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THE HEADLINES
THE HEIST OF THE CENTURY. On Sunday, four masked thieves broke into the Louvre in Paris in broad daylight. Within minutes, they had entered the gilded Galerie d’Apollon on the museum’s first floor, smashed several glass cases, and escaped on motor scooters with millions of dollars’ worth of 18th-century royal jewels, reports Daniel Cassady for ARTnews . Later that day, the French Ministry of Culture revealed exactly which eight pieces were stolen. While no one was injured, the brazen theft has sparked outrage across the political spectrum in France. Right-wing lawmaker Jordan Bardella called it “an intolerable humiliation for our country” on X. Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin said bluntly on France Inter radio, “What is certain is that we have failed, since people were able to park a furniture hoist in the middle of Paris, get people up it in several minutes to grab priceless jewels, giving France a terrible image.” President Emmanuel Macron wrote on X Monday, “The theft committed at the Louvre is an attack on a heritage that we cherish because it is our History.” The Louvre remained closed on Monday as investigations continued and the race to determine how the security failure occurred intensified. Also that day, France Info reported that a forthcoming state audit had already documented major security lapses at the museum.
SOLD AGAIN. Pemberton Asset Management, a European private credit manager, has acquired Bonhams from the private equity firm Epiris for an undisclosed sum, reports George Nelson for ARTnews. The news was announced in an email to staff from Hans-Kristian Hoejsgaard, chairman of Bonhams’s board, and seen by ARTnews . He added that the ownership change would coincide with the departures of Chabi Nouri, Bonhams’s global CEO, and Céline Assimon, chief commercial officer. Epiris acquired Bonhams in 2018 and oversaw a phase of significant growth. During that time, it added several smaller regional auction houses to its portfolio, including the Nordic firm Bukowskis, New England–based Skinner, and Danish house Rasmussen. In June 2022, Epiris further expanded Bonhams’s reach by acquiring the French auction house Cornette de Saint Cyr. The move brought Bonhams’s total number of salerooms worldwide to 14.
THE DIGEST
Gagosian is rewriting Art Basel rules and will bring a rediscovered Old Master painting by Rubens to the fair in Paris this week, which usually only allows post-20th-century artworks. [ARTnews]
A Jewish International Film Festival in Sweden has been postponed after cinemas would not screen the films due to apparent safety and security concerns. The festival was supposed to celebrate 250 years of Jewish life in Sweden and was scheduled to run from Nov. 29 to Dec. 2. [Associated Press and News10 ABC]
In other Paris news, the city’s Drouot auction house has announced that in November, it will sell a previously unlisted painting by Auguste Renoir, depicting his young son, Jean. The c. 1890 painting titled The Child and His Toys – Gabrielle and the son’s artist, Jean, is estimated to sell for between $1 million and $1.5 million. The painter’s son, Jean Renoir, born in 1894, went on to become an award-winning filmmaker. [ France 24 and AFP]
A climate protestor interrupted George Osborne’s speech at the British Museum’s £2,000-per-ticket Pink Ball, holding a sign reading “DROP BP NOW” to protest the museum’s £50 million BP sponsorship. Osborne replied, “It is great to live in a democracy.” [The Art Newspaper]
THE KICKER
OBAMALISK. The Obama Presidential Center is rising up from Chicago’s South Side Jackson Park, but as the New York Times reports, not everyone is pleased about the chunky, obelisk-like structure that has been nicknamed “the Obamalisk.” While the multi-use cultural center, including contemporary artworks and installations, was not meant as “just, you know, a celebration of my presidency,” as Obama put it in an interview for the story, in many ways, that is just what it is. In fact, the former president wanted the main, eight-story tower on the center’s “campus” to reach higher than initially planned, while not being too “imposing.” It reportedly grew by 45 feet as a result, and to balance this, the mostly windowless façade has been decorated with an etched texture, and a tall, narrow window. Julie Mehretu, Maya Lin, Kiki Smith, Nicka Cave , and Richard Hunt are just some of the artists whose work is being featured on the site. But some locals worry about the privatization of the public park land, and that the project will gentrify the neighborhood. “How do we ensure that the city of Chicago does not let this be another case of something that was supposed to help Black folks actually hurt them?” asked Dixon Romeo, the executive director of the group Southside Together.
