Felix Salmon
has taken note of my recent postings on Zankel Hall, and begs to differ with my suggestion that the joint needs a center aisle. I’m not sure I’m convinced, but he definitely makes a strong case, not to mention witty and well-informed.
Blake Gopnik, art critic of the Washington Post, recently torched and sewed salt on the ashes of “Beyond the Frame: Impressionism Revisited: The Sculptures of J. Seward Johnson, Jr.,” a show of three-dimensional sculptural renderings of impressionist paintings currently on display at Washington’s Corcoran Museum of Art. I’ll cut right to the rough stuff:
Once upon a time–as recently as the ’70s and even later–the Corcoran was a significant force on the national art scene. That reputation has slipped badly over the last few years; when I’m on the road, people often ask me, “What’s with the Corcoran these days? Is it still around?”
And now, thanks to the prankster art of J. Seward Johnson, the Corcoran has fallen even further. It has tumbled all the way from nobody to laughingstock.
Go here to read the whole thing. I regret to say that it sounds all too convincing.