Art Outlook: 13 November

Some of the stories and discussions we’ve spotted online this week

A. Jerry Perenchio’s $500 million gift to LACMA

Manet, Monet, Pissarro, Picasso…works by some of the most significant artists of the 19th and 20th centuries feature in Perenchio’s extraordinary bequest, which was announced recently.

Another year, another record-breaking auction

The art market isn’t coming down off its bubble any time soon, Christie’s confirmed last night. The auction house’s post-war and contemporary art evening sale realised $852.9 million, the largest total in auction history.

Kate Bryan appointed director of Art15

Congratulations to Kate Bryan, who is leaving her role as director of contemporary art at the Fine Art Society in London to take the helm at Art15.

Guggenheim looks for digital leadership

Troy Conrad Therrien has been appointed as the Guggenheim’s first curator of architecture and digital initiatives. He’ll be in charge of organising architecture, urban studies, and digital media programmes.

The Warburg Institute is safe for now

The University of London has a duty to maintain the Warburg Institute ‘as an independent unit’ and must rethink the high fees it charges it for the use of its premises, according to a High Court ruling last week. The institute was accepted by the university under a deed of trust in 1944: the action was taken to clarify the exact terms of that agreement as existing arrangements became untenable.

TEFAF’s birthday present to Zurbarán

The Museum Kunstpalast in Düsseldorf and the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Hartford have won major grants from TEFAF Maastricht to restore significant Zurbarán paintings in their collections. The announcement was made on 7 November, the Old Master’s birthday.

St Louis Society sells again

The Archaeological Institute of America is considering taking action against the St Louis Society after it sold two pre-Columbian items at auction yesterday – just weeks after it controversially deaccessioned an important group of ancient Egyptian items, which the Met stepped in to buy before it got to Bonhams.

Van Gogh Murder Mystery

The story of Van Gogh’s suicide is one of the most famous in art history. But is it all a lie? According to Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith in Vanity Fair’s December issue, the tragic genius was murdered. Maybe the musical will have to devise an alternative ending.