Art Industry News is a daily summary of the most important developments in the art world and the art market. Here’s what you need to know this Monday, April 10.
NEED TO READ
Clarence Thomas’ benefactor is a Nazi connoisseur – Harlan Crow, the billionaire donor who funded the Supreme Court justice’s lavish vacations and free trips, is also a collector of Hitler memorabilia. Harlan owns two Hitler paintings and a signed copy of Mein Kampf, and has a garden filled with sculptures of Hitler and other fallen dictators. Crow is shown seated alongside Thomas in a very strange painting by Sharif Tarabay commemorating one of their many luxury releases. (Washingtonian)
Museum worker sentenced for stealing artifacts Preston Jay Spotted Eagle, a man from Browning, Montana, who worked at the Museum of the Plains Indian, was sentenced to five years probation for stealing culturally significant artifacts, including beaded moccasins, a necklace bear claws and golden eagle feathers. The museum is based on the Blackfoot Indian Reservation and is operated by the Indian Arts and Crafts Board. (Montana right now)
Nets jerseys get the KAWS treatment – The Brooklyn-based artist designed the 2023-24 City Edition uniforms for the Brooklyn basketball team. An abstract pattern of turquoise, black, blue and red covers the jersey, with the Nets logo transformed by KAWS’ puffy, cartoonish font. The 2022-23 team uniforms were an ode to the late Jean-Michel Basquiat, with its iconic crown sketched out. (Highsnobiety)
Rare toy robot fetches $50,000 at auction – A 1975 Radicon robot fetched more than five times its high estimate at McTear’s Antiques & Interiors auction in Glasgow on April 7. The rare toy was produced by the Japanese company Masudaya in 1957 and was only available by special purchase. (evening standard)
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
Whistler’s portrait of his mother returns to Philadelphia – The famous painting known simply as “Whistler’s Mother”, although in fact titled Arrangement in gray and black n° 1 (Portrait of the artist’s mother) (1871), has returned to the American city more than 142 years after its 1881 debut at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. The work is on loan from the Musée d’Orsay in Paris for the Philadelphia Art Museum exhibition featuring representations of artists’ mothers. (The arts journal)
Arthur Jafa plans a permanent installation for the Maryland Museum – Jafa is working on a permanent piece for the private Glenstone Museum founded by Emily Wei Rales and her husband Mitchell in the Potomac, Maryland suburb of Washington, DC. Rales hinted at the “very special” project on an interview for Charlotte Burns (co-founder of the Burns–Halperin Report And Guest Art Angle), “The art world: what if?!…” (The arts journal)
Annie Armstrong on the Pod – In other podcasts, those of Artnet News Fresh paint Scribe Annie Armstrong appeared on the “Nota Bene” podcast with former Wet Paint writer Nate Freeman and adviser Benjamin Godsill. The trio discussed the new generation of galleries springing up around the Henry Street scene; the fateful plane crash that rocked the contemporary art scene in Atlanta, Georgia; and the best watering holes in the East Village. (Nota Bene)
FOR ART
An earthly artist creates the largest portrait of Picasso in the world – An artist from Castagnaro, Verona has recreated a massive portrait of the late Spanish artist using a tractor as a brush and a massive field as a canvas. The work commemorated the 50e anniversary of the artist’s death, April 8, 1973. Dario Gambarin also represented former US President John F. Kennedy and Pope Francis. (Reuters)
Follow Artnet News on Facebook:
Want to stay one step ahead of the art world? Subscribe to our newsletter to receive breaking news, revealing interviews and incisive reviews that move the conversation forward.
