The week in art news: Live piglets stolen from exhibition, Hilma af Klint art could be locked away, Georgia O’Keeffe protégé dies, and more…

Juan Hamilton, protégé of Georgia O’Keeffe, dies at 79. Hamilton was a close companion and sole beneficiary of O’Keeffe, inheriting much of her $90M estate. Born in 1945, he grew up in South America and later pursued art, eventually meeting O’Keeffe in 1973 while working as a handyman at the ranch where she lived. Their relationship, often debated, saw him caring for her in her final years. Hamilton’s art career briefly flourished, but he later focused on preserving O’Keeffe’s legacy. He passed away in Santa Fe due to complications from a subdural hematoma, which occurred several years ago, according to his wife Anna Marie Hamilton.

Architect Ricardo Scofidio dies at 89. Scofidio had a profound impact on the American museum landscape, highlighted by projects like the MoMA’s 2019 expansion and the Broad in Los Angeles. He co-founded the firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro, which was known for blending architecture with artistry and reshaped spaces like the Lincoln Center and the High Line in New York. His legacy extends beyond architecture; he won the MacArthur “genius” grant and held exhibitions at venues like the Whitney Museum and MAXXI in Rome.

Chair of Hilma af Klint Foundation plans to lock art away. A power struggle has erupted over the future of the presentation of the artist’s legacy. Erik af Klint has advocated for Hilma’s paintings to be sequestered in a private temple accessible only to spiritual seekers. His stance opposes recent exhibitions and commercial ventures, leading to legal disputes with the foundation’s trustees, who have argued that restricting access contradicts Hilma’s intent. With a legal battle ongoing, Erik has threatened to resign, deepening tensions over whether Hilma’s legacy should remain in line with her spiritual principles or be shared widely with the public.

Phillips’ London sale flops. The auction house’s Modern and contemporary sale on 6th March was estimated to bring in between £16.4M to £24.2M, but only reached £12.2M for the 29 lots. Despite pulling in big names like Picasso, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Joan Mitchell, very few works found buyers, according to The Art Newspaper. The Phillips sale completes a week of staggeringly different results for sales across the auction houses, with Christie’s Surrealist sale emerging as a clear winner, fetching over £130.3M – double the £62.5M achieved at Sotheby’s rival sale of Modern and contemporary works.

In more auction news, Christie’s first AI art sale brings in over $728k. Despite thousands of signatures on an open letter calling for the auction’s cancellation, the sale ploughed ahead selling 28 of the 34 lots, including works by Refik Anadol, Charles Csuri and Harold Cohen. The letter claimed that many of the works “were created using AI models that are known to be trained on copyrighted work without a license,” The Art Newspaper reports. After the sale ended on 5th March, Christie’s digital art specialist Nicole Sales Giles stated that they aimed to “spotlight the brilliant creative voices pushing the boundaries of technology and art. We also hoped collectors and the wider community would recognise their influence and significance in today’s artistic landscape. The results of this sale confirmed that they did.”

A very merry Chrismas: Los Angeles dealer Doug Chrismas temporarily avoids jail time. The Ace Gallery founder was due to go to prison on 17th February for embezzling over $260k from the gallery’s bankruptcy estate, but surprised attendees at Frieze LA by appearing at the VIP preview despite his impending imprisonment. Chrismas had his self-surrender date delayed pending an appeal, which cited concerns over his health and continuity of care. Prosecutors argued against further delays, citing flight risks, particularly due to potential deportation as a Canadian citizen. Despite initial denials for extended release, he remains out of custody pending further court motions.

Saving bacon: starving piglets stolen from controversial exhibition. Artist Marco Evaristti’s provocative installation in Copenhagen, titled And Now You Care?, featured three live piglets left in a cage without food or water to highlight ethical issues in Danish pig farming. The controversial show, which included paintings of slaughtered piglets on a Danish flag, sparked significant backlash and caught the attention of animal rights groups. Evaristti has previously used live animals in his work, notably exhibiting goldfish that swam in blenders that could be operated by viewers. According to Sky News, the piglets – who the artist named Lucia, Simon and Benjamin – were taken by animal rights activists and assisted by Evaristti’s friend, Caspar Steffensen, shortly after the show opened.

Art Institute of Chicago to return ancient statue to Nepal. The 12th-century Buddha sculpture will be voluntarily repatriated by the museum after being on display since 1997. Provenance research revealed that the work had been stolen from Guita Bahi in the Kathmandu Valley. The AIC’s provenance research team is one of the largest in America. The institution’s repatriation effort follows from New York’s Rubin Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which have both returned Nepalese antiquities in recent years, some linked to the notorious Indian-American smuggler Subhash Kapoor.

Notre-Dame Cathedral stones raffled to support religious heritage. The cathedral is raffling off around 50 stones from its structure, damaged in the 2019 fire. from the building. Engraved with the cathedral’s iconic façade, the stones weigh about 800 grams each. To participate, donors over 18 must contribute at least €40 by 4th April via the Fondation du Patrimoine website. The foundation, which has already raised €228M of its €840M goal for Notre-Dame’s restoration, aims to preserve France’s religious heritage amidst widespread structural repair needs.

Fragment of the Bayeux Tapestry discovered in German archive. The fragment was removed from the underside of the tapestry during a 1941 re-measuring carried out by the Ahnenerbe, a Nazi organization for the promotion of racist pseudoscientific theories. The rediscovered piece was found at the Schleswig-Holstein State archive in Germany. The tapestry is a UNESCO heritage item and spans 230 feet in length. The piece was found in the estate of textile archaeologist Karl Schlabow and is due to be returned to France this year, with conservation efforts to begin on 31st August.