Art Market Monitor

Global Coverage ~ Unique Analysis

How to Build a Chinese Art Museum

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When Enid Tsui asked Valerie Wang Conghui, the advisor working with Zeng Baobao, to build an art collection—already 200 pieces strong—for Fantasia Holding’s museum in Xinjin, China, why a Hong Kong-listed resort operator and property developer would build a museum in Sichuan province, the answer was simple: “Having a museum adds value to a company, both in terms of branding and by spreading good taste and design ideas…”

In the four years since Zeng decided to fill the museum, the two have been on journey of discovery through all of the world’s art fairs and auctions.

“Initially, there was no clear strategy about the museum’s content and we bought what we liked: fun works such as Li Jin’s contemporary ink paintings. But as we spent more time looking, a theme for the museum developed naturally: modern and contemporary art that conveys traditional Chinese aesthetics.”

But to be a museum, Zhi needs art worthy of being loaned out to other institutions. So the pair invested in works by Zao Wou-ki and Zeng Fanzhi. Whether those two artists were sought because of their art historical importance or their price points is something Tsui leaves unclear in the story.

Chinese art museum finally takes shape with big-ticket items bought on a billionaire’s budget  (South China Morning Post)

Getty Acquires Camille Claudel Work Alongside a Rodin

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The Getty Museum has acquired the sixth work by Camille Claudel to be acquired by an American museum. The acquisition comes along side a work by her teacher Auguste Rodin. Here’s the Getty’s release on the acquisition:

The J. Paul Getty announced today the acquisition of two important French bronze sculptures, Torso of a Crouching Woman, by Camille Claudel (1864-1943) and Bust of John the Baptist by Auguste Rodin (1840-1917).

At just over a foot tall, Torso of a Crouching Woman represents a fragmentary naked female body crouching on the floor, with no head or arms and the left knee cut off. With its movement focusing on the perfectly mastered balance of the body, the sculpture is characteristic of Claudel’s harmonious modeling of the human body, with subtle rendition of the bones and muscles under the skin. The Torso is extremely rare: its plaster model is lost and only one other bronze cast exists, in a French Museum.

The Getty Museum already owns masterpieces by women sculptors such Luisa Roldàn, called La Roldana (Spanish, 1652–1706), Barbara Hepworth (1903–1974), and Elisabeth Frink (British, 1930–1993).

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Making a Mountain Out of Molesworth

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The LA Times doubles down on the LA MoCA story with a broader look at the reaction to Helen Molesworth’s departure. The second-day story continues the framing presented by Christopher Knight, who broke the news, that pits Molesworth against director Philippe Vergne in an supposed battle for inclusion:

“I can’t help but feel like there’s something else behind this and that she’s taking the fall for bigger problems in the institution,” Hammer Museum chief curator Connie Butler said. “I don’t think it has only to do with Helen’s curatorial agenda.”

Readers of Christopher Knight’s story  also believe there is “something else behind this” but they suggest the problem is located in Molesworth’s behavior. If that is indeed the case, the fault here is in Vergne’s inability to make the dismissal in a manner that would not blow up in his face as it undoubtedly has:

  • “she was extremely disliked for good reasons. now she is desperately trying to co-opt the whole “diversity” movement as the reason she was canned. Philippe Vergne is actually the one i have the most compassion for through all of this. he has been the true champion of diversity since his career began. remember, even the director has people to answer to. firing her was something he should have done over a year ago but he was too nice. Christopher Knight is a disgrace to journalism. doing NO investigative reporting, he simply parroted the mouthing of ONE board member sycophant of Molesworth who used the most juvenile, unfounded, baseless accusation of “non-diversity” as the grounds for her termination. are you serious?? how about “non-likability” or “genuinely undermining the vision of the DIRECTOR of the museum?” she is a curator…nothing more.”
  • “Christopher Knight SHAME on YOU and everyone else reading this. For believing such one sided garbage and not knowing all of the facts. Three Cheers for Phiippe Vergne for firing someone he should of fired along time ago. Helen Molesworth made peoples lives at the museum a living hell. In the long run MOCA will be a better museum without her. She might of had some good exhibitions but she was true poison to the Museum.”
  • “Just getting the chance to sit down and read through all the news about the director of MOCA’s decision to fire it’s chief curator and I couldn’t agree more with his decision. Christopher Knight, if you wanted a real story you should’ve done your research because there’s a long list of former employees that could tell you the REAL reason as to why she was fired. Helen Molesworth was a tyrant who made it her goal to ruin the lives and careers of people at MOCA, some who were employed there for 20+years.”
  • “Molesworth is widely known for her torture of employees and controlling behavior. Just a few more phone calls needed to get that scoop. Take a gander at who disengaged from the ranks in the past 3 years, or was fired by her. All approved by the director. Could this be a career pattern? More importantly, we need to talk about toning down righteousness and think about the real legacy they leave behind by their actions with other humans. And the Director Vergne clearly let this go on and on and on. If he felt he was bulllied by the board directors, then why not take a stand himself and step down. But no. Weakness and ego abounds in the contemporary platform on all fronts, and the place still is dead. Third rate events, galleries, and press handling. What a waste of a most wonderful collection.”

Firing of MOCA’s chief curator triggers worry over the future of an artist-centric museum (LA Times)

The New York Times Art Critics Don’t Seem to Know Much About the Met’s Finances or History

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It’s rare to see two smart, thoughtful writers blurt out such ill-considered thoughts on a subject they refuse to think seriously about. It’s a cliché to talk about the entitlement of the art world.

And yet in response to the Met’s new admission’s policy, The New York Times asked its art critics, Holland Cotter and Roberta Smith, for their thoughts. What followed is a contradictory set of emotionally-driven politically-naive opinions.

Those opinions range from silly solutions to complex problems to irresponsible political analogies. Let’s start with Smith’s belief that the suggested admissions price would work if only the Met were better at selling it:

So hire a really good design firm to formulate some kind of counter campaign, signage with tons of jokes cajoling people who have the means to pay the suggested fee. Like “If you’re wearing mink, or a bespoke suit, or if your entire outfit totals out at more than $3,500, think about dropping $25 to visit the greatest museum in the world. You’ll be helping others who can’t afford your wardrobe.”

From there they veer into overblown political comparisons that denigrate the very real issues they are trying to graft upon this civic one. Cotter thinks asking people for identification is a threat to the undocumented. Smith follows up on that comparing the effort to Nativism:

So I worry that the Met’s plan is classist, and nativist. It divides people into categories — rich and poor, native and foreign — which is exactly what this country does not need right now. I think this is tied to the abstract way wealth is accrued these days. In the last Gilded Age the rich had a much more literal sense of the suffering their fortunes were built on and a greater need to give back.

Calling discrimination against non-New Yorkers Nativism, at a time when the country is witnessing a virulent spread of bigotry and fear, diminishes the term. Is it wrong to ask non-residents to help subsidize the pay-what-you-wish policy for locals who need it? And Smith should really read up on the history of the Met and its founding before she makes an ignorant statement about the Gilded Age’s self-awareness.

The Met was explicitly founded as a means to control immigrant working class New Yorkers, to suppress their folk cultures and political resistance with the ruling class of New York’s values and cultural ideas.

The Met Should Be Open to All. The New Pay Policy Is a Mistake. (The New York Times)

Louvre Abu Dhabi Announces Salvator Mundi “is coming”

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What this Instagram post means is anyone’s guess. We’ve asked Christie’s for clarification as to whether this is a loan or something else.

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