Changes are Afoot at the Armory Show
This year’s Armory Show, which took place back in March, was the first with Benjamin Genocchio at the helm. Genocchio, the former Editor-in-Chief of Artnet News, succeeded in his goal to expand the twenty-two-year-old fair’s global reach, welcoming 204 galleries from thirty-six countries worldwide—the fair’s largest international representation to date. For next year’s iteration, Genocchio aims to break down the barriers between modern and contemporary art at the fair. Click here to continue reading. (via Artnet News)

Montblanc Aims to Expand Its Corporate Collection
In an effort to beef up its corporate art collection, Montblanc—the German manufacturer of luxury jewelry, watches, writing instruments, and more—has appointed independent curators Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath as the co-chairmen of its cultural foundation. The duo, who co-founded the multidisciplinary curatorial platform Art Reoriented, will increase the number of contemporary art commissions by emerging artists at Montblanc’s Hamburg headquarters. Click here to continue reading. (via The Art Newspaper)

A Look at How Auction Houses Secure Big-Ticket Consignments (Hint: They Don’t Come Cheap)
As competition among auction houses has increased dramatically in recent years, so have the stakes for securing big-ticket works of art. While major auction houses like Sotheby’s and Christie’s have long-waived seller commissions for star lots, the companies are turning to more radical measures to lure top collectors. Known as an “enhanced hammer,” auction houses are now waiving commissions as well as giving seller’s a share of the buyer’s fees. Click here to continue reading. (via Bloomberg)  

The Delaware Art Museum Names a New Executive Director
Sam Sweet, an arts management professor at George Mason University, who previously helmed the Atlas Performing Arts Center in Washington, D.C., has been named Executive Director of the Delaware Art Museum. Sweet, who will replace the museum’s current Director, Mike Miller, will assume his post at the institution on July 1. Click here to continue reading. (via Delaware Online)

At Collective Design, Education and Discovery Reign Supreme
While the start of May ushers in a flurry of fairs, auctions, and exhibitions in New York City, there’s nothing quite like Collective Design. Launched three years ago by the architect/interior designer Steven Learner, the fair is dedicated solely to collectible design, including furniture, jewelry, and decorative objects. But Learner wants visitors to do more than buy at Collective Design—his goal is for the fair to serve as a conduit for education, exploration, and discovery. Click here to continue reading. (via InCollect)

MoMA Offers Buyouts to Long-Time Employees
The Museum of Modern Art in New York is making a few cutbacks ahead of its $450-million expansion project. The institution has announced that it will offer voluntary buyouts to some of its long-time staffers. In order to qualify for the buyouts, the employee must be at least fifty-five years of age and have at least nine years of service at the institution under their belt. Click here to continue reading. (via Artnet News)

A Frank Lloyd Wright Structure in Los Angeles’ Barnsdall Park Will be Restored
Los Angeles councilmember Mitch O’Farrell has announced that Frank Lloyd Wright’s Residence A—the guesthouse for the architect’s iconic Hollyhock House—will undergo a comprehensive restoration. The structures, which are both owned by the city of Los Angeles, are located in Hollywood’s Barnsdall Art Park. The project is expected to cost around $3.2 million. The Hollyhock House—the first residence that Wright designed in Los Angeles—underwent a major restoration last year. Click here to continue reading. (via Curbed LA)   

The Frick Acquires an Impressive Collection of Metal Portraits
The Frick Collection in New York has acquired 450 historical medals thanks to a promised gift from the Stephen K. and Janie Woo Scher Collection. The metal portraits will be exhibited at the museum in 2017. Often overlooked today, metal portraiture was a popular medium in Europe, especially during the period between the fifteenth and nineteenth centuries. Click here to continue reading. (via Hyperallergic)

Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts Will Conserve Two Van Gogh Masterpieces
The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, will conserve two of its most beloved masterpieces—Vincent van Gogh’s House at Auvers and Enclosed Field with Ploughman. The project will involve removing varnishes from both of the paintings’ surfaces. Guests of the museum will be able to watch conservators at work thanks to the institution’s glass-enclosed “Conservation in Action” space. Click here to continue reading. (via WBUR)

For Sale: A Modern California Retreat & Mona Lisa’s Tuscan Villa (Yes, That Mona Lisa)
1. This cool California estate boasts astonishing views of the entire Santa Barbara coastline. This spectacular home combines two of California’s defining features—an effortlessly cool aesthetic and breathtaking views. Perched on 160 acres in Santa Barbara County, the 4,780-square-foot home was designed by Barbara Bestor, a Los Angeles-based architect known for her unique brand of West Coast modernism. Click here to continue reading. (via InCollect)

The Baltimore Museum of Art Appoints a New Director
Chris Bedford, the Director of Brandeis University’s Rose Art Museum in Waltham, Massachusetts, has been named Director of the Baltimore Museum of Art. Bedford will join the institution in August, filling a void left by Doreen Bolger, who retired from her post in 2015. Before his tenure at the Rose Art Museum, Bedford worked for a number of illustrious institutions, including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the J. Paul Getty Museum. Click here to continue reading. (via The New York Times)  

The Judd Foundation Will Expand Donald Judd’s Catalogue Raisonne
The Judd Foundation, which maintains, preserves, and provides access to the permanently installed spaces and archives of Minimalist Donald Judd in New York City and Marfa, Texas, will expand the artist’s 1975 catalogue raisonne. While an official publication date has not yet been set, the Foundation has announced a public call for works, which aims to supplement current data. Click here to continue reading. (via Blouin ArtInfo)

The FBI Searches the Home of a Mobster Tied to the Gardner Heist for the Third Time
On Monday, May 2, FBI agents searched the Connecticut home of Robert Gentile—a former mobster long-tied to the Gardner Museum heist—for the third time. Agents searched Gentile’s residence and property, digging up a portion of the suspect’s yard. The 1990 theft at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, which remains unsolved, is one of the most devastating art heists in history. Click here to continue reading. (via The Atlantic)

A Hidden Isamu Noguchi Work Has Been Discovered in a U-Haul Facility
A sculpted ceiling designed by Isamu Noguchi has been discovered in a St. Louis U-Haul office. Created in 1946 for the Magic Chef stove company, the work has been hidden from view for decades. U-Haul acquired the building in 1977, but the Noguchi ceiling wasn’t revealed until the company launched a renovation project two years ago. Click here to continue reading. (via Artnet News)

Spring Masters Offers an Eclectic Mix of Art and Design
When Spring Masters New York debuted at the Park Avenue Armory in 2014, it filled a considerable hole in the city’s spring arts calendar. Specializing in art from every period, including contemporary art and design, the fair is a distinct departure from the typical American art fair model, which tends to be less all-encompassing. James Carona, Owner of Heather James Fine Art, says, “I appreciate the eclectic mix of artwork at the fair—you might see a modern master’s painting beside a classical sculpture. Spring Masters sets itself apart in this eclecticism.” Click here to continue reading. (via InCollect)

The Diamond of the Century Heads to Auction
On June 29, Sotheby’s London will auction the largest rough diamond found in over a century. The 1190-carat stone was discovered in a mine in Botswana by Lucara Diamond Corp. in November 2015. The diamond, which is estimated to be around 2.5 billion to 3 billion years old, will go on view at Sotheby’s New York ahead of the sale.  Click here to continue reading. (via Blouin ArtInfo)

Aby Rosen Pays $7 Million in Back Art Taxes
Real estate tycoon and well-known art collector, Aby Rosen, has been ordered to pay $7 million as part of a settlement with New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. Since 2002, Rosen had failed to pay taxes on $80 million worth of art that he either purchased or commissioned. His vast collection includes works by big-ticket artists such as Damien Hirst, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Cy Twombly, Andy Warhol, and Pablo Picasso. Click here to continue reading.(via The New York Times)

The Hirshhorn Museum Has Announced a Major Yayoi Kusama Exhibition
The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., has announced a major Yayoi Kusama exhibition, slated to open next year. The survey will feature six of the artist’s immersive Infinity Rooms, which are extremely popular among museum-goers. The mirror-lined chambers, which are  filled with dazzling LED lights, will be complemented by over sixty paintings and sculptures as well as archival material. Click here to continue reading. (via The Art Newspaper)

Italy Will Dedicate One Billion Euros to Museum Restoration
On Monday, May 2, the Italian government announced that it will spend one billion euros to restore thirty-three of the country’s museums and cultural heritage sites. The monumental investment will involve revamping a number of well-known attractions, including the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, the Reggia di Caserta palace near Naples, and the ancient Roman ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum. The government hopes that the investment will draw an increased number of tourists to Italy’s myriad cultural treasures. Click here to continue reading. (via The Telegraph)  

A Look Back at the Kips Bay Decorator Show House’s Most Memorable Interiors
It’s well known that the Kips Bay Decorator Show House is the gold standard of interior design events. Launched in 1973 by supporters of the Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club, the project has grown into a must-attend event for design enthusiasts, attracting thousands of visitors from New York and beyond each year. Now in its 44th year, the 2016 Kips Bay Decorator Show House, which opens to the public on May 12, will take place in the Carlton House Townhouse on East 61st Street.  Click here to continue reading. (via InCollect)

The Jewish Museum Will Host the U.S.’ First Exhibition on Architect Pierre Chareau
On November 14, the Jewish Museum in New York will unveil the country’s first exhibition dedicated to Pierre Chareau. While the French architect is widely unrecognized today, Chareau was extremely prolific during the twentieth century and his landmark building, the Maison de Verre, is recognized as one of Paris’ most important Modernist structures. Pierre Chareau: Modern Architecture and Design will remain on view through March 26, 2017. Click here to continue reading. (via Archinect)

Cooper Hewitt Announces National Design Award Winners
The Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum—the only institution in the country devoted exclusively to historic and contemporary design—has announced the winners of its seventeenth annual National Design Awards. Conceived to honor lasting achievement in American design, this year’s recipients include industry leaders working across a range of disciplines such as the architect Moshe Safdie and the San Francisco-based interior design firm Studio Q&A. Click here to continue reading. (via The New York Times)

A Long-Lost Rembrandt Goes on View at the Getty
On Wednesday, May 11, a long-lost work by the Dutch Golden Age painter Rembrandt will go on view at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. Painted when the artist was only eighteen, The Unconscious Patient (An Allegory of Smell), is one of Rembrandt's earliest works. The painting, which surfaced at a New Jersey auction house in September, has not been on public view in centuries. Click here to continue reading. (via The Los Angeles Times)  

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Receives a Painting by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts has received a painting by the German Expressionist Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. The canvas, Sand Hills in Grünau, was donated to the institution by the heirs of its original owner—the writer Max Fischer, who abandoned his art collection before fleeing Nazi Germany in 1935. The work was recently returned to Fischer’s heirs by the Museum of Modern Art, which purchased the work from a local gallery in 1949. Click here to continue reading. (via The Wall Street Journal)

“A Real Creator of Creators,” How Mabel Dodge Luhan Catalyzed Southwest American Modernism
In February 1914, Marsden Hartley wrote to Alfred Stieglitz from Berlin: “Mabel Dodge is really the most remarkable woman I ever knew…a real creator of creators.” 1 In January, Mabel had written an introduction to Hartley’s exhibition at Stieglitz’s gallery, 291, later published in the June 1914 issue of Stieglitz’s journal Camera Work. Hartley would be one of the first, and most important, of the numerous modernist artists and visionaries Mabel drew to Taos, New Mexico. Click here to continue reading. (via InCollect)