Category: visual

“David Hockney has condemned school inspectors for saying boys are turned off art by lessons that are too focused on drawing and painting.”

“Onward, ever onward! That has been the steady objection to Tate Modern’s displays ever since 2000, the criticism that everything is chosen for its quick-fire impact, each hit raising a craving for more. And it is true that each of these works is exhilarating – but also absorbing. The careful arrangement of each room this time, what is more, allows for a much more contemplative pace.”

“The museum’s board of trustees votes tomorrow on a major expansion plan that would pave the way for the Carriage House’s demolition. And, at the 11th hour, the fate of the once-handsome building has erupted into a furor, perhaps the most serious crisis at the museum since the nighttime theft of several masterpieces in 1990.”

“If you look at the last 130 years since Chicago became a serious city, nothing really compares to what has happened in the last 15 years here. We’ve gone through such a good period that we can afford to rest for a while.”

“While the Modern Wing brings an elegant aloofness to the cityscape, it also points to the infatuation of risk-averse trustees with the high-minded sensibility Piano first expressed in the 1986 Menil Collection in Houston.”

“The art market may have just laid down its new floor. The major spring art auctions that conclude Friday in New York were the smallest round in terms of total sales in five years, but collectors have begun venturing back into the market in search of art bargains.”

“Consider this: When the Chicago Public Schools year ends June 12, elementary students will not be able to visit for free the Field Museum, the Adler Planetarium, the Museum of Science and Industry — because none offer free days until September.” At other museums, admission for kids is free, but “they can’t go unaccompanied and special exhibitions can require tickets.”

“Unlike Sotheby’s sale on Tuesday, where bidding was thin and buyers reluctant, Christie’s auction of postwar and contemporary art … was a buoyant hour and a half during which record prices were set for recognized artists like David Hockney.” Then again, the evening’s total was $93.7 million, down from $348.2 million a year ago.

“South Africa’s environment ministry may try block a coal project proposed by a company partly owned by ArcelorMittal because it jeopardizes the United Nations- recognized World Heritage Status of a set of historical ruins.” The ruins are “remnants of what was once southern Africa’s biggest kingdom…. Artifacts including a gold ornament, known as the Golden Rhinoceros, have been found at the site while the ruins include royal graves and stone walls.”

Blair Kamin: “Chicago, get ready for your latest joy ride. A new pedestrian bridge, which links Millennium Park and the Art Institute of Chicago’s Modern Wing, is a walk through the treetops, a sidewalk soaring through the sky. Climb the Nichols Bridgeway, as this sloping, 620-foot-long span is called, and you’re hovering over Monroe Street, as though you are in a helicopter.”