Arts Spice Up the Olympics, Sotheby’s Opens Retail Store in China, Princess Diana Letters Go to Auction, and More: Morning Links for July 26, 2024

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THE HEADLINES

(RE)TAIL AWAY. Sotheby’s embarks on a new journey with its first-ever retail store. The two-story 24,000-square-feet space, located at Landmark Chater, in Hong Kong’s Central financial district, is set to open this weekend, on July 27, and to burnish Hong Kong’s credentials as a global center for the arts. This project comes after the city’s auction houses reported encouraging spring jewelers sales, although luxury spending has fallen in China. Apart from paintings and other pieces of art typically associated with auction houses, Sotheby’s new “cultural playground” will be stocking books, furniture, Nike x Louis Vuitton crossover sneakers and dinosaur fossils, with prices starting at several hundred dollars. The retail section will occupy one floor of Sotheby’s new premises, while another floor will be for exhibitions.

OLYMPIC TIMES. “2024 isn’t the year of the 13 moons, so we’ll console ourselves with “La Métropolitaine des 13 événements” (The Metropolitan of 13 events)—also a feast for the eyes!”, writes Le Quotidien de l’Art’s editor in chief Rafael Pic in a special issue devoted to La Métropole du Grand Paris’s cultural project for the 2024 Olympics. The event consists of exhibitions, concerts, dances, an opera by Maxime Rossi spreading across various venues. Supported by the Metropole du Grand Paris (Paris and its nearest surrounding suburbs where 7 million people live), La Métropolitaine stretches from Nanterre to Ivry, from Suresnes to Tremblay-en-France. This 13-event project is set to be one of the highlights of the Cultural Olympiad, the Games’ official artistic program. “[The whole thing] mostly shows a real sense of history: before 2024, there was 1924 (when the Summer Olympic Games were also held in Paris), and the present is always best read in light of the past…”, continues Pic. “Photography, painting, poetry, theater, music. It’s all faster, higher, stronger than ever imagined—and always collective. Truly Olympic!”

THE DIGEST

Intimate handwritten letters and cards from Princesse Diana will go under the hammer in Stansted Mountfitchet on July 30. They were sent to Violet Collison – who Diana knew simply as “Collie” – the housekeeper at Park House on the Sandringham Estate, where the princess spent her childhood years. Collie remained close to Diana and sent gifts to both her and the princes, William and Harry, for which Diana responded with thank you letters and Christmas cards. [BBC]

In a recent study using aerial photography and light detection and ranging (LiDAR), archaeologists from ARKIKUS have announced the discovery of a Roman circus at Iruña-Veleia, a former Roman town in Hispania, now located in the province of Álava, Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. The town was an important transit center on the Ab Asturica Burdigalam (Roman road). A Roman circus was a large open-air venue used mainly for chariot races. [Heritage Daily]

Created more than 10,000 years ago, the cave paintings of Roca dels Moros de El Cogul are now coming to life thanks to “Els ulls de la història” (The Eye of History). The narrative project is supported by Spain’s Department of Culture of the Generalitat, which seeks to bring Catalan heritage closer to the public, through new technologies, scenographic innovations, and virtual reality devices. This project is to expand to other sites. [EL PAÍS]

Artist Sean Scully will present a solo exhibition “Away from the Sea” at the He Art Museum (HEM) from August 2 to October 27, 2024. Featuring 40 paintings and sculptures created since the 1960s, the exhibition will trace the artist’s practice spanning over half a century. Fusing the traditions of European painting with the distinct character of American abstraction, his work combines painterly drama with great visual delicacy. [Thaddaeus Ropac]

Demonstrations in Kenya over controversial tax hike proposals began in June as a youth-led movement and have since grown into larger civil unrest. Kenyan president William Ruto last month withdrew the bill, which would have raised taxes on goods like bread, sugar, vegetable oil and money transfers made on mobile phones. Still, protest continue. Agnes Waruguru, a multidisciplinary artist based in Kenya who is part of this year’s Venice Biennale, offered her thoughts in a new interview. [The Art Newspaper]

THE KICKER

DINNER WITH AN ARTISTIC VIEW. To celebrate the summer season, Net-A-Porter and Mr. Porter hosted a chic evening soirée at the Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill, New York. The event began with an outdoor cocktail hour at sunset. After walking past the museum’s spacious entrance, guests mingled with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres in the outdoor sculpture garden. Attendees were dressed in both retailers’ latest High Summer and Pre-Fall 2024 collections. After dark, everyone strolled to the museum’s outdoor patio for a breezy candlelit dinner under the stars. The evening’s menu included grilled watermelon and lobster, heirloom tomatoes with caviar vinaigrette, and branzino with squash blossoms, complemented by a selection of Wölffer wines. A round of espresso, paired with madeleines, petits fours, and miniature macarons, ended the night on a decidedly sweet note. [Daily Front Row]