Cultural institutions in East Asia started reopening as the spread of COVID-19 slowed.
As the spread of COVID-19 slows in some East Asian countries, cultural institutions and galleries are cautiously reopening their spaces and making plans to relaunch their public programming.
Read more.The Metropolitan Museum of Art expects to lose $100 million and stay closed until July.
The Metropolitan Museum of Artprojected $100 million in losses resulting from the museum’s closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a letter leadership sent to department heads on Wednesday. The institution, which
closed last week after two employees showed symptoms of the virus, may not reopen until July.
Read more.
March 18
Frieze canceled its New York fair as the COVID-19 pandemic worsened.
The 2020 edition of the
Frieze New York art fair, originally slated to run from May 6th to 10th, has been canceled due to the rapidly worsening COVID-19 pandemic. On Tuesday, officials in New York
estimated the state’s number of cases will likely continue to increase for another 45 days (or until May 1st). On Wednesday, with the pandemic’s extended timeline becoming clearer, the organizers of the fair announced the 2020 edition of Frieze New York has been canceled. Its public art component, Frieze Sculpture, will take place at Rockefeller Center at an as-yet undetermined time in the summer. The fair is also currently developing an online viewing room platform.
Read more.
March 17
Sotheby’s postponed many upcoming auctions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sotheby’s has updated its spring auction schedule and closed the majority of its offices in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Eight auctions have been postponed, including the Hong Kong spring sales and a run of Paris auctions originally set for late April, while 17 will still run as scheduled. Most of the still-running sales are either online or London-based; the design sale, scheduled for March 31st, will take place in New York as planned. Sotheby’s London office will also remain open to the public, and its Hong Kong office will be open by appointment, but the auction house’s offices in Dubai, Geneva, Milan, New York, Paris, and Zurich are all closed until further notice.
Read more.The Tate museums closed to help curb the spread of COVID-19.
The
Tatemuseums group—the largest conglomerate of art institutions in the U.K. gathering Tate Modern, Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool, and Tate St Ives—are closing through at least May 1st due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. Tate’s trustees and director, Maria Balshaw, decided to close “for the welfare of all our visitors and staff.”
Read more.
March 16
London’s hotly anticipated Artemisia Gentileschi exhibition was postponed due to COVID-19.
London’s
National Gallery has decided to postpone its upcoming
exhibition due to heightened fears surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally set to open on April 4th, this will be the first ever major U.K. exhibition of the
Baroque master’s work. According to
The Art Newspaper, gallery staff emphasized that the show will go ahead, but stated that “due to the rapidly changing worldwide situation we cannot currently give a specific date.”
Read more.Christie’s and Phillips postponed their upcoming auctions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Christie’s and Phillips have postponed the majority of their upcoming spring sales indefinitely in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Sotheby’s, meanwhile, has yet to announce plans to close any of its galleries, salesrooms, and offices, or reschedule any of its auctions.
Read more.
March 13
The Art Brussels and Art Cologne fairs were postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The forthcoming editions of
Art Brussels and
Art Cologne have been postponed as the COVID-19 pandemic worsens. Both of the fairs were originally set to run concurrently, from April 23rd to 26th; Art Brussels has been
pushed back to run June 25th to 28th, while Art Cologne will run from November 19th to 22nd. In Brazil, the forthcoming edition of
SP-Arte, set to run from April 1st to 5th, has been
suspended without a reopening date.
Read more.
Museums in New York, Boston, and Washington, D.C. closed en masse to limit COVID-19’s spread.
Some of New York’s largest and most renowned cultural institutions announced they will temporarily close to curb the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19). The museum closures— including the
Metropolitan Museum of Art,
Museum of Modern Art,
Whitney Museum of American Art,
Guggenheim Museum,
Brooklyn Museum,
Queens Museum,
Bronx Museum of the Arts,
New Museum,
Frick Collection,
Jewish Museum, The Shed, and others—came after cities in Europe, and others around the world, called off their regularly scheduled programming.
Read more.
March 12
The Metropolitan Museum will close after two employees showed symptoms of COVID-19.
New York’s
Metropolitan Museum of Art will temporarily close all three of its locations—The Met Fifth Avenue, The Met Breuer, and The Met Cloisters—starting in order to help contain the spread of COVID-19 in New York. The museum did not announce when the closure would end, but said it plans to “undertake a thorough cleaning,” and will announce further plans.
Read more.
Paris Photo New York and the Dallas Art Fair were postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The inaugural edition of the
Paris Photo New York fair has been postponed due to growing concerns over the spread of COVID-19. The fair, originally scheduled to open April 2nd on Pier 94 in Manhattan, will take place at a later date that is still to be determined. The
Dallas Art Fair has also postponed its 2020 edition, originally slated to run April 16th to 19th. The 12th edition of the Texan fair will now take place from October 1st to 4th.
Read more.
After canceling its Hong Kong fair because of COVID-19, Art Basel will host virtual booths for 231 galleries.
Art Basel in Hong Kong was one of the first major art world events
canceled as the COVID-19 outbreak worsened last month. The fair’s organizers
subsequently said they would offer exhibitors the opportunity to showcase the works they’d intended to bring to Art Basel in Hong Kong through new online viewing rooms, for free. Art Basel announced the 231 dealers who’ve taken them up on that offer. All works in the fair’s online viewing rooms will be listed with either a specific price or a price range—their total value exceeds $250 million, according to Art Basel.
Read More.
March 11
The TEFAF Maastricht fair closed early after an exhibitor tested positive for the coronavirus.
The 2020 edition of the
TEFAF Maastricht art fair, which opened to VIPs on March 5th and to the general public March 7th, will close four days before its planned conclusion amidst growing fears regarding the COVID-19 epidemic. The Dutch art fair came to the decision in consultation with the city of Maastricht, the venue MECC Maastricht, and local health officials, and after it was
revealed that an exhibitor who’d attended the fair last week had subsequently tested positive for COVID-19.
Read more and hear from
people on the ground.
March 9
Italy closed all state-run museums and cultural sites as coronavirus cases surged.
The Italian government decided to close all the country’s state-run museums and cultural sites, from the Pompeii archaeological complex to the institution hosting one of the year’s most anticipated exhibitions. The nationwide closure is set to last until April 3rd.
Read more.
March 4
The Louvre reopened after closing due to staff concerns about the coronavirus.
The Louvre has reopened its doors following conversations between museum management, union officials, staff, and the Ministry of Health, after concerns about the COVID-19 outbreak forced the Paris museum to
close for 2 days.
Read more.
March 3
Art Dubai postponed its 2020 fair due to concerns about the coronavirus.
Art Dubai announced that the 14th edition of the art fair, set to take place from March 25th to 28th, will be postponed due to growing concerns about the coronavirus. The event will take on a new format instead and focus on holding a smaller lineup of events and exhibitions focused on the local arts scene.
Read more.
Despite three galleries dropping out due to the coronavirus, the TEFAF Maastricht fair will proceed as planned.
The 33rd edition of the TEFAF Maastricht art fair will still open as scheduled, but several exhibitors have dropped out over coronavirus fears. The fair’s decision to continue comes amid increased tension over how the international art market will handle the spread of the disease.
Read more.
March 2
The Louvre closed amid staff concerns about the coronavirus.
Staff members of the
Louvre, the world’s most visited museum, have voted to close the institution’s doors indefinitely as fears surrounding the coronavirus continue to rise.
Read more.