Jochen Volz takes home an important award
Jochen Volz is the recipient of this year’s Agnes Gund Curatorial Award, (Aggie) awarded every two years by Independent Curators International.
The prize, one of the most prestigious for curators, recognizes “an established curator for their outstanding contribution to the world of art”. Volz is the director of the Pinacoteca de São Paulo, and was responsible for curating the Brazilian pavilion at the 57th Venice Biennale. Past laureates include: Lynne Cooke, Robert Storr, Alanna Heiss, Okwui Enwezor, Roselee Goldberg, Matthew Higgs and Germano Celant. More via Art News.
European Museums have a better reputation than their American counterparts
According to a study published by Professor cees van Riel of the Rotterdam School of Management and researcher Patricia Heijndijk — which surveyed 12,000 people of 10 different nationalities — European museums enjoy a better reputation than their counterparts. The study ranks 18 museums according to seven criteria: products and services, innovative capacity, workplace, governance, citizenship, leadership, and financial performance.
Unsurprisingly, the Musée du Louvre is first, followed by the Van Gogh Museum (Amsterdam) and the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. The highest ranked American museum is the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. (10) The study is available here.
Worldwide auction sales increase by 5.3% in a year
According to a report by Artprice, the art market is in good health: worldwide sales have reached 6.9 billion in the first semester of 2017, a 5.3 % increase compared to last year.
More information:
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43% decrease in sales in Turkey
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38% decrease in sales in Israel
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13% increase in sales in the UK
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7% increase in sales in France
The full report is available here.
“Save the art, Pause the sale”
It’s with slogans like the one above that a group of protesters have tried to convince the board of directors of the Berkshire Museum, Massachusetts, to refrain from selling 40 works from the permanent collection at auction including two pieces by Norman Rockwell.
The sale of the works would potentially raise sufficient funds for a $40m endowment and an ambitious $20m refurbishment. An anonymous group of donors had raised $1 million, in order for the museum to hold off on the sale for at least a year. Despite being “grateful” for the offer, the institution has announced that it has declined. Read more on The Art Newspaper.
