As exhibitions of Balthus prepare to open in New York, critic Jerry Saltz writes on the history of one of the artist’s more sordid works, The Guitar Lesson.  Only exhibited once in 1977, the work has moved through the back channels of the art world in the past 40 years, finally coming to rest in the collection of shipping magnate Stavros Niarchos.  “I don’t love Balthus’s work, but I grant that all parts of the best examples are charged with something wild, almost half-human, some sleeping need, rage, frustration, and restraint. What makes the banishment of The Guitar Lesson so bitter isn’t only that MoMA came this close to owning a second take on the blatant sexuality of Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon.”  Saltz writes. (more…)

Arts critic Jerry Saltz comments on the diminishing role of the gallery show in the contemporary arts environment, noting the effects of increased focus on international fairs, auctions and biennials, and questioning the effects of this shift on the arts community of New York City.  “Fewer ideas are being exchanged, fewer aesthetic arguments initiated. I can’t turn to the woman next to me and ask what she thinks, because there’s nobody there.”  He says. (more…)

Critic Jerry Saltz says: “I love art, but I hate the astronomical prices it sells for.” So, last year he posted a request on Facebook for artists to make him a faux Richter painting, and describes his reaction to the final product: “All of the paintings seemed Richterian, but many had an Impressionistic, un-Richterian prettiness. Many looked too thought-out. Accidents looked intentional rather than discovered … then I understood that only when Stanley stopped thinking he was making a Richter could he make one.”  He has ordered more faux pieces by various artists. (more…)

Jerry Saltz of the NY Magazine  critiques the art of Documenta 13, exploring the rise of Post Art but only in select installations: “even with its tremendous flaws, Documenta allows us all to feel a stake in this thing called art, and sense that Post Art is on the immediate horizon, approaching fast.”

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‪‬NY Magazine debates the new home of late pharmaceutical magnate Albert Barnes’ ‘smorgasbord’ collection in downtown Philadelphia, arranged under Barnes’ strict trust stipulations

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‪‬NY Mag publishes Jerry Saltz and others’ 18 rules on how to make it in today’s art world, featuring interviews with Alex Katz, Gavin Brown, Maurizio Cattelan and Massimiliano Gioni, etc., “You need a bicycle to get to interesting places,” says Gioni

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‪‬Jerry Saltz exalts upcoming Cindy Sherman retrospective at MoMA, offering “four pointers to the unconvinced” [AO Newslink]

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‪‬New York Magazine proclaims top ten art shows of the year, championing ‘The Clock’ by Christian Marclay [AO Newslink]

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New MOCA Director, Jeffrey Deitch. Via LATimes

More on  MOCA’s new director, Jeffrey Deitch, who brings his more business-oriented background to the Museum in LA: [Bloomberg] Deitch’s contract with the museum has certain safeguards against conflicts of interest that might arise from his foot in the business world– among the new rules, Deitch must notify the museum’s board of anything he adds to or sells from his collection. [LATimes]

Eli Broad and his Broad Art Foundation reveal that they are considering 3 different Westside locations on which to build and endow a museum for his art collection. The third site was recently revealed as being a ten-acre parcel on the campus of West LA College in Culver City.  [LA Times]

Works by Picasso and Henri Rousseau have been stolen from a private villa in the South of France, marking the country’s second major art robbery in that week– (work by impressionist painter Edgar Degas was stolen from the Cantini Museum in Marseilles only days before). [FT]

To stay apprised of the latest relevant news of the art world…

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The Hirshhorn Museum with proposed “bubble” in Washington, D.C. via Washington City Paper

A high-tech, futuristic design for a meeting hall in the Hirshhorn Museum at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., is making headlines this week across the art community. The proposed “bubble” would constitute dimensions of 145 feet and swell out like a balloon from the primary structure, inflating during the months of May and October and collapsing for the duration of the year. Advocating for the design, Hirshhorn Museum Director Richard Koshalek insists that it will not detract from the museum’s most valuable possession: its art [Washington Post].

Fernando Botero via Art Daily

Fernando Botero criticizes the art awarded by the $50K prize bearing his name, and the administrators of the prize decide to cancel it as a result [ArtDaily]

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Ron, Will Cotton via Artnet

-Eric Fischl, Chie Fueki, Hilary Harkness, Will Cotton, Francesco Clemente, Peter Halley and Barbara Kruger  are all a part of the long list of artists who have created, dedicated and portrayed Ron Warren in their works; Mary Boone’s assistant he has always played an understated yet influential role leading to a Mary Boone Gallery exhibition in his honor [The New York Times]

-The 2009 edition of the Power 100 by ArtReview is released with Hans Ulrich Obrist taking the first place and the list showcasing some changes in the influences and forces of the art world; the top ten include dealers and artists as Larry Gagosian, Francois Pinault, Eli Broad and Bruce Nauman [ArtReview]
-In related, Hans-Ulrich Obrist, the director of Serpentine Gallery, just voted to be the art world’s most powerful figure by the Power 100, gives an idea of how busy his week gets [The Independent]

-A $310 million collection of Mark Rothko paintings to be shown next spring in artist’s first Moscow solo exhibition at Dasha Zkukova’s Garage Center for Contemporary Culture [Bloomberg]

To stay apprised of most of the relevant art news for this past week… (more…)

Kirsten Dunst on the set of a production by Takashi Murakami in collaboration with McG via aarting

Tate Modern’s “Pop Life: Art in a Material World,” features a video that is a collaboration between McG – famous Hollywood director, and Murakami – Japan’s king of pop art: starring actress Kirsten Dunst on the streets of Akihabara in Tokyo for “Turning Japanese” by rock band The Vapors [The Wall Street Journal]
A 1984 work by Chinese artist Li Keran sold for $940,000, the most for a print at a Hong Kong auction, where bidding led by mainland buyers has taken many prices several times above estimates [Bloomberg]
Sotheby’s Asia sales in Hong Kong revealed that demand for Chinese paintings, while firm, is mixed; as the market is still vulnerable, less pricey, quality pieces were the ones to realize numbers higher than their estimates [Reuters]
Works including those by Renoir, Pollock, Degas and Rembrandt stolen from the home of a retired Harvard Medical School professor and collector, and his business partner; only authentic pieces were taken, leaving behind impeccable reproductions [Boston Globe via Art Market Monitor] in related Uncooperative and unable to produce evidence that the stolen art existed, Angelo Amadio and Dr. Ralph Kennaugh, become suspects of the theft to which allegedly they are victims [ArtDaily]

Tracey Emin via Guardian UK

Discouraged by British government’s top rate tax, Tracey Emin threatens to abandon England for France where she claims the politicians understand the importance of supporting culture and art [Guardian UK] in related At the London’s Frieze Art Fair, in the booth of New York’s Lehmann Maupin Gallery, Tracey Emin, known for her confessional artwork, is offering to make customized artworks based on answers to fifteen personal questions [Artinfo]
Fanjul paintings nationalized by Cuba in an exhibit in Museo del Prado in Madrid involve legal consequences as the Museum is being investigated by the US department of state for illegal trafficking of a work of art owned by US citizen confiscated by Cuban government [The Art Newspaper]
Turner Prize exhibit at Tate Britain in London this time startles the viewers with the lack of now expected blood, outrage and other shock factors [Bloomberg]
The Bloomberg administration makes an announcement of its plan to give nonprofit cultural groups access to gallery and theater space in city owned properties and help artists develop business plans [Crain’s Business]

Donald Judd concrete constructions in Marfa Texas via Hip-Ster-Krit

6 of 15 concrete constructions built by Donald Judd in Marfa Texas required repair and conservation work, October 10th the works will once again be open to the public [Artinfo]
A look at the Chinese Gao brothers who are shocking their country with brave, politically challenging art works, such as a life-size sculpture of Mao whose body is only reunited with his head on ‘special occasions’ [The New York Times]
When most artists’ prices are decreasing in a recession, a few go up: Italian Maurizio Cattelan is one of those who thrive in the tough economic times, an analysis of his work reveals some truths on the variables of the art market [The Economist]

Damien Hirst posing in front of his work via ARTblog +

A portrait of Damien Hirst built through an interview: his influences, unusual artistic paths (such as painting) and mediums to come, and a subjective depiction of the artist’s personality [Times Online] in related Hirst tells BBC that he will not be producing large scale installations and will rather concentrate solely on painting by applying oil to the canvas with his hands, something he has been secretly doing these recent years [BBC] and in related the FT reports that Hirst lays off much of his staff, closes two studios and is actually making paintings himself; while the galleries give no comments on the unsold works worth millions [Financial Times]
As art fairs struggle to retain exhibitors, a new modern and contemporary fair in Abu Dhabi signs up forty-eight names, including PaceWildenstein, Gagosian, Acquavella and White Cube [Lindsay Pollock] related 50 paintings from the New York Guggenheim Museum to be shown in Abu Dhabi [Arts Abu Dhabi]

‘Fuego Flores’ by Jean Michel Basquiat via Auction Publicity

Sotheby’s October Contemporary Art Auction, estimated to realize in excess of £9 million, will include works by leading artists, such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Anish Kapoor, Andy Warhol, Chris Ofili, Damien Hirst, Gerhard Richter, Antony Gormley and Yan Pei-Ming [Auction Publicity]
Following in the footsteps of Anselm Kiefer and Toni Morrison, Umberto Eco has been named the next guest curator at the Louvre; the show “Vertige de la Liste” (Vertigo of Lists) will revolve around his chosen theme “the list” [Artinfo] in related news, talks are underway to open a McDonald’s restaurant and a McCafé at the Louvre next month [Telegraph]
An art dealer from Stockholm, Sweden has been accused of faking works by heavyweight modernists including Georges Braque, Alberto Giacometti, Edvard Munch, and Egon Schiele [Artnet]

Child of lonely – performance by Terence Koh October 6 at Thaddaeus Ropac Gallery, Photo Olivier Zahm via purple DIARY

Terence Koh prepared his first solo show at the Parisian gallery Thaddaeus Ropac, which takes a form of an imaginary opera in eight acts, the first act taking place October 6, 2009 [The Art Newspaper]
The four artists shortlisted for Turner Prize 2009 are: Enrico David, Roger Hiorns, Lucy Skaer and Richard Wright; the winner is to be announced December 7th [Turner Prize 2009]
Jerry Saltz writes about new galleries emerging despite the economic crises, provides a list of new galleries to see and comments on the effects of the recession on the female artists [New York mag]

The current state of the building to house Sperone Westwater and the computer rendering of it via Lindsay Pollock

A concrete foundation is rising at the site of the future Sperone Westwater gallery designed by the British architect Sir Norman Foster on the Bowery; the 10 story building will rise only one block away from New Museum [Lindsay Pollock]
As opposed to expanding outside their home in LA, Tim Blum and Jeff Poe open a new 21,000 square foot space conveniently located in front of their existing gallery on South La Cienga Boulevard, Los Angeles [Los Angeles Times]

Jacket designed by JR via The World’s Best Ever

A jacket from JR’s Face2Face Project comes in a limited edition of only 100 [The World’s Best Ever] in related A video interview with JR in Paris about his project Women are Heroes, which allows the viewers to call a number and hear an interview with one of the chosen women for the project [Vernissage TV]
An interview with Dasha Zhukova that notes her easy acceptance in the art world [Guardian UK]
28 as opposed to 40 exhibitors had pulled out of the Frieze Art Fair, yet despite the equally disappointing numbers, many lesser known, but in no way inferior galleries, will get a shot at the famous art fair [Telegraph]

Miranda July via Vice

Miranda July creates a series of photographs to imitate and bring attention to the extras in iconic movies [Vice]
An Italian professor, Dr Seracini, has been working on technology that can enable the search for the largest painting Leonardo da Vinci ever painted – The Battle of Anghiari, a work he believes to be hidden underneath the frescoes in Florence’s Palazzo Vecchio [The New York Times]
MoMA received an unexpected gift this month – an estate, estimated to be worth more than $10 million, belonging to the late Michael H. Dunn, a bachelor from Derby, Vermont [The New Yorker]

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Gilbert and George’s ‘Hoi Polloi,’ part of their exhibition ‘Jack Freak Pictures’ via Arndt & Partner

Gilbert and George speak about friendlessness, bigotry in the art world, and their latest exhibition, ‘Jack Freak Pictures,’ opening in London at White Cube next week [Guardian]
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Damien Hirst turns down the Royal Academy’s offer to become a Royal Academician [Artdaily]
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Thief sentenced to two and half years in Oslo for the 2004 Munch ‘Scream’ Heist [NY Times]
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Haunch of Venison will close its Zürich gallery by 2010 [ArtNewspaper]
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After concerted effort by Eli Broad, MOCA announces that its financial troubles are over with a number of new gifts and trustees [LA Times] and LACMA also announces new trustees, including Dasha Zhukova, founder of Moscow’s Garage Centre [LA Times]
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The Metropolitan Museum of Art responds to economic crisis, cuts 357 positions [Crain’s]

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Titian’s ‘Triumph of Love’ via Artdaily

Director of Tate Britain Stephen Deuchar is appointed director of Art Fund [ArtReview] in related, the Tate Britain recently bought and secured for Britain Titian’s Triumph of Love [Artdaily] and, finally the Art Fund launched an “Art Saved” resource online [Art Knowledge News]
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At least 24 New York galleries have closed since the economic collapse, with a number closing for the summer [Artnet]
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Connoisseurs are buying increasingly rare Impressionist and Modern masterpieces [NYTimes]
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Why auctions may not be the best method for museums’ deaccessioning [Wall Street Journal]
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Cai Guo-Qiang and Shen Wei speaking Lincoln Center via WSJ

Choreographer Shen Wei and artist Cai Guo-Qiang discuss their role in the 2008 Beijing Olympics opening ceremonies and how changing attitudes in China have affected their work [Wall Street Journal]
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ArtTactic’s Art Market Confidence Indicator shows increased confidence in the contemporary art market, with 2/3 of those survey predicting a rebound by 2011 [ArtTactic via The Art Collectors] and more cautious indicators of a rebound [Artnet]

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Ji Lee’s ‘Duchamp Reloaded’ via Wooster Collective

Duchampian street sculpture in front of MoMA [Wooster Collective]
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Bravo’s art reality show holds open calls and Paddy Johnson speaks with the casting director [Art Fag City]
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A work painted in 1623-24 by a fellow scholar depicts Rembrandt at 16 [TheIndependent]
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The Pietzch Collection, which includes many rare surrealist art works, opens to public display in Berlin [Monsters and Critics via Art Market Monitor]
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Adam Kimmel stands in front of a photo of Dan Colen as the Marlboro Man via Purple

Riffing on Richard Prince, fashion designer Adam Kimmel has Dan Colen as the Marlboro Man in a series of photos by the creator of the original ads, Jim Krantz [Purple]
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A look at what the latest auctions in London could mean for the outlook of the art market [Financial Times]
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How London’s proximity to emerging market art buyers from Middle East, Russia and Asia may now have negative effect [Wall Street Journal]

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Rachel Wardell, the first participant in Antony Gormley’s ‘One and Other’ via The GuardianUK

The first participants are announced in Antony Gormley’s ‘One and Other’ on the fourth plinth in Traflagar Square [Guardian]
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More Intelligent Life investigates the increased interest in Picasso’s late musketeer paintings and finds links between the artist’s pacifism, the mood of the 1960s and younger collectors today [Economist]

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A vandalized Banksy mural in Bristol via Bristol Evening Post

A popular Banksy mural in Bristol is vandalized as the Bristol Museum currently holds a major exhibition of the grafitti artist’s work [Bristol Evening Post via Arts Journal]
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Jeff Koons describes Michael Jackson as a “contemporary Christ figure” [Bloomberg]
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and Koons is now collaborating with watchmaker Ikepod to make a titanium watch [Newsweek]

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Terence Koh in his studio via Whitewall

Terence Koh in his all white studio in New York [Whitewall]
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Critic Jerry Saltz initiates a discussion with MoMA Chief Curator Ann Tempkin over the museum’s lack of female artists through Facebook [Edward Winkleman]
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A Holocaust conference including 46 nations urges more efforts to restitute art stolen by Nazis [Bloomberg]
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