The Easel

2nd February 2021

Richard L. Feigen (1930–2021) – a legendary art dealer whose own private collection was the toast of New York

Feigen had a protean talent for spotting the “undervalued or underestimated.” After starting with an eclectic artist roster, the Old Masters caught his eye. Over the 1980’s he became the “ultimate dealer” in that genre. Museums around the world sought his advice and bought from him, though he confessed he often kept the very best for his own superlative collection. Asked about his legacy he said “Taste. Not prescience or anything like that. But just taste.”

Rothko, Reverential and Otherworldly, in Houston

Following a renovation of Houston’s Rothko chapel, a re-evaluation. Rothko viewed the chapel as his “final statement” and the paintings have an “end-of-life” character.  They are “nocturnes”, their dark colours (some only dark plum and crimson) better appreciated under the new hi-tech lighting. And they are big works, as if Rothko wanted to create a separate world. Approvingly, the writer says the chapel is “an Old Testament place”.

Review: Robert Irwin’s virtuoso light art, minus the light

Irwin, one of the Light and Space group, is famous for his clusters of coloured fluorescent tubes. These meditative works show the interaction of light and colour. Now he is exhibiting new works where the tubes are not lit. Does it work? The reviewer thinks so, calling the show “unexpectedly gorgeous and deeply absorbing”. Perhaps so. It is surprising, though, that the appeal of these works is not diminished in the absence of their previously defining element.

At Peabody Essex, a reset on South Asian art

The Peabody Essex Museum in Massachusetts has long collected Indian art.  It seems a risky area for a western museum. Were all the works ethically acquired? What about work, made during British colonial rule, that pandered to colonial stereotypes? How much of the diversity of India can Western audiences absorb? One solution, partial at best – include contemporary works that address issues like rural – city friction, a reality understood everywhere.

26th January 2021

The Gloopy Glory of Frank Auerbach’s Portraits

A ‘national treasure in Britain, Auerbach gets few shows in New York. Given one though, critics there are wowed. One ponders the show’s “almost heroic dimension”, a reflection of Auerbach’s “obsession with the painterly stroke”. This writer marvels at the intense, condensed Auerbach gaze: A portrait of the artist’s wife “appears to be just a dense knot of thick golden strokes. You looked at someone for a whole year and saw … this?”

Blockbuster Bloat

When do we reach too much of a good thing? In 1980, Cindy Sherman launched her acclaimed performative photographs Untitled Film Stills. Are her new works just repeating the same ideas? Sherman has been “dulled by decades of A-list indulgence. As pictures have gotten smaller and nimbler, [her] art has gotten bulkier and slower, not to mention pricier. Sherman has become beholden to big-spender audiences who expect the same joke year after year.”