Congress increases funding to NEA and NEH

Our daily round-up of news from the art world

Congress increases funding to NEA and NEH | The US Congress has passed a $1.3tn spending bill in which funding to the National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities will increase by some $3m, reports the New York Times. This slight boost in funding comes despite a presidential proposal to slash federal support to the two agencies in 2019. According to the Associated Press, President Trump appears to have threatened to veto the bill, but reportedly signed on the advice of House Speaker Paul Ryan. The President’s first federal budget for 2018 proposed dramatic cuts to the two bodies, but also failed to pass.

The Art Newspaper publishes international visitor figures survey for 2017 | The Art Newspaper has revealed the findings of its international visitor figures survey for 2017. The report has found that overall visitor numbers to government funded UK museums continued to fall last year, reflecting a pattern of decline stretching back to 2014. However, Tate Britain and the V&A both saw significant increases in visitors, largely due to popular temporary exhibitions. The most popular exhibition in 2017 was a show dedicated to ancient Buddhist sculptures by the Japanese artist Unkei at Tokyo’s National Museum. The Louvre retained its title as the world’s most popular museum, attracting more than 8m visitors.

Centre Pompidou announces architects for Brussels satellite | The Centre Pompidou’s plans to transform a disused art deco garage in Brussels are taking shape, reports the Art Newspaper. The museum has announced that the project will be led by three architecture firms: ces noAarchitecten (Brussels), EM2N (Zurich) and Sergison Bates architects (London). The project will be known as the Kanal-Centre Pompidou, and will be chiefly funded by the Brussels-Capital Region.

Petition urges Hertfordshire Council to reconsider selling public art collection | Some 900 people have signed a petition urging Hertfordshire Council to reconsider selling as much as 91 per cent of its public art collection, reports a-n. The council is planning to make an initial sale of 428 items from its collection, which includes works by John Nash, Edward Wadsworth and Peter Blake. It intends to consider options for the remaining 1,232 works later this year.

Former Studio Museum building to be demolished | A building in Harlem that once housed the Studio Museum is to be razed as part of a development, reports Artforum. Located at 2033-37 Fifth Avenue, the property has been the premises of the Elizabeth Dee Gallery since 2016. The gallery, which represents artists including Ryan Trecartin and Adrian Piper, has confirmed that it is searching for new premises.

Andreas Rumbler to join Lévy Gorvy | Christie’s executive Andreas Rumbler is to leave the auction house for private dealership Lévy Gorvy, reports ArtNet. Rumbler, who has served as chairman of Christie’s Switzerland since 2010, will head the gallery’s new Zurich office, offering art advisory services across central and northern Europe.

Recommended reading | In Le Monde (French language article), Sandrine Blanchard reports on a campaign to identify and prevent sexual harassment at Paris’s École des Beaux-Arts. In the Guardian, Jonathan Jones visits Damien Hirst’s exhibition at Houghton Hall, describing it as ‘decent summer entertainment’ but perhaps not great art. Meanwhile on SFMoMA’s Open Space, Anna Khachiyan argues that the liberal, artistic response to Donald Trump’s presidency has been inadequate and a little embarrassing.