Richard Avedon at the Corcoran

Has anyone else seen this show? Thoughts? I wasn't sure -- and actually felt a bit underwhelmed after walking through the exhibition last week. I had seen Avedon's famous fashion photographs in San Francisco at Fraenkel Gallery several years ago, which I LOVED, and these "portraits of power" at the Corcoran here in Washington were obviously a bit different in both subject matter and purpose. The walls of each gallery were lined with small photographs of everyone ranging from Barack Obama (2004) to Dorothy Parker (1958) - the comprehensive scope of which was somewhat at odds with the idea of a few people in power over many others. Most of them were taken from the waist up, or just the head, some were emotionally expressive, others weren't. After a while my eyes glazed over -- until I reached the outside hallway where 5 large scale pictures were placed side by side, each taken almost full-length, and installed high enough on the wall so that each person's eyes were looking down at mine. I finally stopped my meandering and became transfixed by the images. They were riveting - especially of Rose Kennedy, whose slim and frail figure belied the power of her gaze which spoke of generations of family, legacy, tradition, and a lifetime of experiences much beyond what I could comprehend standing before her.

One of the Washington Post reviews last week was a bit scathing - questioning whether or not the pictures spoke of "inner truth" or perversity. And others have questioned the Cocoran's motivation behind mounting such a wide-appealing and perhaps commercial show (vis-a-vis Ansel Adams), particularly because of their impoverished financial situation. Interesting questions to ponder.

Richard Avedon, Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1964

Richard Avedon, Rose Kennedy, 1976

Looking at Art -- MoMA

Continuing to look at pictures of people looking at art....this photograph was taken by my fellow blogger Ashleigh (thank you again!!), who liked it because of how the woman is standing; you can almost feel how perplexed she is about the work in front of her.

Museum of Modern Art, NYC, February 2008

Gregory Crewdson

The first time I saw a Crewdson photograph, several years ago in one of our contemporary corporate collections, I was struck by the eerie yet peaceful quality of both the composition and the subject matter. How had the artist achieved such a strange and perfect balance? Later I learned that all of his work is choreographed and staged, in either an interior stage set or on location, with a deeply articulated philosophy behind the finished product.

In this recent interview with Crewdson, we get a glimpse into his creative process and perspective, which encompasses all of the reasons why I love contemporary art so much. He describes how his work presents a tension or "collision" of diametrically opposed values, between the familiar and the strange, and the mysterious and the beautiful. And when those values come together, there is a "moment of grace" - an alignment between subject and artist - and I would argue - between artwork and viewer - because of the very nature of tension and the energizing movement required to resolve it.

Jeff Koons at Versailles

This is fun - diary entry from ArtForum's "Scene and Herd" about Jeff Koons' current exhibition at Versailles (comprised of 17 works, none of them new, Split Rocker belonging to French billionaire Francois Pinault, one of the show's patrons), which has caused quite the uproar and buzz of excitement around town - Hoover vacuum cleaners in the chateau?! Inflatable plastic beach rings along the fence?? 40-foot tall flowering head of a rocking horse plopped in the flowerbed of the Orangerie gardens?? I think the entire affair is just delightful. And I can't help but giggle at the sight of one of my favorite Koons pieces, Balloon Dog, standing so proudly in the baroque space surrounding it.

Jeff Koons, Split Rocker, stainless steel, soil, geotextile fabric, internal irrigation system, and live flowering plants (shown installed at Avignon, 2000)
441 x 465 x 426 inches

Other photos from the Versailles show opening (Koons pictured second from the left)

And the verdict is...

A huge success for Hirst and Sotheby's - on the same two days in which we witnessed the horrifying plummet of the US financial markets and collapse of some of our largest investment institutions, the world's highest paid living artist broke auction records for the sale of his work, as reported in Artinfo.com, a net of $200 million dollars. Unbelievable!! And what a precedent he has set, for himself, his gallery, and other single-artist auction sales to follow, as well as a reassurance to all that the art market is still strong and standing.

Now, our eyes turn to the major New York sales coming up later this Fall:

November 11, Contemporary evening sale, Sotheby's
November 12, Contemporary day sale, Sotheby's

November 12, Post-War & Contemporary evening sale, Christie's
November 13, Post-War & Contemporary morning and afternoon sales, Christie's

Stay tuned...

Damien Hirst, Psalm 31: In Te, Domine, Speravi, 2008

In other news

Philippe Vergne started work today as the new director of the Dia Art Foundation. His first order of business, according to an interview he gave ARTnews this month, will be to find a permanent exhibition site within Manhattan, after its Chelsea galleries shut down in 2004. Vergne is the successor to Michael Govan, who left Dia in 2006 in order to head up LACMA and revitalize their contemporary collection. All eyes will be on him to see if he can fulfill the foundation's longstanding wish to have a permanent presence in NYC in addition to its world-renowned contemporary art space in Beacon. His biggest challenge may be funding, as Dia's largest benefactor and board chairman (who donated the $30 million necessary to purchase the Nabisco warehouse in Beacon) has also recently departed. Hopefully other patrons will rally around this remarkable foundation to assist in its reestablishment in NYC, after the gift of Beacon to those of us in the art world who have never seen contemporary art installed so perfectly - in the context of immense space, tranquility, and minimalism - the way it should be viewed. Best wishes and good luck!!

More buzz about the Hirst auction

The sale is expected to net $120 million, but will anything short of that amount signal a larger decline in the art market? And what does it mean that Hirst is auctioning off new works, made within the last 2 years, as opposed to selling them through a gallery? I wonder how White Cube feels about it.