Art Industry News: Archaeologists Have Begun Digging in Unexplored Parts of Pompeii + 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 Thursday, March 2.

NEED-TO-READ

Investor Takes the Helm at French Auction House – Arnaud Montebourg, investor and former minister of economy and productive recovery under François Hollande, will now preside over the French auction house Pierre Bergé & Associés. Montebourg holds a 20 percent stake in the house, which sells furniture, art objects and spirits. ()

Supreme Court Ruling on Appropriation Art – The U.S. Supreme Court will soon issue an opinion resolving a feud between the Andy Warhol Foundation and Lynn Goldsmith, over an image Goldsmith took of Prince that Warhol used in his art. An appeals court’s ruling before it had found that Warhol’s image did not constitute fair use, which had “a chilling effect,” and has rattled some museums who fear the implications the ruling could have for all works in their collections that incorporate others. (New York Times) 

Archaeologists Dig New Parts of Pompeii – Researchers have begun work on excavating an entirely unexplored city block. They are using drones and ground radar equipment to help scour the archaeological site for new treasures, bronzes, frescoes, and skeletons left after the 79 AD eruption of Mount Vesuvius. ()

Stedelijk Recategorizes Malevich as Ukrainian – The Amsterdam museum has reclassified Kazimir Malevich as a Ukrainian. Malevich is typically described as Russian—he was born in Ukraine, when the city was a part of the Russian empire, to Polish parents. The move comes just after the Met reclassified artists Ivan Aivazovsky, Arkhyp Kuindzhi, and Ilya Repin as as Ukrainian. ()

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Germany Names Curator for Venice Pavilion – Çağla Ilk will helm the 2024 pavilion. The Turkish-born curator has been co-director of the Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden with Misal Adnan Yildiz since 2020.()

The Frick Extends Free Admission to Under-18 Set – Starting today, visitors between the ages of 10 and 17 can visit the Frick Collection’s temporary residence on Madison Avenue for free. The move comes amid the institution’s move to inject more contemporary perspectives to its storied Old Master collection to attract a younger audience. A major show of Barkley L. Hendricks’s striking portraits is slated to open in September.  (Instagram)

Coronation Chair Gets a Makeover – The 700-year-old oak chair that will serve as the literal seat of King Charles III’s coronation is undergoing intense conservation to help preserve its “extremely fragile” state. The ornately carved gold-flaked piece, considered the ” oldest surviving piece of furniture still used for its original purpose,” has survived a litany of abuses, including graffiti marks in the 18th and 19th centuries, and a fire in 1914. (BBC)

FOR ART’S SAKE

Rirkrit Tiravanija Gets MoMA PS1 Show – The contemporary outpost of the Museum of Modern Art is staging the largest-ever show dedicated to the Thai artist, featuring more than 100 works across mediums including ping-pong tables, performance, and pad thai. The show, curated by Ruba Katrib and Yasmil Raymond in collaboration with Jody Graf and Kari Rittenbach, is slated to run from October 12, 2023 to March 2024. (ARTnews)