New London openings during Frieze
German art dealer Johann König — founder of König Galerie, which runs two spaces in Berlin — has announced plans to open a third gallery space in London. The new space will be located in a former parking lot in Marylebone area. Despite being neighbors with with several high-profile London galleries König’s new space will work as an “experiment” at the crossroads between commercial space and showroom. The new gallery will be named König Archiv & Souvenir and it will open on October 5, coinciding with Frieze. More information via artnet news.
For their part, collectors Irmina Nazar and Artur Trawinski have announced the launch of the European ArtEast Foundation, an organization supporting and promoting exhibitions of Eastern European art, focusing on the timespan between the 50s and the 60s, a period “that was ignored in Eastern European art history” according to curatorial advisor Maria Rus Bojan. The foundation will also launch in London during Frieze week. ARTnews has more.
Maria Rus Bojan, Artur Trawinski and Irmina Nazar. Courtesy European ArtEast Foundation.
Two Francis Bacon works to feature at Christie’s this October
Francis Bacon, Study of Red Pope, 1962, 2nd Version. (1971) Courtesy Christie's.
The auction house has announced that two pope paintings by Francis Bacon will feature at their Post-War & Contemporary Art sale, set to take place in London during Frieze week. The two works are the artist’s last pope painting: Study of Red Pope, 1962, 2nd version (1971) — which hasn’t been shown since the 1971 Bacon retrospective at Paris’ Grand Palais, and is estimated at £60 million — and Head With Raised Arm, a rare 1955 painting of Pope Pius XII valued at £10 million. Read more on artnet news.
Monaco justice minister Philippe Narmino goes down as part of the Rybolovlev-Bouvier affair
Philippe Narmino.
Narmino has resigned hours after French newspaper Le Monde has published text messages revealing his implication in the Rybolovlev-Bouvier scandal. Rybolovlev has allegedly recruited Narmino and other officials in the Ministry of Justice to help him pursue Yves Bouvier, who was arrested whilst travelling to Monaco in February 2015. More on the stakes of the scandal here.
Artist Coco Fusco and gallerist Sandra Ceballos team up for Cuban art
The artist and the gallerist, founder of Aglutinador, have announced plans to turn the gallery into an educational resource available to the local and international community in the aim of making Cuban art history more accessible to wider audiences. To fund their project, Fusco and Ceballos have launched a Go Fund Me Campaign that has raised $9,840 so far.
