Archives for September 2009

Where does Anthony van Dyck fit in the history of art? Grabbing the nearest art reference books on my shelf, I find one calling him “the most important Flemish painter of the 17th century apart from Rubens” and another saying “It is not too much to say that he created the English portrait tradition almost single handed.”

The question arose in my mind when a press release from Sotheby’s landed in my email box yesterday announcing that it would soon sell “an outstanding self-portrait” by van Dyke. And:

This masterpiece, which is van Dyck’s last portrait of himself, was painted in London in 1641 in the final months of his life. It is one of only three self portraits that the artist painted in England and it captures him grandly attired in a black and white silk doublet. The painting has been in the same family collection since 1712…It was one of the star exhibits of the recent Van Dyck & Britain show at Tate Britain…It ranks among the most important paintings by van Dyck ever to come to the auction market.

And the estimate? Â£2-3 million, which seems surpringly low. The high end converts to less than $5 million. According to the Daily Telegraph, the record price at auction for a van Dyck is £3,065,250, for A Rearing Stallion, in 2008.

By comparison, the number of contemporary works that have fetched higher prices is ridiculous. Finding examples is like shooting fish in a barrel: to name three, there’s Peter Doig — White Canoe: £5.7 million, Richard Prince — Man Crazy Nurse: $7.4 million, John Currin — Nice ‘N Easy, $5.5 million. Masterpieces?

OK, the market has declined since those prices were realized, but something still seems way out of whack. Whose work would you rather own?  

Photo: Courtesy of Sotheby’s

 

The Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo is scaling back again in response to its economic woes. It will close the Collectors Gallery, which featured the work of local artists, permanently at the end of October.

The Collectors Gallery dates to 1933, according to WBFO, the public radio station that broke the news (here’s the link) yesterday. It said, “The volunteer-run gallery spotlights regional artists and gives the public a chance to become art patrons.”

I checked the museum’s website, and there’s nothing yet about this under Newsroom.

Why is it that so few museums actually put out a forthright statement about things like this? I’m a fan of reporters’ digging out news, but once it’s out there, why not make it official?

While on the site, I went back to the museum’s July statement announcing a three-year plan to address its financial challenges. No mention of the Collectors Gallery then… That was when the Albright-Knox reduced hours to four days a week and said it needed to refocus on its core mission.

Times change, though and — surprise — I agree with the decision. Support for local artists is important at many museums, and I would count Albright-Knox among them. But Director Louis Grachos was not that far off when told WBFO that it was “important that the museum not compete with the many art galleries that have popped up all over the city in recent years.”

He might have mentioned a more important factor, the new Burchfield Penney Art Center across the street (which I wrote about here): It focuses on the art of Western New York State and is off to a great start in its new building.

Interestingly, the July statement has new resonance in light of the controversy at the Cleveland Museum of Art, which wants to dip into revenue generated by endowment funds restricted to acquisitions. The A-K board president Charles W. Banta said then:

Because of the Gallery’s endowment that is restricted for the purchase of works of art, the museum has been able to continue to build its outstanding Permanent Collection despite the current economic climate. The strength of the Collection will ensure that a reduction in operating expenses will not diminish the aesthetic and artistic experience of visitors to the Gallery.

Of course, none of this excuses the Albright-Knox’s deaccessions in 2007, about which many are still smarting.

Photo Credit: Column Structure IX, 2006, Robert Mangold, from an exhibition opening at the Albright-Knox on Oct. 23. Courtesy of the museum.  

I’m not in Grand Rapids, but I’ve been keeping an eye on ArtPrize ever since I mentioned it in April. From afar, it seems to be living up to expectations, at least in terms of excitement.

Monday’s Grand Rapids Press had an article about performance art entries, describing one work as “a live duet between [Ritsu] Katsumata’s riveting electric violin work and [her husband Stafford] Smith’s digital camera shots and film clips flashing on stacks of television sets.” It’s called Fearscape and is ranked as one of the most controversial of the more than 1,200 entries — “a response to the climate of fear perpetuated by the mass media.” It’s also attracting viewers.

ArtPrize organizers have worked hard to create excitement, including holding regular media briefings and scheduling all kinds of events, every day, published online — like this one. Go to its website, and you’ll see pictures of the (current) top vote-getters, including one by Jason Hackenwerth (above right) and one by Terrence Karpowicz (left).

Even they didn’t plan for some things, though — on Sunday night, strong winds blew through the city, damaging some works, according to WOOD-TV8.

And the excitement has spilled over to the commercial galleries, according to the Press, which described gallery traffic here.

The first-round voting continues until Oct. 1 — Thursday — when you can see the top ten entries. They will go to round two voting. It’s hard to tell what this means for art; there are simply too many artist-participants to study from afar, but I did notice a paucity of women among the top 25.

One artist/musician has already captured local sentiment, or maybe wishful thinking: “I think we’re beginning to shift the DNA of Grand Rapids,” he told a reporter.

UPDATED: 9/29: I forgot to post a link to this Detroit Free Press article, perhaps the best roundup of what’s going on in Grand Rapids, with good background and some skepticism.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of ArtPrize 

Art, it turns out, wasn’t just for ladies at the G-20 summit in Pittsburgh last week, which I’ve written about here and here. President Obama decided to give a gift of art to the world leaders in attendance. Inspired by an exhibition at the Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburgh, where the Obamas held a reception on Thursday night at the start of the summit, it’s the glass tree at right, made by Frabel Studio.

Frabel Studio, the Atlanta home of flamework glass artist Hans Godo Frabel, posted this description on its website:

…all of the Tree’s leaves point upward symbolizing success and cooperation; the Tree’s pinnacle shape symbolizes unity and movement towards a common goal; trees are a symbol of strength, wisdom and endurance; glass, a beautiful yet fragile material, symbolizes the fragility of freedom, liberty and our environment; and beneath the Tree’s black wooden base is a 1/2″ stainless steel plate representing Pittsburgh’s former steel industry that is moving to new, environmentally-friendly products…

Well, ok, if that’s what you say. The Obamas, btw, were presented with a glass bowl and some glass frogs by Frabel, a gift from the Conservatory, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

The Phipps exhibit is called Life in the Gardens, and includes these two works, Glass Wavy Bowl (below) and Longfellow Gravity (right):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo Credit: Courtesy Frabel Glass Art Studio and Gallery

Well, the Pittsburgh G-20 summit is over, and as I mentioned here in early August, Michelle Obama took her fellow spouses to a couple of art venues. All went well, but it seems that
Carla Bruni, wife of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, managed to get off the best line — as repeated by Mrs. Obama when she spoke to her colleagues and about 250 students at the CAPA magnet school for the arts:

As my good friend, Carla Sarkozy, said, you know, in America, you know, here you have people who can sing, and they can dance, and they can act. Now, she said in France it’s not often that you get all of those wrapped in one. But she said there’s something unique about America’s talents where it’s just so natural to see all of that talent on display. So you all should be so very proud.

Wonder how that went over in France.

Everything else Mrs. Obama said was pretty predictable stuff about the arts belonging to everyone and the power of the arts to connect people. Yo-Yo Ma, Trisha Yearwood and Sara Bareilles were there to perform with some CAPA students. Later the spouses visited the Andy Warhol Museum.

Here’s the Pittsburg-Post Gazette article about the visit and a blog item, in which Bruni — the only spouse to speak to the media at the museum — said: “I think I wish I could stay a little longer, because we only stay one-and-a-half days, but I think it’s beautiful,” referring to the city. Charmer.