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The Headlines
NEWS FROM DOWN UNDER.ArtistWendy Whiteleyhas promised a bequest ofmore than AU$100 million(US$69.7 million) to theArt Gallery of NSW, theSydney Morning Herald reports. The donation, one of the largest gifts in the museum’s history,will also involve 2,000 works by her former husband, the lateBrett Whiteley, going jointly to the museum and his namesake foundation. About two hours south of Sydney, meanwhile, an investigation has determined that a major donor to theWollongong Art Gallery,Bronius “Bob” Sredersas,wasa member of Nazi intelligencein Lithuania during World War II. Sredersas,who died in 1982,gave some 100 piecesto the museum, and officials are planning to meet to discuss how to present those works and his history.
FULL IMMERSION.Those digital exhibitions devoted to famed artists—most notablyVincent van Gogh—are not going away.Claude Monetisanother popular subjectfor them of late,Bloomberg Businessweekreports, and serious money is flowing into the field. One firm that makes such shows,Fever Labs, just lined up $227 million in a funding round led byGoldman Sachs. The budgets for these affairs are helped by the fact that their subjects are usually long-dead, meaning that their work is in the public domain, one law professor noted. Speaking of image-userights, a case headed to trial in California is believed to be the first to testwhether copyright extends to tattoos. At issue is a tattoo of a photo ofMiles DavisbyJeffrey B. Sedlik, who has filed suit against tattoo artistKat Von D for inking his image. Von D maintainsthat her work is covered by fair use.
The Digest
Milan and Naples dealer and collectorLia Rummahas donated 70 works by 30 Italian artists—including Arte Povera greats likeMarisa Merz,Giovanni Anselmo, andMichelangelo Pistoletto—to the Italian state. The works will be permanently on view with theMuseo e Real Bosco di Capodimontein Naples.[Artforum]
Kelly Crowhas a blow-by-blow account of the meteoric market rise of painterAnne Weyant, who isnow reppedbyGagosian. One intriguing tidbit from Crow: “The artist entered into a confidential settlement agreement” with one of her former galleries,Blum & Poe, whichreportedly senta painting by her to auction.[The Wall Street Journal]
Manifesta 14—the roving European biennial—released the artist list for its 2022 edition, which opens next month at 25 locations in Pristina, Kosovo. A full 39 percent have Kosovar origins, which is the highest local participationin the history of the show, according to organizers.[ArtReview]
Jeane Hamilton, who for 70 years supported theArkansas Arts Center, which she was involved in opening, died last week at 96. “She always attended every event, every program, every lecture, and every reception,” another supportersaid.[Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette]
ArchitectRem Koolhaascreated the set for the latestPradarunway show. “The whole thing looked like an architect’s model blown up to monumental size,”Samuel Hinewrites.[GQ]
TheSobey Art Award, which goes to Canadian artists, named its shortlist:Tyshan Wright,Stanley Février,Azza El Siddique,Divya Mehra, andKrystle Silverfox. The top prize winner will take home CA$100,000 (about US$76,900).[e-flux]
The Kicker
FACTORY FARMING.Paul Thompson, the vice-chancellor of theRoyal College of Artin London, submitted himself to the “Questionnaire” column in theFinancial Times, whichasked him to share“an animal you have loved.”Thompson’s response: “Andy Warhol’sCow(1971). She’s so lovable and laughable, in her purple and orange screen print. I got to know her really well because she was in the collection at theCooper Hewittmuseum, where I used to be director.”[FT]