Art Industry News: Climate Protesters Who Glued Themselves to ‘Girl With a Pearl Earring’ Get Jail Time + Other Stories

NEED-TO-READ

Jessica Lange Is a Photographer – The 73-year-old Oscar-winning actor has published , her third book of photographs. Her moody, black-and-white images document walks through New York City during lockdown. (Financial Times)

Climate Protesters Jailed in the Netherlands – Two climate change activists who targeted Vermeer’s have been sentenced to two months in prison by a Dutch court. Just Stop Oil Belgium, the group behind the action, said: “Isn’t it ironic that climate activists who nonviolently oppose the mass slaughter of life on Earth are being condemned?” (Guardian)

Pharrell’s Auction Nets $5.3 Million – Despite the website crashing upon launch, the first sale on Pharrell’s Joopiter platform brought in $5.3 million, exceeding its $3.2 million estimate. The top lot was a $2.2 million diamond-encrusted pendant depicting Pharrell alongside fellow N.E.R.D musicians designed by Jacob & Co. (Complex)

Germany Doles Out More Money for Culture – In light of high energy prices, the federal government will offer a boost to cultural institutions around the country with a €1 billion package as part of a wider economic stabilization fund. Culture Minister Claudia Roth is asking museums to play their part and cut energy by 20 percent. (Monopol)

MOVERS & SHAKERS

John Wayne Gacy Painting Fetches $12,800 – A colorful painting depicting the convicted serial killer’s alter ego Pogo the Clown (1985) fetched nearly $13,000 at a Philadelphia auction house in a “Dark Shadows” sale held on October 31. Gacy painted more than 2,000 canvases while on death row. (Hyperallergic)

Two Artists Win the Hannah Höch Prize – Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt, the 90-year-old mail artist and visual poet, won the lifetime achievement award named after the late Dada artist. Farkhondeh Shahroudi won the honor for a mid-career artist. (Monopol)

Chinese Canadian Museum Names Top Exec –  Melissa Karmen Lee has been named chief executive at the forthcoming Chinese Canadian Museum in Vancouver. The institution, set to open in summer 2023, will occupy the oldest building in the city’s Chinatown, where the Rennie Museum stood for 13 years. (The Art Newspaper)

FOR ART’S SAKE