Lee Rosenbaum's cultural commentary

"We’re expecting a very detailed review from you now," the indispensable Donna De Salvo warned me, with a slight edge to her voice, when we had reached about the midway point of the very extensive tour she gave me (for my Wall Street Journal article) of the Whitney Museum's expanded, reinterpreted and refreshed installation of its permanent collection. I gulped and said … [Read more...] about Whither the Whitney? Outtakes from My Tour of the New Whitney with Donna De Salvo and Carter Foster

There are very few museum shows that make me smile from beginning to end. But I suddenly realized that I and several other women I encountered at Tuesday's press preview were walking around with goofy grins at Yoko Ono: One Woman Show, 1960–1971, which opens Sunday at the Museum of Modern Art. One could argue that the trajectory of a show devoted to a living and still … [Read more...] about Give Yoko Ono a Chance: Pioneering Conceptual Artist Belatedly Gets Her MoMA Show

I've attended countless major art auctions, both in person and online, but I've never seen an ending quite like the one at Christie's contemporary sale tonight. The ingratiating and efficient auctioneer, Jussi Pylkkänen, perhaps seeking to avoid an uncomfortably anemic ovation like that received by Oliver Barker the night before at Sotheby's, called upon whoever was still … [Read more...] about Christie’s Maintains Contemporary-Art Dominance with $658.53-Million Sale

All of the muddled misinformation and misinterpretations being dispensed this week by well-intentioned but insufficiently informed art-market journalists are beginning to set my teeth on edge. In advance of tonight's numbingly long Christie's contemporary sale (85 lots, unless some are withdrawn), below is a timely corrective. It is intended to be helpful, not … [Read more...] about Slinging the Art-Market Lingo: A Crash Course for Confused Journalists

Here's my running Twitter commentary on Sotheby's $379.68-million sale tonight of 63 lots. Eight of those lots didn't sell and another nine, which brought $15.92 million (including buyers premium), were sold to benefit LA MOCA. Even the buyers premium went to the museum, according to Sotheby's recent proxy statement. The statement also revealed that the auction firm would … [Read more...] about Strong Start, Weak Finish at Sotheby’s $379.68-Million Contemporary Sale

Here's my running Twitter commentary on "Looking Forward to the Past," Christie's tightly curated, buoyant $705.86-million, 35-lot modern/contemporary sale: … [Read more...] about $179.37-Million Picasso: My Twitter Report on Christie’s Record-Smashing Sale

During the last of my three visits to the Whitney Museum's new digs in the NYC's Meatpacking District, I was struck by how the location had changed but the ethnically non-diverse demographics of the visitors had stayed the same. This was at variance with First Lady Michelle Obama's remarks (full text here) at the ribbon-cutting ceremony, the day before the public … [Read more...] about Whither the Whitney: Michelle Obama and the Question of Outreach

Now that I've published my Wall Street Journal Whitney piece, I'm playing catch-up on other stories, including the upcoming contemporary art auctions. I went first to Sotheby's, to cover the 9 a.m. annual shareholders' meeting and to preview the contemporary offerings. While there, I decided to connect my smartphone to the auction house's public wi-fi network. I know … [Read more...] about Tad Smith, Sotheby’s New CEO, is Silent at Perfunctory Annual Meeting

As I suggested in Old Favorites in Provocative New Company, my piece in today's Wall Street Journal, I loved the new Whitney Museum's inaugural exhibition of its permanent collection, America is Hard to See. But unlike most reviewers, I didn't buy the party line about how terrific its galleries are. The conventional wisdom is exemplified by this tweet from the NY Times' … [Read more...] about The New Whitney: An Irreverent Companion Essay for My WSJ Review

I don't know which astonished me more---Colin Bailey's short-notice decision to desert the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco in June, after barely two years as its director, or Philippe de Montebello's decision to attach his formidable reputation to the sadly substandard Hispanic Society of America, by becoming its chairman. (Mitchell Codding remains its executive … [Read more...] about Bailey Bails, Philippe Leaps: Big Surprises At Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and Hispanic Society of America

Will the Guggenheim's Middle East plans be affected by last week's NY Times revelations about yet another report detailing widespread violations of workers' rights guidelines in Abu Dhabi? (This latest chapter concerns New York University's new campus there.) Although its announced completion date remains 2017, there is still "no construction underway" on the … [Read more...] about Global Guggenheim Updates: Abu Dhabi (workers’ rights), Bilbao (renewal), Helsinki (finalists’ show)

As I suggested near the end of my previous post, my enthusiasm for the Museum of Modern Art's profoundly illuminating, entertaining (thanks to its rich musical component) and deeply researched One-Way Ticket: Jacob Lawrence’s Migration Series and Other Works was tinged with a drop of disappointment. During her opening remarks at the press preview, curator Leah Dickerman … [Read more...] about “One-Way Ticket’s” Missed Connection: Lawrence’s “Migration” Show at MoMA Bypasses a Crucial Stop

More on MoMA's Lawrence show here. Jacob Lawrence's "Migration Series" is our country's Parthenon Marbles---a monumental frieze-like epic, meant to be experienced in a single, stately procession, but sadly sundered by two covetous owners. In the 1942, within months of their completion by the precocious 23-year-old, the 60 small tempera paintings chronicling the movement of … [Read more...] about “One-Way Ticket”? Lawrence’s “Migration Series” Should Remain Whole after MoMA’s Showing (with video) UPDATED

In the inaugural displays that they have recently announced for their new digs, the Whitney and Metropolitan museums seem to be sending contrasting messages, bucking their respective images as provocatively experimental and conservatively sedate.                     With its … [Read more...] about Inaugural Jolt: The Whitney and Metropolitan Museums Go Against Type in Their New Digs