Richard Long knighted in New Year’s Honours

Our daily round-up of news from the art world

Art world figures decorated in New Year’s Honours | Richard Long, Frith Street Gallery director Jane Hamlyn and Arts Council London chair Veronica Wadley are among the figures who have been decorated in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours list. Long received a knighthood for ‘services to art’, while Hamlyn and Wadley were awarded CBEs. Other art world figures recognised in the honours list include Fruitmarket Gallery director Fiona Bradley and Victoria Miro, both of whom received OBEs. A full list is available here.

Investigators recover stolen Hans Hofmann works | Art Recovery International has recovered five works by Hans Hofmann more than a decade after they were stolen. According to the Courthouse News Service, the paintings were last seen at the Manhattan storage facility Cirkers in 2003, and had been missing ever since. As a statement from ARI makes clear, the thefts were an inside job by longtime Cirkers caretaker John Rett. The paintings were identified by the ARI when one of them, entitled The Artist, was consigned for sale at auction.

British Museum acquires Joseph Anton Koch drawing | The British Museum has acquired a drawing by Austrian Romantic artist Joseph Anton Koch for £68,750, reports the London Evening Standard. The work in question, a preparatory study of the Schmadribach Waterfall made in the 1790s, had previously belonged to the late art critic Brian Sewell. It was reportedly unknown in the wider art world until his collection came up for sale at Christie’s last year, when it was placed under a temporary export bar.

Susan Moldenhauer retires as director of University of Wyoming Art Museum | Susan Moldenhauer has stepped down as director of the University of Wyoming Art Museum after 26 years in the role. Under her stewardship, the institution grew from a small space into a prestigious museum, occupying some 55,000 sq ft. According to Artforum, Moldenhauer says she has taken the decision in order to devote more time to her photography.

Recommended reading | In the Art Newspaper, Sophia Kishkovsky looks at how artists and cultural figures have reacted to Vladimir Putin’s decision to seek re-election for the Russian presidency this year. In the New York Times, Farah Nayeri speaks to Barbara Jatta, who has been at the helm of the Vatican Museums for just over a year. Elsewhere, Art News’s Alex Greenberger writes a tribute to the artist and activist Tim Rollins, who died last week at the age of 62, while ArtNet contributors Javier Pes and Sarah Halperin look back at the biggest art-world controversies of 2017.

Lead image: used under Creative Commons licence (CC BY-SA 3.0; original image cropped)