By Dan Duray and Sarah Douglas 2/29 5:31pm

Whitney Biennial 2012

5 Photos

Sienna Shields, Chuck Close

Werner Herzog Doesn’t Like Art, and Other Tales From the Whitney Biennial Opening

Visitors to the Upper East Side last night who live their lives in utter ignorance of art and the art world must have wondered: Was the Whitney Museum hosting a Rolling Stones concert? A line of eager visitors stretched down Madison Avenue, and turned the corner onto 74th Street. A closer look would have revealed protesters, Teamsters, unfurling banners–the locked-out art handlers from Sotheby’s. No, this wasn’t a Stones concert at all. It was the Whitney Biennial! New Yorkers are into this sort of thing; it was the night’s hot ticket.

The line really wasn’t so bad. Those who had to stand outside were given chocolate-chip cookies. The artist Nicola Tyson received one, as well as a horn blast in the face by one of the Teamsters. Read More

By Dan Duray 2/29 5:21pm

lawsuits

The work in question.

Helly Nahmad Gallery Offers New Defense in Modigliani Lawsuit

The billionaire art-dealing Nahmad family recently offered a new defense in an ongoing lawsuit that accuses its gallery of owning a work by Amedeo Modigliani that was stolen from its original owner by the Nazis. Philippe Maestracci, the heir to the collection that he says should include that work, has sued for its return, but the Nahmads recently offered a new defense that says they don’t technically own the work. Read More

2/29 5:00pm

Art Fairs

artMRKT Hamtons co-founders Max Fishko and Jeff Wainhause.

Hamptons Vs. Hamptons Redux! artMRKT Hamptons Returns for Second Year to Take on Older, Larger Fair

The deluge of art fairs in March is almost upon us, but we’re already looking ahead to the summer. ArtMRKT Hamptons, the art fair that spun off from the larger ArtHamptons for its inaugural event last year, will be returning to Bridgehampton in 2012. Last year, about 35 galleries from across the country participated, trekking to the Bridgehampton Historical Society the week after ArtHamptons opened in a big air conditioned tent down the road. This year’s fair, happening July 19-22, will be a bit larger, with 45 galleries heading out to South Fork to try and appeal to New York’s summer beach crowd. Read More