Category: visual

The facade of San Francisco’s new deYoung Museum has not been a big hit with members of the public, some of whom have suggested that it looks like an aircraft carrier. But Kenneth Baker says that art lovers should reserve judgment until they’ve seen the whole museum, and that includes the inside. “The new de Young deploys its resources to encourage our recognition that the meanings of art, even of the decorative arts, lie neither wholly within the art object nor wholly outside it.”

“One of the most famous — and longest — paintings of Chinese antiquity will go on display this month in its entirety for the first time ever. Engineers at the Beijing University of Technology have built a 52-foot-long case weighing 5 tons and costing $247,000 to display ‘Qingming Shanghe Tu,’ or ‘Qingming Festival on the River,’ the official China Daily newspaper reported. The 12th Century work has long been praised for its realism and historical detail in portraying social and commercial life in an ancient Chinese city. Yet, its size, and fears of damage to the delicate colors and silk on which it was painted have prevented it from ever being shown publicly. The original painting measured more than 16 feet long.”

“The landlord of the London art gallery where Charles Saatchi houses his world-famous collection is seeking to evict him in a High Court battle. Japanese company Shirayama Shokusan is accusing the operators of the Saatchi Gallery of continually breaching the terms of its lease. It alleges the gallery hung works of art in off-limit areas and had immediately tried to renegotiate rent. Mr Saatchi is planning to move his main artworks to a new gallery in Chelsea.”

Conservators are working overtime to save artworks damaged in the Gulf Coast hurricanes. “The American Institute for Conservation of Historic & Artistic Works, based in Washington, is sending conservators to help the Federal Emergency Management Agency and cultural associations determine how to best repair waterlogged historic documents, sodden furniture and artwork. It also will help private citizens with damaged collections and heirlooms. Even before the floodwaters buried New Orleans, efforts were under way to preserve art treasures.”

The decorated fiberglass animals-on-parade phenomenon continues in cities around North America. Critics hate them: “It’s the scourge of Western civilization.” “Yet the fiberglass phenomenon remains wildly popular. Superficially, at least, the reasons are obvious. Most ordinary folks, children especially, find the sculptures just plain fun. They’re relatively cheap, so corporate patrons can easily sponsor local artists to decorate them. Because they are usually displayed for only a few months, they aren’t around long enough to become eyesores. And when their time is up, they’re auctioned off for charity, civic institutions or other worthy causes.”

This time it’s a design to commenmorate the crash of flight 93 in a Pennsylvania field. “The debates suggest an age-of-terror version of the fights over identity politics, provocative artworks and the Western canon that flared up 20 years ago. In the case of Flight 93, the Hallmark-card Minimalism that is now the lingua franca for memorials — and the design world’s version of political correctness — has clashed with the notion that what we ought to remember about its passengers, above all else, is their onboard rebellion.”

In 1978 thieves stole seven paintings from Michael Bakwin. “The paintings, worth about $3 million, surfaced last spring in London, in the possession of the Erie International Trading Co., an obscure organization with a Panamanian address. When Bakwin learned that the company had plans to auction the works, he asked the Art Loss Register, a firm that tracks stolen art, to intervene. Julian Radcliffe, chairman of the Art Loss Register, said he wants to know who the owners of Erie International Trading are, how they got the paintings, and what they may know about the theft.”

Jerry Saltz writes that New York’s “art world has never been so flush with money. There are almost 300 galleries in Chelsea, with more than 30 expanding or relocating there this season. A 20-story “gallery condo” is under construction; Matthew Marks is opening a fourth gallery space, Perry Rubinstein a third, Pace a second; Marianne Boesky is building her own building. No one’s closing. There are also hundreds of contemporary galleries outside Chelsea. So New York truly is Art City. Or is it? Even with all the buzz, we’re in a predicament.”

There are four major international art fairs this month. “Not only is the schedule punishing for exhibitors and collectors, but the competition between the fairs for galleries and audience ratings is intense. It is not just a question of filling the stands and making sales – there is an abundance of galleries eager to take part in any of these fairs. The key issue, say the fair directors, is the quality of art shown, by which they mean prestige: getting the most prestigious international galleries with the most sought-after artists and that A1 list of collectors and museum curators to attend.”

Jack Vettriano has denied he copied from a book for some of his most famous works. “The painter said he had never made any secret of using a 1987 illustrators’ guide for some of his figure drawing. Vettriano denied newspaper reports that he had copied the work or that he had kept his use of the book to himself. He said he had always been upfront about being self-taught and that, like many other artists, he used a reference book for some of his figure drawing.”