Lee Rosenbaum's cultural commentary

In the provocative spirit of CultureGrrl, come join me, faithful art-lings, in an unconventional commemoration of Art Museum Day, spotlighting some unlikely pairings that have recently hit the news. Whether conceived in a spirit of innovation or desperation, they've caught our attention by being unexpected and a little eyebrow-raising: ---There have been new developments in … [Read more...] about Art Museum Day’s Odd Couples: Corcoran/GWU, MASS MoCA/Crystal Bridges, Smithsonian/Hebrew University

When is an "auction record" not really an auction record? That's a question that may be raised regarding a wobbly Twombly benchmark set at Sotheby's last November. In her Bloomberg report on that auction house's $242.19-million evening Contemporary sale last week, Katya Kazakina unpacked the back story for this untitled Christopher Wool, for which the bidding inched up to … [Read more...] about An Asterisk for Twombly Record* at Sotheby’s? Bloomberg Reports Payment by Art-Swap

I don't know about you, but I'm experiencing severe auction fatigue, which is not nearly as rewarding as museum fatigue. So let's cut to the chase and get right to my Twitter account of tonight's dull, workmanlike Impressionist/Modern sale at Christie's, which, despite its record for Frida Kahlo, lacked electricity. Even Frida's nudes, nestled in this lush landscape, look … [Read more...] about Are We Still Awake? My Live Tweets on Christie’s Impressionist/Modern Snooze

After its rocky night Monday, it looked like Sotheby's could become a distant also-ran in the art-auction sweepstakes. But tonight, with a little help from some late-breaking irrevocable bids (likely accompanied by lowered reserves), it glided through a smooth Contemporary sale, with an impressive 95.4% sold by lot and 98.6% sold by value. The price levels, for the most … [Read more...] about Competition Lives! My Live Tweets on Sotheby’s Creditable Contemporary Sale

The headline for my last post was: Christie's Gets It Done. At the press preview for last night's confidence-restoring contemporary sale, Brett Gorvy, Christie's chairman of Post-War and Contemporary art, told me how he had worked to achieve that. With the benefit of hindsight, his strategy worked, but with some added help from the previous night's disappointing Sotheby's sale … [Read more...] about “Contemporary Confidence” Game: Brett Gorvy Tells How Christie’s Got it Done

Christie's tonight pulled the art market out of its Sotheby's-induced funk with a Post-War/Contemporary sale that hummed along nicely from beginning to end, with one manic moment---a new auction record for this untitled 1982 Basquiat, which sold for $57.29 million with buyer's premium: Here's my running commentary on Christie's spirited sale (thanks to the lively … [Read more...] about Christie’s Gets It Done: My Live Tweets on Tonight’s Solid Contemporary Sale

If Sotheby's is trying to restore buyer confidence, tonight's mediocre Impressionist/Modern sale wasn't the way to do it. Only 66.1% of the works sold, and the sold total by hammer price total was considerably below the presale estimate of hammer price. Here's my running Twitter commentary on how it went down: … [Read more...] about Sotheby’s Slump: My Live Tweets from Tonight’s Painful Impressionist/Modern Sale

How do you restore investor confidence in a company whose first-quarter results show a net loss of $25.9 million (compared to net income of $5.2 million for the same period the previous year), with a 35% decrease in net auction sales and 33% decrease in auction revenues in this year's first quarter compared to last years? You try to show that this was an anomaly (because the … [Read more...] about “Cautious Optimism,” Depressed Results: Sotheby’s Spins the Art-Market Slump for Analysts

The operative words for the art market this season are "correction" and "contraction." So Sotheby's can be forgiven for seeking comfort in nostalgia, via this Monday tweet, recalling a past triumph: #OnThisDay in 2012, Sotheby's sold Edvard Munch's 1895 'The Scream' for a record $120 million #SothebysImpMod pic.twitter.com/VO0i1XxsPc — Sotheby's (@Sothebys) May 2, … [Read more...] about Contraction Action: Sotheby’s & Christie’s Confront New Market Reality (plus Koons “Deflatable”)

Are we seeing a trend here? Anne Pasternak at the Brooklyn Museum; James Rondeau at the Art Institute of Chicago; now Christopher Bedford at the Baltimore Museum of Art. In all three recent cases, a contemporary art specialist was chosen for the top spot at a museum with distinguished historic collections. (Notably bucking that trend were the Detroit Institute of Arts and … [Read more...] about Bedford in Baltimore: Christopher is Third Contemporary Expert Recently Tapped to Lead a Major Art Museum

Part I is here. While most of Degas: A Strange New Beauty at the Museum of Modern Art (to July 24) assembles the artist's usual cast of characters---dancers and singers, acquaintances and nudes (often in ungainly poses)---two sections at the end of this thoroughly engrossing show of the artist's monotypes reveal aspects of his work that are less familiar (as discussed by … [Read more...] about Brothels & Landscapes: MoMA Mines Degas’ Monotype Monomania–Part II

Part I is here. While implicitly faulting the Metropolitan Museum's administration for not having managed its operations "in a way that’s financially sustainable," Daniel Weiss, who has been the Met's president since July, diplomatically avoided direct criticism during most of our wide-ranging conversation last week. But in assessing the Met's plans for the new Southwest … [Read more...] about My Q&A with President Daniel Weiss–Part II: Financial Impact of Met Breuer & Planned New Wing

Part II is here. Last week's revelations about the Metropolitan Museum's disturbing financial reality check left a lot of unanswered questions, raising concerns about how prudently the museum has been managed under the seven-year leadership of its director and CEO, Tom Campbell. The museum's president, Daniel Weiss, who assumed his post last July, has dedicated himself … [Read more...] about My Q&A with President Daniel Weiss–Part I: How Did Metropolitan Museum Fall into Financial Hole? How Will It Climb Out?

The contrast in the financial news emanating today from New York's two premier art museums could not have been more dramatic. The Museum of Modern Art issued an exultant press release celebrating David Geffen's $100-million naming gift for its planned renovation and expansion. That equals his recent Lincoln Center benefaction for the NY Philharmonic's home. Meanwhile, … [Read more...] about Today in Museum Accounting: Financial Windfall at MoMA, Shortfall at the Met

The National Academy's two interconnected townhouses and school building are now on the market for $120 million, according to its listing by luxury real estate brokers Cushman & Wakefield. A museum spokesperson had previously told me that the property had been appraised at about $107 million in 2012. The realtors' sales pitch hawks the academy's property on Fifth Avenue, … [Read more...] about Deaccessioning Its Home: National Academy’s Posh Digs on the Market for $120 Million