Pablo Picasso, “Le Rêve,” 1932, Private Collection
The list of commercial dealers shows to which museums have imprudently lent both their art and their prestige is growing: Picasso’s Marie-Thérèse, opening Tuesday at Acquavella Galleries, New York, includes examples from the Guggenheim Museum, Museum of Modern Art, Metropolitan Museum and the Tate, in addition to collector Steve Wynn‘s infamously elbowed painting (above, now restored) and other works.
William Acquavella coyly commented to the NY Times‘ Carol Vogel:
Right now nothing is for sale. One or two could possibly
be, but I doubt it….I’d like to have them all for sale. It would be fun.
The LA Times‘ art critic, Christopher Knight, yesterday speculated on the show’s true raison d’être:
No cynicism is needed to assume that one goal of the exhibition is to
publicly demonstrate that repairs to “Le Rêve” have not had serious
effect on its market value. William Acquavella has brokered many of
Wynn’s art acquisitions over the years.
If Knight is right in his decidedly cynical but quite plausible supposition, then distinguished institutional lenders may have allowed themselves to be used as parties to the marketing maneuvers of a private collector and commercial gallery.
And even if this exhibition is intended merely to delight and enlighten the public, thereby burnishing the gallery’s professional reputation, museums have no business participating in Acquavella’s business.