FBI seizes disputed Basquiats; Greek tycoon offloads significant art haul

A SUMMARY OF THE MOST EXCITING ART NEWS FROM AROUND THE GLOBE

While we focus on Indian art, we can’t obviously function in a vacuum. It’s a small world and everything is connected, especially on the web. So, let’s train our spotlight across the world map to see what’s going on — from art trends to socio-political issues to everything that affects the great aesthetic global consciousness. Or, let’s just travel the world and have some fun! 

Disputed Basquiat artwork seized from Florida museum by FBI 

Following weeks of controversy, the FBI last Friday raided the Orlando Museum of Art in Florida and seized more than two dozen paintings attributed to artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, following questions about their authenticity. The museum said in a statement that they were complying with a warrant from the FBI for access to the ‘Heroes and Monsters’ exhibit, which is now in the government’s possession. No one on the museum’s staff has been arrested. Federal art crimes investigators have been looking into the 25 paintings since shortly after their discovery in 2012. The controversy gained more attention shortly after the Orlando exhibit opened in February. Orlando Museum of Art director Aaron De Groft has repeatedly insisted that the artworks are legitimate. The Indian Express has the details. 

Greek tycoon gives away huge haul of modern art 

Three decades after he began assembling his internationally acclaimed collection — initially while running his family’s food empire — Greek industrialist Dimitris Daskalopoulos has decided to offload works by luminaries in the world of contemporary art: Louise Bourgeois, Marina Abramović, Helen Chadwick, Sarah Lucas and Matthew Barney are just some of names. Determined that they have a future beyond his lifetime – and in tune with his conviction of sharing art with the public – the entrepreneur is giving away “the better part” of his collection. Of the 350 works by 142 artists that Daskalopoulos will part with, 110 will go to London’s Tate; 100 will be divided between the Guggenheim in New York and the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, with the rest being kept by the National Museum of Contemporary Art, EMST, in Athens. In scale and scope, few donations have been as generous. The Guardian tells you more.  

‘Transported like refugees’ Ukrainian art on show in UK 

An exhibition of contemporary Ukrainian art, featuring work created during the invasion of the country, is to go on show in Coventry, UK. The collection from artists who both remained in the country or fled as refugees, has been put together by Alexandra Churakova, previously the manager of the Forsa art gallery in Kyiv. She left the country at the onset of war and now lives with a family in Rugby, Warwickshire. Co-curator Anna Nesterenko described how she had gone to the Polish border in order to pick up some of the artworks that had travelled “the same way that any refugee would” — “days on the road via ruined and mined roads, under constant threat of bombardment, hour-long queues at the border, through a foreign country, and eventually, by plane”. All the works are for sale with the proceeds being split between the artists and the Ukrainian emergency arts fund. BBC reports. 

Art of Anna Weyant (of Instagram fame) now sells for millions 

Painter Anna Weyant’s story sounds like a modern-day art fairytale and at age 27, she is one of the art world’s youngest rising stars Just five years after she graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design, her paintings are already selling for more than $1 million at auction—sometimes at several times the estimated price. Per ARTnews’ Alex Greenberger, her influences range from 17th-century Dutch Old Masters to more contemporary artists like John Currin. In May, Weyant became the youngest artist currently represented by world-renowned Gagosian Gallery, according to ARTnews’ Alex Greenberger. (She is also dating the gallery’s founder, Larry Gagosian, and their relationship has been the subject of art world gossip.) Her paintings—she has created roughly 50—have been displayed in exhibitions in several American cities, and she’s received top placement at Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Phillips, according to the Daily Beast’s Helen Holmes. Smithsonian Magazine has the scoop. 

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