Some of the stories, debates and discussions we’ve spotted this week
Cornelius Gurlitt to keep the majority of his art collection
Is the Gurlitt case nearing a resolution? Prosecutors in Germany are to formally release 1280 of the works that were seized from the collector’s Munich apartment.
Chinese Ming Dynasty ‘chicken cup’ breaks auction record
A 500-year-old Ming Dynasty porcelain cup, decorated with a rooster and hen tending to their chicks, sold for $36m (£21.5m) at auction at Sotheby’s in Hong Kong on Tuesday, setting the record for Chinese porcelain.
Calls for change as the UK gets a new Culture Secretary
Maria Miller resigned on Wednesday after just 18 months as UK Culture Secretary, to be replaced by Sajid Javid. Her predecessor, Jeremy Hunt, lasted just two years in the role. For someone to stick it out, Mark Lawson argues, they really need art in their heart, while Igor Toronyi-Lalic wonders whether it’s time to rethink the DCMS entirely.
Duke of Northumberland will sell part of his art collection
Over the coming year, the Trustees of the Northumberland Estates will sell part of their private collection of art to cover the costs of flood damage. Items have been selected to maintain the collection’s overall integrity.
Christie’s offer Francis Bacon triptych for sale
Christie’s have announced Francis Bacon’s triptych, Three Studies for a Portrait of John Edwards (1984) as the highlight to their 13 May evening sale. It follows last November’s world record sale of the artist’s Three Studies of Lucien Freud (1969) that fetched $142,405,00.
Waldemar Januszczak wants Penelope Curtis out of the Tate Britain
In last week’s Sunday Times, art critic Waldemar Januszczak argued that Tate Britain’s Penelope Curtis has to go: ‘the curators are only trying to speak to the other curators, and not to the public they are employed to serve.’
Is London still cool?
Alex Proud of Camden based Proud Galleries said in the Telegraph on Monday that London’s lost its edge. He claimed that extortionate prices have forced the cool, creative kids out into Zone 3 and beyond.
Ex-President George W. Bush stages an exhibition
This week, George W Bush’s first solo show ‘The Art of Leadership: A President’s Personal Diplomacy’ opened at the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum, to very mixed reviews. Featuring a selection of portraits of world leaders, it has been dubbed ‘the art of Forrest Gump’ and ‘a hagiographic soup’.
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Are the art market’s problems being blown out of proportion?