It’s true. The world's coolest contemporary art fair is coming to New York. London's Frieze Art Fair has finally confirmed the years-old rumor that it is expanding to the Big Apple. Organizers say the New York iteration will be the same size as London’s -- with around 170 galleries participating -- and take place on Randall’s Island in about one year, May 3-6, 2012, in time for the spring contemporary art auctions.
The Frick Collection has selected Ian Wardropper, chairman of European sculpture and decorative arts at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, as its new director, reports the New York Times. Wardropper officially begins his duties on Oct. 3, 2011. He succeeds Anne Poulet, an eight-year veteran of the museum, who announced her planned retirement a year ago.
Israeli artist Michal Rovner has transformed the courtyard of the Museé du Louvre into a chilling tableau of Mideast ruin for her “Histoires” exhibition, May 18-Aug. 15, 2011. Along with a group of masons, Rovner collected stones from demolished homes in Israel and Palestine and rebuilt them at the museum into two square structures, weighing upwards of 70 tons.
Chicago brides-to-be are up in arms over artist Pae White’s installation Restless Rainbow, May 21-Sept. 25, 2011, which is sited on the terrace of the Art Institute of Chicago. Apparently, White’s bright, swirling strips of colored vinyl have transformed the scenic overlook -- frequently rented out for weddings and special events for $5,000-$10,000 -- into an “acid-trip funhouse,” as bride Gabrielle Berger put it to the Chicago Tribune.
The ongoing case of German “count” Lothar Senke has revealed that the AlbertoGiacomettifraudster sold some 200 of the “indescribably bad” fakes -- the most forged art works ever sold in German market history, reports Der Spiegel. Along with his wife and accomplice Herbert Schulte, the self-named “Count of Waldstein” scammed more than €8 million before being arrested in a sting operation in 2009. The German court is expected to sentence Senke next week.
The American Academy of Arts and Letters held its annual ceremonial on Wednesday afternoon, May 18, 2011, at the academy’s gorgeous headquarters at Audubon Terrace at 155th Street and Broadway [image: Rocco Landesman]. More than 120 academy members and guests were seated on bleachers on the stage to witness a rather lengthy succession of speeches and awards.
