Category: visual

Now that a plan for the WTC site has been chosen, the real heavy lifting begins. One good first step, writes David Dillon, would be abandoning the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. and Port Authority’s development plans and starting over. “The Port Authority’s program belongs to the 1960s, not the 21st century, and repeats many of the mistakes that made the World Trade Center a bad neighbor.”

Two years ago the world stood apalled as the Taliban blasted the historic Bamiyan Buddhas into oblivion. Though the regime commited many atrocities, somehow the destruction of the centuries-old statues stirred fresh outrage. Now the US is planning to bomb Iraq, site of many historical/archaeological treasures. Is this not outrageous also?

“After nearly three years and $17 million, Frank Lloyd Wright’s landmark, city-owned Hollyhock House and the adjacent Barnsdall Park [in Los Angeles] may still remain closed to the public when the first of two renovation phases is finished late this spring, city officials said Wednesday. And there are currently no plans and no money for the second phase… More than 50 supporters of Hollyhock House, community leaders and citizens who value Barnsdall Park’s neighborhood art programs, turned up for the progress report. Some could not contain their dismay at phase one’s outcome: In addition to being late and over budget, the project will leave far less space for art classes.”

How was Daniel Libeskind’s plan for the World Trade Center site chosen? The decision rested as much on politics, economics and engineering as on aethetics. “Almost immediately after the decision was announced, civic groups, downtown business leaders and others began debating the details that will be needed to put the plan into effect.”

Even before he submitted his design for Ground Zero, Daniel Libeskind was uniquely prepared for the necessity of selling oneself and one’s art to American politicians and finicky citizens. It was less than three years ago that Libeskind beat out four other architects to become the winning designer of a $62.5 million addition to the Denver Art Museum. And while the media scrutiny and public interest in Denver was a fraction of that with which Libeskind would contend in New York, the architect’s skill at presenting his work as a public boon was evident in the Denver competition.

The Scottish government gave £2.5 million of the £11.6 million needed to buy the Scottish National Gallery’s Titian acquired this week. “I am most impressed with the Scottish Executive and Mike Watson in particular for giving us £2.5 million at a difficult time. It’s a very enlightened thing for a government to do. A direct treasury grant in Scotland for something as rarefied and distinguished as this is a splendid thing.” But the director of the National gallery warns that other art treasures are in dancer of being sold and taken out of the country.

The most-talked-about work at this year’s Tate Britain show of contemporary work is Cornelia Parker’s “The Distance (A Kiss with String Attached)” that binds up the lovers in Rodin’s famous sculpture “The Kiss” in string. “It’s my homage to two artists and a way of showing that love is more complicated than just a kiss. In fact, Dante’s punishment of the illicit lovers was to condemn them to be entwined in an embrace for eternity. ‘The Kiss’ used to be considered indecent. People thought it should be covered up, which in effect is what I’ve done. I don’t think I’ve hidden the eroticism. If you conceal things, they become more charged.”

Scotland’s National Gallery buys itself a Titian for £11 million. The painting has hung on loan to the gallery for 60 years. “It took more than two years to complete the deal, using £7.6m worth of lottery funding and a £2.5m contribution from the Scottish executive. The rest of the money came from the National Art Collections Fund and the National Galleries. To facilitate the sale, £2.4m of the picture’s value was offset against inheritance tax.”

More people are trying to track down art looted by the Nazis during World War II than ever before. And museums and collectors are under greater scrutiny. But “experts have become increasingly pessimistic that much more of it will ever be recovered and restored to its rightful owners. The Germans seized perhaps 600,000 important works from 1933 to 1945. “As many as 100,000 pieces are still estimated to be missing, and some have undoubtedly been destroyed. ‘Obviously, what this is all about is the art world having to pay the price for lack of interest in provenance that they have shown for generations. It’s a good idea to put it on the Internet and make it available, but I don’t think there’s a great deal of follow-up by museums’.”

The Metroplitan Museum lands a gift of 50 paintings, sculptures, drawings and prints by Matisse, valued at $100 million. “The gift, which comes from a foundation named after Matisse’s youngest son, Pierre, and Pierre’s wife, Maria-Gaetana Matisse, is one of the most important gifts of modern art the Metropolitan has ever received.”