Our weekly news roundup is an extension of Paint Drippings, which drops first in The Back Room, our lively recap funneling only the week’s must-know art industry intel into a nimble read you’ll actually enjoy. Artnet News Pro members get exclusive access—subscribe now to receive this in your inbox every Friday.
Art Fairs
– Art Basel has been quietly planning a major expansion—but not another art fair. A new initiative, revealed as the Futurific Institute, is set to launch in Basel in 2028 as a large-scale “global ideas festival.” Backed by billionaires James and Kathryn Murdoch, along with Art Basel’s parent company MCH Group, the project aims to bring together leaders from art, technology, business, and politics. (Vanity Fair)
– Art Dubai is postponing its 20th edition by a month amid the escalating war in Iran. The fair will now take place May 14–17 at Madinat Jumeirah, although some international exhibitors have already pulled out. (Artnet News)
Art Dubai 2025. Photo: Cedric Ribeiro/ Spark Media for Art Dubai.
– Liste has announced 106 galleries participating in its 31st edition at Messe Basel this June 15-21. Among 41 first-timers are Niru Ratnam (London), O-Townn House (Los Angeles), and Courtney Jaeger (Basel).
– The inaugural Paris International Milano will feature 34 international galleries, including Crèvecœur of Paris, Warsaw’s Stereo, and Francesca Minini from Milan. The fair, held at the modernist Palazzo Galbani, will run will run April 18–21 in tandem with Miart and Milano Art Week.
Galleries
– Brooke Benington is shuttering its space in London’s Fitzrovia neighborhood on March 21, after four years. Benington will launch an exhibition residency at the new Amici Studio in Hastings this summer—a move that she said will allow her to expand the gallery’s program and develop “more ambitious, artist-led projects.”
– Meanwhile, the London-based gallerist Timothy Taylor will close his New York outpost after nearly a decade in the city. (ARTnews)
– French dealer Kamel Mennour has acquired the historic Galerie Malingue, converting its Paris showroom into a new venue for his eponymous gallery. (ARTnews)
– Nara Roesler now represents Jac Leirner in collaboration with Esther Schipper.
Museums and Institutions
– Mexico’s Ministry of Culture has urged eBay to remove listings for 195 pre-Columbian artifacts, arguing they were illegally obtained and should be repatriated. (The Art Newspaper)
– The Royal Academy of Arts in London has tapped Helen Legg as its new artistic director. The storied institution has also made two other senior hires: Livia Evans as commercial director and Lamia Dabboussy as director of brand and audiences.
– MCA Chicago’s long-time director Madeleine Grynsztejn has announced plans to retire at the end of this year.
Madeleine Grynsztejn, Director of MCA Chicago, Chicago, IL. Courtesy of MCA Chicago.
– Luciano Johnson has been promoted to chief librarian at the Frick Collection in New York.
– Powerhouse Arts has tapped Liz Munsell as the next vice president of its curatorial and arts program. She was previously a curatorial consultant at the Jewish Museum in New York.
Celebrities
– Meryl Streep made a seven-figure donation to the National Women’s History Museum in Washington D.C. The star’s donation will fund storytelling projects and support digital programming initiatives. (Artnet News)
Meryl Streep at the 77th annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on May 15, 2024 in Cannes, France. (Photo by Sebastien Nogier – Pool/Getty Images)
– Actor Steve Martin and his wife Anne Stringfield, along with John and Barbara Wilkerson, have created a website for their holdings of Australian Indigenous art called Two Collections, which aims to be a resource for curators, academics, and the curious.
Biennials
– The accounting firm PwC has withdrawn its support from the Sydney Biennale after a performance by U.S. electronic music producer Zubeyda Muzeyyen at the Biennale’s opening night party was accused of antisemitism. (Sydney Morning Herald)
– Glasgow International has unveiled details of its 11th edition, featuring a new commission by Kate Cooper and solo shows by Jasmine Togo-Brisby, Jericho Mars, and Rehana Zaman. The city-wide program runs June 5–21.
Awards
– Trevor Paglen has won the $100,000 LG Guggenheim Award, allocated as part of the five-year LG Guggenheim Art and Technology Initiative.
Artist Trevor Paglen. Photo: Tim P. Whitby/ Getty Images for Barbican Centre.
– Four artists have received the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation‘s Rauschenberg Centennial Award. They include Senga Nengudi for art, David Thomson for performance, and Chandra McCormick and Keith Calhoun for photography. Each will receive $100,000.
RIP
– Calvin Tomkins, the influential New Yorker critic known for his insightful and widely read artist profiles, has died at 100. (New Yorker)