Huge Donation for Art Gallery of NSW in Sydney—and More Art News – ARTnews.com

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The Headlines

NEWS FROM DOWN UNDER. Artist Wendy Whiteley has promised a bequest of more than AU$100 million (US$69.7 million) to the Art Gallery of NSW, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. The donation, one of the largest gifts in the museum’s history, will also involve 2,000 works by her former husband, the late Brett Whiteley, going jointly to the museum and his namesake foundation. About two hours south of Sydney, meanwhile, an investigation has determined that a major donor to the Wollongong Art Gallery, Bronius “Bob” Sredersas, was a member of Nazi intelligence in Lithuania during World War II. Sredersas, who died in 1982, gave some 100 pieces to the museum, and officials are planning to meet to discuss how to present those works and his history.

FULL IMMERSION. Those digital exhibitions devoted to famed artists—most notably Vincent van Gogh—are not going away. Claude Monet is another popular subject for them of late, Bloomberg Businessweek reports, and serious money is flowing into the field. One firm that makes such shows, Fever Labs, just lined up $227 million in a funding round led by Goldman Sachs. The budgets for these affairs are helped by the fact that their subjects are usually long-dead, meaning that their work is in the public domain, one law professor noted. Speaking of image-use rights, a case headed to trial in California is believed to be the first to test whether copyright extends to tattoos. At issue is a tattoo of a photo of Miles Davis by Jeffrey B. Sedlik, who has filed suit against tattoo artist Kat Von D for inking his image. Von D maintains that her work is covered by fair use.

The Digest

Milan and Naples dealer and collector Lia Rumma has donated 70 works by 30 Italian artists—including Arte Povera greats like Marisa Merz, Giovanni Anselmo, and Michelangelo Pistoletto—to the Italian state. The works will be permanently on view with the Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte in Naples. [Artforum]

Kelly Crow has a blow-by-blow account of the meteoric market rise of painter Anne Weyant, who is now repped by Gagosian. One intriguing tidbit from Crow: “The artist entered into a confidential settlement agreement” with one of her former galleries, Blum & Poe, which reportedly sent a painting by her to auction. [The Wall Street Journal]

Manifesta 14—the roving European biennial—released the artist list for its 2022 edition, which opens next month at 25 locations in Pristina, Kosovo. A full 39 percent have Kosovar origins, which is the highest local participation in the history of the show, according to organizers. [ArtReview]

Jeane Hamilton, who for 70 years supported the Arkansas Arts Center, which she was involved in opening, died last week at 96. “She always attended every event, every program, every lecture, and every reception,” another supporter said. [Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette]

Architect Rem Koolhaas created the set for the latest Prada runway show. “The whole thing looked like an architect’s model blown up to monumental size,” Samuel Hine writes. [GQ]

The Sobey Art Award, which goes to Canadian artists, named its shortlist: Tyshan Wright, Stanley Février, Azza El Siddique, Divya Mehra, and Krystle Silverfox. The top prize winner will take home CA$100,000 (about US$76,900). [e-flux]

The Kicker

FACTORY FARMING. Paul Thompson, the vice-chancellor of the Royal College of Art in London, submitted himself to the “Questionnaire” column in the Financial Times, which asked him to share “an animal you have loved.” Thompson’s response: “Andy Warhol’s Cow (1971). She’s so lovable and laughable, in her purple and orange screen print. I got to know her really well because she was in the collection at the Cooper Hewitt museum, where I used to be director.” [FT]