi Adds Penis to Mars; Criticism of Dutch Culture Cuts; Bulgarian Town Petitions for Removal from UNESCO’s World Heritage List; UNESCO Recognizes Catalan Human Pyramids

ROME GETS READY FOR NEW MACRO

After the spectacular opening of MAXXI, Rome is getting ready for yet another fresh addition to its contemporary arts scene. As Agence France-Presse reports, the new wing of the city’s contemporary art museum MACRO will open to the public on December 4. MACRO, which already existed within a classic building, added 32,800 square feet to its total surface; the extension cost of twenty-seven million dollars. The dramatic red, white, and black wing, designed by the French architect Odile Decq, will feature both temporary exhibitions and selections from the permanent

Jennifer Allen