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 Monday, April 26.
NEED-TO-READ
Museum of Finland to Restitute 2,000 Artifacts – The National Museum of Finland is returning 2,200 objects collected by the museum between 1830 and 1992 to the Indigenous Sámi people. They will be presented in a new extension at the Sámi Museum and Nature Centre Siida. The parties first agreed on the deal back in 2017. (ARTnews)
Ousted Montreal Museum Head Gets a New Gig – Nathalie Bondil has been named head of museums and exhibitions at the Institut du Monde Arabe (IMA) in Paris for a three-year mandate. The news comes less than a year after the French curator was ousted from her post at the helm of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) following a clash with its board chair. (The Art Newspaper)
Robert Indiana’s Estate Overpaid Lawyers By Millions – Maine’s attorney general has ordered the executor of the artist Robert Indiana’s estate to repay almost half its legal expenses, saying the estate, managed by lawyer James W. Brannan, overpaid lawyers by some $3.7 million. The money will help Indiana’s foundation and sole beneficiary, Star of Hope Inc., convert his home into a museum. (New York Times)
Penn Museum Curator Under Fire for MOVE Remains – Activists are calling for the Penn Museum to fire curator Janet Monge following revelations that the institution has for years held the remains of a Black citizen who was killed in the 1985 MOVE bombing in Philadelphia. They believe the remains could belong to a 14-year-old, Tree Africa, and should be returned to the Africa family with an apology and financial reparations. (Hyperallergic)
ART MARKET
Major Van Gogh Heads to Christie’s – Christie’s will sell Van Gogh’s Le Pont de Trinquetaille (1888) during its 20th century art auction in New York on May 13. It is one of few landscapes the artist painted during his time in Arles before his untimely death by suicide in 1890, and is estimated to fetch $25 million to $35 million. (ARTnews)
Oscar Guests Get a Chadwick Boseman NFT – Artist Andre Oshea has made a special edition NFT artwork in memory of the late actor Chadwick Boseman as a gift for the Oscar nominees this year. The remaining editions will be auctioned on Rarible to raise money for the Colon Cancer Foundation. (Press release)
Colnaghi to Manage “Madrid Caravaggio” – The veteran Old Master gallery will spearhead the scholarly assessment, scientific analysis, and restoration of an Ecce Homo painting that is now believed to be the work of Caravaggio. The painting was due to be sold at auction in Madrid for just $1,780 when the consignors were made aware of its possible reattribution. (Press release)
COMINGS & GOINGS
Museums Reopen in Scotland…
Read More: Robert Indiana Estate Follies Continue as D.A. Says It Overpaid Lawyers by