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Simple but elegant. That apparently was industrialist Henry Clay Frick's governing principle in planning the 70th-Street abode for his family and his art---a 1914 mansion that still stands as a monument to his taste and his art collection. At a time when prominent Philadelphians are intent on dismantling the creation of Albert Barnes, it is instructive to read about the … [Read more...] about How Frick Built His Art Palace

Any doubts that art is in fashion are laid to rest by the November issues of "W" and "Men's Vogue." This month's oversized "W" is "The Art Issue," sporting yet another photo spread of Brice Marden's real estate. It contains some good reads: profiles of artworld movers and shakers such as Michael Govan, the Wildensteins and the Glimchers, and features devoted to such art stars … [Read more...] about Art in the Rag Mags

Who should CultureGrrl run into, gazing appreciatively at Klimt's "Apple Tree I" at the presale exhibition for Christie's Nov. 8 Impressionist/modern sale, but the dean of New York City land-use attorneys, Samuel Lindenbaum. Sandy is the go-to guy for getting the necessary government approvals on just about every major museum expansion project in the city. The Whitney Museum … [Read more...] about Lawyers Seize the Gold Ring at the Whitney-Go-Round

Do the sellers at the series of major fall art sales beginning tomorrow in New York know something that the auctioneers don't? They are unloading property with an extraordinarily high estimated value at the upcoming evening sales of Impressionist, modern and contemporary art. But at the same time, many of these sellers have also exacted an extraordinary amount of protection on … [Read more...] about Guarantee Spree: Auction Sellers Are “Just Nervous”

… [Read more...] about COMING TOMORROW: Guarantee Spree—Auction Sellers Get Cautious

One paragraph leaped out at me from the long article by Greg Allen in tomorrow's NY Times "Arts & Leisure" section about art-auction protocol: "Let me put it this way," said Tobias Meyer, worldwide head of contemporary art at Sotheby's. "If I were in the luxurious position of spending a large sum of money on art, I would like to have as much information as possible." That means … [Read more...] about Auction Indiscretion: The Not-So-Confidential Reserve

Part of Christie's Presale Installation of the Bloch-Bauer Klimts and the Neue Galerie Schieles In case there was any doubt about the connection between the four Bloch-Bauer Klimts and the Neue Galerie's three Schieles, Christie's has installed them facing each other at its presale exhibition, which opened today. They've been given their own room, its walls embellished with … [Read more...] about Face-Off at Christie’s: Klimts vs. Schieles

It sure seems that way, when it dispatches one of them to "all but take up residence...for several months" on 25th Street. The assignment: to hang out in the Chelsea art scene, "watching its rites and rituals, talking to its pioneers and newcomers, its ground-floor gods and high-floor hopefuls." Maybe Randy Kennedy should go back to stalking the "ground-floor gods" at the Met's … [Read more...] about Does the NY Times Have Too Many Cultural Reporters?

The more I learn about the recent ownership history of the three Schieles that the Neue Galerie is selling on Wednesday at Christie's, the more complicated it becomes. The museum is marketing these works to help pay for its purchase of Klimt's "Adele Bloch-Bauer I." If they sell, they will have changed hands three times within about three years. What's more, Scott Gutterman, … [Read more...] about The Neue Galerie’s Hot-Potato Schieles

Question: Speaking of "internal confusion," what's Manet doing at the Museum of Modern Art? Answer: He's there because chief curator John Elderfield wants him to be. Elderfield's monographic show, Manet and the Execution of Maximilian is undeniably engrossing, but it makes you wonder how the museum could justify past deaccessions of works that supposedly didn't fit in with the … [Read more...] about Can a Museum Show Manet and Be Modern?

In reading Nicolai Ouroussoff's trenchant appraisal in today's NY Times of the "self-doubt and internal confusion" evidenced by the Whitney Museum's revolving-door directors and architects, I realized that his (and Whitney director Adam Weinberg's) critique of Renzo Piano's design for the Whitney's all-but-aborted on-site expansion could also apply to what Roberta Smith, in … [Read more...] about Vertigo at the Vertical Museum

Is it the economy, stupid? If so, these excerpts from Scott Patterson's "Economic Jitters Sap Stocks," posted just minutes ago on the Wall Street Journal's website (to which I am not permitted to link), should give pause to those predicting record-breaking results for the next two weeks of major Impressionist, modern and contemporary auctions at Sotheby's and Christie's: The … [Read more...] about Fall Art Sales: The E-Word

Mud Angels Rescuing Florence's Art after the 1966 Flood Saturday marks the 40th anniversity of the Florence Flood that devastated that Italian city and its cultural patrimony. To commemorate the immense international relief and restoration efforts that followed, Florence will host an international symposium, Nov. 10 and 11, on "Conservation Legacies of l'Alluvione." According … [Read more...] about Florence Flood: 40th-Anniversary Reunion of the “Mud Angels”

In the question-and-answer portion of his recent lecture about "the history of the Metropolitan Museum's involvement with contemporary art," curator Gary Tinterow was shockingly candid about the second-class status of such art at the Met. During his prepared talk, he had not only enumerated the many big names in modern and contemporary art who were missing from the Met's … [Read more...] about The Met’s Acquisitions Motto: Don’t Trust Artists Under 50

In an e-mail yesterday, responding to queries that I had sent, Scott Gutterman, deputy director of the Neue Galerie, said that the three Schieles being sold at Christie's to help fund the museum's purchase of its celebrated Klimt "were owned by [Ronald] Lauder and donated to the Neue Galerie." That means that the museum is the consignor. And that raises some additional … [Read more...] about An Update on the Sale of Three Schieles to Bankroll “Adele”