Hey art girl, how’s it going? It’s been a pretty long week so we’ll forgive you if you’d rather give yourself some R&R than catch up on the latest art news. Luckily for you, we never miss a beat. So, here’s all the art new you missed while you indulged in a spot of self-care!
ART
Amy Sherald’s Breonna Taylor Portrait Acquired By Major Museums
Amy Sherald’s now iconic portrait – and former Vanity Fair cover – of Breonna Taylor has been jointly acquired by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture and the Speed Art Museum in Louisville, Kentucky. Sherald produced the painting for Taylor’s family, to keep her alive forever. We love that the work is jointly acquired by an institution in Breonna’s hometown of Louisville. Proceeds from the sale will go towards social justice reform efforts.
Banksy Shares Video Of Collab With Bob Ross
You may think that Banksy and Bob Ross are worlds apart, but not for much longer! A new film posted to Banksy’s Instagram shows Banksy spray painting the side of a building while Bob Ross gently gives him instructions in the background. The clip is genius and we’re sure whether you’re a Banksy fan or not, you’ll love it! Banksy’s film depicts the making of a new work recently spotted on the side of England’s Reading Prison, showing a man escaping down the side of the building with a typewriter. Many speculate that the work is a comment on freedom of speech on social media. The prison is actually vacant, and the UK government put it up for sale in 2019 in the hope of it becoming an arts centre. In a way, thanks to Banksy, it kind of has.
FASHION
Maria Grazia Chiuri Champions Female Illustrators
In the run-up to the Dior AW fashion show – which debuted on International Women’s Day, of course – Maria Grazia Chiuri championined female illustrators over on her IG feed. Dior asked five young female illustrators to reflect on female creativity and how it is used to portray a better world featuring Noriko Okaku, Fayolle Marion, Bárbara Cerro, Teresa Cherubini and Aisha Madu. We love it!
Faye Wei Wei Makes Art For H&M X Simone Rocha
As if we weren’t already excited for H&M’s collection with Simone Rocha, they have also teamed up with superstar artist Faye Wei Wei to make artworks and to be part of a film for the new collection. The images are stunning!
MARKET
Beeple NFT Work Reaches Third Highest Price Ever For Work By Living Artist At Auction
We’re all tired of hearing about non-fungible tokens, but this historic auction result from Beeple is a sure sign that they’re not going away any time soon. Bidding started at just $100 for the single lot online sale of Beeple’s ‘Everydays: The First 5000 Days’, and ended at a staggering $69,346,250, marking the third highest price ever paid for the work of a living artist at auction. It is a huge result, which Christie’s have described as a watershed moment in the history of digital art. We couldn’t agree more!
A Burnt Banksy Has Been Digitised And Is Now For Sale As NFT
More Banksy news! This time, it is all over those pesky NFTs. morons, a work made in 2006 pokes fun of a sale of Van Gogh’s Sunflowers, with Banksy writing on the work “I can’t believe you morons actually buy this sh*t.” The work has now been burnt by crypto fans who preserved it using blockchain technology. They are now auctioning it via OpenSea, but if you want to get your hands on this, you’ll need to pay in Ethereum.
Karl Lagerfeld Collection Up For Sale Through Sotheby’s Monaco
The fashion world all wept when we said goodbye to Karl Lagerfeld, but now they could get their hands on some of his collection. We’re not sure when exactly the sale will be, but rumours are that it will be in the second half of 2021 at Sotheby’s, Monaco. The designer was said to have a huge collection of both art and furniture.
Text Lizzy Vartanian
