Lee Rosenbaum's cultural commentary

Sotheby's goals and strategies have changed under its newly constituted board, but Bill Ruprecht, the firm's savvy, steely CEO since 2000, may not have changed along with them. That's my speculative takeaway from yesterday evening's cryptic but not surprising announcement that Ruprecht and Sotheby's would be parting ways. In listening over the years to the quarterly … [Read more...] about Bill Ruprecht’s Planned Departure from Sotheby’s: Changed Priorities, Competitive Pressures

For the long beleaguered Detroit Institute of Arts, there's been a happy ending, fittingly celebrated at the museum's gala, which by happenstance occurred the day after Judge Steven Rhodes' favorable ruling. But unless they take preemptive action, other museums with city-owned collections might not be so lucky, as I discuss in After Detroit's Close Call, my article on the … [Read more...] about What Happened in Detroit Stays in Detroit? My Wall Street Journal Takeaway on Detroit Institute’s Ordeal

Part II is here. With the planned departure of Crystal Bridges president (and former director) Don Bacigalupi, Crystal Bridges Museum will have lost the entire senior curatorial staff that opened it just three years ago. The others are curatorial director David Houston, deputy director Matt Dawson, American art curator Kevin Murphy... ...and founding curator Chris … [Read more...] about Flight from Bentonville, Part I: Ex-Crystal Bridges Curator Kevin Murphy on Why He Left

More on the Crystal Bridges situation here and here. Crystal Bridges Museum has will suffer yet another major departure with today's announcement that its president (and, previously, founding director), Don Bacigalupi, will be heading to Chicago as the founding president of the planned Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, effective Jan. 15. He will remain on Crystal Bridges' … [Read more...] about Two Big Moves: Bacigalupi to Lucas Museum; Ravenal to deCordova Museum UPDATED

It wasn't so much that big-money works soared over their estimates (although Warhol's "Triple Elvis" did hammer at $73 million against a presale estimate "in the region of $60 million). But quality, quantity and a bravura podium performance by auctioneer Jussi Pylkkänen gave Christie's a final Contemporary Art total (with buyers premium) of $852.89 million---the most for any … [Read more...] about Do I Hear $1 Billion? Christie’s Record-Smashing $852.89 Million Contemporary Sale

After breezing through the buoyant Mellon sale last night, Sotheby's auctioneer, Oliver Barker, needed to swig two glasses of water (at least that's what I think it was) at the end of tonight's various-owners contemporary sale. It was slow-going and less than riveting. But he gamely extracted whatever bidding was to be had and efficiently got the job done. Fittingly for a … [Read more...] about After the Mellon, a Lemon? Sotheby’s Bidders Salute the “Flag” in Slow-but-Steady Veteran’s Day Sale

If you're planning to attend this week's big contemporary sales (tonight at Sotheby's; tomorrow night at Christie's), whether in person or online, here's my CultureGrrl Video with a few highlights to get you in the mood to spend your multi-millions (or maybe not): … [Read more...] about Christie’s and Sotheby’s Tout Fresh-to-Market Contemporary Wares (video)

Single-collection sales from illustrious owners often fetch prices beyond the importance of the works themselves, as bidders vie for souvenirs from lifestyles of the rich and famous. The Mellon pedigree undoubtedly helped tonight's buoyant blowout at Sotheby's, irrespective of the fact that the cream of the collection had already gone to museums that the philanthropic Mellons … [Read more...] about “White Glove” Sale: My Live Tweets on Bunny Mellon Sale at Sotheby’s

During today's quarterly conference call for stock analysts, Bill Ruprecht, Sotheby's chairman, president and CEO, gave the following explanation for the increased risk Sotheby's has assumed through guarantees granted to certain consignors, which totaled $392.6 million as of Oct. 16. (Remarks below in brackets are mine, not his.): Competition for the best works remains robust … [Read more...] about “Meaningfully Profitable”: Sotheby’s Bill Ruprecht on the Performance of Auction Guarantees

After I wrote about Sotheby's guarantee, which may have gone sour, for its big-ticket Giacometti, I checked the auction house's SEC filings. The most recent Form 8-K reveals that the total amount of that Sotheby's guarantees to consignors as of Oct. 16 was a whopping $392.6 million. Some of this amount was concentrated "among a small number of high-value items" (presumably … [Read more...] about Sotheby’s Guarantees to Consignors Total a Whopping $392.6 million as of Oct. 16

The excerpts from Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes' opinion, issued yesterday, regarding the rescue of the Detroit Institute of Arts' (DIA's) collection via the Grand Bargain are worth reading in full, especially for these sentences that explicitly back the professional standards promulgated by art museums regarding deaccessions and that underscore the importance of the museum … [Read more...] about “Invaluable Beacon”: What Judge Rhodes Said About Detroit Institute of Arts

Christie's wasn't alone in guaranteeing a big-ticket modern work that underperformed this week and may have cost it money: It's been widely reported that the only bid for Sotheby's $101-million Giacometti came from the auction house's co-chairman for Impressionist/Modern art, David Norman, who offered $90 million (to which the buyers premium was added) on behalf of an anonymous … [Read more...] about Guarantee Gambits: Underachieving Léger at Christie’s and Giacometti at Sotheby’s

In one of the biggest auction gaffes I've ever seen, Andreas Rumbler, who last night conducted Christie's modestly successful Impressionist/Modern sale (enlivened by the record-breaking price for its stellar Manet), astonishingly declared that the second-highest estimated work, Léger's "Construction Workers with Tree" had sold when it hadn't---an error that was perpetuated in … [Read more...] about Rumbler Bumble: Christie’s $15.5-Million Léger “Sells” (but doesn’t)

At the end of this CultureGrrl Video, you heard Brooke Lampley, Christie’s Impressionist/Modern head, express her hope that Manet’s “Spring,” in a private collection since 1909, might “go to an institution.” It had been on loan to the National Gallery of Art for almost 21 years, until last May. Brooke wasn't just babbling. But it wasn't the National Gallery that hooked this … [Read more...] about Falling for “Spring”: Getty Buys $65.125-Million Manet at Christie’s UPDATED