Albert Boime Dies
From the NY Times obit: “In nearly 20 books and scores of articles, Professor Boime explored the social and political contexts in which art is produced. His work did not neglect issues of style and form, the traditional province of art criticism. But it focused on art as a cultural product — for good or ill — of the society in which it is made. He also sought to rehabilitate one of the most famous madmen of Western art”
More on Masriadi
Time covers the rise of Indonesian artist I Nyoman Masriadi: “Masriadi has come to prominence so quickly that there has been little critical analysis of his work. “The art critics haven’t caught up with the art market,” says Ahmad Mashadi of Singapore’s NUS Museum. And with about a week left to run on “Black Is My Last Weapon,” his solo exhibition at the Singapore Art Museum, www.singart.com, you have a chance to see what the collectors have been fussing about. Expect to be amused and provoked”
Kesaeva Presses On
The Financial Times has this mention of Stella Kesaeva’s plans to open her own gallery: “Kesaeva is opening her own art space in Moscow. It, too, will be sited in a garage also designed by the modernist Konstantin Melnikov. Due to open in 2014, it will be a joint private-public venture with the Russian Culture Ministry, and will show the 600-odd works from Kesaeva’s Stella Art Foundation. The Foundation has a long-term agreement to work with the Dorotheum, Austria’s leading auction house.”
The Next Hot Nation of Artists: Indonesia? Iran? Try Canada.
More Canadian artists are expected to join the $1 million club, according to Canwest news service: “We are seeing new collectors across the country,” said Joyner vice-president Rob Cowley, “and it’s not just the celebration of Canadian culture and art but also the investment opportunity. People are seeing this as a real avenue for investment.” Cowley says certain “blue-chippers” – particularly Harris, Thomson and Riopelle (six of whose paintings have topped $1 million) – “are clearing the million-dollar mark regularly now.”
The Next Hot Gallery Ghetto: Tel Aviv
The NY Times calls Tel Aviv a professionally run gallery center yet still non-chalant: “But one thing the city’s art boosters are not laid back about is their plan to make Tel Aviv’s art scene, and Israeli artists in general, known to the world. Art TLV, started by a cadre of art dealers and curators [ . . . ] was a rigorous five-day marathon that included lectures, openings, dinners, museum and home tours, private screenings and hourlong jaunts to Jerusalem. [ . . . ] MANY galleries are clustered along Rothschild Boulevard, Tel Aviv’s most elegant street, lined with Bauhaus buildings, banks and the former mansions of the city’s founders. Running down the middle is a shaded pedestrian path dotted with tiny cafes and boules courts where old men play. As the art events got under way, it became a veritable runway for gallery-hopping curators and collectors.”
