Xavier Bray to take over at the Wallace Collection

Our daily round-up of news from the art world

Xavier Bray appointed director of the Wallace Collection | The Wallace Collection has announced that Xavier Bray, currently chief curator at the Dulwich Picture Gallery, will replace Christoph Vogtherr as director when the latter departs for Hamburg in October. Bray has been at Dulwich since 2011, and was previously curator of paintings at the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum and assistant curator of 17th- and 18th-century paintings at London’s National Gallery. ‘I look forward to welcoming Dr Bray and to working with him as we continue to ensure the financial stability of the museum,’ said Wallace Collection chairman António Horta Osório. Read more about the appointment here.

Russian artist gives Human Rights award to jailed guerrilla group | Russian artist Pyotr Pavlensky, the recipient of this year’s Vaclav Havel International Prize for Creative Dissent, has given the award to imprisoned guerrilla group Primorye Guerillas. Pavlensky, who was arrested last year after setting fire to the doors of a security service building, is himself currently in detention in Russia. According to Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty (via ArtNet News), Pavlensky’s girlfriend Oksana Shalygina accepted the $42,000 prize on his behalf before stating that it was his wish that the cash be transferred to the Primorye Guerillas, who were arrested for allegedly carrying out a series of attacks on police in 2010.

100 works of art donated to Pérez Art Museum | Property developer Craig Robins has donated 100 works of art from his personal collection to Miami’s Pérez Art Museum. The donation – one of the largest in the museum’s history – includes large-scale works by Ernesto Neto and Pablo Atchugarry. Robins’s generous bequest is not the first such gift he has bestowed on the museum: in 2013, he donated 102 works to PAMM.

Bronx Museum of the Arts plans major extension | The Bronx Museum of the Arts has announced the launch of a $25 million campaign to fund an ambitious renovation and expansion project, reports the New York Times. In addition to the expansion, designed by Princeton University School of Architecture dean Monica Ponce de Leon, the funds will also allow the museum to establish an endowment for the first time.