Pinault collection opening in Paris postponed to spring 2021

Our round-up of news from the art world 

Bourse de Commerce – Pinault Collection opening postponed to spring 2021 | It was announced today that the opening of the Bourse de Commerce in Paris (originally scheduled for this June), which will house part of François Pinault’s personal art collection, has been pushed back. After an initial postponement to this autumn, the launch is now provisionally scheduled for spring 2021.

Oxford professor arrested in connection with alleged papyrus theft | A student newspaper in Oxford reported on Thursday that Dirk Obbink, a professor of papyrology and Greek literature, was arrested last month in connection with the alleged theft of 120 biblical papyrus fragments from the Sackler Library, some of which have been traced to the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C. Thames Valley Police confirmed that it was investigating the alleged theft and had released Obbink while its inquiries continued.

Canada’s top art award shares prize funds between longlisted artists | Also on Thursday, The Sobey Art Foundation and the National Gallery of Canada announced that the Sobey Art Award, a prize for artists under 40, would not be awarded this year in response to the ongoing pandemic. Instead, the prize money and funds earmarked for artist residencies and an annual gala (making $625,000 CAD in all), would be shared among the 25 longlisted artists. Ron Sobey, chair of the Sobey Art Foundation, said, ‘These extraordinary, historic, and challenging circumstances will have a profound impact on the livelihoods and practices of artists across Canada and around the world.’

Association of Art Museum Directors relaxes rules about use of restricted funds | On Wednesday the board of trustees of the Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD) agreed not to censure or penalise museums that use restricted funds, trusts or donations for operating expenses, for a period until April 2022. It also agreed on a policy that allows members to deaccession works from their collections only for the purpose of looking after the rest of the collection. ‘This is a crisis without precedent in our lifetime, with global implications and with a timeline that unfolds as we live it,’ said the organisation’s president Brent Benjamin, who is the director of the St Louis Art Museum.