New York commissioner for cultural affairs announces surprise resignation

Our daily round-up of news from the art world

NYC’s commissioner for cultural affairs announces surprise resignation | Tom Finkelpearl, the commissioner for New York’s Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA), has unexpectedly resigned after six years in the post. The DCLA has recently made headlines for its attempts to diversify public art and commemorative monuments in the city, but Finkelpearl has been criticised for failing to be transparent about the selection process. Finkelpearl issued a statement noting record investments in the city’s arts and culture, but did not give a reason for his resignation. Before his term as the city’s cultural commissioner, Finkelpearl was the director of the Queens Museum from 2002–14, during which he oversaw a two-year, $68 million renovation.

Suspect in Old Master forging case appeals against arrest warrant and transfer to French courts | A suspected forger of Old Master paintings, Lino Frongia, has appealed against a warrant authorising his arrest on 10 September in a Bologna court on Tuesday. French judge Aude Burési issued the warrant in May, and has now requested Frongia’s transfer to Paris, where he will be accused of receiving €740,000 from Mathieu Rufini via a Swiss account in exchange for imitating Old Master paintings. The decision of whether to grant Burési’s request has been postponed until 28 February, giving the Bologna court time to receive clarification from the prosecution in Paris. 

David Rubenstein donates $10m to build Jefferson Memorial Museum | David Rubenstein, a philanthropist and co-founder of the The Carlyle Group, has donated $10m to build a museum for the Jefferson Memorial in Washington. D.C. The gift will go towards the replacement of an existing museum with a new underground space that will have a greater emphasis on education.

Recommended reading | For 4Columns, Aruna D’Souza identifies a mix of failures and successes in MoMA’s attempt to create a more inclusive art history with its new expansion and much anticipated rehang. Sally Bakewell, Angelina Rascouet and Katya Kazakina report on the first month of Patrick Drahi’s takeover of Sotheby’s and investigate what changes his ownership of the auction house will bring, in Bloomberg.