– Gagosian E-mails Reveal Inner Workings of the Biz: New papers filed in the lawsuit between Gagosian Gallery and collector Jan Cowles over the sale of a Lichtenstein painting provide a juicy peek into the dealings of the world's most successful gallery. Attempting to cajole collector Thompson Dean to buy the painting for considerably less than it was originally offered, a gallery staffer wrote in an e-mail, "Seller now in terrible straits and needs cash. Are you interested in making a cruel and offensive offer? Come on, want to try?" In the end, Gagosian made himself a handy $1 million commission on the $2 million sale. [NYT]
– Cézanne Card Player Study Came to Play: A lost watercolor study by Paul Cézanne for his famous "Card Players" series has resurfaced at the home of a Dallas collector, and is headed to Christie's in New York on May 1. (Another painting from the series was recently reported to be the most expensive artwork ever sold.) The solitary player — who is actually Cézanne's gardener — is expected to sell for between $15 and $20 million. [NYT, ATE]
– Klee's "Swamp Legend" Returns: Three grandchildren of the German art historian Sophie Lissitzky-Kueppers have filed a lawsuit against Munich's Lenbachhaus Museum demanding the return of Paul Klee's painting "Sumpflegende" (Swamp Legend), which they charge was stolen from their grandmother by Nazis. The painitng was hung in Munich's famous "Degenerate Art" exhibition, and is now estimated to be worth $2.7 million. [Bloomberg]
– Rediscovered De Lempicka Hits the Block: A portrait by pioneering Art Deco artist Tamara de Lempicka that had been lost for almost 90 years will be auctioned at Sotheby's in May with a high estimate of nearly $5 million. The consigner, a West Cost construction company owner, had the 1925 painting in his home for a decade and "had no inkling of what it was," said a Sotheby's specialist. [Reuters]
– SFMOMA Acquires Major Hopper: The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art has acquired Edward Hopper's "Intermission," among the artist's largest paintings and one of the last significant Hopper works in private hands. In conjunction with the acquisition, the museum has deaccessioned another Hopper work, "Bridle Path," which is awaiting sale at Sotheby's. [Press Release]
– Louvre Abu Dhabi Seeks Contractors: It looks as if the Louvre is making progress on its Saadiyat Island satellite. Having scrapped a major construction contract last October, the state-owned Tourism Development and Investment Company in Abu Dhabi has placed an ad in a local newspaper, seeking bidders for work on the main building. The opening date has been tentatively pushed back to 2015. Let's hope their labor conditions have improved by then — a Human Rights Watch report recently singled out the Louvre as particularly evasive when it came to supporting fair labor practices in Abu Dhabi. [Construction Week Online]
– Kiev Academy Director Locks Up: An exhibition at the Visual Culture Research Center at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy titled "Ukrainian Body," was abruptly shut down by Serhiy Kvit, the president of the academy. Thereafter the exhibition, which features contemporary artworks dealing with corporeality, was only opened to honor requests from the media. "The exhibition is not closed, it is just locked," said Kvit. [NYT]
– Time to Flog Your Hirsts: Art world maverick Julian Spalding is the latest commentator to voice his (negative) opinions on Damien Hirst. "When the penny drops that these are not art, it's all going to collapse," he writes. He's got some skin in the game: Spalding's latest book, "Con Art – Why You Ought To Sell Your Damien Hirsts While You Can," comes out on April 1. [Independent]
– Northern Ireland's Art Goes Online: Over 1,600 paintings from National Museums Northern Ireland, including canvases by Bacon, Lowry, and Turner, are now available online thanks to an ongoing project organized by the BBC. The initiative, "Your Paintings," seeks to create a complete online catalogue of every oil painting in Northern Ireland's national collection. (See ARTINFO UK's Coline Milliard's report on "Your Paintings," here.) [BBC]
– London's Royal Academy Deluged by Summer Art: Over 12,000 artworks will be brought to the RA today, all vying for a spot in the institution's 244th Summer Exhibition, the world's largest open-submission contemporary show. The final selection of 1,000 to 2,000 pieces will be for sale at prices ranging from £100 to hundreds of thousands of pounds (for works by academicians). Anish Kapoor and Tracey Emin were both included in the show last year. [Guardian]
VIDEO OF THE DAY
Watch the making of today's Google Doodle, which celebrates architect Ludwig Mies Van der Rohe:
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