The week in art news: Olympic opening ceremony outrage, Van Gogh soupers convicted, “Wish you were gay” billboards destroyed and more…

What was your favourite part of the Paris 2024 Olympics opening ceremony? The terrible weather? The €1,500+ tickets? Snoop Dogg? Lady Gaga’s Emily in Paris accent? The pure distillation of Frenchness that was a torchbearer doing parkour to techno? If you said “drag queens recreating Jan Harmensz van Biljert’s painting The Feast of the Gods (1635)” then you might be satanic, woke or a threat to the French Republic et cetera. This piece of Eurovision-style camp got all the worst people fired up, with many believing it was some kind of DEI Da Vinci Last Supper. Clearly, they don’t know their art history. Perhaps the IOC should reintroduce art into the Olympic Games after all.

$1.3M Picasso recovered in corruption investigation. Artnet News reports that the drawing, Trois femmes nues et buste d’homme (1969), was bought at Christie’s New York in May 2014 by Jasmine Loo Ai Swan, the former general counsel of Malaysia’s sovereign investment fund, 1MDB. US federal authorities are investigating a ring of former 1MDB employees over accusations of corruption and embezzlement. Loo agreed to hand over the drawing to US authorities, as well as details of a Swiss bank account that contained funds embezzled from 1MDB. A number of other artworks are being sought by prosecutors, including works by Andy Warhol, Vincent van Gogh, Claude Monet, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Diane Arbus.

Jack Shainman Gallery claims collector owes $300,000. Alex Greenberger at Artnews reports that the New York gallery is suing James R. Hedges IV and his gallery, Hedges Projects, claiming that he failed to pay for 19 artworks consigned to him between June 2022 and May 2024. The lawsuit hasn’t revealed which artworks were consigned, however multiple signs point towards photographs by Andy Warhol. Do you know? Drop us a tip.

Copyright row over late queen snapshots. Artist Chris Levine is being sued by the Jersey Heritage Trust over holographic portraits he made between 2003 and 2004 of Queen Elizabeth II. The trust commissioned Levine to make the portraits, and now claims that he has breached its copyright over the images by making unauthorised copies and now owes them multiple millions of pounds. Levine denies the allegations and described the case as “pointless and wasteful,” according to The Art Newspaper.

Anne Imhof billboards vandalised in “hate crime”. The artist installed six billboards saying “Wish You Were Gay” in the main high street of the Austrian city of Bregenz. The billboards were destroyed on the night of 23rd July in “an act of violent aggression” that Imhof described as a “hate crime”. Over the next few days, local people responded with their own messages of support. The billboards were replaced on 29th July. “I feel endless gratitude towards everyone who stood by me and showed their support,” wrote Imhof, in an Instagram post.

Just Stop Oil activists who souped Van Gogh convicted. On 14th October 2022, Phoebe Plummer and Anna Holland threw Heinz tomato soup at Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers (1888). The innovative act led to several other similar protests around the world, and heightened security at museums and galleries. The pair were convicted of criminal damage by Judge Christopher Hehir at Southwark Crown Court on 25th July, and told to expect prison time. They will be sentenced on 27th September.

Painter Michaël Borremans and sculptor Andra Ursuta are swapping the gallery for the red carpet, as they feature in Luca Guadagnino’s film Queer, premiering at the 81st Venice International Film Festival (28th August – 7th September). They’ll appear alongside Daniel Craig, Jason Schwartzman and Lesley Manville in the film adaptation of William S. Burroughs’ 1985 novel of the same name. Via Artsy.

Curator TK Smith fired by Barnes Foundation. It’s the latest in a string of 12 cuts to full-time positions that have taken place over the last six months. These include research assistants, curators and the director of finance. Smith was hired in 2022 as Assistant Curator for Art of the African Diaspora, to help “shape” the foundation’s exhibitions and publications. After his firing, Smith told Artnews, “It was clear almost from the moment I entered the door that they did not want this position. They had no intentions to fulfil the promises of the position.”

Let’s go The Met: New York’s Metropolitan Museum has seen a bounceback in visitor numbers, after a severe drop during the Covid Pandemic. Hyperallergic reports that across its two sites, the museum attracted 5.5M visitors between June 2023 and 2024 – slightly higher than its 2019 visitor numbers. The museum also found that the museum attracted more BIPOC visitors than ever before. This is in spite of the museum increasing entry fees in June 2022 to $30.

Scottish art collection sold after institutional falling out. The collection of the Paisley Art Institute was held and displayed in the Paisley Museum. The Scotsman reports that following a £22M refurbishment of the museum that began in 2018, the institute complained about the available display space and the works chosen for the exhibition. The PAI is now selling off part of its collection, which includes works by the Glasgow Boys and the Scottish Colourists, and using the money to relocate to the Glasgow Art Club.

Sotheby’s opens new flagship house in Hong Kong. Sotheby’s Maison, located at Landmark Chater, Central, will host exhibitions and performances as well as auctions. According to Nicolas Chow, chairman of Sotheby’s Asia, the idea is to build “a destination that is designed to challenge your mind, offering a portal to another world.”