Art Market Updates

Sam Gilliam (1933-2022), Alphabet I, II, and III, 1968. Acrylic on canvas, 70 x 90 in. Collection of The Fralin Museum of Art at the University of Virginia. Gift of Janice and Henry Peskin, 2022.13.1.a-c. © 2023 Sam Gilliam / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

Processing Abstraction

“Pour, drip, splash, stain, spray, soak, splatter—these words are often used to describe abstract artists’ experimental application of paint. The creative process of many abstract painters is highly visible in their finished artworks. Vigorous brushstrokes, saturated canvases, and atmospheric surfaces all demonstrate the expansive use of the medium,” notes the Fralin Museum of Art at the University of Virginia. The museum is currently holding an exhibition celebrating experimental art, highlighting large-scale abstract paintings from the museum’s collection spanning the mid-1950s to the late 2000s. Processing Abstraction will be on view through the end of the year.

Ernest L. Blumenschein (1874-1960), Girl in Rose, 1926. Oil on canvas, 30¼ x 25 in. The Lunder Collection, 2013.019P.

Our Bodies, Hearts, and Village

Having spent years in preparation, this past spring, the Colby College Museum of Art in Maine unveiled Painted: Our Bodies, Hearts, and Village, an exhibition that places Pueblo perspectives at the center of the social and cultural landscape of Taos from 1915 to 1927, when the Taos Society of Artists was active. The exhibition puts paintings by TSA artists in dialogue with works by 20th- and 21st-century Native American artists, shedding light on the richly complex histories of the Southwest, especially that of Taos and Taos Pueblo. The show will hang through July 28, 2024.

Eadweard Muybridge (1830-1904), “Antigua, Ruins of the Church of El Carmen, Destroyed by Earthquake” 1774, ca. 1875-77. 19th-century photographic print, 11 x 14 in. Olana State Historic Site, New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, OL.1981.398.1.

Olana Photography Collection

Frederic Church’s Olana is a beloved New York State Historic Site and National Historic Landmark within the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area. Recently opened is the exhibition Terraforming: Olana’s Historic Photography Collection Unearthed on view at the Olana State Historic Site. The exhibition focuses on Olana’s superb collection of nearly 5,000 19th-century photographic prints, collected by Church himself between 1850 and 1900. Until now, this important collection has been little-known and unseen by the public. The installation features 48 original photographs within Olana’s Sharp Family Gallery, as well as two new works by artist and guest curator David Hartt: a site-specific bronze sculpture and tapestry.

The Breuer Building in New York’s Upper East Side. Source: MET Breuer, Author Ajay Suresh from New York, NY, USA.

Sotheby’s relocates to Breuer Building

The Whitney Museum recently sold the Breuer Building on Madison Avenue in New York to Sotheby’s, which will relocate there beginning in 2025. An iconic Manhattan structure, the Breuer Building was designed by Brutalist architect Marcel Breuer and completed in 1966—initially created to be the third home for the Whitney Museum. Sotheby’s will also retain ownership of its current headquarters on York Avenue.

An aerial view of the new Raclin Murphy Museum of Art at Notre Dame. Architect: Robert A. M. Stern Architects (RAMSA). Rendering: Courtesy RAMSA.

Notre Dame’s new museum

The former Snite Museum of Art at the University of Notre Dame will be transformed into the new Raclin Murphy Museum of Art beginning November 30. The museum’s new location—a 70,000-square-foot building designed by Robert A. M. Stern Architects (RAMSA)—will serve as a gateway to Notre Dame’s expanding arts district, joining the Charles B. Hayes Family Sculpture Park, DeBartolo Performing Arts Center, Matthew and Joyce Walsh Family Hall of Architecture and O’Neill Hall of Music. November marks the completion of the first phase of this two-part building project.

People & Places

On July 3, Laura L. Lott began her tenure as the National Gallery of Art’s new administrator, leading the operational, architecture and sustainability strategy of one of the largest and most visited art museums in the world.

The Portland Museum of Art in Oregon recently named Sayantan Mukhopadhyay the museum’s new assistant curator of modern and contemporary art. Mukhopadhyay has a an extensive background in contemporary art research and education, having recently worked as a lecturer in art history at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he also earned his MA and PhD in art history.

Amanda M. Maples joins the New Orleans Museum of Art as its new Françoise Billion Richardson Curator of African Art. In this role, Maples will oversee the museum’s significant collection of historic African art as well as create new installations and interpretive strategies for NOMA’s permanent collection.

The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City has announced that Stephanie Fox Knappe has been promoted to Sanders Sosland Senior Curator, Global Modern and Contemporary Art and Head within the American art department. Knappe was formerly the Samuel Sosland Senior Curator of American art.

The Andy Warhol Museum has appointed Aaron Levi Garvey as its new chief curator. He will assume his role this summer, 2023.