paint drippings art industry news jun 2

This week's art industry roundup covers major personnel shifts, fair announcements, and institutional news. Phillips named Robert Manley chairman for Modern and contemporary art and Miety Heiden chairman for private sales after the departures of Cheyenne Westphal and Jean-Paul Engelen. Art Basel Paris announced 203 galleries for its October fair at the Grand Palais, while Kiaf Seoul will host 176 exhibitors in September. Tony Karman is stepping down as director of Expo Chicago after 14 years. Pace Gallery added Friedrich Kunath, Galerie Nordenhake signed Naufus Ramírez-Figueroa, and Sylvia Kouvali now represents Luigi Zuccheri. Ariel Pittman is launching a new Los Angeles gallery, Official Welcome. The Louvre will return 258 works from Adèle de Rothschild's bequest to the Fondation des Artistes. President Trump dismissed Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery director Kim Sajet over DEI support, though his authority is questioned. The Centre Pompidou announced a new $240 million outpost in Brazil. The Art Institute of Chicago confirmed director James Rondeau will return after a flight incident. The Pérez Art Museum Miami appointed Karen H. Bechtel as board president. Frieze and Deutsche Bank detailed their 2025 Emerging Curators Fellowship. A rare Gustav Klimt portrait of an African prince was offered for €15 million.

paint drippings art industry news jan 19

This week's art industry roundup covers a flurry of developments across art fairs, auction houses, galleries, and museums. A new boutique fair called Enzo will launch alongside Frieze Los Angeles in an Echo Park warehouse with 10 New York galleries, while Felix Los Angeles returns to the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel with 50 exhibitors. Art Cologne's revived Palma Mallorca fair announces 88 exhibitors for its April debut. At auction, Christie's London will offer the Vanthournout collection of modernist and Surrealist works, including a Magritte painting estimated at $4.7 million, while Bonhams sells rare Oscar Wilde materials and three Bob Ross paintings. In gallery news, Roland Augustine steps down at Luhring Augustine, Lehmann Maupin opens a London space, and several galleries announce new artist representations. Museums see leadership changes at the Park Avenue Armory and Wrightwood 659, and the Rijksmuseum plans a new sculpture garden.

amy sherald talks canceled smithsonian show 60 minutes

Painter Amy Sherald has revealed in a "60 Minutes" interview with Anderson Cooper that she pulled out of her solo exhibition at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery because the museum considered removing her painting of a Black transgender Statue of Liberty, titled "Trans Forming Liberty." Sherald stated that the Smithsonian secretary, Lonnie G. Bunch III, proposed replacing the painting with a video discussing trans issues that would include anti-trans views, which she deemed unacceptable censorship. The exhibition, "American Sublime," was originally organized by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and last shown at the Whitney Museum; it is now expected to open at the Baltimore Museum of Art on November 2.

amy sherald american sublime the baltimore museum of art

Amy Sherald's exhibition "American Sublime" will now open at the Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) in November, after the artist canceled its planned iteration at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery in July over censorship concerns. The show, which features some 50 works and is one of the largest presentations of Sherald's work, was originally organized by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and is currently on view at the Whitney Museum through August 10. Sherald, who attended the Maryland Institute College of Art and previously served on the BMA's board, called the BMA presentation a homecoming.

amy sherald cancels smithsonian exhibition amid censorship concerns

Painter Amy Sherald has canceled her upcoming solo exhibition “American Sublime” at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery after the museum considered removing her painting *Trans Forming Liberty* (2024), which depicts a Black transgender Statue of Liberty. The show was scheduled to open in September. Sherald stated she was informed of internal concerns about the painting and that discussions arose about replacing it with a video featuring reactions and discussion of trans issues, which she opposed over fears it would include anti-trans views. She wrote to Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III that institutional fear shaped by political hostility toward trans lives compromised the integrity of her work.

As censorship rises, is there a future for truly political, truth-telling art?

The article examines the growing threat of censorship in the visual arts, focusing on two key incidents. In the US, the Trump administration pressured the Smithsonian Institution to review its holdings for content that contradicts "American exceptionalism," leading artist Amy Sherald to withdraw her entire solo exhibition from the National Portrait Gallery after the museum considered removing her painting *Trans Forming Liberty* (2024), which depicts a transgender person as the Statue of Liberty. Meanwhile, in France, Dutch street artist Judith de Leeuw unveiled a monumental mural in Roubaix showing the Statue of Liberty covering its eyes in shame, protesting global migrant injustice, which went viral online.

Amy Sherald Withdrew 'American Sublime' Exhibition From Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, Citing 'Culture of Censorship'

Amy Sherald has withdrawn her exhibition 'American Sublime' from the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery, citing a 'culture of censorship' after the museum raised concerns about including her painting 'Trans Forming Liberty' (2024), a portrait of a trans woman posed like the Statue of Liberty. The show, slated to open in September, would have been the first solo exhibition of a Black female artist at the museum since it opened in 1968. Sherald stated that institutional fear shaped by political hostility toward trans lives influenced the museum's request to remove the work, and she decided to cancel the show to preserve the integrity of her vision.

One of the Greatest Photographic Documents of the 20th Century

"Eines der größten fotografischen Dokumente des 20. Jahrhunderts"

A New York court has concluded an eleven-year legal battle by awarding Amedeo Modigliani’s 'Seated Man with a Cane' to the heirs of Jewish art dealer Oscar Stettiner. The ruling rejected the claims of the powerful Nahmad family, with the judge determining that Stettiner never voluntarily relinquished the work during the Nazi era. Additionally, a significant photographic archive belonging to darkroom technician Roland Haupt has surfaced, containing previously unseen World War II images by Lee Miller and Cecil Beaton.

national portrait gallery director resigns trump kim sajet

Kim Sajet, director of the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., has resigned from her post after President Donald Trump claimed on social media that he had fired her. The Smithsonian Institution initially affirmed its independence, stating that only its secretary and Board of Regents control personnel decisions, and Sajet continued working. However, as of June 13, she departed the role she had held since 2013, citing her desire to put the museum first. Trump had criticized Sajet for being a supporter of DEI and for including a wall text with a portrait of him that mentioned his impeachments and the January 6 insurrection.