The week in art news: police seek murdered gallerist’s ex-husband, Frieze boss in helicopter mountain rescue and more…

Brazilian police are now searching for the ex-husband of murdered art dealer Brent Sikkema. The suspected killer, Alejandro Prevez, testified that Daniel Sikkema paid him $200,000 to commit the murder because he was unhappy with the divorce settlement. Prevez claimed that Daniel Sikkema lived a life of luxury on the alimony payments, spending “a lot of money on drugs, parties and prostitutes.”

Charity auction of artist’s own skin cancelled. The Austrian performance artist Wolfgang Flatz was due to auction off his tattooed skin at Munich’s Pinakothek der Moderne. The individual lots were pulled at the last moment as a single buyer was found who would ‘prefer to keep the collection intact’. Flatz’s skin will be delivered to the new owner after the artist’s death.

Helicopter mountain rescue for Frieze Masters director Nathan Clements-Gillespie. A video posted on Monday to his Instagram Stories showed a medical helicopter landing on a snow-covered peak, this was followed by pictures of Clements-Gillespie lying in a hospital bed and sitting in a wheelchair. We wish him a quick recovery.

It belongs in a museum: stolen van Gogh goes on show. The Parsonage garden at Nuenen in Spring (1884) was stolen in 2020 from the Singer Laren Museum, Netherlands, during a Covid 19 lockdown. The painting was recovered in 2023 by ‘Indiana Jones of the art world’ Arthur Brand and is now on show at the Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam.

Controversy over $4M bill to return Chagall painting: Over Vitebsk (1913) was sold in 1934 by German Jewish gallerist Francis Matthiesen, and was acquired in 1949 by MoMA. In 2021, a company hired by Matthiesen’s family arranged the return of the painting in exchange for $4M. Matthiesen’s family are now suing the company that recovered the painting, claiming it breached their contract by arranging the payment to MoMA.

The $63M question: why is a painting by Rene Magritte going to auction at Christie’s? The 1958 painting L’ami intime (The Intimate Friend) has spent the past 40 years in a private collection and was last shown in public in 1998. We reckon there’s three possible answers: death, debt, or divorce.

Loewe Foundation Craft Prize shortlist announced. The 30 finalists will have their work shown at the Palais de Tokyo from 15th May – 9th June. The winner will be announced on 14th May and will be awarded €50,000. If you’re in Paris for the big event, don’t get caught out… it’s pronounced low-ev-ay.

Everyone gets their four minutes: a rare chance to see Andy Warhol’s Screen Tests at Christie’s Los Angeles. This Frieze Week LA, Christies and the Andy Warhol Museum are showing a selection of the artist’s four-minute film portraits of celebrities and Factory guests, including Dennis Hopper, Bob Dylan, Salvador Dalí and Lou Reed.

In: American multi-media painter Raymond Saunders joins David Zwirner. Courtney J. Martin to lead Rauschenberg Foundation. It’s happening again: David Lynch’s club Silencio, beloved by the art world, opens a second venue in New York.

Out: Bye-bye, Bonhams, Bonhams goodbye. CEO Bruno Vinciguerra steps down. Frozen out: Russia won’t participate in the 60th Venice Biennale. And the former Italian junior minister of culture Vittorio Sgarbi resigned after claims that he laundered stolen art. In a letter to the country’s president Georgia Meloni, Sgarbi suggested more ministers should be investigated. When questioned by TV journalists, Sgarbi called them ‘ignorant as goats’, wished they would die in a car crash, and threatened to expose his genitals… watch below.

Pressed by the reporters of the programme Report, the undersecretary for culture Vittorio Sgarbi insults them and threatens to pull out his penis in front of the cameras.

Jan 29, 2024 pic.twitter.com/AxkKkqJZKk

— Crazy Ass Moments in Italian Politics ?? (@CrazyItalianPol) January 29, 2024