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The Headlines
READY YOUR APPLICATIONS. A hotly anticipated guaranteed-income program for artists in New York State opened for applications on Monday, the New York Times reports. Creatives Rebuild New York plans to provide 2,400 artists who can demonstrate need with $1,000 a month for 18 months. The effects of the program, which received $115 million of its $125 million budget from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, are likely to be closely watched by philanthropic organizations and policymakers. “As we continue to envision and work towards our post-pandemic reality, it’s critical that we not overlook the artist workers whose labor is an essential part of our economy and whose continued work sustains us,” the foundation’s president, Elizabeth Alexander, said in a statement.
Related Articles
ACQUISITION ACTION. The Philbrook Museum in Tulsa, Oklahoma, has procured a sculpture of artist René Magritte by the late, great Marisol, according to Tulsa World. Money for the purchase came from a fund established by the Philbrook’s sale of an 18th-century Chinese vase for $14.5 million in 2018. The Kunstmuseum Den Haag in the Netherlands announced that it bought a 1934 Max Beckmann beach scene, per ArtDaily, which also carries word that the Redwood Library & Athenæum in Newport, Rhode Island, acquired a clock sculpture by Nari Ward. And ARTnews reports that Glenstone in Potomac, Maryland, has added to its collection an eight-work set of watercolors by Hilma af Klint, making it the first United States museum to hold her work.
The Digest
The 1986–87 Francis Bacon triptych that is hitting the block at Christie’s in London next month with a high estimate of £55 million ($74.5 million) is coming from the collection of architect Norman Foster, journalist Katya Kazakina reports. [Artnet News]
Christina Yuna Lee, the creative producer murdered in her apartment in Manhattan’s Chinatown on Sunday, worked at the Eli Klein Gallery early in her career. Klein said that Lee was “an extraordinarily kind soul. All of my artists, the curators, everyone uniformly universally loved Christina.” The attack on Lee, who was of Korean descent, was the latest in a string of violent incidents against Asian people in New York. [Daily News]
Craig Greenberg, the former CEO of 21c Museum Hotels, is running for mayor of Louisville, Kentucky, and on Monday was shot at by someone at his campaign office. One bullet grazed his sweater, but no one was injured. A suspect was taken into custody. [The Courier-Journal]
The blockchain-focused auction house Portion spent about $1.25 million (in digital currency) to acquire real estate in the Decentraland metaverse, and described the nearby area in the press release as a “premium thoroughfare for world-famous luxury brands.” [Stockhead]
The Boise Art Museum in Idaho and the local government are tussling over how much BAM should pay to rent its location in a city park. The museum has long paid $1 a year, but a new ordinance requires nonprofits to pay a portion of fair market rent. [Idaho Stateman]
A new play at the Young Vic Theatre in London, takes a look at the artistic partnership forged by artists Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol in the 1980s. Titled The Collaboration, it was written by Anthony McCarten and is being directed by Kwame Kwei-Armah. [Bloomberg]
The Kicker
THE ART OF LOVE. Italian officials said that they will construct a special platform to protect the famed Etruscan Sarcophagus of the Spouses from vibrations caused by earthquakes and road traffic, the Associated Press reports. The 2,500-year-old terra-cotta piece resides at the Villa Giulia in Rome. Meanwhile, the Flagler Museum in Palm Beach, Florida, hosted a mass wedding for nine couples, the AP reports. And artist Jeff Koons wished his Instagram followers a happy Valentine’s Day by posting two of his love-related sculptures. “Eros is in the neighborhood,” the caption reads.