With a total of $13.04 million (including the buyer's premium), the auction at Sotheby's tonight of 31 works from A. Alfred Taubman's American art collection (eight of which failed to sell) will be of little help in reducing the formidable $95-million gap between the $420 million that two previous sales from his collection have brought and the $515 million that the auction … [Read more...] about Another Rough Night: Sotheby’s Underperforming Sale of Alfred Taubman’s American Art
Archives for 2015
Tom Campbell of Metropolitan Museum Responds to L’Horreur in Paris (with video)
It wasn't as scary as the sight of heavily armed police in a bullet-proof vests Saturday night at Lincoln Center (where I attended the hyperactive William Kentridge production of Alban Berg's "Lulu" at the Metropolitan Opera). But (without giving away the details) it was clear to me, when I entered the garage of the Metropolitan Museum to attend its press lunch today, … [Read more...] about Tom Campbell of Metropolitan Museum Responds to L’Horreur in Paris (with video)
Sotheby’s Buyout Bombshell: Turning Towards the “Less-Tenured”
Maybe the Sotheby's buyout bombshell (first reported Friday by Bloomberg's Katya Kazakina) shouldn't have come as a shock: This purge was foreshadowed by CEO Tad Smith's cryptic comments in last Monday's quarterly conference call with stock analysts: One of the most delightful surprises of the year has been how many excellent, less-tenured staff appeared on our initial list … [Read more...] about Sotheby’s Buyout Bombshell: Turning Towards the “Less-Tenured”
Taubman’s Revenge? Sotheby’s Gavel-Busting $515-Million Guarantee
My misgivings about how Sotheby's success in winning the A. Alfred Taubman consignment might backfire, which I voiced early last month in an interview with a British reporter, now appear to be on the money. At the end of his Oct. 10 London Times article---Sotheby's Gambles on $500m Art Sale (paywalled)---investigative reporter Alexi Mostrous gave me the last word: The art … [Read more...] about Taubman’s Revenge? Sotheby’s Gavel-Busting $515-Million Guarantee
Camp GoPro: Acoustics Theatrics from Dr. CultureDaughter (with video)
WARNING: PROUD MOM ALERT! Dr. CultureDaughter, an acoustic design engineer at GoPro, goes to camp, Silicon-Valley Style. You'll see her wielding the HERO4 Session video camera (which she worked on), released last July, and using a Slinky to illustrate sound waves to enthusiastic young attendees at Curiosity Camp. I became more interested in getting a GoPro for myself … [Read more...] about Camp GoPro: Acoustics Theatrics from Dr. CultureDaughter (with video)
Twombly Blackboard Helps Sotheby’s Chalk Up a Solid Contemporary Sale
Christie's, the recent market leader in major contemporary art sales, has less to crow about this week: Its uneven sale last night (during which I was on flights back home from Hawaii) made Sotheby's contemporary sale tonight look good. (For my report on Christie's erratic "Artist's Muse" sale Monday, headlined by the immodest Modigliani, go here.) As you'll learn in my … [Read more...] about Twombly Blackboard Helps Sotheby’s Chalk Up a Solid Contemporary Sale
“The Artist’s Muse”: $170.4-Million Modigliani Doesn’t Float All Boats at Christie’s
While the rest of the scribe tribe has moved on to parsing tonight's contemporary auction at Christie's, here's my recap of the same auction house's attempt last night to repeat the breakout success of its similarly eclectic Looking Forward to the Past sale last season. No such luck. While the $170.4-million price for the star lot of "Muse"---Modigliani's 1917-18 … [Read more...] about “The Artist’s Muse”: $170.4-Million Modigliani Doesn’t Float All Boats at Christie’s
Taubman Was No Havemeyer: Sotheby’s Rough Night (My Live Tweets)
A lot was riding on Sotheby's "Masterworks" sale from the Taubman Collection tonight, and it was a rough ride. Luckily, I'll be traveling starting tomorrow, which means that I'm unlikely to post on the other big auctions until after my return. As you'll see below, not only was the bidding erratic, but so was the sale's souped-up technology. And what was CEO Tad Smith … [Read more...] about Taubman Was No Havemeyer: Sotheby’s Rough Night (My Live Tweets)
“Masterpiece” Theater: Sotheby’s & Christie’s Tout Megabucks Wares at Auction Previews (with video)
More on this here. Hyperbole is always the order of the day when the auction houses unveil their wares at their press previews for the big evening sales of Impressionist, modern and contemporary art. But the back-to-back presentations by the Big Two auction houses on Friday ("Taxi!") were even more boastful than usual. In my CultureGrrl Video, below, you'll hear the experts … [Read more...] about “Masterpiece” Theater: Sotheby’s & Christie’s Tout Megabucks Wares at Auction Previews (with video)
Auction High-Wire Act Without a Net: Sotheby’s Daredevil Taubman Guarantee
More on this here and here. This is a watershed moment for Sotheby's and its new CEO, Tad Smith. When I heard the astonishing news in September that Sotheby's had provided the Taubman Collection's consignors with a guarantee of approximately $500 million for some 500 works, ancient-to-contemporary, I assumed that the auction house would make strenuous efforts to offload … [Read more...] about Auction High-Wire Act Without a Net: Sotheby’s Daredevil Taubman Guarantee
Walid Raad’s Blurred Lines at MoMA: Does Truth Matter?
The Museum of Modern Art's bewildering Walid Raad exhibition (to Jan. 31) "investigates distinctions between fact and fiction," according to its press release. In truth, it blurs those distinctions in a ways that sometimes feel more like heavy-handed propaganda than subtle artistry or clever parody. Raad intentionally distorts political and economic relationships through lens … [Read more...] about Walid Raad’s Blurred Lines at MoMA: Does Truth Matter?
Suffering Suffragettes: Save Tenafly’s Feminist Landmark (aka Charlie Brown’s)!
I ate at Charlie Brown’s while it was there for 25 years, and I never felt a connection with Elizabeth Cady Stanton while eating there. So said Mayor Peter Rustin of Tenafly, NJ, whom I knew quite well during the 21 years that I lived in this town. Pete's statement applies to me too: I had no clue about the historic significance of this meat-and-potatoes place, site of many … [Read more...] about Suffering Suffragettes: Save Tenafly’s Feminist Landmark (aka Charlie Brown’s)!
BlogBack: Curator Jonathan Stuhlman on the Met-to-Sotheby’s “Danae”
As suggested in the BlogBack below, a few CultureGrrl readers and tweeters have interpreted my previous post---“Danaë” Downpour: Metropolitan Museum & Yale University Shower Dealer Richard Feigen With Gold---as criticizing the Metropolitan Museum's curators for their high praise of a privately owned work displayed in their galleries that has now been dispatched to Sotheby's … [Read more...] about BlogBack: Curator Jonathan Stuhlman on the Met-to-Sotheby’s “Danae”
“Danaë” Downpour: Metropolitan Museum & Yale University Shower Dealer Richard Feigen With Gold
More on this here. Dealer Richard Feigen has once again used the imprimatur of the Metropolitan Museum to add luster to a work transferred from the Met's galleries to an auction house's premises. It now appears that Danaë's golden sojourn at the Met was an extended presale exhibition. When it opened its expanded and revamped European paintings galleries in 2013, the Met … [Read more...] about “Danaë” Downpour: Metropolitan Museum & Yale University Shower Dealer Richard Feigen With Gold
More on Carmine Branagan’s Departure from the National Academy
You have reached the office of Carmine Branagan, director of the National Academy Museum and School. So said the voicemail message when I called Branagan's office about an hour ago. But a highly reliable informed source today unequivocally informed me: "She's gone." Based on previous tips I received, I broke the story on Oct. 4 about the shakeup rumor, which I believed … [Read more...] about More on Carmine Branagan’s Departure from the National Academy