Blum employees talk about closure, Spiegler slams art “financialization”

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- The former Tim Blum employee questioned Gallery’s Art Basel results and accused him of “self-inflation” and making “bad business decisions.”
- Congress is debating whether to expand and strengthen a law to help Holocaust victims and their heirs take back art stolen by the Nazis.
- Former Basel boss Marc Spiegler succumbed to the “financialization” of the art market and called for a return to its “emotional roots.”
Headline News
Bloom’s blind spot. when Tim Blum Tell Artnews In early July, he was “sunset” in his gallery and the art world was stunned. Why such a successful operator would close – especially after he claimed to be a powerful outing Art Basel? At the time, Bloom said: “The system’s problems and the risk of burnout.” But according to Artnet, Some of his anonymous people (now unhappy) Former employees and artists say their decision has been in the dark because his decision is to “get out of the carousel” until the last minute. One said: “The current situation comes from self, poor decision making and over-expansion.” Another added: “The least understanding is the lack of notification. Either you don’t sever someone, but you’re trying to figure out their situation for a while, or you get rid of them overnight, but with a huge reward. It’s hard to understand how to deal with it.”
Blum’s choice for the word “sunset” seems shocking. As Artnet Noting that “usually means a deliberate process during the extension period, but this closure is going on quickly; Blum Gallery’s current show will be the final show; they end on Saturday.” (In contrast, New York’s Subway pictures It announced its closure in 2021, and it took nine months to end. Jeff Poe and his acquisition and renovation of the New York gallery space in a shaky economic environment. Two sources told Artnet Bloom denies that Art Basel and Art Basel Hong Kong sales are weak. Some staff reportedly found problems with closures when increasing injuries Artnews Breaking this story on July 1. Another former employee criticized Bloom for failing to acknowledge his employees’ “great effort and dedication to their vision to come to life”
The museum opposes the trophy law. Congress is debating whether to expand and strengthen a 2016 law aimed at helping Holocaust victims and their heirs to reclaim art stolen by the Nazis, New York Times Report. The law will expire next year and will provide the claimant with a six-year lawsuit from where they discover the looted artwork and can prove ownership unless renewed. Its purpose was to deal with regulatory issues in cases involving theft of art or sold under coercion over 80 years ago. The legislation has led to several successful recovery, including Egon Schiele. However, some courts have ruled that the passage of time has unfairly hindered the museum’s ability to resist such claims. A new bipartisan Senate bill aims to expand the law indefinitely and prohibit time-based defenses. sponsor Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), the bill states that the Nazi art claims should not be dismissed just because decades have passed since World War II. The famous Jewish organization supported this change. However, the main museums are pushing back. this Association of Art Museum DirectorsSpend $8,000 in lobbying on this issue, supporting the five-year extension of the current form of the law. spokesman Sascha Freudenheim It said this would retain the benefits of the law while allowing continued assessment of its impact on claimants and agencies.
Digestion
Robert WilsonHe is a playwright and artist who has cultivated a loyal following in the art world, bridges the gap between performing arts and drama for spare works produced by spares, and died Thursday at the age of 83 at the New York Waterworks. [ARTnews]
A former museum manager has been charged with stealing artifacts and selling them for more than $67,000 at auction. Stephen Harris,66, allegedly taking out ceramics, glass and coins from the collection Norfolk Museum Services In the past 20 years. [The Telegraph]
July, Smithsonian National History Museum Removed the reference President Trump’s Two improvisations in the exhibition. A person familiar with the exhibition plans has no right to discuss them publicly, he said the change came as part of the content review. White House Delete the Art Museum Director. [Washington Post]
Sotheby’s Submitted to pressure from the Indian government and returned to the ancient gems associated with it Buddha remains. Jewelry series is called piprahwa gemstoneoriginally scheduled for auction in Hong Kong in May, but sales were stopped after legal intervention. [The Art Newspaper]
Kicking
“Stop hyping art as an investment!” piece Fashion Businessthe previous Art Basel head Marc Spiegler In the past 25 years, the recent unstable financialization of the art market has been attributed to the financialization of the art market – Galiga, canceling New York’s Adaa Fairand works like artists Giacometti and Warhol The auction is “going towards the times”. Spiegler dates back to the late 1990s, when auction houses began selling newly produced works that were previously considered too new to be resold. By the 2000s, speculators and investment funds had flooded the market, viewing art as cultural capital and art as financial commodities. Art Investment Fund, Fraction Ownership Platform masterpiece and art-backed loans are both attracting attention. Even major banks have launched art consulting services. However, many of these joint ventures failed to provide returns, leading to disappointed investors and biased valuation patterns, Spiegler wrote. Speculative crazy price inflation, distorted collection habits, and caused the resale market for emerging artists to crash almost quickly. Financial tools such as third-party assurance and ranking algorithms will only increase volatility. “So, how is the financialization of the art market implemented?” Spigrad asked. “Very bad. Especially when you think about chain effects.” He believes the result is a “constituted market” [art’s] Advantages, while highlighting its weaknesses. “His solution must be from selling art as an asset to promote the “Instagramable sapiosexy pleasure” of affluent and intellectually inclined people who care about culture, ideas, artists’ visits and social signals.