Category: visual

Maxxi is Rome’s new museum of 21st century art, and meant to be revolutionary in a city of art that hasn’t invested much in its architecture in the past century. “Maxxi is intended to put Rome on the map as a city that takes modern art seriously. Choosing Zaha Hadid, who last year won the Pritzker Prize, underlined the importance of the project.” Maxxi is “as revolutionary as anything that has emerged from her pen. It is not so much a building as some glass-and-steel worms slithering over each other.” But now the construction is being handicapped by money issues…

The first Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art is about to open. “The main venue of the biennial is at the Lenin Museum, off Red Square, and it is titled “Dialectics of hope”, an ironic play on the theme of the utopia never found by Communism and now lost to the pressures of capitalism, and the expectations of improvement as Russia re-enters the Western orbit.”

Art-selling in France continues to be tough going. “The art market in France shrank slightly in 2004 as Drouot, the umbrella organisation for Parisian auction houses, reported turnover of €365 million ($480 million). In addition, the gap is gradually widening between the two leading international auction houses, Christie’s and Sotheby’s and their larger French competitors, whose sales are stagnating or declining.”

What caused the final split between the Guggenheim’s Tom Krens and Peter Lewis that led to Lewis leaving the museum board? “In the months before his departure, Lewis had taken to asking: ‘If franchising all these international museums is such a good idea, then why isn’t Moma doing it? Why isn’t the Whitney doing it?’ The spin coming from the Guggenheim is that the outcome of the confrontation represents the triumph of culture, in the shape of Krens, a 6ft 5in former artist with a fondness for Harley-Davidsons, over commerce in the person of Lewis, chairman of a Cleveland insurance company. But the truth is that Lewis was becoming increasingly alarmed, not just about the financial position of a museum into which he had poured so much of his own money, but also its reputation.”

“While the traditional masks and figures that so influenced Picasso and other early modernists are now universally accepted as part of the canon of great art, contemporary work has remained on the margins – barely known in the West, even to the regular gallery-goer.” A new show in Europe is the biggest-ever assemblage of contemporary African work. “Yet, if the exhibition gives an exhilarating sense of the creativity of the modern African city – a world where traditional masquerading exists alongside hip-hop, internet cafés and satellite TV – modern African art remains a Cinderella phenomenon.”

Between 1997 and 2002, five security guards at the National Gallery of Australia were diagnosed with cancer. Nine others were also diagnosed over an unspecified period. “As management learned of the cancers, an investigation was already under way into the health and safety of the building, prompted by long-running allegations by staff and former staff that it was damaging their health and the priceless collection.” An investigation showed staff has been exporsed to “a potentially deadly chemical.”

The art market has been soaring, with prices shooting up as many look to art as an investment. But some are worrying that the bubble may be ready to burst. “If anything, the feverish buying suggests a kind of herd instinct and the market may well be in for a serious correction. Many of the new collectors do not have a grounding in art history or a fundamental understanding of what they are buying.”

US big box retailer Costco has sold the Picasso it put up for sale last week. “The work, signed and dated 29 November 1970, had a price tag of $39,999 (£21,483), and was sold on Wednesday. The artwork was described as a “doodle” drawn on the blank side of a book jacket. It had been authenticated by the artist’s daughter.”

What’s so strange about buying a Picasso at Costco? They have an excellent return policy. “By visiting costco.com and searching under ‘fine art,’ buyers can access a list of artworks for sale by Marc Chagall, Amadeo Modigliani, Henri Matisse, Georges Braque and others. On Wednesday, prices on the ever-changing list ranged from $21.49 to about $1,500, for a limited-edition lithograph. With a click of the mouse, you can add art to your cart.”

Preservationists are speaking out against plans to change the landscaping of Lincoln Center’s plazas as part of the huge redevelopment of Lincoln Center. They say that altering the landscaping significantly will ruin the original design by Dan Kiley, one of the leading landscape architects of the last century.