Category: visual

“Another great museum in New York should not be out of the question. I’m not sure if it could or would be a Guggenheim. There are tremendous resources out there, tremendous collections. Where will they all go?”

“Does it matter whether booty comes from good wars or bad ones, from evil owners or helpless ones, from public places or obscure corners and rich men’s vaults? In principle, the answer should be, ‘No, it doesn’t matter.’ But Germany in World War II stole art from its victims; the Soviets then looted Germany when their troops overran Berlin. In Germany’s case, it’s considered a war crime. Russians insist their actions were just revenge.”

“Some of the first museums to change how they present exhibits have been in the Bay Area, where gadgets and gadget-heads have lived happily for many years. That kind of environment is proving to be a grand field for the successful introduction of the tech-enabled, extra-dimensional museum experience.”

“She is the top woman architect in the world, the only woman ever to win the Pritzker prize. She is hugely admired and sought-after everywhere – except seemingly in Britain where she has lived for over 30 years.”

“Christie’s is auctioning Richard Neutra’s Kaufmann Desert House as a work of art, hoping to redefine what was recently considered a derelict building ripe for demolition into a $25m aesthetic masterpiece. What’s surprising is that anyone should doubt this. The house is an extraordinary achievement from the golden age of American modernism, by a renowned designer. Why does Christie’s have to labour the point that it is ‘art’? Why would anyone mistake it for anything else?”

“The Whitney is not in the business of selling art, but this Biennial shows that it’s nevertheless caught up in the market’s bizarre hysteria, swooning over mediocrity and prodigally handing out prestige. The sliver of ‘now’ on view at the Whitney seems to me a symptom of decadence, a wasteland of its own, made up of dissociated trends and indecipherable shards.”

“Over the last nine months, remains — including Roman taverns and 16th-century palace foundations — have turned up at the central Piazza Venezia and near the ancient Forum where works are paving the way for one of the 30 stations of Rome’s third subway line.”

“In Italy, politics can seem like a capricious game, one that has deeply influenced the country’s approach to architecture, design and urban planning over the past 30 or 40 years. Meanwhile, Spain changes its political spots slowly, but when it does change direction, the cultural results have been as thrilling as they have been serious.”

“The historic exterior and grand public rooms have been impeccably restored, yet the New York icon feels embalmed rather than enlivened.”