Category: visual

As pandemic-related shutdowns have entered their ninth month, and as public collections around the world dramatically scale back programming—if not the collections themselves—banks and other large corporations have continued to collect, lend, and exhibit art. By comparison, 1 in 3 American museums never reopened after shutting down in March, according to a survey released on Tuesday by the American Alliance of Museums. – Bloomberg

“Susan Dackerman, director of Cantor Arts Center, has resigned under pressure after a lengthy investigation revealed a toxic work culture with heavy staff turnover and low morale at the Stanford University museum.” – San Francisco Chronicle

“The Gjellestad site is the home of the Jell Mound—one of the largest Iron Age burial grounds in Scandinavia. A landowner first discovered it in 2017 when requesting permission to build drainage ditches across the field near the mound, with experts confirming the find in autumn 2018.” – The Art Newspaper

“Contractual terms preventing buyers from reselling works at auction for a fixed period of time — which have become increasingly popular as dealers seek to stamp out speculation that can damage young artists’ prospects — as well as agreements granting galleries the right of first refusal on resales may violate consumer rights, according to Martin Wilson, chief general counsel at [auction house] Phillips. … Fellow lawyers in the UK and US largely agree.” – Artnet

“[This] is the true face of Salvator Mundi,” said Annalisa Di Maria of the UNESCO Center in Florence. “[It] recalls everything in the drawings of Leonardo: it is his language, and speaks loud and clear.” Di Maria argues that this sketch is the study for the real Salvator Mundi by Leonardo; the painting under that title which was sold three years ago for the highest price in history ($450 million), and whose authorship is still debated, looks very different. – Artnet

Given the extraordinary volume of resources dealers poured into online sales platforms, and the attention the web has garnered across the industry, the anemic returns on art e-commerce are all the more distressing. – Artnet

The average museum has lost $850,000 to date, though the figure is much higher for large institutions. The Museum of Fine Art, Boston expected a $14 million loss through July alone, and New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art has projected a $150 million shortfall. – Artnet

“In an unprecedented move, multi-hyphenate artist Daniel Arsham will become the creative director of the Cleveland Cavaliers. … His mandate will ultimately include everything from the imagery on the team’s jerseys and home court, to key aspects of its social-media presence, to collaborative initiatives with Cleveland-based artists and other [local] organizations.” – Artnet

A team of roughly 1,600 police officers raided 18 buildings in Berlin and arrested three suspects from a notorious crime family, the Remmo clan, in connection with the robbery of historic jewels from the Green Vault museum in Dresden last November. – Yahoo! (AFP)

“Palm Springs City Council has agreed to give the “Forever Marilyn” statue a temporary home along Museum Way for three years, but the plan with PS Resorts, which has been working to bring the statue back to Palm Springs for sometime, will contain an option that would allow the city to terminate the agreement before it expires should issues arise.” – Desert Sun