Art Industry News: The Louvre Accidentally Sold a Copy of Its Top-Secret ‘Salvator Mundi’ Study in Its Book Store + Other Stories

Art Industry News is a daily digest of the most
consequential developments coming out of the art world and art
market. Here’s what you need to know on this Tuesday, March
31.

NEED-TO-READ

Where Is the Getty Trust? – Los
Angeles-based journalist Jori Finkel pens an open letter to Getty
Trust president James Cuno, asking why the wealthy organization has not yet come to
the aid of Los Angeles’s ailing artists, art workers, and cultural
institutions amid the current crisis. In 2019, the
organization’s endowment was
around $7 billion, and some of this fortune could be
used to support much-needed emergency grants or provide
interest-free loans to struggling nonprofits. Finkel concludes by reminding Cuno that he
once said: “We have the
money to do anything we want; we don’t have the money to do
everything we want.” The LA art community, she argues, should be
high on its priorities. (The Art
Newspaper)

Art of Equal Pay Campaign Launches – Oakland
artist Michele Pred is launching her year-long
“Art of Equal Pay” campaign today, on Equal Pay Day—the day that
women have to work until to match the earnings of their male
counterparts over the previous year. She’s asking artists to raise
their prices 15 percent for the day, and for galleries, collectors,
and museums to support her efforts to eliminate the gender pay gap.
The initiative has changed slightly in response to current events
and fears that artists struggling financially can’t afford to lose
sales from higher prices: Any profits earned from art sales today
will go toward organizations supporting COVID-19 relief efforts.
(Ms.
Magazine)

The Louvre Published a Secret Salvator
Mundi Book – The world’s most expensive
painting was the subject of a 45-page book secretly published by
the Louvre—but it never saw the light of day. The museum printed
the book and withdrew it days before the opening of its Leonardo
exhibition last October, after it became clear
that Salvator Mundi‘s owner would not permit the
painting to be included in the show. (The
Louvre’s policy is not to comment on artworks that it does not own
or has not exhibited.) The volume contains new scientific analysis
by the Centre for Research and Restoration of the Museums of
France and cautiously attributes the work to Leonardo himself.
Although the museum sought to hide traces of the book’s existence,
a few copies accidentally made their way into the bookshop, and at
least one was inadvertently sold. If you are the lucky buyer, reach
out, OK? (TAN)

How Will Coronavirus Change the Art
Market – The Art Newspaper asked
art-market heavyweights
to reflect on the consequences
of the global health crisis. Pace gallery president Marc
Glimcher thinks the “hysterical,
fast pace of double-time [art] fairs” is not the way the art market
will recover. He is also candid about the limitations of online
viewing rooms, which he believes will mainly benefit already
in-demand artists—not to mention the fact that, right now, people
are “just not buying.” Meanwhile, Iwan Wirth hopes the industry
will experience a “V-shaped” recovery in the autumn because of
pent-up demand, but he fears it might see instead a 1990s-style
readjustment, with prices reset lower as the market contracts.
Others fear that players’ initial altruism will diminish as the
situation becomes a battle for survival.
(TAN)

ART MARKET

The Launch of Gallery Complex
Cromwell Place Is Delayed – The
gallery-share and exhibition complex in central London has pushed
back its launch from May until the fall. Dealers that have taken
space in Cromwell Place, a converted terrace of upscale homes in
South Kensington, include Lehmann Maupin, Alexander Gray
Associates, and Addis Fine Art gallery. (Press release)

Sotheby’s Sells Rare Comics Online
– Looking for some reading material during your
lockdown? A collection of some
40,000 DC comics featuring superheroes Wonder Woman, The Flash,
Superman, and Batman is on offer in a private Sotheby’s sale.
British music producer Ian Levine is the consignor of the comics,
which date from the 1930s to 2014. They will be offered as a single
lot. (Art Market
Monitor)

The Estate of Nancy Holt Will be
Represented by Parafin – The
Holt/Smithson Foundation and the London-based gallery Parafin have
taken their partnership to the next level. The small gallery will
now represent Nancy Holt. Parafin plans to present a show of the
artist’s room-sized installations, drawings, and photoworks in
October 2020. The land artist is due to have a major retrospective
at Bildmuseet in Sweden in 2022. (Press release)

COMINGS & GOINGS

Akron Art Museum
Implements Furloughs – The Akron Art Museum in Ohio
is furloughing some of its 35-person staff and slashing others’ pay
after announcing it would be closed until at least June 30. The
museum anticipates losing as much as $933,000—a quarter of its
annual $4.2 million budget—due to the drop in revenue from admissions,
facility rentals, and retail sales. (Cleveland
Plain-Dealer)

Suellen Rocca Has Died
– The Chicago Imagist and member of the legendary
1960s “Hairy Who” group has died at age 76. Late in her career, she
taught art at Elmhurst College, telling students, “You need to
look, because after we think we’ve seen things we don’t look at
them anymore.” (ARTnews)

Bauhaus Dessau Chief
Moves to Basel – The Bauhaus Dessau Foundation’s
first female director, Claudia Perren, is leaving her post after
six years to head up Basel’s University of Art and Design. She will
take up her new job on August 1. (Monopol)

FOR ART’S SAKE

How Art Professionals Are Coping – Museum workers who have been laid off are more
than just faceless figures—they are real people with unique
stories. ARTnews captures a few of them, including
student Alexandra Ivanova, a
former frontline ambassador at the Hammer Museum who was one of the
250 staffers abruptly laid off by the Hammer Museum. She recently
decided to enroll in a public health masters program at Yale
University, but now she might have to defer because of the
costs. (ARTnews)

All-Star Artists Design
Activity Pack for Kids – A group of artists including
Antony Gormley, Grayson Perry, Gillian Wearing, and Jeremy Deller
have designed an “artists’ activity pack” filled with creative ideas for kids during lockdown. From
writing songs about toilet paper to Michael Landy’s more outlandish
instruction for kids to take something in the house apart, it is
full of ideas for adults and children to keep the creative juices
flowing. (Guardian)

A Guerrilla Projection
Urges a New York Rent Freeze – The activist
collective Illuminator has projected demands for New York rent
relief—a cause that has also been taken up by various New York art
associations—onto a Manhattan skyscraper. The light projection in
Midtown says “CANCEL THE RENT,” and “Healthcare for All,” among
other intermittent messages. (Hyperallergic)

Tracey Emin Shares Her
Virtual Diary – The famous YBA has taken up residency
over at her gallery White Cube’s Instagram account. She’s updating
it daily with a visual diary chronicling her experience of the
lockdown. From bath time to musings at dawn, the diary offers an
insight into how this particular artist—albeit one who is better
situated than many who are fearing for their livelihoods—is coping.
(Instagram)

The post Art Industry News: The Louvre Accidentally Sold a
Copy of Its Top-Secret ‘Salvator Mundi’ Study in Its Book Store +
Other Stories appeared first on artnet News.