Lee Rosenbaum's cultural commentary

A late-breaking development on Christie's website regarding its top-estimated lot for tonight's big sale of Post-War and Contemporary art: Please note that Francis Bacon’s "Three Studies of Lucian Freud," previously lot 32, will now be included in the sale as Lot 8A following Lot 8, "Apocalypse Now" by Christopher Wool. In addition, the start of the auction will be delayed by … [Read more...] about Late-Breaking Contemporary Auction News: Bacon at Christie’s; Dia Deaccessions at Sotheby’s

Late last night, I erroneously reported that Lot 16 from Sotheby's big Wednesday evening Contemporary sale---Warhol's 1963 "Silver Car Crash [Double Disaster]"---was missing from the auction's online catalogue. It is, in fact, in the online catalogue, and it is definitely in the sale. (I had questioned whether it might have been withdrawn and said that I would check with the … [Read more...] about Corrective Post: Warhol’s “Double Disaster” IS in Sotheby’s Sale

It doesn't bode well for Crystal Bridges Museum's stewardship of Fisk University's Stieglitz Collection that the Arkansas institution's inaugural display of the 101 works (in which it controversially purchased a half-share for $30 million) will run for a mere three months---Nov. 9-Feb. 3. In giving the collection to Fisk, artist Georgia O'Keeffe had stipulated that the works … [Read more...] about Crystal Bridges Stieglitz Glitch: Mere Three-Month Display UPDATED

I may actually miss the moment when my big Twitter landmark---10,000 followers---occurs. In fact, as far as my entire online existence (including blogging) is concerned, I'm going to be missing a great deal this month. That's because I have two trips scheduled in rapid succession---a vacation and a workation. During my travels, I'm not going to be as fixated as I usually am … [Read more...] about Who Wants to Be My 10,000th Twitter Follower?

Halloween seems like the ideal time to confront a scary situation that spooks the artworld---the possibility that the Detroit Institute of Arts might be forced to sell masterpieces from its collection to help satisfy its destitute city's creditors. Last week, an important behind-the-scenes player not given to public pronouncements, Richard Levin, the NYC-based lawyer … [Read more...] about Fright Night: Detroit Institute of Arts’ Attorney Shines Light on City’s Murky Bankruptcy Discussions (with video)

As I've previously indicated, I think the court made the right decision. This just in from the "delighted" Metropolitan Museum. [The links are mine, not theirs.]: Today, Justice Shirley Werner Kornreich of the Commercial Division of the New York State Supreme Court ruled in favor of The Metropolitan Museum of Art by granting its motion to dismiss claims that the Museum’s … [Read more...] about Pay to See: Court Upholds Metropolitan Museum’s “Recommended Admissions” Policy

Deborah Gribbon, who in 2004 resigned the directorship of the then embattled J. Paul Getty Museum in return for a $3-million monetary settlement, has just been named to become (effective Friday) interim chief curator of the Cleveland Museum of Art, which she had served as interim director during the 2009-10 interregnum between Timothy Rub (who left to become director of the … [Read more...] about She’s Back: Deborah Gribbon Returns to Cleveland Museum as Interim Chief Curator

Although he had lived a long, full life, British sculptor Anthony Caro's death from a heart attack last Wednesday came as a sad surprise, because he had seemed so energetic and productive right to the end. Responding to what he called my "poignant tribute" to Sir Anthony last week, Gary Tinterow, director of the Houston Museum of Fine Arts, told me that the 89-year-old … [Read more...] about Blogbacks: Gary Tinterow and Chris Crosman on the Late Sir Anthony Caro

The abstract constructions in steel by Sir Anthony Caro, who died Wednesday of a heart attack at the age of 89, are bold, tough, yet infectiously ingratiating, very much like the man himself. I was privileged to chat with the charming, thoughtful Sir Anthony on the occasion of the press preview for his 2011 mini-retrospective of five painted and unpainted steel constructions … [Read more...] about Abstract Sculptor Anthony Caro Dies at 89: “I don’t look back.” (with video)

In my previous post on David Franklin's Sudden Shocking Exit from the directorship of the Cleveland Museum, I observed that "speculation (informed or otherwise) may run rampant" because of the vague "personal reasons" cited by the museum as the cause for this highly inopportune departure, so close upon the December opening of the museum's new Rafael Viñoly-designed West … [Read more...] about “Personal Reasons” Revealed: Steve Litt’s Detailed Report on Cleveland Museum/David Franklin Mess

[More on this: here.] Not since the sudden, unexplained departure of Timothy Potts from the directorship of the Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, in 2007 has there been such a shockingly precipitous exit from a major art museum as yesterday's resignation, effective immediately, of David Franklin from the Cleveland Museum of Art, which he had led since September 2010. Even … [Read more...] about David Franklin’s Sudden Shocking Exit: Another Dizzying Spin in Cleveland Museum’s Revolving-Door Directorship UPDATED

I've been an enthusiastic admirer of the inspired, resourceful stewardship of MASS MoCA under its director, Joseph Thompson, ever since I wrote a rave review in the Wall Street Journal when the cutting-edge contemporary art institution opened in 1999. But as you may have guessed from my Tuesday WSJ piece on the opening of MASS MoCA's new Anselm Kiefer pavilion, I was wowed … [Read more...] about MASS MoCA’s Kiefer Deal: Single-Collector Exhibition on Steroids (plus what’s next for the Hall Collection and for Joseph Thompson)

Usually newspapers seek to avoid the duplication of the same story in the same day's newspaper. But the news that embattled hedge fund mogul Steve Cohen of SAC Capital Advisors plans to offload some of his contemporary art collection next month at Sotheby's hit both the Arts section and Business section of yesterday's NY Times, with both stories authored (or co-authored) by … [Read more...] about Steve Cohen of SAC Sacks Art: A Story So Nice, Carol Vogel Wrote It Twice

On assignment at MASS MoCA for the Wall Street Journal a couple of weeks ago, I had what was for me a rare experience of witnessing the somewhat frenetic last-minute installation interplay among an artist, collector and museum director, right before the opening of the press preview for a new 15-year installation, in a repurposed water cistern, of three monumental works from the … [Read more...] about Andrew Hall’s Hall: My WSJ Piece on Anselm Kiefer’s 3-Piece, 15-Year Installation (with my slideshow)

In its revised proposal for a new Global Guggenheim branch in Finland, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation has attempted to address the concerns expressed by government officials who had scuttled the original proposal in May 2012. From the Finnish point of view, the new plan is likely to be seen as an improvement, but serious questions still remain as to whether it can live up … [Read more...] about Guggenheim’s Modified Helsinki Proposal Reduces Costs, Keeps $30-Million Licensing Fee