News

15 September 2021

If You're Heading to Art Basel, Why Not Explore the Alpine Scene, Too? Here's Our City-and-Country Guide to Switzerland

It's hardly a secret that Switzerland's pastoral image belies a cutting-edge art scene, with Basel the third-largest city and smallest canton, situated along the Rhine River right where the French, German, and Swiss borders meet as the country's unofficial culture capital. The Alps also have a fair share of art worth traveling for. The largest and southeastern-most of the 26 cantons, home to glamorous St. Moritz and a thousand mountain peaks, Graunden is not only the birthplace of Heidi, it also gave us Modern and contemporary artists from Alberto Giacometti to Not Vital (who now calls an Engadin valley castle one of his homes). ... read more (external link)

08 September 2021

PODCAST: 'America is both a shining beacon and the Death Star': Glenn Ligon on Andy Warhol, ambivalence and his Stevie Wonder obsession

Ahead of two solo shows of new works at Hauser and Wirth in Zurich and New York, the American artist Glenn Ligon sits down with Ben Luke for an in-depth podcast interview in which he reveals the cultural influences that have shaped him the most, from Stevie Wonder to Robert Mapplethorpe. ... read more (external link)

08 September 2021

8 Gallery Shows Not to Miss This Fall in New York, From New Louise Lawler Work at Metro Pictures to a Karma Show Curated by Hilton Als

This is the first fall in a while where we may see genuine foot traffic across New York—and the city’s galleries are ready for it. While many are still shying away from the full-on public openings of yesteryear, this is the season that might come closest yet to jumping back into the fold. To help you choose what to see, we rounded up a range of exhibitions, from established artists to the emerging, giving a scope of not only who should be on your radar, but who you should continue to pay attention to. Here are 8 gallery shows we’re looking forward to seeing. ... read more (external link)

08 September 2021

Art Basel Just Created a $1.6 Million ‘Solidarity Fund’ to Calm Uneasy Exhibitors Two Weeks Ahead of Its Marquee Swiss Fair

Art Basel is making a big investment to address dealers’ mounting concerns about the Delta variant’s impact on its flagship fair, which is due to open its doors in just two weeks. In a letter sent to exhibitors Monday and reviewed by Artnet News, Art Basel global director Marc Spiegler and head of European business and management Andreas Bicker announced that the fair has committed CHF 1.5 million ($1.6 million) to a “onetime solidarity fund” designed to mitigate the financial risk of participation. Every gallery will have the option to benefit from the fund if they choose to do so. ... read more (external link)

08 September 2021

Court decision on ‘technicality’ prevents claim over allegedly fake antiquity

On 9 August a decision came down from the High Court of England and Wales that imparts an important lesson about limitation periods and related timelines for the service of proceedings. The decision also reveals useful information about a particular dispute over allegedly fake antiquities, showing just what happens when negotiations between buyer and seller deteriorate, sometimes beyond repair. At the centre of the disagreement and subsequent litigation was a marble bust of the head of Alexander the Great depicted as Heracles. It was sold on 24 January 2014 for $3 million by Phoenix Ancient Art (Phoenix), a company based in Switzerland, to an outfit owned and operated by Sheikh Hamad Bin Abdullah Al Thani, a member of Qatar’s royal family. At the time of the sale the artefact was thought to be an antiquity, dating from the 3rd to the 1st century BCE. At some later point, the buyer became suspicious that the artefact was instead of a more modern vintage and thus a fake. But the seller stuck to the original attribution. ... read more (external link)

08 September 2021

Overseas galleries and art advisors listen up: you are not immune to new money laundering laws at UK fairs this autumn

This autumn, the London art market intends to resume its pre-pandemic glory with the return of in person fairs, such as Frieze London, Frieze Masters and the 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair. Although good news, there is a catch; for non-UK galleries and art advisors in particular. Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC), the UK authority responsible for regulating the art market, requires dealers and galleries participating in art fairs in the country to comply with the stringent new Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations. At a minimum, non-UK-based galleries and art advisors will have to register with HMRC as part of their compliance with the AML regulations. ... read more (external link)

06 September 2021

Banksy's �1m self-destructing painting goes back to auction and could sell for six times the price

Banksy's most (in)famous work �the canvas which shredded in its frame in a viral auction stunt at Sotheby's is going under the hammer next month with an estimate of £4m to £6m. The work, Love is in the Bin (2018), will be offered in the contemporary art evening sale at Sotheby's London on 14 October. The piece is described online as spray paint and acrylic on canvas mounted on board, framed by the artist with remotely controlled shredding mechanism hidden in the frame�. No provenance details are given though The Art Newspaper understands that the work has remained in the same collection since it was bought three years ago at Sotheby's. The ripped canvas will go on show this weekend at the auction house's New Bond Street Galleries before embarking on a global tour to Hong Kong, Taipei, New York, returning finally to London. ... read more (external link)

29 August 2021

Unesco calls for Afghanistan's heritage to be protected but how will it seek enforcement?

Unesco has stepped in to the crisis unfolding in Afghanistan, saying that it is concerned about safeguarding the invaluable cultural heritage of Afghanistan. In a recent statement Unesco's director general, Audrey Azoulay, called for the preservation of Afghanistan's cultural heritage in its diversity�, 20 years after the deliberate destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas, which is a World Heritage site. Unesco also urged the current Taliban-led government to take all necessary precautions to spare and protect cultural heritage from damage and looting. Artists and culture heritage professionals within the country must also be protected, it says. ... read more (external link)

29 August 2021

PAD London Has Pulled the Plug on its 2021 Edition Amid Ongoing Travel Restrictions and Fears of the Delta Variant

In a worrying sign for London's fall art season, the art and design fair PAD London has canceled its 2021 edition, which was to run October 4-10, during Frieze Week. Organizers said that the decision was made in conjunction with the gallery committee in light of the continued difficulties of traveling between the U.K. and France, as well as the risk posed by the spread of the Delta variant of Covid-19, the Art Newspaper has reported. ... read more (external link)

29 August 2021

Visa Bought a $150,000 Crypto Punk for Its Corporate Collection and Immediately Triggered an NFT Market Rush

Visa is officially getting into the NFT game. Last week, the financial services company purchased a CryptoPunk, one of 10,000 highly sought-after digital characters on the Ethereum blockchain for 49.5 ETH, or roughly $150,000. For NFT aficionados, the news arrived as yet another indication of cryptoart's increasing acceptance in mainstream culture. Within an hour of Visa's purchase, 90 other CryptoPunks sold on the market, representing about $20 million in combined sales, according to CoinDesk. The blitzkrieg didn't stop there. Yesterday, August 23, combined CryptoPunk sales topped $86 million a single-day record for the series. Average prices for Punks now hover around $199,000 a pop, more than double last month's figure. ... read more (external link)

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