Mayfair Art Weekend, originally scheduled for 26th-28th June, has been rescheduled in light of the continuing coronavirus lockdown. A statement from the organisers reads: “After careful consideration and in light of ongoing Coronavirus (COVID-19) concerns, we have made the decision to postpone Mayfair Art Weekend to the autumn. “Mayfair Art Weekend will now take place on Friday 25th, Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th September 2020 where we look forward to welcoming you back to the...
It always seemed a bit optimistic that the 22nd edition of Art Paris, Paris’s major spring fair for modern and contemporary art, initially to be held from 2nd-5th April, should be rescheduled to 28th-31st May. Now the event has finally been cancelled, following the French government’s latest announcement banning all public gatherings until mid-July 2020 in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The announcement read: “We wanted to keep our hopes up until the very last...
The art market is facing new challenges daily as it adjusts to the realities of navigating the COVID-19 coronavirus crisis. We asked experts from multinational legal advisors Withers, Diana Wierbicki, Partner and Global Head of Art Law, and Amanda Rottermund, Art Law Associate, for their insight. Q: With auctions and art fairs being cancelled, postponed and rescheduled (or turning completely virtual), how can consignors and consignees adapt to calendar uncertainties? A: Coupled with logistical shutdowns,...
Like many another auction house, Lyon & Turnbull is coping with the coronavirus lockdown by taking its sales online. A sale of 19th and 20th century works of art on April 1st, the firm’s first using the ‘live online’ format, proved a success and showed that the format can work despite the technical challenges. Although held ‘behind closed doors’ in Edinburgh, the sale titled Decorative Arts: Design from 1860 attracted close to 1,400 registered bidders...
The New York Metropolitan Museum of Art has launched new online programming and social media initiatives while it is temporarily closed due to the coronavirus crisis. Highlights include digital premieres of the opera The Mother of Us All and the documentary Gerhard Richter Painting (above), and a weekly family storytime. #MetAnywhere already features videos, 360-degree tours, publications, and educational resources, as well as popular activities like #MetSketch on the Museum’s social media channels. The new...
David Hockney has shared new iPad art from lockdown in his house in Normandy from where he has been writing to BBC arts correspondent Will Gompertz. In isolation with his dog Ruby and two of his long-standing assistants, JP and Jonathan, David Hockney has been drawing the spring awakening, and has shared 10 new images an an animation with the BBC. Attracted to Normandy after the success of his paintings of Spring in Yorkshire ten...
While the coronavirus pandemic has shut down almost all art events in the capital, a survey by The Art Newspaper has shown that 2019 was the busiest year for London museums this century, and saw record attendances at both Tate Modern and Tate Britain. Helped by exhibition such as Van Gogh and Britain, Tate Britain had its busiest year ever in 2019, and it was also a record year for Tate Modern, with 1.8 m...
Art Paris, initially due to take place from April 2nd—5th, has been postponed to May 28th–31st, at the original location, the Grand Palais. Guillaume Piens, director of the fair said “As many countries globally, France is currently affected by the spread of the Coronavirus, which has given rise to conditions that will make it extremely complicated to hold an event as important as Art Paris at the beginning of April. “As organisers of the fair,...
Following the launch and sell-out of its initial share offering, digital art investments platform ARTCELS now plans to release 400 additional shares on 8th April 2020, and during the coronavirus pandemic plans to create bespoke virtual art experiences to allow shareholders to enjoy their art assets from the safety of their homes. ARTCELS opened in London with ‘XXI’, the first ever asset-based contemporary art exhibition, which featured rare and unseen works by blue-chip artists like...
This year’s London Design Fair, due to take place at the Old Truman Brewery in Shoreditch on 17th-20th September, has been cancelled. Dates for 2021 will be announced in due course. While this isn’t the first art event to be cancelled or postponed due to the widespread disruption caused by the Coronavirus epidemic, it’s an indication of how long into the year the effects are likely to last. Nearly 70 percent of the event’s exhibitors...
