Archives for May 2015

UPDATE: More on this here. Whenever an artwork sells at auction for more than any previous work has fetched (as with Munch's "The Scream" and Bacon's "Three Studies of Lucian Freud"), the pundits pile on, decrying the questionable taste of megabucks buyers and the self-centered values of the 1%. They enjoy a frisson of schadenfreude at the prospect that the art-market bubble … [Read more...] about Bubble Alert: Are Third-Party Guarantors Inflating the Art Market? UPDATE

Malcolm Rogers, retiring Aug. 3 from his 21-year stint as director of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts (the longest such tenure in that museum's history), will soon be going the George Goldner route: He plans to advise a wealthy art-collecting couple. In announcing last January's retirement from the Metropolitan Museum, Goldner, who was chairman of its department of drawings and … [Read more...] about “Breaking the Brand”: Malcolm Rogers Reflects on Successful, Controversial Directorship at Museum of Fine Arts Boston (with video)

Help Wanted: Direct one of this country's major encyclopedic museums. No museum experience required. If Phillips Oppenheim, the headhunting firm responsible for the Brooklyn Museum's director's search, had put out such a wacky solicitation, an uproar of incredulity would have ensued. More likely, its job description (which I have not seen) for the position now awarded to … [Read more...] about Parsing Pasternak: What Were the Brooklyn Museum’s Trustees Thinking?

For those (like me) who sometimes feel that no one notices the quality of the work they're doing, Yoko Ono's remarks about the significance of her belated close-up at the Museum of Modern Art, Yoko Ono: One Woman Show, 1960–1971, should resonate. Then again, most of us don't have an internationally famous partner to participate in our projects and help boost our public … [Read more...] about Pro Bono Ono: Yoko Sees Her MoMA Show as Encouragement for Those Long Overlooked (with video)

"We’re expecting a very detailed review from you now," the indispensable Donna De Salvo warned me, with a slight edge to her voice, when we had reached about the midway point of the very extensive tour she gave me (for my Wall Street Journal article) of the Whitney Museum's expanded, reinterpreted and refreshed installation of its permanent collection. I gulped and said … [Read more...] about Whither the Whitney? Outtakes from My Tour of the New Whitney with Donna De Salvo and Carter Foster

There are very few museum shows that make me smile from beginning to end. But I suddenly realized that I and several other women I encountered at Tuesday's press preview were walking around with goofy grins at Yoko Ono: One Woman Show, 1960–1971, which opens Sunday at the Museum of Modern Art. One could argue that the trajectory of a show devoted to a living and still … [Read more...] about Give Yoko Ono a Chance: Pioneering Conceptual Artist Belatedly Gets Her MoMA Show

I've attended countless major art auctions, both in person and online, but I've never seen an ending quite like the one at Christie's contemporary sale tonight. The ingratiating and efficient auctioneer, Jussi Pylkkänen, perhaps seeking to avoid an uncomfortably anemic ovation like that received by Oliver Barker the night before at Sotheby's, called upon whoever was still … [Read more...] about Christie’s Maintains Contemporary-Art Dominance with $658.53-Million Sale

All of the muddled misinformation and misinterpretations being dispensed this week by well-intentioned but insufficiently informed art-market journalists are beginning to set my teeth on edge. In advance of tonight's numbingly long Christie's contemporary sale (85 lots, unless some are withdrawn), below is a timely corrective. It is intended to be helpful, not … [Read more...] about Slinging the Art-Market Lingo: A Crash Course for Confused Journalists

Here's my running Twitter commentary on Sotheby's $379.68-million sale tonight of 63 lots. Eight of those lots didn't sell and another nine, which brought $15.92 million (including buyers premium), were sold to benefit LA MOCA. Even the buyers premium went to the museum, according to Sotheby's recent proxy statement. The statement also revealed that the auction firm would … [Read more...] about Strong Start, Weak Finish at Sotheby’s $379.68-Million Contemporary Sale

Here's my running Twitter commentary on "Looking Forward to the Past," Christie's tightly curated, buoyant $705.86-million, 35-lot modern/contemporary sale: … [Read more...] about $179.37-Million Picasso: My Twitter Report on Christie’s Record-Smashing Sale

During the last of my three visits to the Whitney Museum's new digs in the NYC's Meatpacking District, I was struck by how the location had changed but the ethnically non-diverse demographics of the visitors had stayed the same. This was at variance with First Lady Michelle Obama's remarks (full text here) at the ribbon-cutting ceremony, the day before the public … [Read more...] about Whither the Whitney: Michelle Obama and the Question of Outreach

Now that I've published my Wall Street Journal Whitney piece, I'm playing catch-up on other stories, including the upcoming contemporary art auctions. I went first to Sotheby's, to cover the 9 a.m. annual shareholders' meeting and to preview the contemporary offerings. While there, I decided to connect my smartphone to the auction house's public wi-fi network. I know … [Read more...] about Tad Smith, Sotheby’s New CEO, is Silent at Perfunctory Annual Meeting

As I suggested in Old Favorites in Provocative New Company, my piece in today's Wall Street Journal, I loved the new Whitney Museum's inaugural exhibition of its permanent collection, America is Hard to See. But unlike most reviewers, I didn't buy the party line about how terrific its galleries are. The conventional wisdom is exemplified by this tweet from the NY Times' … [Read more...] about The New Whitney: An Irreverent Companion Essay for My WSJ Review