The week in art news: Groucho Club shuts down, UK artists earnings drop 40%, Goldsmiths CCA gives in to protestors and more…

Artists in shock as Groucho Club licence suspended: The private members club popular with washed-up ‘90s arts and media types has had its licence suspended by Westminster Council because “the Police believe that the premises have failed to uphold the prevention of crime and disorder licensing objective.” In other words, are all the long-held rumours of hell-raising true? In 2022, was bought by Artfarm, the hospitality company owned by Iwan and Manuela Wirth of Hauser and Wirth. At the time, Artfarm said, “the club is a natural fit for Artfarm and shares a common long-term vision or growth.” We wonder if they’re saying the same today…

Pro-Palestine protests end at Goldsmiths Centre for Contemporary Art after the university cuts ties with Israeli donors. In June, the south London university’s gallery was shut down while protestors occupied the building and called for the centre to cut ties with Candida and Zak Gertler. The Gertlers are supporters of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and donated to Goldsmiths in 2017. The university initially resisted, but has now complied with the protestors’ demands, removing the Gertlers’ names from the donor list.

Nan Goldin denounced by German politicians: the Jewish-American artist gave a speech at the opening of her solo show at Berlin’s Neue Nationalgalerie in which she criticsed the “weaponisation” of antisemitism and dismissal of islamophobia as well as the censorship of anyone critical of Israel or calling for a ceasefire, saying “Never Again means never again for everyone.” During the speech, museum director Klaus Biesenbach appeared to push back against Goldin’s claims, and following the event German politicians hit back. Culture minister Claudia Roth said that Goldin’s speech held “unbearably one-sided views on Israel,” sentiments echoed by Berlin’s culture minister Joe Chialo who said Goldin’s speech showed “one-sidedness” and “obliviousness” to history.

600 artists have signed and delivered an open letter to the Tate calling on the gallery to cut ties with donors linked to Israel. Those are the Zabludowicz Art Trust, Zabludowicz Art Projects, and Outset Contemporary Art Fund, which are run by Anita and Poju Zabludowicz and Candida Gertler. The letter notes their links to security and construction firms and those companies “genocidal” roles in the occupied West Bank and Gaza. Signatories include Turner prize nominee Jasleen Kaur as well as Turner Prize winners Helen Cammock, Lawrence Abu Hamdan and Charlotte Prodger.

Bad news as UK artists’ earnings drop 40%. A report by the Design and Artists Copyright Society (DACS) finds median income for visual artists has dropped to just £12,500 ($15,728), well below the minimum wage of £23,795. It gets worse because that figure covers up some big discrepancies: on average, women earned 40% less than men, and disabled artists earned £3,750. 80% of those surveyed said their earnings are ‘unstable’ or ‘very unstable’. DACS puts the drop down to artists moving to EU countries for better deals.

Perhaps artists should take up crime… a $1M smash and grab raid took place last week at the Musée Cognacq-Jay in Paris. The gang of axe-wielding thieves entered the museum on Wednesday morning during visiting hours before smashing a display case in front of terrified onlookers and making off with several snuffboxes, worth up to $1M. Nobody was injured during the raid, which took only three minutes. The museum is now closed until the 10th of December.

Or perhaps they should consider selling their Keith Harings? 31 examples of the late NYC artist’s rare subway drawings went on sale at Sotheby’s Contemporary Day Sale last Thursday and reached a total of $9.2M, easily beating the auction house’s estimate of $6M. The works came from the collection of Larry Warsh, a publisher and keen Haring collector. Lucky larry lived in NYC at the time Haring was working there, and bought the works directly from the people who removed them.

Or perhaps broke artists could start their own blue chip auction house? Last week’s New York sales brought in $1.2B. The priciest item of the week was René Magritte’s L’empire des lumieres (1954), which sold at Christie’s for $121M. A Claude Monet from the collection of Sydell Miller, went for $65.5M at Sotheby’s after a 17-minute bidding war. And who can forget Maurizio Cattelan’s Comedian, a banana gaffer taped to a wall, which sold at Sotheby’s to crypto bro Justin Sun for £6.2M. Just remember, whatever the press and PRs say, the house always wins.

Barbara Hepworth’s unseen letters are up for sale. The 39 letters and five sketches were part of the artist’s 1960-1971 correspondence with Michael Gaskin, the manager of the Art Bronze Foundry, London. The letters demonstrate Hepworth’s close involvement in the casting process and her ‘high standards’ for making sculptures. Works from this period include Bronze Form (Patmos) (1962–3, cast 1963) and Parent I, Parent II and Young Girl (1970). The letters will be sold on 26th November at Chiswick Auctions, London, and are expected to reach between £15,000-25,000.