Amy Cappellazzo Introduces Jeffrey Gundlach at Ira Sohn Conference: ““If you’re interested in art you can call me,” Sotheby’s chief art officer said during her preamble, “but if you’re interested in the art of investing, you’re in the right place.” Gundlach, whom Cappellazzo helped arrange a $45m donation to the Albright-Knox Museum in their mutual hometown of Buffalo, NY, opened his talk with an Ed Ruscha painting projected above him which he used to make a novel transition into the topic of inflation. …
Goetz Collection Marks 25th Anniversary, NYTimes Focuses on Sale from 5 Years Ago: The German collector Ingvild Goetz is celebrating 25 years but the NYTimes interview is fixated on a sale from 2013 that used proceeds from the art collection to fund charities:
What motivated you to part with art you had collected and devote more resources to philanthropic activities?I saw how works are sold for a fortune on the current art market, while there are people who live in such poverty that they can’t afford basics. There are fates that could be saved if money were available, and I own works that are, in the meanwhile, worth a great deal.Some artists today see that the market is exploding and produce for it. There are also exceptional artists who aren’t present. That appalled me at a certain point. I realized that I was part of this system. When I saw how much you can help people in the world with the same money, I started an auction. And I will surely do it again. …
Robert Frank Is Worried About the Art Market: CNBC’s lifestyles-of-the-rich reporter had Tad Smith on Squawk Box this morning to talk Modigliani and the upcoming New York auctions which worry Frank because there are half a dozen works that might sell for more than $75m. Twice in the segment, Frank expresses a common feeling that links the art market to the seemingly inevitable talk of bubbles. Part of the problem is that Frank is focusing on the very top of the market without acknowledging the substantial depth to the art market. …
Dealer Can Sell Madonna Letters, Judge Says: Darlene Lutz was Madonna’s art advisor until she wasn’t. Ms. Lutz ended up with some of Madonna’s personal effects including a letter from Tupac Shakur. She decided to sell them at auction. That’s when Madonna got miffed. But a judge in New York has sided with Lutz. Judd Grossman, Lutz’s lawyer, called the court decision “a total win”. She is now, “free to do with her property as she pleases without any continued interference by Madonna.” …
Lindsay Pollock Joins the Whitney: The Whitney Museum is doing well to hire Lindsay Pollock, the former editor of Art in America, as its new Chief Content and Communications Officer where she will be responsible for digital media, communications and graphic design.