The Easel

Archives: ARTnews

18th December 2018

Moneyball for the Art World

Some fancy analytics show that a small network of “curators, art historians, gallery owners, dealers, agents, auction houses and collectors” drive artists reputations and prices. Sounds alarming – is this new news?  After all, every era has its tastemakers. The writer claims the concentration of influence comprises an “undemocratic and impenetrable structure” Really?

Magic Touch: Jasper Johns Show Dazzles at New Menil Drawing Institute

Houston scores a double hit. A show of Jasper Johns drawings “dazzles. He captivates us with things we’ve known all our lives.” But that’s not all. The show inaugurates the Menil Drawing Institute, the first museum in the US specialized in contemporary drawing. Namechecking the renowned Vienna museum, one critic gushes “This week at the Menil, America gets a modern Albertina.”