Two extremely rare works by abstract expressionist pioneers, Arshile Gorky and Wassily Kandinsky, both from the collection of the same private European owner, will make their auction debut at Sotheby’s modern and contemporary art evening sale in London on March 25. The works are expected to bring in a collective £3.7 million, and they have not been publicly seen since the 1970’s when they were acquired by the current collector.

The Gorky work depicting a female figure was made between 1940 and 1941 as part of his “Garden in Sochi” series from the early 40’s. The series relates to the theme of Gorky’s childhood memories in his native country Armenia where the artist was inspired by memories of his father’s garden and farm. Two works from the series are in the Museum of Modern Art’s collection.

Gorky’s foray in the 1920’s into abstraction was largely influenced by modernists like Picasso and Kandinsky. By the 1940’s however, he was drawing inspiration from European Surrealists, like Joan Miró, André Masson, and Matta. According to Sotheby’s, high-quality works by Gorky rarely make it to auction. Good Afternoon, Mrs. Lincoln from the collection of Barney Ebsworth set the artist’s record at Christie’s New York in 2018, selling for $14 million. The Arshile Gorky Foundation is in the process of completing a major catalogue raisonné of the artist’s complete works.

Kandinsky on the other hand completed his work, Quatre (Square) in 1927, roughly around the same time the artist developed his theory of abstraction, and following his invitation to join the Bauhaus school in 1921. The work features a checkerboard-like form that is warped to appear as though it recedes into space.

The current owner acquired the Gorky from Galleria Galatea in Turin, Italy, in 1971, and the Kandinsky was bought in 1975 through Galerie Maeght in Paris. Before its purchase, the Gorky work was shown widely throughout the postwar period, first at the Whitney Museum in 1951, then at MoMA in 1962, Tate Modern in 1965, and at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1969. The Kandinsky was featured at the Guggenheim Museum in 1963, the Fondation Maeght in 1966, and the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in 1971 before being acquired by its current owner.

The March 25 evening sale will also include works by Paul Klee, Jean Dubuffet, Wols, and Jean Fautrier.

This week’s Art World Roundup looks at a record-setting series of Pokémon cards, a City of London decision to remove statues of two men tied to the transatlantic slave trade, and a Kara Walker sculpture that plays a major role in FKA twigs video. Also, the USPS is honouring Emilio Sánchez with a stamp series, Basel art spaces call on government to ease up on lockdown restrictions, an online auction of things you just won’t believe, and Boston police arrest man related to odd break in at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.

Gotta catch ’em all?

Were you among the millions of kids (and a lot of adults, too) who latched onto Pokémon? If so, you might be kicking yourself for having opened every pack, used the cards until they were bent, and eventually thrown away or sold them off after a set of unopened first-edition cards sold for $408,000. In total the record-setting set includes 396 original cards which are split into 36 booster packs containing 11 cards each. Released in 1999 by game publisher Wizards of the Coast, the cards set a world record when they sold at Heritage Auctions in Dallas as part of their “Comics & Comic Art Signature Auction” that included 16 lots of Pokémon memorabilia. In total, the Pokémon collectibles brought in a total of $1.3 million. The cards were in “gem mint” condition, the highest level of classification. “Due to their low print run, these box sets have become extremely scarce, especially those still in the original sealed state,” wrote the auction house. “It is considered the pinnacle of Pokémon box collecting.” During the bidding battle, the auctioneer, Brian Wiedman, stated that the “Pokémon craze” was “alive and well,” which for Pokémon lovers around the world, won’t come as a surprise.

City of London votes to remove two statues

Hardly after the ink has dried on new UK legislation that would make it more difficult to remove or relocate statues of problematic historical figures, the City of London motioned to remove two statues of British politicians with ties to the transatlantic slave trade. A task force brought together by the City of London Corporation, which oversees London’s historic city centre, was asked to assess the history and legacies of William Beckford and Sir John Cass. Both Beckford and Cass have statues at the Guildhall building and the Corporation has now voted to remove them. Beckford served as mayor of London twice, but heavily profited off of the plantations he owned in Jamaica. Cass was a member of Parliament in the 17^th century who also profited off of the transatlantic slave trade, particularly through ties to the Royal African Company. The City of London Corporation has voted to relocate the Beckford statue and replace it with a new work while the Cass statue would be returned to the Sir John Cass Foundation. The decision, though, could be slowed or halted altogether due to new UK laws that were recently introduced following the toppling of a statue of Edward Colston in the summer.

Kara Walker sculpture features in new music video

Artist Kara Walker’s Fons Americanus first debuted in 2019 as part of Tate Modern’s coveted Turbine Hall commission. Now, the large-scale artwork is featured front and centre in the music video for FKA twigs’ new song “Don’t Judge Me” made with Fred Again.. and Headie One. Fons Americanus is a towering memorial to the British slave trade and draws off of inspiration Walker gathered from the Victoria Memorial fountain in front of Buckingham Palace. The artwork, which is a working fountain, is created with a similar “evocative and unsettling power” that runs through Walker’s silhouette and film works. It references JMS Turner’s Slave Ship and Winslow Homer’s Gulf Stream while some have made connections between Walker’s depictions of sharks to those in works by Damien Hirst. The video features well-known Black British individuals, like footballer Mahlon Romeo, writer Reni Eddo-Lodge (who was the first Black author to top the UK bestseller list), and writer Benjamin Zephaniah. On including Walker’s work in the video, FKA twigs said in a tweet: “it was an honour to shoot with kara walkers fountain exploring the interconnection of black history between africa, america and europe.” For its prominent location in the Turbine Hall, it is estimated that millions of people have seen Walkers work, which will now be further seen through the music video. Fons Americanus will be on view through February 7^th, although Tate Modern is currently shuttered due to COVID-19 restrictions across London. After the fountain is removed, its materials will be recycled.

First Cuban American featured on USPS stamp series

The United States Postal Service has announced a new postage stamp series that will feature the work of painter Emilio Sánchez, making his artworks the first by a Cuban American to be featured on a US Forever stamp. Four works, Los Toldos (1973), Ty’s Place (1976), En el Souk (1972) and Untitled (Ventanita entreabierta) (1981), will each be included in the stamp series that commemorates the centennial of the artist’s birth. Born in 1921 in the city of Camagüey, Sánchez eventually moved to New York City, which would become his base, to begin studying art at the Art Students League. Sánchez is best known, although he remains largely under recognised, for his abstract and geometric takes on architecture having obviously found inspiration in the buildings that made up his environment in NYC. His palette often paid homage to his childhood in Cuba. His interest in color and fascination with light continued to grow as he traveled throughout the 1970s and 1980s, which comes across in the artworks included in the stamp series. Today, works by Sánchez are included in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Antonio Alcalá was the art director heading the series of stamps that will be released in panes of 20 stamps.

Art spaces call for an easing of lockdown

Basel arts venues are calling on the Swiss government to allow museums and other cultural venues to reopen citing their important role in the “mental well-being of all.” Signed by 18 museum directors, including Elena Filipovic of the Kunsthalle Basel, Roland Wetzel of the Basel Museum Tinguely, Josef Helfenstein of the Kunstmuseum Basel, Sam Keller of the Riehen Fondation Beyeler, and Heidi Naef of the Münchenstein Schaulager, the letter states that when properly managed, arts venues do not significantly threaten the health of its visitors. “The protection and hygiene concepts, which have been implemented since May 2020 and have been adapted to fit the latest requirements, have since been bolstered by experience,” reads the letter in part, according to ARTnews. Continuing: “Individual exhibition and museum visits do not generate an accumulation of visitors. […] Especially for the local population, the encounter with cultural creation is an important means of contact in anxiety-provoking times, without causing much social movement. […] Museums and exhibitions engage with natural and cultural history, with art and its reflection on the present, which make them a critical counterpart and partner to reflect on new situations and crises. If physical access is limited or blocked, education and culture become fundamentally stunted.” The museums calling for the end of lockdown are supported by the Basel Conference of Museum Directors. Switzerland is one of many European countries that have recently imposed more stringent lockdown measures as COVID-19 numbers have risen. This month, bars, museums, and other such public spaces were required to close once again, but it is hoped by the letter signees that museums and arts spaces will be included in the first phase of reopening.

Buy a little slice of odd in this online auction

From the strange to the downright uncomfortable, an auction of items from the Niagara Falls, Canada Guinness World Records Museum has it all. The online auction headed by Ripley’s Auctions in Indianapolis will run through February 12^th after the closure of the Niagara Falls branch of the franchise in September of last year. As you might expect, there’s a little bit of everything at the museum dedicated to record-setting events, people, and things and you could even bring them home just in time for Valentine’s Day. Included in the auction is a life-sized electric chair model that will even mock-electrocute a replica death row inmate for just a few tokens as well as models of the world’s “oldest man,” the “hungriest sword swallower,” and the “record firewalker.” Other lots include a world population counter, the world’s largest word search puzzle, a seven-foot chair, and the world’s tiniest Qur’an. The museum is closing its doors after 42 years of operation. The Niagara Falls museum was opened with a ceremony attended by Sandy Allen, the world’s tallest woman, and a performance by Henry LaMothe who dived from a height of 40 feet into only 15 inches of water. During its time, a number of people performed their skills and others attempted to get their name on a Guinness World Record certificate.

Arrest made after odd break-in attempt at Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

A 48-year-old man has been arrested in connection to an unusual attempted break-in at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum last weekend. Robert Viens has reportedly been arrested and charged for having smashed a glass door at the museum at around 4:30am on Saturday morning. What made the breach unusual is that Viens made no attempt to enter the museum, a spokesperson for the museum said. Instead, they smashed the window with a “hard object” then threw something into the museum before fleeing on a bicycle. Due to the nature of the break-in, the bomb squad responded to the scene but the thrown object, thought to be a potential explosive, ended up being a painting wrapped up in a blanket. The blanket-wrapped painting had been stolen from a Boston art gallery, Arden Gallery, just over a week before it was abandoned at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Viens was charged at a Roxbury District Court with breaking and entering with intent to commit a felony, wanton destruction of property, and possession, transportation or use of a hoax device or substance. The museum is no stranger to notorious heists and in the 1990s, the biggest art heist in US history took place there when thieves made off with around $500 million in paintings.

The Centre Pompidou, one of Paris’ iconic museums, has announced that it will be closed between 2023 and 2026 for critical restoration works on the building. Built in 1977, it is hoped that the extensive refurbishment project will be completed before the museum celebrates its 50^th anniversary in 2027.

The announcement comes as museums across France are eager to reopen amidst ongoing pandemic-related closures. However, the museum, known as the Beaubourg, is at the cusp of critical need for repairs. “We no longer have a choice, the building is in distress,” Serge Lasvignes, president of the Centre Pompidou, told French newspaper Le Figaro.

In September of last year, talks about restoring the Centre Pompidou began. “”There were two options on the table, one being to restore the centre while keeping it open, the other being full closure,” said culture minister of France Roselyne Bachelot. “I chose the second because it turned out to be shorter in time and a little cheaper.”

In all, the project will cost around €200 million and will see the removal of asbestos from the building and improvements made to the heating and cooling units. The refurb will also include improved accessibility, a major overhaul of the museum’s computer and server system, and overall improvement to the building’s safety.

When the museum was completed in the late 1970s by Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers, Piano described it as a “big urban toy.” It has long divided opinion between those who love the unusual aesthetic of its architecture, which has an exoskeleton of sorts created by the building’s innerworkings, and those who find it to be an eyesore. Despite individual thoughts on the building, the Centre Pompidou is the largest European museum of Modern and has a large public library, which will be relocated during the restoration project.

This will be the second time the building has faced construction works since it opened. In 1997, the Centre Pompidou was closed for three years while €88 million in works were completed that increased gallery space among other things. Just before the pandemic set in, a €19 million renovation project began on the “caterpillar,” the covered, red-bottomed escalator that crawls up the façade of the building. Begun in September 2019, the escalator is expected to be finished in May after having briefly stopped last spring due to the pandemic.

“These works will guarantee the future of the Centre Pompidou,” said Lasvignes in a press release. “In concrete terms, our aim is to preserve our key masterpiece, the building itself, which has not undergone any major renovation since 1977. This work is essential if it is to remain an international icon of modernity and contemporary architecture attracting thousands of visitors every year.”

In Dresden, Nigerian artist Emeka Ogboh took to the streets with a recent art installation. Utilising advertising spaces in and around the German city, Ogboh installed “missing” posters of artworks that once belonged to the Royal Palace of Benin as part of a campaign to raise awareness over repatriation.

The posters were installed just before the start of the year in more than 200 locations across Dresden and in the surrounding area. Five Benin bronzes that are part of the Museum für Völkerkunde in Dresden are included on the poster series with text reading “Vermisst von Benin” (or “Missing in Benin”). The posters include an image of the bronze work against a black background along with its measurements and the last date it was “seen” in its home country: 1897.

Ogboh’s posters are meant to bring the need for repatriation to day-to-day life, making it a less abstract issue and more of an issue disseminated amongst a larger population. The posters were actually commissioned by the Museum für Völkerkunde to add urgency to talks of repatriation.

The State Art Collection of Dresden is a member of the Benin Dialogue Group which has committed to supporting the planned Royal Museum in Benin City, Nigeria by “contribut[ing] from their collections on a rotating basis.” The Royal Museum is expected to be built on a major excavation site. Excavation of the future museum site is to begin this year and its purpose is to explore the history of the ancient kingdom of Benin, which is now part of southern Nigeria. It is hoped that as the new museum moves forward, there will be developments regarding the repatriation of the Benin bronzes and other cultural artefacts. At the moment, despite pledges of by the Benin Dialogue Group, which includes the British Museum and Berlin Ethnological Museum, there has been no significant forward momentum on bringing the bronzes back to their home.

The bronzes made their way across Europe after British soldiers invaded, looted, and destoryed the Benin Royal Palace in 1897. It is estimated that around 4,000 objects were taken from the palace, including the five Benin bronzes that are shown on Ogboh’s posters, which were taken from Benin and brought to London between 1899 and 1904.

According to Léontine Meijer-van Mensch, director of the museums of world culture in Leipzig, Dresden, and Herrnhut, the Benin bronzes “have become symbolic of the question of how ethnological museums deal with the many thousands of objects in their possession resulting from mass looting or other forms of appropriation under unequal power relations in a colonial context.” It is hoped that Ogboh’s posters bring urgency to the matter of restitution by singling out individual objects.

The posters should evoke “a sense of impatience and necessity,” said Ogboh. He continued saying they serve “to frame the stagnant and abstract discourse surrounding colonial reparations with the urgency and gravity of a public service announcement.”

Ogboh’s series of posters come at a time when discourse over repatriation of artworks has once again heated up. France, in particular, has been under pressure to return artworks and cultural objects to African countries that were once colonised by France. The topic was renewed at the end of 2020 when France’s government voted to return more than 20 objects to Benin and Senegal, which if seen through would be among the first major restitutions to make good on promises made by French President Emmanuel Macron. The issue of repatriation, though, is not only an issue in France as many collections across European countries house African cultural objects taken during periods of colonialism.