$50M Pollock Fails to Sell; Obama Center Reveals 28 Art Commissions; Mexico City's Kahlo Museum Reopens

June 9: $50M Pollock Fails to Sell; Obama Center Reveals 28 Art Commissions; Mexico City's Kahlo Museum ReopensA week after the spring season closed at $1.8B, a different Pollock tells a different story — one that didn't sell. This week we read the top of the market: a stalled private sale, a single-owner collection coming to Christie's, the Da Vinci archive reunited, and a busy week for museums.In this episode:The Pollock That Didn't Sell- Sotheby's private sale of Pollock's "Number 19, 1951" failed to launch (June 2), per Artforum- Owned by dealer Arne Glimcher; reportedly priced ~$50M; no buyer found- Context: Pace Gallery cutting ~50 artists; CEO Marc Glimcher called the mega-gallery model "unfixable" (Artnet)- Artnet asks whether the mega-gallery model is collapsing; Asia recalibrating, India surging- Read: pressure concentrated at the top — the 8-figure trophy tier and the mega-galleries built to sell itArt at the Obama Presidential Center- $850M campus opens late June in Jackson Park, Chicago's South Side; designed by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects (Hyperallergic)- Built as a community center as much as a presidential library — museum tower nicknamed the "Obamalisk," plus an NBA-regulation court, a Chicago Public Library branch, playground, and gardens- 28+ commissioned contemporary works: Mark Bradford "City of the Big Shoulders" (3-story Chicago painting); Jack Pierson "HOPE" (marquee letters at entrance); Idris Khan "Sky of Hope" (text from Obama's 2015 Selma speech); Nick Cave & Marie Watt tapestry; plus Carrie Mae Weems, Jenny Holzer, Theaster Gates, Lorna Simpson, Maya Lin- Curatorial team: Virginia Shore, Crystal Moten, Louise Bernard- Scrutiny: South Side gentrification concerns — rising rents, displacement, and whether the campus meets its community commitmentsA Counterpoint at Christie's- Christie's announces the Collection of the Hon. Patrick and Lady Amabel Lindsay — outstanding works across six specialist sales, June-October- Pattern: single-owner collections with provenance still draw competitive bidding, even as the open trophy market hesitatesScholarship and the Digital Question- Leonardotheka platform reunites Leonardo da Vinci's "Codex Atlanticus" digitally for the first time in 400+ years (Artforum)- Institutions are retaining intellectual ownership of the digital reconstruction- The market angle: who controls the digital rights to cultural assets is becoming its own questionInstitutional News- Museo Dolores Olmedo, Mexico City, reopens after a six-year closure — holds the world's richest collection of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera works (The Art Newspaper)- FotoFocus Center opens in Cincinnati, giving the city's photography biennial a permanent home (The Art Newspaper)- Italian art workers announce a nationwide strike- Venice Biennale: adviser Thomas Rom shares his picks from this year's edition (ARTnews)In Memoriam- Julio Le Parc, Franco-Argentinian father of interactive art, died in Paris on May 30 at age 97 — pioneer of kinetic and Op art; last surviving co-founder of the Groupe de Recherche d'Art Visuel (Artforum)Week Ahead- Sotheby's Art & Design — Barbara Gladstone Collection, New York — June 9 (today)- Art Basel — June 18 (press accreditation deadline window open this week)Also from ALT/FNDATA:- Open Bid — Mon-Fri at 6 AM ET- Closing Price — Mon/Wed/Fri at 5 PM ET