Entrance to the inaugural show last September at Christie’s Haunch of Venison gallery in New York
While we’re on the subject of displays with museum-like pretentions that have mounted by commercial galleries and auction houses (such as Sotheby’s current Steve Cohen show), I recently learned about the sudden flight of two former museum professionals from the New York branch of the Haunch of Venison gallery, owned by Christie’s International.
At the end of last month, Robert Fitzpatrick, HOV’s international managing director in charge of the New York operation, and Michael Rooks, HOV’s chief curator, both quietly left their posts. Fitzpatrick was formerly director of the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art; Rooks was formerly assistant curator at the same museum.
The gallery had just opened last September with Abstract Expressionism—A World Elsewhere. That non-selling show enhanced the posh emporium’s museum-like allure, by including a number of loans from major institutions—a coup attributable to the stature of the gallery’s staffers, as well as the show’s curator, British art historian David Anfam.
The new directors for HOV’s New York gallery—Barrett White and Emilio Steinberger—both have gigs at galleries, not museums, on their résumés. There are no current plans to fill the international managing directorship vacated by Fitzpatrick, who joined Haunch in January 2008. He is said to be interested in working independently with artists and cultural organizations; Rooks is said to be seeking a post in the nonprofit sector.
Could it be that the fit of museum practice and commercial purpose isn’t all that comfortable after all?