Art Industry News is a daily digest of the most consequential developments coming out of the art world and art market. Here’s what you need to know on this Wednesday, March 22.

NEED-TO-READ

A.I.-Generated Work Not Eligible for Copyright – The U.S. Copyright Office has published a policy stating that if an A.I.-generated work’s traditional elements of authorship were produced by a machine, the work lacks human authorship and will not be eligible for copyright registration. However, if it can be proved that a human contributed a meaningful amount of creative effort to the final output, it will be eligible. Expect many court cases about this in the near-future. (The Register)

HSBC Launches Art-Finance Offering – The bank is piloting a service in Hong Kong that enables its high-net-worth clients to get loans by using “passion assets” such as artwork as collateral. The bank is promoting it this week, during Hong Kong Art Week, via a series of events—including a dinner hosted by none other than Pharrell Williams. (SCMP)

Museum Tilts Paintings in Comment on Climate Crisis – In a smart comment on global warming, the Leopold Museum in Vienna, Austria, rotated 15 of its paintings by a “few degrees” to represent the degrees by which planetary temperatures could rise due to the climate emergency. Famous works by artists including Egon Schiele and Gustav Klimt are now hanging on a slant; this same museum was the site of an action by climate activists, who poured oil on a Klimt painting (it was protected by glass) in November. (Monopol)

Biden Designates Two New Monuments – U.S. president Joe Biden designated the Avi Kwa Ame National Monument in Nevada and the Castner Range National Monument in Texas. The move will protect around 515,000 acres of public lands. The Avi Kwa Ame area, a sacred mountain to many local Native tribes, was being considered by energy developers for a wind farm, but those plans have been dashed by the national monument status. (Courthouse News)

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Richard Mille Art Prize Awarded – Rand Abdul Jabbar is the winner of the second Richard Mille Art Prize and the accompanying $60,000 prize, awarded in a ceremony at the Louvre Abu Dhabi. The Iraqi-born, Abud Dhabi-based artist’s work “engages with historic accounts and memory.” (TAN)

Export Ban Extended for Sir Joshua Reynolds’s Portrait of Omai – In a bid to keep a work on its soil, the U.K. government extended an export ban on the 1776 Portrait of Omai, a painting of a Polynesian man who was brought to England by Captain Cook in the 18th century. The portrait is able to stay in the U.K. until June 10, buying the National Portrait Gallery extra time to collect a total of £50 million ($60 million)—so far, it has raised £25 million ($30.5 million) it needs to keep the work. (Press release)

Nino Meier Plans Second NYC Outpost – Following the opening of its outpost in Soho, Nino Meier has planned a new location in Tribeca set to open in May 2023. (ARTnews)

FOR ART’S SAKE

Do We Love the ‘We ❤️ NYC’ Logo? – The new logo debuted by the Partnership for New York is meant to reference the original (and beloved) Milton Glaser design, but to also “push it in a different direction.” The new logo was designed by artist Ryan McGinness, who offered his services for free, and released a statement describing his decisions about the case and font.  (New York) (New York Times)

Digital billboards showing the new logo on March 20, 2023 at Times Sqaure to recall a famous logo which was designed by a legendary graphic designer Milton Glaser in 1976 to promote New York during tough times. Photo by Selcuk Acar/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images.

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