Briefing

• Art collector Kenneth C. Griffin has reportedly broken the record for the most expensive private sale of art, spending USD$300 million for Willem de Kooning’s Interchange (1955), and around USD$200 for Jackson Pollock’s Number 17A (1948). In December of 2015, Griffin donated USD$40 million to the Museum of Modern Art, New York, one of the largest gifts received by the institution in its 85-year history.

• Jose Carlos Diaz has been named as the new Milton Curator of Art for The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, following Bartholomew Ryan’s departure in 2015. Diaz, whose previous roles include curator of exhibitions at The Bass Museum of Art, Miami, and project coordinator at the Liverpool Biennial, will assume the position in May. 

• The Metropolitan Museum, New York, has revealed its new logo to a mixed reception, being described by New York Magazine’s vulture.com as ‘a typographic bus crash’. Designed by London-based branding firm Wolff Olins, the symbol will replace the iconic ‘M’ that has been used by the institution since 1971. 

• As dada marks its centenary, the Cabaret Voltaire in Zurich – the birthplace of the movement – is seeking USD$13.1 million to purchase the building from insurance company Swiss Life and become financially autonomous. In 2002, the Cabaret evaded private investment thanks to a group of artists called the neo-Dadaists, who occupied the building. But with its sponsorship deal with watch manufacturer Swatch coming to an end several years ago, the birthplace of dada faces closure once more. 

• Russian artist and activist Pyotr Pavlensky has been disqualified from one of the country’s largest art prizes, The Innovatsiya Prize, a decision that has led to widespread accusations of censorship and the resignation of several senior committee members. Pavlensky was nominated for his work Threat: Lubyanka’s Burning Door (2015), a performance that saw the artist set fire to the Federal Security Service (FSB) headquarters in Moscow. 

• Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni has signed an agreement with UNESCO to set up a task force of cultural heritage experts in an attempt to conserve cultural sites affected by crises around the world.