Category: visual

“At $30, it costs more to enter the Barnes than any other art museum in the country, according to a list compiled by Art News since the decision by the Metropolitan Museum in New York to end pay-what-you-wish ticket prices for out-of-state visitors. The Met now charges $25. But wait. That $30 Barnes ticket is not the “official” admission price — even though you can’t get in without paying it.”

If most longtime gallerists continue clinging to familiar patrons and familiar methods, then the art business, as physicist Max Planck once said of science, will only “advance one funeral at a time.” But either way the next generation appears ready to step up and reach out.

“Many of the paintings I decline are accompanied by ‘certificates of expertise’, signed by certain academics who, unlike myself as a seller, are not financially liable. When I have crossed swords with such figures over the years, they have frequently been amazed that I would quibble with their learned opinions. Perhaps they would like to explain to buyers who have bought paintings with their certificates why these have been rejected for resale and not accepted for any major museum show?”

“The work by Robert Indiana was first installed [near Philadelphia’s City Hall] on loan for the U.S. bicentennial celebrations in 1976 and was repainted twice using – in addition to its dominant red and green – a blue paint that turned out to be the wrong color.” When it returns from its yearlong renovation in two weeks, the right color will be there. (And that color is?)

“Modelled on the annual London showcase, the Serpentine Pavilion Beijing will be designed by Sichuan-based JIAKUN Architects. It will launch in May … and will be on display for six months.”

The Turkish air strike hit near the main doorway to the temple, causing severe damage to the central and southeastern parts of the building. The site appears to have no military significance and the fact that the bombs destroyed the temple entrance suggests that the archaeological site was directly targeted. If so, this would be a breach of the Hague Convention on the protection of cultural property during armed conflict.

An army of amateur art critics soon flooded social media, from Facebook to Yelp, with their grievances. One particularly pissed off Yelper gave the museum a one-star review, the same paltry rating he bestowed upon a Connecticut Cheesecake Factory and the Art Lounge at Newark airport, commenting, “This POS institution thinks its funny to offer our president a toilet. GFY Guggenheim.”

The work is not imagined as a memorial but as a message of hope to deliver to the present and future generations: “Created as a symbol of remembrance, optimism and healing, Bouquet of Tulips symbolizes the act of offering, represented by the outstretched hand holding the brightly colored flowers.” The artist rather wished to express the painful context of the attacks into a symbolic work, both in its iconography and in its aesthetic experience.”

While other industries, such as music and publishing, have been transformed by online retailing, the needle has been slower to move in the art market.