There is nothing quite as pleasurable as having your mind changed. It’s almost as pleasurable as being right.
I am The Observer‘s Culture Editor — hi — and I am not what you might call a fashion person: I appreciate a fancy frock as much as the next gal; I can slip into an attitude Read More
The New York art world may be entering uncharted territory.
Why do we think so? Let’s look at the big picture: In June, dealers at the Art Basel fair reported that business was booming. Art, we were told in report after report, was selling as it had in the heady days of 2006 and 2007, when the housing crash and the worldwide economic crisis were merely theories in the heads of a few sharp-eyed economists and canny hedge fund managers.
Last month, the world’s two leading auction houses, Sotheby’s and Christie’s, announced record revenues for the first half of the year, having moved $3.4 billion and $3.2 billion worth of art and other goods, respectively.
Now, for New York: there are, at this moment, more galleries, more artists, more curators and—perhaps most significant—more square footage devoted to art than at any time in the city’s history. The art world has never been wealthier, and that wealth has never been more intensely concentrated. Read More
Pace Gallery founder Arne Glimcher and his son Marc are profiled in a Kelly Crow story in the new WSJ. magazine, who gets a few juicy details out of the father-son duo.
We learn, for instance, that Pace, which operates four galleries in New York and one in Beijing (with a London branch on Read More
The artist William Powhida was a thousand miles away in Wisconsin on the evening of July 27 when a man claiming to be William Powhida drove into the ground-floor garage of the Marlborough Chelsea gallery in a vintage green Mercedes convertible, drinking from a bottle of Champagne. He sat on a couch that was barricaded off and continued drinking, inviting a few friends to join him. While an audience watched, the man bossed around an assistant, sent out messages on his Blackberry and flirted with the two svelte blond women seated next to him. A painting by the artist Tom Sanford hung on the wall: it was a depiction of the man who was in the gallery, acting the fool. In the painting, he was releasing a dove from his hands while a busty blond woman clung to his leg. It was all an act staged for a gallery opening. On the wall by the entrance, in big black letters, was the name of the show: POWHIDA. Read More
“I’ve been on this total kick with pipe cleaners lately,” the artist Nick Cave said excitedly. “They’re just”—he paused—“Ah! I’m telling you, they’re just amazing!” Read More
“Try to be one of the people on whom nothing is lost,” the writer Henry James once advised. It has not been lost on us here at The Observer, where we carefully scrutinize the tiniest changes in branding, that what was formerly known as Gagosian Gallery is now known simply as Gagosian.
Already on the Read More
The Observer has learned from a source who spoke on condition of anonymity that Gagosian Gallery will present an exhibition of Bob Dylan’s paintings in New York in September.
Artnet reported this morning that the gallery has added Mr. Dylan’s Read More
Summer is in full swing, and New York’s galleries are beginning to close up shop. It is time to retreat to the region’s fine beaches or at least air-conditioned apartments. Regardless, you will need books, and New York’s art-book purveyors have plenty of special events, sales, and exhibitions on offer. Below, five art-book events that Read More
New York’s spring auction blockbuster is opening on a buzzy note: A strong stock market, a sunny spring, a good selection of million-dollar merchandise. One boldface name stands out: Pablo Picasso. Sotheby’s and Christie’s are selling a couple dozen works by the Spanish master, a far more varied selection of them than usual. Picasso lived Read More
