NPR's "Weekend Edition" has now posted the transcript of Joel Rose's piece (in which I participated) on Alice Walton's Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art---"Wal-Mart Heiress' Show Puts A High Price On Art."The comments that particularly struck me, when taken together, were these:John Wilmerding (art historian and Alice Walton's art advisor): Nobody, including myself, who's … [Read more...] about NPR’s Transcript of Yesterday’s Crystal Bridges Commentary (plus museum’s strange video)
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Hear It Now: My NPR Commentary on Crystal Bridges
Wanna hear what John Wilmerding, Eric Widing, Steven Conn and CultureGrrl said this morning on on NPR's Weekend Edition about Alice Walton's Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art? Now you can! (More details about our conversations with NPR's Joel Rose, here.) … [Read more...] about Hear It Now: My NPR Commentary on Crystal Bridges
UPDATED TWICE: My NPR Crystal Bridges Commentary (along with John Wilmerding) Postponed to Tomorrow
A gallery at Crystal Bridges (from the museum's Facebook page)UPDATE: When do things ever go as planned? The NPR segment pondering Alice's palace (in which I participate) has been rescheduled to tomorrow's Weekend Edition [not Morning Edition, as I previously wrote] at around 9:40 a.m. ET. (We can only hope.) I'll actually be in another "B" city then---Boston, not … [Read more...] about UPDATED TWICE: My NPR Crystal Bridges Commentary (along with John Wilmerding) Postponed to Tomorrow
Clyfford Still Thrill: $101.55-Million Hammer Price for Four Denver Disposals
The $61.68-million Clyfford Still: "1949-A-No.1"Last Wednesday, when I left the Impressionist/Modern sale at Sotheby's, I found myself nearly alone in the elevator (but for one other person) with triumphant auctioneer Tobias Meyer. I told him that I had found it a "fun sale" to watch."It will be even more fun next week," he assured me. I attended tonight's Contemporary sale … [Read more...] about Clyfford Still Thrill: $101.55-Million Hammer Price for Four Denver Disposals
Christie’s Redeems Itself with Solid Contemporary Sale; Norton Goes Viral
Online view of tonight's Christie's auction, immediately after Christopher Burge hammered down the top lot, Roy Lichtenstein's 1961 "I Can See the Whole Room!...and There's Nobody in it!"After last week's debacle, Christie's regained its footing at tonight's Contemporary sale with a hammer total of $216.31 million, slightly below the presale estimate of $226.45-312.34 million. … [Read more...] about Christie’s Redeems Itself with Solid Contemporary Sale; Norton Goes Viral
Alice Malice: My Crystal Bridges Moment on CBS “Sunday Morning”
Alice Walton's home in Bentonville, AR, as seen on CBS "Sunday Morning"I'm poised to fly to Bentonville next week, art-lings. But before I pack my camera and notepad, I want to make one thing clear: Whatever I have already said and will yet say about the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, my appraisal has nothing to do with Wal-Mart's corporate practices (not my topic), … [Read more...] about Alice Malice: My Crystal Bridges Moment on CBS “Sunday Morning”
Museum Imprimatur: UBS to Sell MoMA-Showcased Works at Sotheby’s UPDATED
Robert Rauschenberg, "Untitled," 1958 Presale estimate: $1-1.5 million MoMA's potential misstep has now become a mishap. In 2005, it lavished a major exhibition on works from a single corporate collection, during a time when many practical-minded, bottom line-oriented companies were thinking about liquidating their art, At least two (possibly three) works from MoMA's … [Read more...] about Museum Imprimatur: UBS to Sell MoMA-Showcased Works at Sotheby’s UPDATED
“Integrating Art and Architecture”: Peabody Essex Chooses Rick Mather for Expansion UPDATED
Rick Mather London-based, American-born architect Rick Mather has another U.S. museum gig---deservedly so. It's the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA. Mather's deft expansion of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts was unaccountably under the media radar, although it was favorably reviewed by me last year in the Wall Street Journal (and also on CultureGrrl, although with a few … [Read more...] about “Integrating Art and Architecture”: Peabody Essex Chooses Rick Mather for Expansion UPDATED
Nifty Multimedia Feature for Online Version of My Caravaggio/Hals Piece
Frans Hals, "Merrymakers at Shrovetide," c. 1616, Metropolitan Museum, as it appears in the multimedia online version of my Two Painters: So Alike, So Different I was completely (and very pleasantly) surprised this morning when I discovered that the online version of my Caravaggio/Hals comparison piece for the "Arts & Leisure" section of tomorrow's NY Times has been ramped … [Read more...] about Nifty Multimedia Feature for Online Version of My Caravaggio/Hals Piece
Coming Sunday: My NY Times “Arts & Leisure” Piece on Caravaggio (plus a mystery artist) UPDATED
The National Gallery of Canada, last summer It's "the most anticipated art exhibition of the year," raved Gaile Robinson, art critic of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Yet, Caravaggio and His Followers in Rome, which opened Oct. 16 at the Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth (to Jan. 8, following its initial run at the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa), has thus far been … [Read more...] about Coming Sunday: My NY Times “Arts & Leisure” Piece on Caravaggio (plus a mystery artist) UPDATED
Sotheby’s Restores Market Confidence: $36-Million Klimt Bidding War
Ebullient Duo: Auctioneer and Sotheby's contemporary art head Tobias Meyer speaks, while Sotheby's Impressionist/Modern co-chair David Norman beams, at last night's press conferenceFears of a new art-market nosedive were put to rest last night at Sotheby's, with an impressive Impressionist/Modern sale that was as lively as Tuesday's Christie's auction was deadly. The consensus … [Read more...] about Sotheby’s Restores Market Confidence: $36-Million Klimt Bidding War
News Flash: Sotheby’s Keeps Matisse “Backs” Together, Sold Privately UPDATED
Bye-Bye "Back": David Norman, Sotheby's Impressionist/Modern co-chair, extols the virtues of Matisse's "Back I" during last week's press preview for the evening sales.I was poised to compose a post deploring the four-sale, two-city (New York and London) dispersal through Sotheby's of Matisse's bronze reliefs, "The Backs" (scheduled to commence tonight), when the auction house … [Read more...] about News Flash: Sotheby’s Keeps Matisse “Backs” Together, Sold Privately UPDATED
BlogBack: Max Hollein on the Städel Museum’s Nazi-Era History
The Städel Museum, Frankfurt Photo: Norbert Miguletz Max Hollein, director of the Städel Museum, Frankfurt, responds to Städel Museum's Expansion, Nazi-Era History: I understand that you might have gotten the impression of my being too hesitant answering your question about "What's next?" during our discussion about the research on the Städel's history during the Nazi … [Read more...] about BlogBack: Max Hollein on the Städel Museum’s Nazi-Era History
Bloodbath at Christie’s Impressionist/Modern Auction: “Fair Warning Indeed!”
Expensive Failure: Degas' "Petite Danseuse de Quatorze Ans," executed in wax c. 1879-81 and cast in bronze "at a later date," as described in Christie's catalogueThe quote in my headline was uttered by Christie's struggling auctioneer, Christopher Burge, at the moment when he was poised to bring down the hammer on the star lot of this evening's Impressionist/Modern … [Read more...] about Bloodbath at Christie’s Impressionist/Modern Auction: “Fair Warning Indeed!”
Holing Up with Hollein: Städel’s Current Expansion, Nazi-Era History (plus Whitney’s David Smith show)
Max Hollein, director of Frankfurt's Städel Museum, Schirn Kunsthalle and Sculpture Collection of the Liebieghaus Photo: Gaby Gerster © Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt/Gabi Gerster I'm always peskily pointing a finger at other peoples' mistakes, so I guess I should own up to one of my own. As CultureGrrl readers may remember (although I probably shouldn't remind you), I … [Read more...] about Holing Up with Hollein: Städel’s Current Expansion, Nazi-Era History (plus Whitney’s David Smith show)