Tony Podesta’s Secret Art Buying: As the Wall Street Journal tells us this morning, fallen lobbyist Tony Podesta had a bit of a problem with his art buying. The obsession led to his making purchases that he kept secret from his wife. …

The Jerry Saltz Backlash Is Surprisingly On Message: Observer writer Margaret Carrigan seems to have struck a nerve with her comments on Jerry Saltz’s Pulitzer prize for criticism:

• The fact that a white male art critic now best known for his Internet sleaze rather than his writing won such a prestigious prize for an essay about himself (and his lamentation over his own failed art career)—when his brilliant wife has been tirelessly, smartly and humbly interrogating the work of some of the most profound artists working today for longer than I can remember—prompts a lot of questions for me. …

Max Hollein’s Over Confidence: There are a couple of curious details in Robin Pogrebin and Jason Farago’s New York Times profile of the Met’s newly appointed director, Max Hollein. But one that stands out in the context of the Met’s recent history of over-extension is this quote from Hollein about his experience with the Guggenheim’s Thomas Krens, his mentor and early sponsor:

• “What he took from Krens, Hollein said, was that he could push an ambitious agenda until the pieces fell into place and naysayers came around. ‘One must not forget the success of Bilbao,’ Mr. Hollein said, by way of example. ‘Two years before it opened there were large amounts of people who thought it would be a huge failure.'” …

Dorotheum’s Contemporary Sale Is Coming Up in May 16: Some interesting works by Dorazio, Kusama, Guston, LeParc and others in Dorotheum’s Contemporary art sale. …

Remember When Contemporary Art Wasn’t the Big Show? The New York Times has an interview with Phillips Chairman Cheyenne Westphal where she references her early days in the art market when the Impressionist and Modern field got all of the attention:

• “You have to remember, when I started in the art world it was 1990.” Things have changed. I might have been working in what was called a contemporary field, but I was really only working with artists that were already very established. Every work of art had to be at least 10 years old before we sold it, and I don’t think I got out enough. It took me a few more years, courtesy of Charles Saatchi and the like, to pick up on the truly contemporary scene. So my advice to myself would be: I should have been more grass-roots right at the beginning.