Author: Douglas McLennan

Just what can explain the popularity of Jeff Koons? “Koons has had an impressive run at auction. Starting in November 1999, records for Koons weren’t just set, they were obliterated. Several of his exquisitely crafted porcelain sculptures came up and easily cruised through the million-dollar barrier. Suddenly, Jeff Koons prices were in Andy Warhol territory.” Who’s buying this stuff? – Artnet

Britain’s Royal Collection of artwork, housed among the country’s various royal palaces, will go on view to the public in new galleries in Edinburgh and at Buckingham Palace over the next two years. But why isn’t the impressive collection (including the world’s most significant archive of drawings by Leonardo) on permanent, accessible display? “The only way the Queen can do justice to the Royal Collection is to give it to us.” – The Guardian

“Since the Iranian Revolution of 1979, a priceless collection of modern art, bought by the Shah of Iran’s wife and ranging from Picasso and Van Gogh to Bacon and Pollock, has been lost to the viewing world, buried in the vaults of a museum in Teheran. But as the Iranian government has cautiously begun the process of liberalisation during the past two years, some of the paintings have gone on display. The response has been extraordinary, and some of the images produced by the crowds even more extraordinary: women in chadors gazing intently at Andy Warhol’s Marilyn and brown-robed mullahs appraising a Roy Lichtenstein.” – The Telegraph (UK)

The Melbourne Art Fair got underway this week amid well-publicized criticism by Chilean painter Juan Davila that the Australian art world is “ruthlessly mercantile” and expresses a “bankrupt cultural scenario.” “His comments were intended to highlight the ‘serfdom’ to which artists were reduced in the art market because their dealers took 40 to 50 percent of the sale of a painting.” – The Age (Melbourne)

• Much like the fiberglass cow craze that swept other cities earlier this year, downtown St. Paul, Minnesota has been overrun by 101 statues of Snoopy which were commissioned to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of St. Paul native Charles Schultz’s “Peanuts” strip. – NPR [Real audio file]

The world’s first John Lennon Museum opens this week, and it’s not in Liverpool, London, or New York. It’s in a Japanese town 30 km north of Tokyo. Why there? “Could have something to do with money. Construction company Taisei Corp. reached an agreement with Yoko Ono last year to build the museum on two floors of the spanking-new Saitama Super Arena.” – Daily Yomiuri (Japan)

The San Jose Museum of Art has named Daniel T. Keegan as its new director. “Keegan, 51, comes to the San Jose museum from the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art in Kansas City, Mo., after three years as director there.” – San Francisco Chronicle