Artist Knox Martin Dies at 99, Yayoi Kusama and Louis Vuitton Ready Next Collaboration, and More: Morning Links for May 24, 2022

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The Headlines

KNOX MARTIN, the New York School artist who made vividly colored, boldly painted canvases that pushed postwar postwar Abstract Expressionism into Pop- and Hard Edge–inflected territory, has died at 99, the Art Newspaper reports. “His approach was a little bit more cerebral,” dealer Hollis Taggart, who began representing him in 2019, told TAN, arguing that Martin’s works in the 1960s “have a decorative quality that’s different from anything else that was being done at the time.” The painter won particular notice for his large-scale murals that graced the sides of buildings. Veteran New Yorkers may recall seeing his charismatic Venus (1970)—red, egg yellow, and pink shapes emblazoned on the side of the Bayview Correctional Facility in West Chelsea, along the West Side Highway. Around 2010, it was mostly covered by a new residential tower.

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POWER LISTS. The Sunday Times released its annual “Rich List” of Britain’s wealthiest, and the highest-ranking art worlder is patron Leonard Blavatnik, with an estimated wealth of £20 billion ($25.2 billion), the Art Newspaper reports. Meanwhile, Russian collector Roman Abramovich , who was sanctioned by the U.K. earlier this year, took a hit in the rankings, with the paper writing that his net worth fell from £12 billion to £6 billion. Also, Time’s “Time 100” list is out, highlighting today’s “most influential,” and it includes artist-activists Faith Ringgold (with an item written by Studio Museum director Thelma Golden) and Nan Goldin (by journalist Patrick Radden Keefe), who just won the 2022 Käthe Kollwitz Prize from the Berlin Academy of Arts, per Artforum.

The Digest

Acting on a tip, Italian police recovered a circa 1512 portrait by Titian that went missing in 2004. The piece was found in Asti, Italy. Two Swiss citizens are under investigation in connection with the case. [Forbes via Artnet News]

There may be a serial art thief on the loose in San Antonio, Texas. Three art dealers have reported burglaries over the past month, with more than $70,000 of material stolen. [San Antonio Express-News]

Louis Vuitton is readying its second collaboration with artist Yayoi Kusama. The new line of fashion and accessories will drop in January. [Penta]

The Milan dealer Gió Marconi talked about his path to becoming an art dealer. Failed art students, take note: Marconi wanted to be a photographer, but “I only lasted one day,” he said. [Domus]

Artist Carsten Höller grabbed some more press for his high-concept new Stockholm resto Brutalisten, and it has to be said that he knows how to give an interview. One choice quote: “I don’t want flowers on my food, ever. It disturbs me.” Also, here is his view on traditional Swedish cuisine: “I really got fed up with mayonnaise culture.” [The Guardian]

A LOOK INSIDE. The Royal College of Art in Battersea, London, has add a sprawling Herzog & de Meuron–designed studio building, and the Guardian has sumptuous photographs. Collectors Andrew Penn and Kallie Blauhorn live in Prahran, Australia, in a capacious warehouse space where they also show their collection; Vogue Living paid a visit. And artist Hannah Polskin gave a tour of her live-work loft in Los Angeles to Architectural Digest property Clever.

The Kicker

FLOWER POWER. The Superflat king Takashi Murakami just opened a show at the Broad in Los Angeles, and journalist Deborah Vankin writes in the Los Angeles Times that many works “speak to themes of beauty and healing, as well as how catastrophic events often trigger creativity, bonding and resilience.” The artist told Vankin, “Trauma is very important to the understanding of life. Maybe in the near future, when I am making my pieces, it’s with the message to young people: ‘life is hell.’ ” [LAT]

Source: artnews.com

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