The Passing of Several Legends, and More

The last half of June painted a picture of highs and lows for the art world, with a number of movers and shakers shuffling jobs, while many mourned the deaths of some legendary figures, including Italian Arte Povera king Luciano Fabro, German photographer Bernd Becher, and School of Visual Arts co-founder Silas H. Rhodes. Here’s the latest on those happenings—please help ARTINFO keep our readers up-to-date by sending announcements to NewsEditors@artinfo.com.

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NEW YORK—Silas H. Rhodes, who, along with illustrator Burne Hogarth, founded the School of Visual Arts, died on June 27 at his home in Katonah, N.Y, The New York Times reports. He was 91. Rhodes and Hogarth started the school in 1947 as the Cartoonists and Illustrators School, and built it into the SVA, one of the nation’s most sought-after colleges of art and design. According to the Times, the school started out with a faculty of just three people, 35 students, and a budget mostly supplied by the G.I. Bill (Rhodes served as a pilot during World War II).

Rhodes grew up in the Bronx, earned a bachelor’s degree from Long Island University, and master’s and doctorate degrees from Columbia. He taught humanities at the SVA, and served as its president for six years. During those years, the school grew to become the largest independent college of art in the United States, with 2,700 students. More than 3,000 undergraduates and graduate students are currently enrolled.

NEW YORK—The World Monuments Fund—a nonprofit organization that protects architectural and cultural sites around the world—has named W.L. Lyons Brown as its new chairman, Bloomberg reports. Brown, who succeeds Marilyn Perry, chairwoman since 1990—has served as U.S. ambassador to Austria and chief executive of Brown-Forman Corp.

NEW YORK—Christie’s International has appointed Levina Li as Vice-President, Director of Business Development for Asia. Li served as director of partnership and alliances at the Financial Times newspaper for four years, developing luxury strategies and promotional campaigns. She also served as marketing and communications director for the Asia Pacific at Lanvin, director and vice president at Turner Entertainment Networks, and Asia regional director for Elite Model Management. In her new role, Li will be based in Hong Kong and oversee daily business development activities for the region, including developing new partnerships and refining private client development strategies for Christie's in the region.

ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y.—The Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College has named curator Maria Lind as director of the graduate program for its two-year Master of Arts in Curatorial Studies. Lind, whom the center calls “one of the most accomplished curators of her generation,” is currently director of the International Artist Studio Program in Stockholm, Sweden. She has also served as director at the Munich Kunstverein, curator at Moderna Museet in Stockholm, and founder of London’s Salon 3. She takes over the post—succeeding Norton Batkin—in January, 2008.

MILAN—Luciano Fabro, artist, theorist, and father of the Arte Povera movement, died June 22 in Milan, The New York Times reports. He was 70. Fabro, who began his art career at the age of 12, was born in Turin, Italy, and raised in the Friuli region of Udine. He was self-taught and influenced by the work of Lucio Fontana and Yves Klein. Fabro was best known in Europe, but the San Francisco Museum of Art held a 25-year retrospective in 1992, and New York’s Barbara Gladstone Gallery represented him in the 1990s. According to the Times, “Fabro was often at odds with the movement’s prevailing aesthetics, saying in one interview that he felt like the ‘heretic of the Arte Povera church.’”

BIRMINGHAM, England—The Barber Institute of Fine Arts has appointed its first female director, Ann Sumner, The Birmingham Post reports. Sumner, who is currently serving as head of fine art for Amgueddfa Cymru Museum-Wales, based at the National Museum Cardiff, will take over the position in October. She replaces Richard Verdi. Sumner, who will be the museum’s fifth director, has served at the National Portrait Gallery; the Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester; Dulwich Picture Gallery; Harewood House Trust; and the Holburne Museum, Bath.