The week in art news: the decline and fall of Louise Blouin, V&A seeks Taylor Swift superfan, university cancels ‘satanic’ sculpture and more…

The New York Times charts the gradual, then sudden decline of art world mogul Louise Blouin, who appeared in a bankruptcy court in mid-February. In the 2000s, Blouin flaunted her connections, ambition and business ideas, by the 2010s her publishing company was an industry joke. The article by Jacob Bernstein details Blouin’s blunders, but leaves us wondering, if Blouin wasn’t paying rent, or her employees, where exactly did all that money go?

Nude painting commissioned by Jeffrey Epstein sold at auction. Annie Armstrong reports in her Wet Paint column that Limor Gasko’s painting of a naked woman in a bathroom, reportedly based on a photograph owned by Epstein, sold for $8,500 at Neely Auctions, Florida. Armstrong notes the impeccable provenance of the work, which was captured in footage of an FBI raid on Epstein’s home.

Rare Richter revealed: an early mural painted by Gerhard Richter at the German Hygiene Museum in 1956 has been uncovered. It was painted over in 1979, partly due to the artist’s defection from East to West Germany. In 1994, Richter refused a proposal to restore the work, but in 2022, the ageing artist changed his mind.

Deja vu: another mural discovered at Paul Cézanne’s childhood home. This is the tenth to be found at the Bastide du Jas de Bouffan in Aix-en-Provence. The other nine were transferred to canvases in the 19th century, but this one remained hidden under plaster and wallpaper. The heavily damaged mural, which has been named Entrée du port (Entrance to the Port), appears to show ships masts and harbour buildings.

Cuban collector credited with making Miami’s contemporary art scene dies. Rosa de la Cruz died aged 81 on Sunday morning at her home in Miami. De la Cruz moved to the US in 1962 and settled in Miami in 1975. Her collection, housed in a 30,000 sq ft private museum, included works by Christopher Wool, Mark Bradford and Ana Mendieta, and installations by Assume Vivid Astro Focus and Ugo Rondinone.

Last chance to get your Reggie Dwight deals: Sir Elton John’s Atlanta condo estate sale ends this Wednesday. The singer-songwriter has sold off a wide array of furniture, fashion, and ostentatious objet d’art at Christie’s, New York. These include a pair of rocket-shaped silver cocktail shakers ($50,400), his 1970s glam rock silver platform boots ($94,000), and his 1990 Bentley Continental Convertible ($441,000) as well as erotic photographs by Richard Avedon, Helmut Newton and Herb Ritts.

Meanwhile, in Moscow, a painting by Ivan Aivazovsky sold for $1M, but there’s doubts over its identity and the sale’s legality. Ukrainian officials and press claim the work, named Moonlit Night, was stolen from a Mariupol museum, while the Moscow auction house says it’s actually a different painting with the same name, bought in Sweden in 2008.

Canadian school teacher faces lawsuit for running art class ‘sweatshop’. Montreal middle school teacher Mario Perron was discovered flogging his 13 year old pupils’ art on mugs and tote bags for up to $100. Perron hadn’t sought their permission and was apparently keeping profits to himself. Parents have now opened lawsuits against Perron and the school board.

Galleries goin’ out west: Michael Werner Gallery and Perrotin are the latest galleries to open up Los Angeles locations. Events such as Frieze LA have helped grow the city’s art scene, and draw east coast galleries out west. Michael Werner will launch with a show of Markus Lüpertz and Pierre Puvis des Chavannes’ work, while Perrotin opens on Wednesday with a show of Izumi Kato.

V&A opens applications for Taylor Swift ‘superfan’. The museum is looking to hire an expert in ‘Swiftie culture’ to advise on their contemporary culture collection. The museum has previously hired experts on Toby jugs, Pokemon cards, Gorpcore and Lego. Plaster says: do they really care about rare Swiftie artefacts, or are they just chasing headlines?

Birmingham faces 100% cuts to arts and culture budget. In September last year, the council filed a section 114 notice, effectively declaring itself bankrupt. In an effort to make savings, the council is likely to cut all arts and culture funding at the end of the year. Organisations at risk of losing regular income include Ikon Gallery and the Birmingham Royal Ballet.

University of Houston, Texas caves to anti-abortion protesters, cancels opening ceremony of ‘satanic’ Shahzia Sikander sculpture. The golden statue representing the ‘divine feminine’ with rams horn hair was first shown in Madison Square Park, New York. It’s due to go on display in Texas, however the university cancelled the opening ceremony and talk, following pressure from an anti-abortion group. “Disobedience to God certainly should not be esteemed by society, much less lauded with a statue,” said the group.

News updates: The balloon dog has landed… sort of: after a seven day voyage, Jeff Koons’ Moon Phases sculptures arrived on the lunar surface. However a last-moment mistake left the unmanned lunar lander lopsided. It’s expected that the doomed spacecraft will run out of power in the next 24 hours. The Helen Frankenthaler Foundation has filed a motion to dismiss the ongoing court case with former board member, Frederick Iseman. The filing claims, “Angered and embarrassed that he lost the confidence of the Directors, Iseman filed this action in a fit of spite, seeking to tar the Directors’ reputations.” The Egyptian government has stopped the ‘renovation’ of Menkaure’s Pyramid, following international outrage and just a few mocking news items. Last month, videos showed workers installing granite blocks on the ruined monument. Egypt’s Minister of Tourism and Antiquities halted the project, after a report described the plan as ‘impossible’.