– Los Angeles Gets a Movie Museum: A partnership between LACMA and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scienceswill establish a movie museum in the May Co. building, currently known as LACMA West. The plan is still in the early stages, but the Academy hopes to sign a long-term lease for the facility and start a fundraisingcampaign some time in the future. This will be, amazingly, Los Angeles's first large-scale museum devoted to filmmaking. [LAT]

– A Fool's Game: Gerhard Richter — whose 1982 painting "Kerze" ("Candle") is expected to fetch £6-9 million ($9-14 million) at Christie's London nextweek — said in a rare public appearance yesterday that the art market "is impossible to understand andit's daft." He added, "It's just as absurd as the banking crisis." The German painter spoke at the press briefing for the opening of his major retrospective, heldat Tate Modern through January 8. [Reuters]

– Atomic Artist's Residencies: Cern, theGeneva-based physics laboratory home to the world's largest particleaccelerator, has initiated a three-month art residency program to begranted to the winner of an open competition, the Prix Ars Electronica Collide@CERN.Besides the opportunity to work in Cern's premises monitored by leadingscientists, the prize's recipient will receive a €10,000 ($13,327)stipend. [TAN] 

– Hauser & Wirth Signs Rashid Johnson: Theartist known for making sculptures and installations that exploreAfrican American identity and culture has joined the stable ofHauser & Wirth and will have his first solo show with their New York gallery in January. Johnson, whose work was featured in this year's Venice Biennale, called the gallery "a perfect fit" for him and his work. Congratulations! [Observer]

– London Mayor's Bike Helmet Design Surprises at Auction: London mayor Boris Johnsonwas the engine behind the sale of several bike helmet designs —including his own — to help raise money for programs at a local park.Johnson's decoration was purchased by art collector Anita Zabludowicz for £10,000 ($15,470) — one of the top prices in the sale and more than some major participating British artists, including Sir Peter Blake, Keith Tyson, and Gavin Turk. [The Telegraph]

– Dali Swindler Scandal: An amateur art collector fromWestchester County is suing a Los Angeles dealer, the dealer's "Salvador Dali Society" (unaffiliated with the official Gala-Salvador Dali Foundationin Spain), and a third-party appraiser for misrepresenting the worth oflittle-known Dali works and allegedly swindling him out of at least$75,000. The collector says that "The Atomic Champagne Glass" — apainting that the dealer and appraiser affirmed to be worth $350,000 —fetched only $33,000 at Christie's. [Courthouse News]

– Profiling the Profiler: The honoree at tonight's Whitney Gala, New Yorker scribe Calvin Tomkins is profiled by the New York Times. His impressionistic but simple writing style is the subject of much praise. "I love him because he would rather say house than edifice," says artist John Baldessari. "He's not a critic, really," notes New Yorker editor David Remnick. "He is more of a portraitist." Other fun facts about Tomkins gleaned from the piece: he drives a white Jaguar, is on his fourth marriage, and is currently working on a profile of Carl Andre. [NYT]

– Third Prix Pictet Commission Unveiled: The third Prix Pictet Commission has been awarded to Seattle-based corporate lawyer turned photographer Chris Jordan.The commission, awarded by the private Swiss bank Pictet & Cie, willgive Jordan the opportunity to fly to north Kenya and produce a seriesof over 30 photographs of the Nakuprat-Gotu Conservancy, where the bank has undertaken an environmental sustainability project. [Press Release]

– New Director of Museum Ludwig: Philipp Kaiser has been appointed director of Museum Ludwig in Cologne. Kaiser is currently a curator at LACMA. [Artforum]

– Chatting with Dan Colen: The Huffington Post sits down with artist Dan Colen for an eight minute-long chat in which the artist manages to say very little at all. He touches on his career choice ("I really wanted to be in the NBA, but thatdidn't work out"), his artistic process ("It's not natural, it's allreally formulated"), and his crowd-pleasing candle paintings ("I don'tpaint them randomly, but there's no theme to the text"). [Huffington Post]

– A Revamped Musée d'Orsay Soon to Open: About 1,000artworks have been re-hung for a €20 million ($26.6 million) renovationof France's most prestigious museum of 19th century art, spearheaded byits director Guy Cogeval. The impressionist gallery has been transformed by architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte, while Brazilian designers the Campana Brothers are in charge of the new café. The so-called "Nouvel Orsay" is due to open on October 20. [L'express]

– Texas Women's Museum Shutters: The Women's Museum at Fair Park in Dallas will close at the end of the month after 11 years due to financial struggles. In 2009, the museum reported a $1.3 million deficit. Works in the collection, most of which are on loan, will be returned to their original owners, according to a spokesperson. [The Republic]

– David Chipperfield's Hepworth Gallery Wins British Design Award: The £35 million ($54 million) building has been selected by the public from among a shortlist which also included London's St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel. The gallery, which is located in Wakefield, Yorkshire, and contains artworks by Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore, has attracted more than 250,000 visitors since its opening last May. [BBC]

– Chicago's Marilyn Sculpture Put to Good Use: The city of Chicago has finally found a good use for its much-maligned public sculpture of Marilyn Monroe. During a rainstorm, scores of resourceful Chicagoans were caught standing beneath her billowing skirt, using it as an umbrella. [ITA]