This Week’s 10 Most Important Art News Stories

one

Following the release of a surveillance video from the infamous $500 million art heist at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, an anonymous tipster has given authorities information as to the identity of one of the figures in the video. Though the FBI states that the two suspects of the robbery are dead, the informant thinks the man in the video may be the brains behind the operation. The museum has also been forced to move up its $1.5 million roof renovation because of the damage caused to some sculptures after the 110 inches of snow Boston received last winter. (via CBS News, Artforum)

two

Three former Christie’s employees have been hired by Phillips in an expansion of the latter’s New York office. Jean-Paul Engelen, who was senior director and specialist at Christie’s for 16 years, most recently worked at the Qatar Museums, where he was the head of public art. Hugues Joffre decided to leave Christie’s, where he has worked since 1992, in March. Robert Manley rounds out the new hires, coming from his position as deputy chairman of postwar and contemporary art at Christie’s. (via artnet News) 

three

On Tuesday, approximately 200 employees at the National Gallery in London started an indefinite strike in protest of the institution’s plan to privatize some of its staff—a move that some estimate would affect roughly 400 current staff members. The museum has had to close some sections due to labor shortage throughout the duration of the strike. (via the New York Times)

four

The city of Karamay, China, has built a copy of Anish Kapoor’s Chicago fixture Cloud Gate (2006), calling it simply a sculpture in the shape of an oil bubble, while refusing to release the name of the artist. Kapoor, in a statement to Hyperallergic, has asserted his plan to pursue legal action against the responsible party. The sculpture will open to the public at the end of the month, unless Kapoor’s efforts to remove it are successful. (via Hyperallergic) 

five

The defunct Knoedler Gallery and its former director, Ann Freedman, have settled three lawsuits over knowingly selling fake Abstract Expressionist paintings. There are six court cases still open against the gallery for a series of sales that totalled $60 million. Among those entangled in the scandal are the Beyeler Foundation and the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, both of which have shown fakes that were dealt through Knoedler. (via The Art Newspaper)

six

Thomas Krens, former director of the Guggenheim and founder of Mass MoCA, has announced plans for a new massive art gallery that would join the growing collection of arts institutions in the Berkshires. The 160,000-square-foot, for-profit Global Contemporary Collection and Museum will find its home on the grounds of North Adams’s Harriman-West Airport, after a construction project that is estimated at $10–15 million. (via Artforum)

seven

After being stolen from Paris’s Centre Pompidou in 2001, Picasso’s La Coiffeuse (1911) is being returned. The painting was discovered by U.S. Customs officials in Newark during an attempt to smuggle it into the U.S. disguised as a Christmas present last December. Worth $2.5 million when it was stolen, the painting is currently valued at $15 million. (via Bloomberg) 

eight

After accusations of financial improprieties, Hasted Kraeutler Gallery in New York City has closed for good. In a statement to artnet News, co-owner Joseph Kraeutler described tensions over usage of gallery money between himself and its other owner, Sarah Hasted. But Hasted claims Kraeutler’s assertions are inaccurate—that Kraeutler closed the gallery without informing her. (via artnet News)

nine

The Honolulu Art Museum is sueing collector Joel Alexander Greene after Greene failed to provide provenance and import and export documentation for five donations made in 2003.  Museum Director Stephan Jost returned the works, valued at total of $1.3 million, to Greene after the Department of Homeland Security seized another series of works in the museum’s collection due to the suspicion of smuggling. (via ARTnews) 

ten

Performa has announced an additional  three commissions for its upcoming biennial on top of the five announced last month. Edgar Arceneaux, Wyatt Kahn, and Oscar Murillo join the list of nine names that only includes one female artist, Pauline Curnier Jardin. Though three other female artists—Ulla von Brandenburg, Erika Vogt, and Heather Phillipson—will be premiering works at the biennale, they will not be afforded the same financial support as those artists with commissions. (via Hyperallergic)

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