Roundup: Guggenheim Helsinki may be a no-go, Hitler’s birthplace, Verlaine’s gun, Abramovic’s book

The Guggenheim’s European expansion plans appear to be very much in the air. Plus: Interesting doings by a bevy of women architects, French poet Paul Verlaine’s gun is for sale, and Marina Abramovic’s memoir is out this week. Here’s the Roundup:

— Try again, Guggenheim: Finland’s government has dropped plans to help build an outpost of the Guggenheim Museum in Helsinki with government funds. Business Insider

— Meanwhile in New York: Architect Annabelle Selldorf has been chosen to lead the renovation at the Frick Collection. New York Times

— A trio of women architects — Marina Tabassum, Leila Araghian and Zaha Hadid — took key prizes at the Aga Kahn Award for Architecture ceremony earlier this month, one for the design of a mosque. Quartz

— Plus, curator Sonnet Stanfill asks why leadership at the top museums is dominated by men. New York Times

— Adolf Hitler’s Austrian birthplace may (or may not) be demolished. Feargus O’Sullivan writes on why maintaining the dictator’s birthplace may be a more effective way of contending with his bloody legacy than removing it. Citylab

A 2012 file photo of Adolf Hitler’s birthplace in Braunau am Inn, Austria.

(Kerstin Joensson / Associated Press )

— Christie’s in Paris will be selling the gun that Paul Verlaine used to shoot Arthur Rimbaud. ARTnews

— The CEO of the online art-buying service Twyla is facing a lawsuit from former business associates in Austin, Texas, who are alleging fraud. Austin Business Journal

— Wall Street commodities broker Andrew J. Hall may have bought numerous faked Leon Golub paintings from a professor and her son — both of whom seem to have disappeared. New York Times

— MFA enrollment rates may be dropping. Artnet

— Marina Abramovic has a new book out, which means there’s going to be a lot of Abramovic on the airwaves. Herewith: A profile by Carl Swanson and Catherine Wagley’s review of the new tome (and what it does and doesn’t reveal about her work). New York, Los Angeles Times

Performance artist Marina Abramovic in Los Angeles in 2011.

(Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times )

— And because we’re talking about media-soaked art personalities: Independent curator Lauren Christiansen and artist Leah Dixon called out New York magazine critic Jerry Saltz on social media for his racy posts, describing him as “The Donald Trump of Art World Social Media.” Saltz has responded to the essay (“please block me because I’m not here to offend”), while critic Paddy Johnson says the Trump comparison doesn’t hold. Artspace, Art F City

— The Day in Art Merch: $3,000 colored pencils. Not excessive at all. Quartz

— Speaking of excess, a statue of a naked Trump has sold for $22,000. Related: A naked Hillary Clinton sculpture in New York causes a fight. I’m calling a moratorium on naked politician art. I think the electorate has had enough. Los Angeles Times, New York Daily News

— Related: A work of art by Rick Dallago that showed Trump as Humpty Dumpty was vandalized after hanging in a show at L.A.’s Angel City Brewery. Art and Cake

— And one more Trump thing and then I’ll stop: There is a new font inspired by Trump’s handwriting called Tiny Hand. And it’s available for free. Buzzfeed

— All those wind and solar farms? Welcome to the world of “energy sprawl.” Undark

Turbines at a wind energy site in Wyoming in 2002.

(David Zalubowski / Associated Press )

— Queue up your Netflix: Citylab is spending the month rounding up scary movies about cities. Up today: “Assault on Precinct 13,” which instigated fears about a South-Central (and by definition a Los Angeles) that had surrendered to chaos and crime. Citylab

— Brutalism is back. T Magazine

— The 10 most bizarre architectural photographs. Dezeen

— And last but not least, Benedict Cumberbatch’s dramatic reading of Sol Lewitt’s famous letter to Eva Hesse. This is wonderful. Hyperallergic

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