MoMA PS1 Goes Free for New Yorkers

Our daily round-up of news from the art world

MoMA PS1 Offers Free Admission to New York Residents | Gothamites now have yet another reason to carry proof of address with them at all times. Long Island City’s MoMA PS1 has announced that it is to offer free entry to natives of the five boroughs of New York City. The offer, which has been made possible by a grant from the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Foundation, will be extant for a year as of this month.

Paintings of ‘Incalculable’ Value Discovered in Envelope | Extraordinary news from Adelaide, where four paintings by Colonel James Hesketh Biggs have been discovered in an unmarked envelope. The paintings, which probably date from the mid 19th century and show scenes of the landscape of South Australia, are thought to be of ‘incalculable’ value on account of their rarity.

Mapplethorpe Photo Fetches $478,000 at Auction | A photograph by Robert Mapplethorpe depicting a man in a three-piece suit with his penis exposed has sold for $478,000 at Sotheby’s New York, reports the New York Times. The image is notorious for having sparked a morality debate in 1989, when a Senator cited it as an example of the ‘filthy art’ receiving public funding.

Phillips Collection & University of Maryland Announce New Art Centre | The Phillips Collection is to partner with the University of Maryland to create a new art centre. The University of Maryland Center for Art and Knowledge will be based at the Phillips Collection, and the two institutions will stage joint programmes in art, music and technology.

Future ‘Uncertain’ for Musée de Dunkerque | After its abrupt closure to the public in April, the future of the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dunkerque is in doubt, reports Le Journal des Arts. The museum, which houses some 24,000 objects, has yet to make any announcement as to what will become of its collection. The news will no doubt present yet another problem for the beleaguered French Culture Ministry.

Légion d’Honneur for FIAC Director | It’s not all bad news, though. Jennifer Flay, who has been director of Paris’s FIAC fair since 2003, has been awarded the Légion d’honneur, reports Le Figaro. On receiving France’s highest decoration, the New Zealand-born Flay gave a lengthy speech thanking her parents, and told the assembled crowd that she hoped FIAC had made a ‘cultural contribution’ to French life.