sign in sign up
<<
Home , Chuck Close, Euphronios, Philippe de Montebello

F r o n t p a g e

ber of expansions and renovations Over the years, heirs of the collec- Met Director that over the years have doubled the tors have attempted to lay claim to museum’s size. works, usually while on view in other to Retire Under de Montebello’s leadership, countries. Shchukin’s and Morosov’s the Met’s endowment rose from holdings were nationalized by Lenin t’s the end of an era for the Metro- $1.36 million to $2.9 billion. Though in 1918, after the 1917 Bolshevik Ipolitan Museum of Art. On Jan. 8, the museum has various business Revolution. longtime director Philippe de Monte- ventures, including online and retail In response to Russia’s concern, bello announced his intention to retire stores and a thriving art-book pub- British officials rushed through leg- by Dec. 31, after more than 30 years lishing department, it has not jumped islation safeguarding the artworks as the head of one of the world’s most on the globalization bandwagon by against possible claims. The law was prominent art museums. The eighth opening an international branch, a to have taken effect in February, after and longest-serving director in the trend that de Montebello has spoken the show’s opening, but was instead Met’s 138-year history, he oversaw against. Among the notable acquisi- pushed up to Dec. 31. The move the physical and programmatic trans- tions made during his tenure are appeased Russian officials, and on formation of the institution. The recent Duccio’s tempera-and-gold-on-wood Jan. 9 the Russian government gave reopenings of the Greek and Roman Madonna and Child, van Gogh’s its consent for the works to travel to Galleries, in a new 57,000-square- Wheat Field with Cypresses, Bal- . England. The show opened as sched- foot space, and of the expanded and thus’s The Mountain and Jasper uled on Jan. 26 and will remain on revamped 25,000-square-foot Uris Johns’s White Flag. In addition, he Klee and Clyfford Still, as well as view through Apr. 18. Center for Education cap off a num- secured collections of work by Paul the Annenberg Collection of Impres- “From Russia” explores the rela- sionist and Post-Impressionist paint- tionship between French and Russian ings and the Gelman Collection of art between 1870 and 1925 through Classical Antiquities Coming and Going modern . Early this year, 120 works by such artists as Matisse, de Montebello also worked Gauguin, van Gogh, Renoir, Kandin- n an agreement with the Italian government, the.Metro- out a resolution with Italy in sky, Malevich and Goncharova. One Ipolitan Museum of Art in mid-January returned to Italy 21 the widespread antiquities section is devoted to 13 works collect- antiquities whose provenance has been questioned in recent scandals also involving the ed by Morosov and 23 by Shchukin, years. Most prominent among the works is the famous Euph- Getty Museum, the Boston including Matisse’s The Dance, once ronios (ca. 515 B.C.), a large red-figure vessel that was MFA and others. As part of owned by Shchukin. The works are allegedly unearthed by tomb robbers in 1971. It was sold to the deal, the Met returned 21 gathered from the collections of four the Met in 1972 for $1 million by the American dealer Robert disputed antiquities to Italy, museums: the Pushkin Museum and Hecht, who is on trial in Rome for trafficking in stolen antiqui- including, in January, the the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow and ties. The is currently on view at Rome’s prized Euphronios krater in the Hermitage and State Russian Quirinale Palace [through Mar. 2], along with a number of exchange for the long-term Gallery in St. Petersburg. other recently repatriated antiquities from the Getty, the loan of four works [see box]. Not to be deterred, before the Princeton University Art Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts, De Montebello joined the show even opened to the public, Boston, and other institutions from around the globe. Charinos, Head museum staff as a curato- André-Marc Delocque-Fourcaud, To acknowledge the Met’s cooperation, the Italian govern- Vase, Attic, rial assistant in 1963. From 1969 to grandson of Shchukin, and Pierre 500-490 B.C. ment has loaned the museum four antiquities for a four-year 1974, he served as director of the Konowaloff, great-grandson of Museum of Fine Arts, , the Morosov, who are both French citi- period. Included is a vase in the shape of a woman’s head only part of his professional life spent zens, issued a joint statement calling (500-490 B.C.) by the potter Charinos, believed to be a member of Euphronios’s outside the Met. Three years after his attention to “the extremely violent workshop. Also part of the loan is a kylix (drinking cup), 515-510 B.C., signed return, he became director. In 1998 way in which these extraordinary col- by Euxitheos as potter and as painter, bearing an elaborate scene of the he also became CEO, reflecting the lections, gathered over many years gods on Mount Olympus, as well as a kylix with images of a man, a sea creature large role he played in the museum’s by our forefathers, were taken.” and snakes, attributed to the Typhon Painter (560-500 B.C.), plus a krater by an business affairs. De Montebello plans Instead of restitution, they are seeking anonymous hand, depicting Oedipus (4th century B.C.). to work on international museum “an agreement [with Russia] . . . that The works are now on view in the Met’s recently refurbished Greek and projects after leaving the Met. reasonably compensates and pays a Roman Galleries. The renovation was funded to a significant degree by phi- percentage of the material benefits lanthropists and museum trustees Shelby White and her late husband Leon that accrue from exploitation of the Levy. White's important private collection of Classical antiquities has also been Brits Scramble works.” According to Bloomberg. the focus of investigations by Italian authorities over the past 18 months. She com, the pair has tried, unsuccess- has not been accused of any wrongdoing, but the provenances of some works for Russian Show fully, on the occasion of exhibitions in her possession have been called into question. In an unprecedented transac- in , Rome and Los Angeles, to tion between the Italian government and a private collector, White, on Jan. 16, elations between Russia and Brit- win a percentage of the proceeds handed over to the Italian consulate on Park Avenue nine pieces from her col- Rain have been looking very Cold garnered by the exhibitions. lection. Among them are War these days, from a standoff relat- —Stephanie Cash a red-figure vase signed by ed to the murder in of former Euphronios, another signed K.G.B. officer Alexander Litvinenko by Eucharides (both ca. by another Russian agent to the near The Price of 500 B.C.), and a Roman cancellation of an exhibition of Rus- fresco fragment (50-30 B.C.) sian art at London’s Royal Academy Free Admission of Arts. Late last year, Moscow had showing a detail of what threatened to pull the plug on “From appears to be an elaborate re the French becoming less .cul- Russia: French and Russian Master tured than their yogurt? Quelle architectural folly. A tenth A Paintings 1870-1925” unless guar- horreur! In an attempt to bring in object, a 5th-century B.C. anteed that the works would be pro- more visitors, France is currently vase, will be returned to

tected from seizure and lawsuits by experimenting with free admission ▲ Euxitheos/Oltos, Kylix (drinking cup), Attic, Italy in 2010. 515-510 B.C. descendants of czarist-era collectors to the permanent collections of 18 —David Ebony Sergei Shchukin and Ivan Morosov. national museums. It’s an idea that

Photos: de Montebello: © Bill Melton, Will Bill Studios; antiquities: Direzione Generale per i Beni Archaeologici, Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali. Art in America 31 f r o n t p a g e ▲

conservative President Nicolas paired artists and architects to cre- East River Waterfalls Sarkozy campaigned for as a way ate collaborative projects in Finnish to democratize culture and invigo- Lapland (2004) and at the 2006 t is surprisingly easy for rate interest in the arts, particularly Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, the I New Yorkers to forget in the younger generation. Through Santa Fe exhibition will be a team that they live on the coast, June 30, instead of the usual $9-12, effort. Rather than selecting the and never more than a few most visitors won’t have to pay any- artists directly, he asked numerous miles from a body of water. thing to get into such museums as the nonprofit, international contempo- Danish artist Olafur Elias- Guimet, which focuses on Asian art, rary art institutions to suggest one son intends to change that, the Cluny, a medieval collection, and or two artists to be included in the at least for four months the science museum Arts et Métiers. show. From these candidates he this summer and fall, by Other venues are offering free access chose 27 artists nominated by 18 drawing attention to the only to visitors age 18 to 25 on certain institutions; these institutions will East River. Commissioned evenings. In Paris those include the act as co-curatorial partners in the by the Public Art Fund, his (Wednesdays), the endeavor. Among those on board new $10-15-million project, Musée d’Orsay (Thursdays) and are Hiroshi Fuji, selected by Japan’s The Water- Rendering of Olafur Eliasson’s project at the the Quai Branly (Saturdays). The Art Tower Mito; Bharti Kher, chosen falls, consists of four tem- Brooklyn Bridge and (below) Piers 4 and 5. already offers free access by England’s Baltic Centre for Con- porary man-made waterfalls on Friday evenings to visitors age temporary Art; Piero Golia, proposed installed along New York 25 and under, and all national by Turin’s Fondazione Sandretto Re City shores: off Pier 35 on ’s Lower East Side; at the base of the museums (33 total) are free to all Rebaudengo; and Fabien Giraud Brooklyn Bridge and between Piers 4 and 5, both in Brooklyn Heights; and visitors on the first Sunday of each and Raphaël Sibony, submitted by just west of the ferry landing on Governors Island. month. Paris’s Palais de Tokyo. Ranging from 90 to 120 feet tall, the waterfalls will be operational from In Britain, museum attendance In another unusual move, at a time mid-July through mid-October, from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., and spotlit at night. has reportedly risen by 50 percent when many artists have their works River water will be pumped, using renewable energy, from submerged pools since fees were lifted in 2001, and fabricated, Fung requires that all the covered in fine mesh (so as not to disturb aquatic life) and will flow at the first year saw a 62-percent artists create their pieces by 35,000 gallons per minute over an aluminum jump. (Since Sweden ended free hand in Santa Fe. Working scaffolding. According to his artist’s state- admissions to 19 national museums in a variety of mediums, and ment, Eliasson aims “to make nature tangible last year, it has reported a decline each allotted a $7,500 bud- and relevant,” a recurring objective in many of in attendance of almost 20 per- get, the artists are obliged to his light- and weather-themed installations. cent—from 8 million to 6.5 million.) come to New Mexico at least The New York City Waterfalls will be visible Museum officials note that the loss three weeks in advance of from parks and bikeways that run along the in revenue from ticket fees must be the exhibition and produce river, as well as from the free ferries that offset by an increase in funding. Brit- works either within the SITE travel between Lower Manhattan and Staten ish museums, for example, receive Santa Fe building or off-site. Island and Governors Island. The sightseeing VAT tax refunds when they offer For that purpose, Fung has Circle Line Downtown boats will also offer free admission to the public. French enlisted the architecture daily trips that pass by the waterfalls. culture ministry spokesperson team Tod Williams and Bil- —Leigh Anne Miller Christine André told the press that lie Tsien to redesign SITE’s to make up for lost ticket sales the interior especially for the initiative would require about $320 biennial. The model for their million from the government and distinctive scheme, featur- ture, among them a conflict over the private donors. Critics have argued ing a series of ramps and naming of the 2003 visual arts direc- that many visitors already get in free zigzagging galleries, was recently tor [see “Front Page,” Feb. ’02]. on special evenings, and that the unveiled in Santa Fe. New Chief for Apparently prizing continuity as initiative will only benefit tourists who In a move to counter the hyper- well as efficiency, the board deter- don’t pay the taxes that help support commercialism of today’s art world, mined that incumbent directors Marco the museums. —Stephanie Cash Fung requires that no artist accept Müller (cinema), Maurizio Scaparro funding from a commercial gallery merging from their first meeting (theater) and Ismael Ivo (dance) will for the SITE work. He underscores Eon Jan. 16, 2008, the board of retain their positions for terms of the specificity of the event by also the Venice Biennale, led by newly varying lengths. Aaron Betsky (the Santa Fe Biennial stipulating that none of the works appointed president Paolo Baratta, director of the Cincinnati Art Museum can be sold after the exhibition, and announced the names of four of the and, before that, of the Netherlands Taking Chances all are to be destroyed. six artistic directors who will guide Architecture Institute in Rotterdam) His unorthodox approach to the the institution’s upcoming exhibi- will direct the 2008 Architecture Bien- rganized by independent cura- biennial has raised some concerns tions and festivals. Baratta attributed nale, which opens to the public on Otor Lance Fung, this year’s SITE among SITE’s board members. How- the board’s unusually productive Sept. 14 under the title “Out There: Santa Fe Biennial, the seventh ever, Laura Steward Heon, SITE’s deliberations to a desire to avoid Architecture Beyond Building.” While installment, on view June 22-Oct. director and chief curator, who chose “transitory situations.” Nine days new to the directors’ circle, Betsky, 26, promises to be full of surprises. Fung as the organizer, told A.i.A. later, as many had predicted, the like Baratta, is a Biennale veteran: The list of the 27 participating art- that part of SITE’s mission is to take 20-month-old center-left government he curated the Dutch architecture ists from around the world, recently risks, and that the biennial, rela- of Prime Minister Romano Prodi fell. pavilion on three occasions, winning released to the press, has already tively modest in scale, presents the What’s the connection? The collapse the Golden Lion for best national raised eyebrows in the art world, opportunity to innovate. Although the of Prodi’s coalition opens the door to participation in 2002. As we go to as it is almost completely devoid format might seem to invite chaos, parliamentary elections and the likely press, there is no word on when the of familiar names. In a departure much about the work the artists will return to power of Silvio Berlusconi, directors of music and visual arts will from conventional biennial proce- produce in Santa Fe is known from who is leading in Italian polls. It was be named. Robert Storr, the 2007 dures that routinely tap art stars to their proposals. Still, it seems that during Berlusconi’s 2001-06 adminis- visual arts director, has made his move tickets, Fung, operating with more than a little positive musing tration that Baratta was forced to step disinclination to return more than an approximately $800,000 bud- on the laws of chance will be part down before the conclusion of his clear in an interview in January’s Art get, decided to focus exclusively of the event, and it’s not for nothing first stint as the Biennale president, Newspaper. on emerging artists. And, as with that Fung has titled the show “Lucky following a series of bitter clashes The Biennale administration’s “The Snow Show,” for which Fung Number Seven.” —-David Ebony with the conservative ministry of cul- smooth launch validated the

32 Photos:March ©2008 2008 Olafur Eliasson, courtesy Public Art Fund. f r o n t p a g e ▲ widespread relief that greeted the Pier 94 [through Mar. 30], the same be organized as a curated exhibition the Park South Hotel on East 28th announcement of Baratta’s return venue that brought the fair together by the directorial team of Amanda Street between Park and Lexington; to the presidency. During his 1998- under a single roof last year. To Coulson and Christian Viveros- and Fountain [Mar. 27-31] just south 2002 tenure, the Cambridge-trained celebrate its decade mark, the Fauné, with each of its estimated of the Armory at 660 12th Ave. (L.A. economist successfully guided the Armory has commissioned John 50 exhibitors featuring a single art- Art in NY will not return this year.) Biennale’s initial transformation from Waters and Mary Heilmann to cre- ist. The Chicago-based Bridge Art Taking advantage of the influx of a government agency wholly depen- ate limited edition commemorative Fair [Mar. 27-30], having previously visitors (and, more important, collec- dent on public funding to a semi- prints. Waters and Heilmann were appeared in Miami and London, will tors), galleries in the Williamsburg private foundation. Harald Szeemann’s once represented by, respectively, occupy the Tunnel, a converted rail- neighborhood of Brooklyn hope to two well received visual arts Biennali, Colin de Land and Pat Hearn, the road tunnel and former nightclub on lure fairgoers over the bridge on Sat- 1999 and 2001, took place during Armory’s late co-founders, and the West 27th Street in Chelsea. Art Fair urday, Mar. 29, when they will stay Baratta’s tenure, which also saw the sale of these prints will benefit the Now [Mar. 27-30], which premiered open until 11 p.m. (For info see the rehabilitation of derelict sections of cancer foundation and the MoMA in Miami last December, will be at RAW gallery guide published by the the Arsenale for use as exhibition acquisition fund established in the Hotel 30/30 on 30th Street between Williamsburg Gallery Association, and performance spaces. Among dealers’ names. Madison and Park. available at Armory, Scope, Pulse the returning president’s projects As usual, a number of satellite Returning fairs include DiVA and Fountain.) Additionally, and is the long-delayed initiation of year- events will also take place, with [Mar. 22-30], this year dispersed in conjunction with the final week- round programming in the Arsenale three new fairs joining the roster. throughout Chelsea in shipping con- end of “Unmonumental,” the New (which will require heating the vast Partnering with the Armory, the tainers [for info go to divafair.com/ Museum’s inaugural exhibition, over structure—no mean undertaking). Swiss-based invitational fair Volta ny_08/]; an invitation-only edition of a dozen Lower East Side galleries Asked by a reporter for the Corriere [Mar. 27-30] makes its New York Scope [Mar. 26-30] hosted again in will be open Sunday, Mar. 30, from del Veneto if he foresaw the Bien- debut, after three years at Art Basel, a glass pavilion in Lincoln Center’s noon to 6 p.m. Maps are available at nale collaborating with the ambitious at 7 W. 34th Street, opposite the Damrosch Park; Pulse [Mar. 27-30] the New Museum and participating contemporary art center planned for Empire State Building. Unlike previ- in a new location on Pier 40 on the galleries. the Punta della Dogana by François ous editions, Volta in New York will Hudson; Red Dot [Mar. 27-30] at —Stephanie Gonzalez-Turner Pinault, Baratta slyly replied that he had no objection to the word “competition.” In the event, when he looks over his shoulder, it may be Close Ready for His Close-up Berlusconi, not Pinault, whom Baratta his has been an exceptionally fruitful season for hattan’s avant-garde scene sees looming. —Marcia E. Vetrocq . His name has appeared recently on in the 1960s and ’70s. He T everything from theater marquees to wine labels. made his solo debut in A version of his exhibition of paintings and tapes- 1970 at Bykert, a gallery tries, “Family and Others,” which appeared last fall at with a stable of almost NEA Budget London’s White Cube, is currently on view at the State exclusively abstract art- in St. Petersburg [though Apr. 13]. ists. The meticulous, large- Boost for ’08 A comprehensive monograph by Christopher Finch, scale, black-and-white por- Chuck Close: Work, was recently published by Prestel. traits he showed early on n Dec. 26, 2007, President Bush Close also created the label for Musée, an inaugural were unlike anything being Osigned the fiscal year 2008 Merlot blend from New York’s Bedell Cellars, in a design done at the time. Some of Omnibus appropriations bill allocat- that features one of his of grapes. the talking heads in this ing $144.7 million for the National Perhaps the most revealing look at Close and his film are rather redundant Endowment for the Arts, an increase work is Chuck Close, a feature-length documentary pro- in their gushing praise of of $20.3 million over last year’s the artist and insistence funding. Representing a 16-percent duced and directed by Marion Cajori that screened in increase, it is the largest boost for art houses across the country this winter. Cajori spent on the importance of his the NEA since 1979 and the high- four years filming Close at work and at home, but she unique path and singular The artist at work, from the est level of funding in 13 years. The died in 2006 of cancer, at age 56, during the picture’s achievement. Accolades film Chuck Close. agency’s highest level postproduction phase. Ken Kobland, Cajori’s longtime from friends are hardly was $175.9 million in 1992. The first collaborating cinematographer, completed the project. necessary when the many works by Close that appear round of grants for FY 2008 will be An insightful study, the movie centers on Close’s throughout the film make these points stunningly clear. announced in late spring. working process. It chronicles his method as he com- Close’s wife, Leslie, provides some personal details The bill also includes changes pletes a large self-portrait over the course of 82 days. about the artist and offers a few private glimpses in the NEA-administered Arts and Close and his assistants grid up a large color Polaroid into their many years together. These are among the Artifacts Indemnity Program of the image. Close then transposes onto the corresponding best and most moving scenes in the film. She gives a Federal Council on the Arts and squares of the canvas grid the tones in the photo, using vivid account of Close’s health crisis in 1988, when the Humanities, which authorizes a multicolor circles, ovals and polygonal shapes. In many a spinal-column blood clot suddenly left him partially large increase in federal indemnity. scenes, the artist appears in his New York City studio paralyzed and permanently wheelchair-bound. She The program was created in 1975 seated in a wheelchair before an enormous canvas hung insisted to the doctors and nurses that the way to set to facilitate international exhibitions. on a movable easel. With a special contraption affixed him on the road to recovery was by means of a paint- The recent increase is for a domestic to his nearly paralyzed arm and hand, Close executes brush. Recent scenes of the couple in their Hamptons component to help defray skyrocket- dazzling, evocative brushwork as the image comes ever summer home and studio impart a kind of idyllic gloss ing insurance costs for U.S. muse- to the film. One of the most memorable images, with ums that loan works to one another. closer to fruition, stage by stage. Listening to Nina Sim- one and other jazz vocalists while he works, he exudes ’s luscious score wafting in the background, a youthful exuberance and energy. shows the artist’s barnlike studio from across a field Interspersed with scenes of the artist at work are of sunflowers, with a giant, half-finished portrait of interviews with his friends and colleagues, including Philip Paul Cadmus visible through the open door. NYC Art Fairs: Glass, , , Mark Greenwold, Eliza- —David Ebony beth Murray, , , Lucas Ready, Set, Go… Samaras, and Robert Storr. A number of [Chuck Close (2007), an Art Kaleidoscope Foundation n Mar. 27, the Armory Show the artists interviewed offer rare glimpses into their own production, was produced and directed by Marion Cajori. Okicks off its tenth presentation studios and working methods. Some of them, as well as Directors of photography: Mead Hunt, Ken Kobland and on Manhattan’s West Side. This Close himself, recall his early years, when he was one of David Leitner. Music by Philip Glass performed by Bruce year, 160 galleries will set up on the few figurative painters to make an impact on Man- Levingston.]

Photo: Michael Marfione / Courtesy of the artist and PaceWildenstein, New York. Art in America 33