Europe

UK election upset leaves prime minister’s Brexit strategy in disarray: The Creative Industries Federation issued a statement this morning calling for a soft Brexit. John Kampfner, its chief executive, says that “May has seen that there is no clear mandate for the government to negotiate a hard Brexit”. He says that the federation will “push for the UK to remain in the single market and the customs union.”

09.06.2017, The Art Newspaper: UK election upset leaves prime minister’s Brexit strategy in disarray

09.06.2017, Antiques Trade Gazette: UK faces hung parliament after a “tumultuous” election night

09.06.2017, Artnet: What Does Theresa May’s Stunning Setback Mean for Culture? The Art World Weighs In

Swiss capital beefs up research team for Nazi-looted art: Bern is positioning itself as a Swiss hub for research into Nazi-looted art. The city’s Museum of Fine Arts is to shortly take possession of the first artworks from the controversial Gurlitt collection.

03.06.2017, Swissinfo.ch: Swiss capital beefs up research team for Nazi-looted art

Lost Since World War II, Egyptian Artifact Returns to Germany: A vivid, turquoise-colored carving from ancient Egypt has been returned to a Berlin museum more than 70 years after it was thought to have been lost during World War II.

01.06.2017, Livescience.com: Lost Since World War II, Egyptian Artifact Returns to Germany

Rudolf Zwirner Rallies Germany’s Top Gallerists in a Campaign Against Its Protectionist Art Laws: German art dealer Rudolf Zwirner has circulated an open letter through the Federal Association of German Galleries and Fine Art Dealers calling on gallerists and cultural figures to cast their vote against the highly unpopular cultural heritage protection law in Germany’s upcoming election in September.

06.06.2017, Artnet: Rudolf Zwirner Rallies Germany’s Top Gallerists in a Campaign Against Its Protectionist Art Laws

02.06.2017, Artnet: How Two Top Collectors Avoided Germany’s New Protectionist Art Law

Google partners with 180 institutions to launch art and fashion platform: Digital giant Google has partnered with 180 institutions, schools and archives around the world for a new online project focusing on the history of fashion.

09.06.2017, The Art Newspaper: Google partners with 180 institutions to launch art and fashion platform

Beyond auctions and art fairs: Is there more to collecting contemporary art than bidding the highest price at auction or exchanging on a work at an art fair? Talking Galleries, a conference held in the French capital last month in partnership with Choices Paris Gallery Weekend, dedicated a day to discussing what it means to be a collector in the 21st century, with a focus on “collecting without possessing”. “It’s very important to the economy of art that people are buying it, but there are also different ways to invest,” said Paris dealer Jérôme Poggi.

09.06.2017, The Financial Times: Beyond auctions and art fairs

The Peggy Guggenheim Collection Names Its New Directors: Karole Vail, a curator at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, has been named director of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, and the director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation for Italy. She succeeds Philip Rylands, who has led it for 37 years and will now take on the title of director emeritus.

08.06.2017, The New York Times: The Peggy Guggenheim Collection Names Its New Director

United States

Sale of the Century? David Rockefeller’s Legendary Art Collection to Be Sold by Christie’s: The estate of banking scion and art collector David Rockefeller, who passed away in March at the age of 101, and his wife Peggy, who died in 1996, will be sold at Christie’s New York in the spring of 2018. Experts are already speculating that it could be the most valuable collection ever sold at auction, surpassing the 2009 sale of the estate of fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent, which totalled $484 million.

07.06.2017, Artnet: Sale of the Century? David Rockefeller’s Legendary Art Collection to Be Sold by Christie’s

07.06.2017, Bloomberg: Rockefeller’s Art Treasures to Be Sold at Christie’s Auction

Art Basel files first lawsuit in the US—and it’s against Adidas: Art Basel and its Swiss parent company MCH are suing Adidas over limited-edition trainers that the German sportswear giant designed using the art fair’s trademark and distributed during Art Basel Miami Beach last year. It is the first time that Art Basel has filed a lawsuit in the US, according to national records.

02.06.2017, The Art Newspaper: Art Basel files first lawsuit in the US—and it’s against Adidas

World

Is There a Market for Western Art in China?: Recent headline-grabbing auction results have demonstrated a clear demand for Western masterpieces among Asia’s big-spender collectors: In 2015, Modigliani’s Reclining Nude was purchased for $170 million by Chinese billionaire Liu Yiqian and, more recently, Basquiat’s Untitled 1982 painting went to Japanese collector Yusaku Maezawa for $110.5 million.

08.06.2017, Huffington Post: Is There a Market for Western Art in China?

How One Art Fair Is Getting Argentinian Artists Into the World’s Best Museum Collections: Nearly a dozen museums are the beneficiaries of ArteBA’s ambitious museum acquisitions program.

05.06.2017, Artnet: How One Art Fair Is Getting Argentinian Artists Into the World’s Best Museum Collections