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Good Morning!
- The artist Lucien Smith died from an accidental overdose of fentanyl and oxycodone, stated the New York City medical examiner’s office.
- A French court has opened a criminal investigation after Paloma Ruiz-Picasso filed a complaint claiming “a large number” of reproductions of silver plates and gold medallions were made using Picasso’s molds without authorization.
- President Trump signed a proclamation Thursday to preserve the Oval Office as a national monument after he covered the room in gold décor.
The Headlines
CAUSE OF DEATH. The artist Lucien Smith died from an accidental overdose of fentanyl and oxycodone, stated the New York City medical examiner’s office Thursday, according to the New York Times. The 37-year-old artist was found dead in his Manhattan home on September 7. Smith became a market darling at a young age and had more recently focused on supporting emerging artists. His new series of Rain Paintings, made by spray painting with an air compressor, is now on display at Tripoli Gallery in Wainscott, NY, titled Delay of Game. “Lucien lives in a wordless place inside us now,” dealer Bill Powers, who showed Smith early on, told ARTnews in September.
POPPING OUT PICASSOS. A court in Aix-en-Provence has opened a preliminary criminal investigation after Paloma Ruiz-Picasso, daughter of Pablo Picasso, filed a complaint in March claiming “a large number” of reproductions of silver plates and gold medallions were made using Picasso’s molds without authorization, reports The Art Newspaper. Ruiz-Picasso’s complaint was made on behalf of nine heirs to the artist. Additionally, the Picasso Administration, which represents the family, said it discovered at least 17 suspicious collections of silver and gold pieces. Though the complaint did not name any suspects, the family also published a warning in the Gazette Drouot titled “Hugo silverware,” referring to Ateliers Hugo, a goldsmith in Aix-en-Provence founded in 1933 by the great-grandson of the author Victor Hugo. His heir, Nicolas Hugo, who took over the workshop and is an art dealer and curator, has denied any wrongdoing to TAN, and said he had not been questioned by investigators at the time of writing. “There have been some duplicates on the market, dating from my father’s period [of running Ateliers Hugo], but I have no idea who had made them in the workshop,” Nicolas Hugo said.
The Digest
Now that the Democratic Party has seized control of Congress, what does that mean for culture, including the debacle over the Smithsonian Institution, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and arts funding? The answer is not a simple one, and time is of the essence. [Monopol]
President Trump signed a proclamation Thursday to preserve the Oval Office as a national monument after he covered the room in gold décor, making it look “like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory,” according to former President Barack Obama. [Associated Press]
The Greek historian Herodotus appears to have been right: Ancient, nomadic Scythian warriors are believed to have inhaled cannabis fumes to get high, per new research by archaeologists who have drug-tested nearly 3,000-year-old human hair excavated in Siberia. [The Times of London]
Ken Griffen paid $250 million for Leonardo da Vinci’s Madonna of the Yarnwinder (ca. 1505), which he loaned to the Met. [Artnet News]
Archaeologists have identified a large, 12th-century Muslim palace garden shaped in the form of a cross in Murcia, Spain. [El Pais]
The Kicker
DAVID ZWIRNER IS NOT MR. FASHION. The Look Book, a column in Curbed, went to Art Basel Paris in October, and despite the shorter fair, snapped a portfolio of portraits featuring a range of personalities spotted there, shown alongside several of their entertainingly honest responses to questions about, well, their looks. You’ll find the art handler Yônah Simonet, who lives in Paris, has bright blue hair, and wanted to wear blue working gloves to match. Not to be forgotten, gallerist David Zwirner is seen comfortably wearing a simple, all-black shirt and slacks with sneakers, as he holds a paper cup and smiles into the camera, as though caught while on his coffee break. “I’m wearing what I wore yesterday and what I will wear tomorrow,” he says. “I’ve been wearing New Balance for 30 years. Usually I wear a T-shirt, but today’s too cool. I couldn’t tell you who made any of this. I’m not Mr. Fashion.” You can’t do it all.
