paint drippings art industry news jul 7

This week's art industry news covers major auction results, gallery changes, and restitution developments. At Christie's Old Masters evening sale in London, Canaletto's "The Return of the Bucintoro on Ascension Day" set a new auction record for the artist at £31.9 million ($43.9 million), leading the sale to a total of £60.8 million. Sotheby's Old Masters evening sale brought in £14.5 million, with three new records including Diana de Rosa's "Salome with the Head of Saint John the Baptist" selling for £317,500. A rare early watercolor by Man Ray, "Nude Playing Musical Instrument" (1913), resurfaced after decades and will be auctioned at Dreweatts. In gallery news, Blum gallery laid off most of its staff and plans to cease brick-and-mortar operations, while Waddington Custot announced a new Paris space, and Company Gallery hired Subhas Kim Kandasamy as executive director. White Cube now represents Firenze Lai, and JD Malat Gallery launched a new initiative for UAE artists. In restitution, the Netherlands returned 119 Benin Bronzes to Nigeria, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, transferred two Benin works to the Oba of Benin.

France Returns Looted Talking Drum to Côte d’Ivoire

france returns looted talking drum cote divoire

France has officially returned the Djidji Ayôkwé, a historic "talking drum," to the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire during a ceremony at the Musée du Quai Branly in Paris. The 940-pound artifact, which was used by the Atchan people to communicate across distances and warn of colonial troop movements, was seized by French authorities in 1916 to suppress local resistance. After decades in French collections, the drum is being transferred to the Museum of Civilizations in Abidjan following a specific vote by the French parliament.

relooted video game repatriation african artifacts

South African video game studio Nyamakop unveiled its latest project, Relooted, at the Summer Game Fest in Los Angeles. The game is a side-scrolling puzzle platformer where players join a crew of thieves to steal back African artifacts from Western museums and repatriate them to their original communities. The artifacts in the game are based on real looted objects, such as the Ngadji drum held by the British Museum, and the missions involve heists from fictionalized museums. The studio spent two years researching artifacts with compelling stories of looting.

The Founders of Open Restitution Africa (ORA) on Their New Open Data Platform

On March 31, the research initiative Open Restitution Africa (ORA) launched the ORA Open Data Platform, a database providing information on the restitution of African artifacts and ancestral remains. Developed over six years by ORA’s all-woman, pan-African team, the site uses case histories and AI-powered tools to offer practical insights into the return process, available in French and English. It presents 25 case histories spanning 200 years, using data visualizations, essays, and interactive tools to help individuals and communities develop their own restitution strategies. ARTnews interviewed founders Chao Tayiana Maina and Molemo Moiloa about the project's origins and goals.

france national assembly vote bill looted artifacts

The French National Assembly has unanimously passed a landmark bill designed to streamline the restitution of cultural artifacts looted during the colonial era between 1815 and 1972. This legislative framework aims to replace the previous requirement for individual laws for every return, fulfilling a long-standing pledge by President Emmanuel Macron to restore African heritage. While the vote was unanimous, the debate was contentious, with critics arguing over the omission of the word "colonialism" to avoid far-right backlash regarding national "repentance."

Proposed Restitution Law in France Advances in National Assembly

The French National Assembly’s Cultural Affairs Committee has approved a landmark bill aimed at streamlining the restitution of cultural property looted from Africa during the colonial era. Moving away from the previous requirement for case-by-case legislation, the new framework allows restitutions to be ordered by ministerial decree, provided they fall within the 1815–1972 timeframe. This advancement follows years of debate sparked by President Emmanuel Macron’s 2017 pledge and the influential 2018 Sarr-Savoy report.

state department report biden paintings gifts

The U.S. State Department's annual report on gifts to senior officials revealed that former President Joe Biden received a painting valued at $19,000 from Angolan President João Lourenço in 2024. The artwork, titled *Marimba*, was created by self-taught Angolan painter Augusto Guizef Guilherme. Other officials, including former Vice President Kamala Harris, also received various artworks from foreign leaders, all of which were subsequently transferred to the National Archives.

french senate passes colonial art bill

The French Senate has unanimously passed a bill to streamline the process of returning artworks and artifacts looted from former colonies during the colonial era. The legislation, which now moves to the National Assembly for final approval, specifically targets items acquired between 1815 and 1972, aiming to remove legal hurdles that have previously required a separate parliamentary vote for each object's restitution.

New videos of African cultural sites add contemporary context to Rockefeller Wing’s historical artefacts at the Met

The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s newly reopened Michael C. Rockefeller Wing features a series of short documentaries by Ethiopian American filmmaker Sosena Solomon, commissioned to add contemporary context to the wing’s historical artifacts from Africa, Oceania, and the ancient Americas. Solomon spent two years traveling to 12 sites across sub-Saharan Africa, creating videos that highlight royal burial grounds in Uganda, ancient rock paintings in Botswana, bronze casters in Benin City, and the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela and Tigray in Ethiopia. Three of the videos are displayed on screens in the wing, while others are accessible via QR codes and online.