One of the guilty pleasures of being an art critic is having the chance to visit artists in their studios, ask questions, look at art closely, hear the stories, and - yes, smell the paint. When an artwork leaves the studio, the proverbial umbilical cord is cut; seen later - in a gallery or museum exhibition - the work continues to be appealing, but something is missing. And that something is the unique intimacy that only can be experienced by seeing the artwork in the midst of the creative chaos...
May 12, 2010•5 min
If I had the chance to be in New York today, the Christie's saleroom in Rockefeller Center would be the place I'd try to sneak into, to watch the high-profile sale of the outstanding private collection of Los Angeles philanthropist and collector Frances Brody. In spite of the state of the economy, this collection, with its truly amazing works by Matisse, Picasso, Braque, and Giacometti, among others, is expected to fetch at least $150 million....
May 05, 2010•5 min
As expected, last week's program titled "Let Me Confess..." about the three churches I went rather spontaneously to on Sunday afternoon generated more responses than usual. One listener wrote: "Edward, you should do this sort of urban landscape confessional thing more often." And indeed, I'm planning to do just that. In response to my asking for your favorite house of worship here in Los Angeles and beyond - one you like for its art, architecture, and interior design - I received some very inter...
Apr 28, 2010•5 min
Let me start by admitting that last Sunday I did something very...hmm, shall I say...unusual? It's not just that I went to church, but that in one afternoon I went to three churches. And I must confess that I went there not to pray or to hear a sermon, but just for the pleasure of it. It all started rather innocently...
Apr 21, 2010•5 min
The past week turned out to be challenging and very hard on some of my friends. It brought a trifecta of bad news, affecting them and their friends. I would probably still be singing the blues if not for the generous dollop of art and culture that I got last weekend...
Apr 14, 2010•5 min
Last week was special indeed. Most of my friends were busy celebrating either Passover or Easter, so I felt compelled to do something for my spirit as well. As my luck would have it, American Cinematheque at the Aero Theatre was showing Andrei Rublev , the famous movie by avant-garde Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky telling the story of the 16th century Russian monk and artist whose frescoes and icons are among the most cherished treasures of Russian spiritual culture...
Apr 07, 2010•5 min
For me, going to see an exhibition or a movie or a new play, it's always the same: the biggest surprise comes when I have no expectations, and the biggest disappointment occurs when, for whatever reason, I expect quite a lot. So when I went a couple of weeks ago to see selections from the private art collection of Greek billionaire Dakis Joannou at the New Museum in Manhattan, I thought I was in for a treat. After all, the exhibition was curated by none other than Jeff Koons...
Mar 31, 2010•5 min
It was a hell of a trip, at least the beginning of it: my morning flight to New York was delayed for three hours because of the storm there, and then...the flight was simply cancelled. Great. The only choice was to fly the next day or wait for another nine hours for a very slim chance at flying standby on the red-eye...
Mar 29, 2010•5 min
Week after week may pass without any surprise while I'm dutifully visiting numerous gallery and museum exhibition. So you can understand why last week turned out to be particularly rewarding – I stumbled upon four good exhibitions, each appealing in its own way...
Mar 10, 2010•5 min
When I went to New York last December, I rushed to the Metropolitan Museum to see the exquisite small exhibition of 18th century French painter Antoine Watteau. It was the closing day of the show, and I expected it to be packed, but luckily for me, that was not the case. There was another show at the Met that Sunday that drew a big crowd: a sprawling display of American paintings telling stories of everyday life here, in this country of ours, from the late 18th to the early 20th centuries......
Mar 03, 2010•5 min
I probably shouldn't, but simply I couldn't...say 'No.' An invitation to go to Spain for the international contemporary art fair, ARCO Madrid, arrived less than three weeks before the opening, but hey, who's complaining?...
Feb 24, 2010•5 min
If you're not brave enough to deal with the cold, rainy days upon us here in southern California, I want to suggest a lovely alternative: spend a couple of cozy hours perusing the delicious display of drawings by one of the greatest artists of all time. Several dozen drawings by Rembrandt and his students are on display at the Getty Center in an elegant, imaginatively installed exhibition, where visitors have a chance to participate in an ongoing scholarly debate - which drawings were done by th...
Feb 10, 2010•5 min
In Southern California, where most cultural institutions are not more than a few decades old, the upcoming 60th anniversary of the Long Beach Museum of Art is definitely a milestone. Starting on February 5, the museum will present a series of interesting exhibitions drawn from its permanent collection and introducing a new generation of museum-goers to the high points in the Long Beach Museum's history of collecting and exhibitions...
Jan 27, 2010•5 min
Last week proved to be quite trying for museums here in LA and even further north. While the Getty and MOCA have had their share of unpleasantries in dealing with the coming and going of their directors, the Fresno Metropolitan Museum of Art & Science literally went belly-up, becoming the victim of a royal miscalculation by its trustees...
Jan 20, 2010•5 min
Sometimes when museum directors get hired, fired, or choose to resign, it creates a mild controversy -- a storm in a teacup. But not this time. The announcement by trustees of LA's Museum of Contemporary Art that they selected Jeffrey Deitch, a prominent New York art dealer, as MOCA's new director, created nothing short of a perfect storm, generating headlines nationwide...
Jan 13, 2010•5 min
Once in a while, or, to be more precise, once each year, one can justifiably say about life here in the City of Angels that All's Fair in LA. Usually it happens in the month of January, when not one, but three art fairs roll into town, causing a lot of happy commotion, confusion, and anticipation. Scheduled literally days apart, these art fairs have names which are easily mixed up, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that even art insiders get somewhat confused.
Jan 06, 2010•5 min
Even if you've been only half awake throughout this past year, you could not hide from the grim reality of the financial woes that made life for so many of us extremely unsettling and worrisome. And definitely the art world was not immune to this dramatic downward spiral. Museums were forced to face the tough economic reality by paring down scheduled exhibitions, cutting back staff, and putting a freeze on new hires. Disappointing sales at art auctions and various art fairs reinforced the sense ...
Dec 30, 2009•5 min
It was not what I expected when I went to see the new film, A Single Man directed by fashion icon Tom Ford, but nevertheless, there I was, in a packed theater, following the story of a man about to die and being moved by it, but...only to a point. The acting was superb, but the same could be said about the lighting, the costume design, the sets – and for me this striving for perfection significantly lowered the emotional impact of this movie...
Dec 23, 2009•5 min
The day after Thanksgiving I took the red-eye to New York, and with hardly two hours of sleep, plunged into the festive madness of Manhattan giddily rushing toward Christmas. The first order of the day was a long walk -- about 40 blocks -- to the Metropolitan Museum to catch a couple small, jewel-like exhibitions before they closed the next day...
Dec 16, 2009•5 min
Once upon a time, many many years ago in a faraway land, lived a king who ruled over a country which was very tiny indeed, but he was so powerful and wealthy that other kings felt very envious. This king was also very smart; he knew the power of art, so he searched far and wide for the most talented and famous artists to decorate his castle with the most beautiful tapestries, paintings and sculptures – and paid them handsomely...
Dec 09, 2009•5 min
When a couple of weeks ago, I shared with you the story of my friend Meridee's visit to the Getty with her 2 ½ year-old niece, your response to the adventures of this little girl on her first trip to a museum far exceeded my expectations. She was so cute, asking at the museum information booth if they had any 'pony art,' and it was so touching that the lady behind the desk took this request seriously and actually found for this tiny visitor four artworks depicting horses. And you know what? When...
Nov 25, 2009•5 min
Last week Los Angeles hosted what sports fans would probably call a perfect trifecta of cultural events. First, the Museum of Contemporary Art celebrated its 30th anniversary with a huge, lavish gala attended by 1,000 art patrons, many of whom flew in just for the occasion...
Nov 18, 2009•5 min
Today's program has a simple and wholesome title, "Art and Babies." And the sermon I'm about to deliver has to do with the impact that art can have on the lives of our little angels. Speaking in front of a live audience, I often bring up the issue of the importance of exposing children to art at a very early age. Every young parent knows the benefit of suspending a mobile with bright shiny objects above the crib to activate the child's brain. Therefore, there is no doubt in my mind that bringing...
Nov 11, 2009•5 min
Every time I'm in New York, I never miss the chance to visit the most elegant salon on the Upper East Side of Manhattan to pay my respects to its charming hostess, famous for her beauty as well as her repose. A woman of few words, she greets you in the foyer, and you cannot help but notice that even with the passing years, her youthful glow and aura of mystique have hardly changed. She travels very rarely, but when she does, it makes the news. So when she recently accepted an invitation to come ...
Nov 04, 2009•5 min
So, what would you think about the LA Police Chief if you heard that he had expressed support for a controversial public artwork installed in front of the new police headquarters? Would you worry? Rest assured, outgoing Police Chief William Bratton simply hates the eight monumental bronze sculptures installed at the new LAPD...
Oct 28, 2009•5 min
For almost one hundred years, people around the world have known Los Angeles primarily as the place where movies are made. But in the last couple of decades, something else has entered into the equation: a few LA artists have achieved such international acclaim that they've become our de facto cultural ambassadors to the world at large...
Oct 21, 2009•5 min
Last month, at the opening of the Irving Penn exhibition at the Getty Center, the celebrated 92 year-old photographer was not in attendance. We were told that he hates to fly, which shouldn't come as a surprise, considering his age. Though his exhibition of 210 black and white photographs is still on view at the museum, the artist himself is no more; last week brought the sad news of the death of Irving Penn, one of the most famous photographers of the 20th century...
Oct 14, 2009•5 min
Do you remember the olden days when everyone had a Polaroid camera, and the small color photos our parents took on vacation could be found in virtually every household? These days, Polaroid technology is almost obsolete, and one can hardly find the film for those instant cameras. A few people, however, are still continuing their love affair with this medium...
Oct 07, 2009•4 min
Anyone who had the good fortune to know Henry Hopkins (1928-2009), a seminal figure on the California art scene for the last fifty years, would probably agree that he was the epitome of what we call a gentleman scholar. Even at crowded museum openings, one could always spot Henry – tall, imposing, impeccably dressed – charming everyone with his courtly manners...
Sep 30, 2009•5 min
I'm not a morning person, so, fortified with plenty of coffee, I usually start the day off slowly by paging through the newspapers to catch up on the latest. Sometimes, a headline jumps off the page with such a good vibe that it instantly snaps me out of the morning doldrums. Today is one of those days: the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times reported on this year's recipients of the MacArthur Grants, each of whom will receive $500,000, no strings attached. Among the winners are scientists,...
Sep 23, 2009•5 min
