Archives for November 2006

Otto Dix, "The Dancer Anita Berber," 1925, Loan of the Landesbank Baden-Würtemberg in the Kunstmuseum Stuttgart, c. Artists Rights Society, New York/VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn Health Warning: The contents of this exhibition may cause shock, vomiting, confusion, panic, euphoria, and anxiety. No, it's not the Young British Artists at the Brooklyn Museum. It's the old German ones from … [Read more...] about “Sensation!” German-Style

Work in Progress: The Met's Leon Levy and Shelby White Court With a floor inspired by the Pantheon in Rome and a new expansive skylight above, the Metropolitan Museum is nearing completion of its new galleries for Greek and Roman art. About one-third of the museum's collection was formerly on display; about one-half will be shown when the new galleries open in April, according … [Read more...] about New Digs for Met’s Greek and Roman Collection

It's the artworld's favorite parlor game: Who will (or who should) become the next director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in the event that Philippe de Montebello finally decides that he's narrated one too many audio guides? Philippe once told me that he wanted to stay on at least until the opening of the museum's new Greek and Roman galleries. A little later today, I'm … [Read more...] about Who Should Succeed Philippe at the Met?

I trust Anthony Tommasini completely, and apparently the Metropolitan Opera's new "Barber of Seville" was more than fine, once it got off TV and back on home turf. Mercifully for the Met, the NY Times ignored the lame performance on "Late Show with David Letterman." So, NYC Opera Fanatic, it seems we may have to give Peter Gelb a pass after all! … [Read more...] about The Met Reclaims the High Ground

… [Read more...] about COMING TOMORROW: CultureGrrl’s Top-Six Picks to Succeed Philippe at the Met

A blog about which I was previously unaware, NYC Opera Fanatic, calls CultureGrrl a soul sister for my Stupid Met Tricks. I'd tell you the name of this blogger (you know CultureGrrl credits writers whenever she can), but I couldn't find it on his site. All I can tell you is that he's a redhead and has moved to Philadelphia (and thus calls himself "NYC Opera Fanatic in Exile"). … [Read more...] about Three Additions to My Blogroll and One New Blogging Fan

This from Gert-Jan van den Bergh, attorney for Marina Mahler (granddaughter of the composer), in her successful claim for restitution by Austria of Munch's "Summer Night on the Beach": This is a total victory. The claim was a test of how well the restitution laws functions. We need to study the contents of the decision but understand that it has been based on the latest … [Read more...] about Mahler’s Lawyer: The Significance of Austria’s Munch Restitution

Sotheby's Impressionist/modern auction Tuesday night would have been considered a great sale...if it hadn't been trounced the next night by Christie's. That, coupled with yesterday's report of its third-quarter results, appears to have sent the auction company's publicly traded stock into a nosedive, as of the start of trading this morning. Analysts who had dialed into … [Read more...] about Sotheby’s Stock Heads South

Someone please stop general manager Peter Gelb, before he turns the Metropolitan Opera into a laughingstock. Proud of yesterday's embarrassingly lame debut on the "Late Show with David Letterman," the Met has posted this inane backstage look at the singers' preparations for a televised excerpt from Rossini's "Barber of Seville." We learn, to our consternation, that "Gelb, … [Read more...] about Stupid Met Tricks: Dave Does Opera

CultureGrrl is clearly no good at predicting the direction of the art market, but I sure do know how to predict the life of Broadway musicals, from merely listening to the radio ads. After the reviews of the Twyla Tharp/Bob Dylan Broadway bomb hit the newsstands, I observed that the best Dylan show in New York was the exhibition at the Morgan Library and Museum, which (running … [Read more...] about The Show It Is A-Closin’

No, I'm not talking about antiquities. For that, you can read today's NY Times update, wherein Hugh Eakin (the "Mens Vogue" coverboy) and Elisabetta Povoledo provide more details on the parlous state of the Getty's negotiations with Italy (which CultureGrrl readers first learned about more than two weeks ago). What I'm zeroing in on is a lack of figures---not statues of Greek … [Read more...] about More Obfuscation from the Getty

I know I'm supposed to lead with the fact that Christie's auction of Impressionist and modern art last night totaled $491.47 million, by far the highest grossing art auction in history, even without Andrew Lloyd Webber's withdrawn Picasso. Among the nine new auction records were prices for Klimt ($87.94 million for "Adele Bloch-Bauer II," making him second only to Picasso at … [Read more...] about Christie’s Historic Night: Christopher Burge Does It Right

Christie's is doing the prudent, if painful, thing---withdrawing Picasso's "Angel Fernández de Soto" from tonight's auction. Because of the threat of continued legal wrangling over the painting's Nazi-era past, there is a "cloud over title that makes it difficult to sell the painting," conceded Carey Ramos, attorney for Andrew Lloyd Webber's foundation, which owns it. Both the … [Read more...] about Lloyd Webber’s Picasso Withdrawn; Foundation’s Lawyer Says Plaintiffs Sought Cash Settlement

Why does Carol Vogel in today's NY Times say that the sale total for Sotheby's Impressionist/modern auction last night was "right in the middle of its estimate," while CultureGrrl says that the sale total was "slightly below the sale's presale estimate"? Because Carol Vogel (and we might as well add Lindsay Pollock and Philip Boroff, in today's Bloomberg) is wrong. As Sotheby's … [Read more...] about False Comparisons: Auction Scribes Perpetrate Inflation-By-Premium

CultureGrrl, your intrepid art-combat correspondent, has just returned from the York Avenue bidding skirmishes. It was a businesslike and subdued affair. But the polished, if impersonal, auctioneer Tobias Meyer got the job done, with a total sold hammer price of $212.07 million, slightly below the sale's presale estimate of $219.6-299.8 million. (For a complete price list, go … [Read more...] about Sotheby’s Takes Care of Business: Impressionist/Modern Results