A1 News Roundup: The Strange Saga of Basquiat's High-School Notebook, Camille Paglia Trashes Contemporary Art, and More Art News

- THE BIG STORY -

In Animal New York, Matt Harvey digs through the thorny and legally baroque history of the "SAMO© high-school notebook," a compendium of adolescent scribblings that the young Jean-Michel Basquiat made with his early street-art co-conspirator Al Diaz, and which has oddly ended up at Yale's august Beinecke Library after disappearing from another Basquiat friend's closet. Whether or not the book—which was bought by Yale for as much as $40,000, and is now the subject of a lawsuit—is of more than anecdotal value to art history, its background provides a bracing glimpse into how a young artistic genius found himself at the cost of breaking from his closest friends.

- QUOTE OF THE WEEK -

"I would have loved to paint Eartha Kitt, but she's no longer here. I'm so glad I had the chance to meet her. Some friends of mine took me to the Carlyle for my birthday to see her perform. She represented the beauty, charisma, and strength that I really like about women. She'd gone through so much in her life as a person, as a spokesperson, as an artist, as a musician, and she's so universal and powerful." - Artist Mickalene Thomas, whose "Origin of the Universe" show has just opened at the Brooklyn Museum to much critical acclaim, in an interview with Chloe Wyma. (Watch a video studio visit with her here.)

- MUST READ -

A Surprise Turner of Events - Three more J.M.W. Turner paintings have joined the world after the BBC's "Fake or Fortune" show took a second look at a trio of seascapes that the National Museum Wales thought were fakes and concluded that, no, they were the real deal. (NYT)

M. Wells Returns at PS1! - The foodie-worshipped Queens diner that got ignominiously shut down last year has officially opened its new experimental eatery at MoMA PS1, serving up horse (supposedly) and other avant-garde delicacies to contemporary art fans. (Gallerist NY)

Michael Miller Did Not Eat Horse - It wasn't yet on the menu, but he did sample a "succulent" clam chowder and a "damn fine sandwich" with steak tartare at the much-hyped eatery when it opened on Thursday. (Gallerist NY)

Now Netanyahu Is a Performance Artist, Too - The Israeli prime minister has been inducted into the history of performance art by Tablet in honor of his recent U.N. appearance, which involved not an empty chair but a giant cartoon bomb. (Tablet)

Columbus Like You've Never Seen Him Before - Artist Tatzu Nishi has installed an artificial living room more than six stories above the middle of Columbus Circle, allowing visitors to get up close and personal with the 13-foot-tall statue of Christopher Columbus while enjoying the area's marvelous views. (Hyperallergic)

The Second Coming of Piss Christ - The highly controversial (and previously vandalized) Piss Christ by Andres Serrano returns to New York as part of an upcoming survey of the artist's work from the past 25 years that opened on Thursday at Edward Tyler Nahem Fine Art. (Artinfo)

Much More MoMA - Following in the footsteps of the National Gallery of Art in Washington and  major European institutions like Tate Modern, starting in May 2013 the Museum of Modern Art will be open seven days a week-though admission will still run you a cool $25. (MoMA)

"The Art World Committed Hara-Kiri" - So says a surprisingly conservative Camille Paglia on a tour of the Metropolitan Museum of Art to talk about her new book, Glittering Images: A Journey Through Art From Egypt to Star Wars. (NYT)

- ART MARKET -

Brooklyn Museum to Auction an Yves Klein - The institution plans to tap into the raging market for the blue-loving French artist by deaccession a "Sponge Relief" painting at Christie's for an expected $7 million-$10 million, using the proceeds to buy more 21st-century artworks. (NYT)

Was the First EXPO CHICAGO a Success? - "Yes," writes Julia Halperin, summarizing the feelings of dozens of dealers she spoke to about the art fair's debut. (Artinfo)

NADA Releases Gallery List - The Miami flagship of the beloved indie art fair will return for its 10th anniversary this December with over 60 galleries plus 26 project booths, adding up to what NADA director Heather Hubbs calls "the strongest edition to date." (Gallerist NY)

White Cube Goes to Brazil - The blue-chip London gallery will open a new outpost in São Paulo this December with a show by Tracey Emin, gaining a foothold in the country's rampaging economy in a year when both the São Paulo Biennial and the ArtRio art fair gained unprecedented international attention. (Press Release)

Art Fairs for Sale - It appears that Merchandise Mart is looking to sell the Armory Show, Volta, and Art Platform-LA, which, depending on the buyer(s), could be good news for fans of the fairs. (Art in America)

- IN & OUT -

The New Museum has decided to turn its Festival of Ideas for the New City, a symposium-cum-block-party they hosted in 2011 to discuss the future of urban life, into a biennial event under the new name Ideas City. (NYT)

The Brooklyn Museum has released the results from its crowdsourced GO Brooklyn initiative earlier this month that invited people into the studios of artists all throughout Brooklyn and to vote on their favorites, with the winners getting a chance to be shown in an exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum later this year. (Artinfo)

Los Angeles police recovered most of bond trader Jeffrey Gundlach's stolen $10 million art collection after the financial whiz offered a $1.7 million reward for its return (though the red Porsche it was stolen in remains at large). (LAT)

Artist Walead Beshty has cut ties with his longtime gallery Wallspace, becoming a "free agent" until he inevitably becomes snapped up by another dealership. (Gallerist NY)

Chelsea art dealer Andrew Edlin has bought the annual Outsider Art Fair, which will return in January, through his company Wide Open Arts. (Gallerist NY)