New Aspen Art Fair Opens, the World’s Best Art Destinations, Paris Olympics Fail to Reconcile France, and More: Morning Links for July 30, 2024

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THE HEADLINES

HITS DON’T LIE. If the Olympics opening ceremony, which tended to promote cultural diversity and inclusion, seems to have conquered the hearts of most people and papers, The Art Newspaper sees it as proof that France is actually fractured. In light of the country’s recent parliamentary elections—during which ten million citizens voted for the xenophobic National Rally (RN) party—the event can be read as an expression of denial, a bitter pill to swallow despite Lady Gaga‘s or even Céline Dion‘s performances. A spokesperson for RN denounced the ceremony as a “shameful spectacle, ransacking French culture”. The French conservative daily Le Figaro did not appreciate the “woke parade”, which it claimed included “divisive provocations.” The day before, acts of sabotage had halted trains across the country, including those carrying athletes, spectators and high-profile guests to the Games. Singer Aya Nakamura’s performance drew a lot of attention after her being subjected, earlier this year, to racist claims. “Such realities, and the ceremony’s location, meant that the opening took place in what felt like a city under siege, surrounded by a security contingent of more than 50,000 soldiers, policemen and gendarmes, the heaviest military deployment seen in the capital since the Second World War,” writes Vincent Noce.  

TOP 100. Time magazine has released a new list of 100 “extraordinary destinations”, reports Ocula, focusing on art venues. The list is broken down into two categories: places to stay and places to visit—including art museums. Those sites were evaluated on criteria “including relevance, impact, innovation, and success,” with a clear preference for recently opened, renovated, or expanded locations. Buffalo AKG Art Museum, Manchester’s Aviva Studios (home of Factory International), South Carolina’s International African American Museum, and Tokyo’s teamLab Borderless, which all opened in 2023, made the list, as well as, the freshly inaugurated Kunstsilo museum, originally constructed in Kristiansand, Norway, to house grain in 1934, Berlin’s thatch-roofed Reethaus, and Mexico City’s Olivia Foundation. Let’s go!

THE DIGEST

A bid in the tens of thousands of dollars was not enough to move three artifacts from the world’s greatest ever batsman in Adelaide over the weekend. This triple “duck” came as a surprise, for one of Sir Donald Bradman’s history-making bat had previously been sold by Adelaide auction house du Plessis Auctions for a whopping $183,305. [The Advertiser]

A letter written by Napoleon Bonaparte‘s younger brother Lucien, which had been estimated at £350 to £450 was sold for £500 ($640) at an auction by Halls Fine Art Auctioneers and Valuers in Shrewsbury. Lucien Bonaparte’s signature “LB” seal remains on the letter and has been professionally conserved. [BCC]

Aspen’s annual art week has a newcomer: the inaugural Aspen Art Fair. Opening today, the boutique event will take over the renowned Hotel Jerome through August 2. The fair is the brainchild of art-world veterans Becca Hoffman, who previously oversaw Intersect Art and Design, and Bob Chase, the founder of local gallery Hexton. More than 30 international dealers including Perrotin, Southern Guild, and Patron will display their wares at the Jerome’s stylish, newly Michelin Key-awarded spaces. [CULTURED]

Helen Marden got the profile treatment from Ted Loos. “The artist’s new paintings at Gagosian show her working through the loss of her husband, the artist Brice Marden (who died of cancer aged 85), in a hot palette [of] feathers and shells.” The exhibition, title “The Grief Paintings” will run through September 14 at the gallery’s Park-and-75 outpost. [The New York Times]

This summer, Rome’s Galleria Borghese brings key sculptures from Louise Bourgeois’s oeuvre into dialogue with the museum’s collection of ancient Roman art, Bernini and Canova sculptures, Caravaggio, Titian and Raphael paintings, and the villa’s own 17th-century grandeur. It is the first exhibition dedicated to a contemporary female artist and the first devoted to Bourgeois in Rome. [Wallpaper]

THE KICKER

HEIST GONE WRONG. An eye-catching Abraham Lincoln painting by Dallas-based artist Lindsay Ekstrom was hanging at the recent Hamptons Art Fair. The $36,000 portrait, called “Forever Friday”, shows the Great Emancipator dapperly clad in a floral tux jacket with a Rolex, a blinged out diamond ring and personalized cufflinks. “Ekstrom—who specializes in dandified or hipsterized portraits of cultural icons like Albert Einstein with tattoos, Frida Kahlo in overalls or George Washington in a Louis Vuitton jacket—has also painted Lincoln in an Adidas track jacket and jeans. The Lincoln piece that hung at the Hamptons fair had a turbulent history itself: it had been damaged in an apparent art heist gone wrong. “After weeks of investigation we found the truth of what happened and the painting of Abe was recovered,” said Ekstrom. [Page Six]