There it was again: another example of a logical fallacy in the way arts institutions think about appealing to new audiences (translation — younger and more diverse audiences). Somewhere
along the way, reaching out to new audiences was equated with new works, as if those in a museum, or in a dance company’s or orchestra’s repertoire, couldn’t possibly attract the hip young people that seem to be the holy grail of cultural organizations. In The New York Times Arts & Leisure section this weekend, writing about the 50th anniversary of Lincoln Center, Tony Tommasini exhibited a very mild version of this affliction:

It could also be argued that the complex’s citadel-like feeling has deterred potential audiences. With its institutional appearance, Lincoln Center does not look at first glance like a place for innovative or experimental work.

We saw the same kind of “logic” earlier this year when some critics expressed disappointment that the Metropolitan Museum of Art had chosen Thomas P. Campbell — a tapestries curator, for heaven’s sake — as its new director. What could that possibly forbode, they asked, for displaying contemporary art and luring new audiences to 1000 Fifth Avenue?

To me, this is not only a fallacy…

[Read more…] about New works = new audiences? Not!

This year’s edition of the International Fine Art Fair, held at the Park Avenue Armory from May 1-5, had about a third fewer dealers than last year’s. And the organizer, Haughton International Fairs, gave away tickets — as I wrote here. (It also advertised more heavily.)

But when the fair closed on Tuesday, the Haughton organization says, the crowd had not only shown up as expected — to a number on par with its height in 2003, about 14,000 — but also the number of paid tickets climbed vs. last year. Those who attended also bought more than naysayers predicted.

Of course, dealers are private businesses, and don’t have to report anything they don’t want; all of this is taken on faith.

Among the sales:

• Adam Williams Fine Art sold a Luca Giordano oil with an asking price of $350,000.
• Hill-Stone sold eight Old Master drawings, notably Ludovico Cigolli’s drawing of a young man, circa 1612, for five figures.
• Jonathan Boos sold a Henry Moore sculpture for $375,000 and Georgia O’Keeffe’s “Barn,” 1926 (below), for $550,000.
• Waterhouse & Dodd sold a Henri Martin painting for nearly a half-million dollars.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of course, we’ll learn more about the contemporary market this week, when the big auctions in New York take place.   

Photo Credits: Haughton International Fairs (top); Jonathan Boos (bottom). 

Well, here’s an interesting push-pull reaction. 

I often write about philanthropy, and a few weeks ago, I almost wrote a piece about a $50 million gift to Yale University to create a global affairs institute. As if we need another one, I thought. What a waste.

Then on Wednesday I was reading an entry on Stanley Katz’s blog (he is the director of the Center
 for Arts and Cultural Policy Studies at Princeton). It talked about his recent trip to Miami University,
Ohio, where he gave the keynote speech at the opening of a new Humanities Center. Hurrah, I thought. (That’s part of the Miami U campus at right).

On second thought, however, I wondered why I reacted so differently to the two developments. Surely, nowadays, global affairs are on everyone’s mind. The humanities are decidedly not. With the possible exception of regular readers of this website, I wonder how many Americans would agree with me vs. the donors to Yale.

As Katz wrote on his blog a few weeks ago, in response to a New York Times article that outlined the troubles faced by humanities scholars in this recession: 

The problem for humanities faculty is much older and much more serious — it is that as universities have increasingly overvalued what they take to be useful knowledge over what they believe to be useless knowledge (the humanities being the poster child), the humanities have taken a series of hits….it will continue to be the case until our community develops a more convincing case for the crucial role we play in education — and society.

 

The same is true for the arts.

[Read more…] about The Humanities vs. Global Affairs: A Matter of Money

On assignment for The Wall Street Journal, I recently spent a day at the opera. Arriving at the Metropolitan Opera house around 9:30 a.m. in late April, I watched as sets were set up, rehearsals conducted, wigs made, costumes sewn, and so on. The resulting article is in today’s paper. You can read it here.

It was a fascinating day. In the space of 24 hours, the Met took down sets for Don Giovanni performance, put up sets for a staged rehearsal of Act III of Gotterdammerung and then “struck” them by 4 p.m., and then, in late afternoon, assembled the sets for Il Trovatore, which ran at 8 p.m. that night. And that’s just the start of what goes on inside the Met, 24/6 — and sometimes 24/7.

Under Peter Gelb, the Met has been more open, simulcasting opening night to Times Square and sometimes inviting the public in to see rehearsals. That’s to be applauded. But the experience I had watching a rehearsal of Gotterdammerung (above) — standing below/behind the Rhinemaidens as they opened Act III, for example; seeing/hearing the mist descend on the stage to keep the dust down; watching director Otto Schenk approvingly touch the cheek of soprano Margaret Jane Wray as he walked past her, just off-stage — gives an ever greater appreciation for what’s involved in making opera, logistically and in human terms. That why it’s great to be a journalist.

Photo: Courtesy Metropolitan Opera 

When the editor of Art + Auction leaves his job just before the bellwether spring auctions, something’s up. That’s what happened last week, when Anthony Freund departed. Ted Loos, the executive editor, also left. A few weeks ago, Miranda Dempster, the creative director, walked out the door for good.

The magazine had already had its budget slashed — by more than half, some sources said, not for attribution — forcing cuts in salaries, travel budgets and freelance payments. Since January, according to one insider, there probably hasn’t been a week that at least one person hasn’t been let go.

Last week, Louise Blouin Media, which owns A+A as well as Modern Painters, Gallery Guide
and artinfo.com, among other things, said it had hired Marisa Bartolucci, from Fulcrum, to be editorial director — the same title Tony Freund had.

I’ve written for Art + Auction, and know Tony and Ted; neither wanted to talk last week. They haven’t answered my recent emails about this either. But when I contacted Louise Blouin (she sometimes also uses MacBain, her married name, though she is divorced from him) via email yesterday, she called back from the Mideast, where she’s traveling. It was late there, way past midnight, but she told me that Tony had left because she was consolidating all editorial content — print and web — under Marisa. “She knows the web,” she said — and she has also written a lot about design. She said she has asked Ted to write for LBM on a freelance basis.  

“There will be no change in focus,” Ms. Blouin said, explaining that the consolidation made sense because the business is global. The website is free, and is advertising-driven. When I asked about profits, she said she never talks money, but quickly added “It [the whole business] does make money.”   

[Read more…] about The Scoop on Art + Auction Magazine