Global Art Times

By Carol VogelNew York TimesAfter nearly 20 years, ThomasKrens, the provocative director of the Solomon R. GuggenheimFoundation, is stepping down, itsboard announced on Wednesday.he move comes three yearsafter Mr. Krens triumphed in ahim-or-me showdown with theoundation’s biggest benefactor,he Cleveland philanthropist Peter B. Lewis. Mr. Lewis resigned after arguing that Mr. Krens was spend-ing too much money and shouldocus more on the foundation’s

New York agship museum rather

han on funneling resources intodeveloping Guggenheim satellitesaround the world.In a statement on Wednesdayhe foundation emphasized thatMr. Krens would remain at theoundation as a senior adviser for international affairs, overseeinghe creation of a 452,000-square-oot museum in Abu Dhabi to bedesigned by Frank Gehry.In resigning as director Mr. Krensis clearly taking his cue from theGuggenheim’s board. “This issomething that Tom and the boarddecided together,” Jennifer Stock-man, the board’s president, said.She characterized Mr. Krens’s newposition as a “natural transition.”She added, “The museum is in astrong position to move on.”he foundation said that Mr. Krenswould remain as director until asuccessor was hired, and that thesearch would begin immediately.But it added that the institutionwould revert to the managementstructure that existed until 2005,appointing a director who would

run the Manhattan agship and

Guggenheim satellites.In September 2005 the foundationpromoted Lisa Dennison, then adeputy director and chief curator,o director of the Manhattanmuseum. She served less thanwo years, departing last summer o join Sotheby’s auction house asan executive. Curators and other museum directors have beensaying privately for months that theGuggenheim has been unable to

ll the crucial job of director of the

New York museum. They said thatcandidates who were informallyapproached were not shy aboutcommunicating that they wouldnot work under Mr. Krens, who is

known as a difcult personality.

Supporters of Mr. Krens, however,say he has been disappointed withthe foundation’s board, especiallyits shortage of particularly gener-ous donors. With no replacementfor someone like Mr. Lewis, whogave the Guggenheim about $77million overall — nearly four timesas much as any other boardmember in its history — the Gug-genheim may not have the

nancial muscle to keep growing,

some art-world insiders say.Mr. Krens cast his job change in apositive light on Wednesday. “Thisis a great move for everyone,” hesaid in a telephone interview after

stepping off a ight from Paris to

New York. “In July I will have beenat the Guggenheim for 20 years,and I like that round number.”A towering 6 foot 5, with an M.B.A.in management from Yale anda manner that is often taken for arrogance, Mr. Krens, 61, haslong been synonymous with theGuggenheim. He is best knownfor his ambitions for developing aninternational network extendingfrom Las Vegas to Bilbao, Spain,

and for the types of high-prole

exhibitions he presented, includingshows like “The Art of the Motorcy-cle,” a personal passion, and onesthat tackled entire countries likeChina and Brazil.He has also organized trend-set-ting shows of contemporary artists,among them Matthew Barney,Richard Prince and, most recently,Cai Guo-Qiang.Mr. Krens has drawn criticism for some of his programming choices,including a show devoted toArmani suits underwritten by thefashion house itself.The new director of the Guggen-heim will face the task of balancinggrowth with acquisitions for thepermanent collection and organ-

izing high-prole exhibitions.

In addition to overseeing the NewYork museum, the director willhave authority over the PeggyGuggenheim Collection in Venice,the Guggenheim Bilbao, the Deut-sche Guggenheim Berlin and theGuggenheim Hermitage Museumin Las Vegas.“The New York museum is thecenter of the entire constellation,”Ms. Stockman said.Although some critics argue thatMr. Krens has in effect turned theGuggenheim into a McDonald’s-like franchise at the expense of expanding its collections and en-dowment, he has actually createda model for expansion that is beingcopied by institutions around theworld, including the Tate in Britainand the Louvre in France. Thetitanium-clad Guggenheim Bilbao,designed by Mr. Gehry, is viewedas a major success, attractingmore than a million visitors everyyear since it opened in 1997.During his tenure Mr. Krens hasincreased the Guggenheim’sendowment to $118 million from$20 million, although he has beenknown to dip into the endowmentto cover operating costs. (The mu-seum’s endowment dropped by 20percent from 1998 to 2005, when itwas $45 million, whichdrew harsh criticism from Mr.Lewis.) In 1989 Mr. Krens negoti-ated a gift of Impressionist paint-ings from the widow of Justin K.Thannhauser, acquired the Panzadi Biumo collection of Minimalistart and oversaw the commis-sions of major artworks by Jeff Koons, James Rosenquist, RachelWhiteread and Gerhard Richter at Deutsche Guggenheim Berlin.These works later became part of the Guggenheim’s collection.In Bilbao Mr. Krens led an acquisi-tions program that has includedmajor installations of works byRichard Serra, Mr. Koons, JennyHolzer and Louise Bourgeois. Healso has doubled the size of thePeggy Guggenheim Collection andpartnered with the State HermitageMuseum in St. Petersburg, Russia,and the Kunsthistorisches Museumin Vienna on programming.Twice Mr. Krens has overseen therestoration and expansion of itslandmark Frank Lloyd Wright build-ing on Fifth Avenue.

The rst, completed in 1992,

was an $80 million restoration of the building’s interior, along withthe construction of a 10-story

tower gallery and ofce building

designed by Gwathmey Siegel &Associates.The second, a $29 million restora-tion of the Wright building, is to becompleted this summer.Mr. Krens said Wednesday thatthe proposed Guggenheim in AbuDhabi, capital of the United ArabEmitates, was his most ambitiousproject to date.“It’s 35 percent larger than Bilbao,”he said, adding that the new muse-um’s programming would be moreambitious, too, and that a staff of about a dozen people would bededicated exclusively to the AbuDhabi branch.“It will be truly global,” he said,“representing art from the MiddleEast, Russia, Eastern Europe,Asia, Africa, as well as Europe andAmerica. It will change the modelof the art museum.”Thomas Krens in front of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, in 2005. Photo: Luis Tejido/European Pressphoto Agency

Guggenheim’s Provocative Director Steps Down

Viv LawesThe Art Newspaper LONDON. A consortium of four people led by an antiquarian bookdealer paid £228,000 ($443,000)for a row of spray-painted chim-panzees by the anonymous street

artist Banksy at Bonhams rst

Urban Art Sale on 5 February.Laugh Now, measuring six metresacross, had been estimated bythe auction house at £150,000-£200,000. It was originallycommissioned for the backdropof the Ocean Rooms Night Clubin Brighton in 2002 and wasconsigned to the sale by the bar’sowner.The work’s poor condition—it hasmany scuffs—did not deter livelybidding, most notably from IanBrown, frontman of the Britishband the Stone Roses, who wasthe lot’s underbidder. Another underbidder was Andreas Andipaof the Andipa gallery which is cur-rently hosting a Banksy exhibitionin Mayfair (until 29 March).Speaking to The Art Newspaper after the sale, antiquarian bookdealer James Allen said he startedbuying and selling Banksy’s workin 2003. “We’ll keep [Laugh Now]on hold for a while but there’s apossibility of it going to a collector in Hong Kong. It was extremelycheap.” Indeed another Banksycanvas with a single spray-painted

chimp, one of an edition of ve,

sold later in the evening for £74,400 ($144,000) and the artist’s2005 screenprint Kate Moss (edi-tion of 50), after Warhol’s famousimage of Marilyn Monroe, sold for £96,000 ($186,000).Doubling pre-sale expectations,the auction, which included 74 lots,made a total of £1.3m ($2.5m). Allbut one of the works sold. The 21works by Banksy made £867,600($1.7m).Other high-selling lots includedNick Walker’s original Moona Lisa,2006, which sold for considerablyabove its estimate of £3,000-£5,000 for £54,000.

Also included were ve works by

Japanese artist Takashi Murakami,a mainstay of contemporary artauctions at Sotheby’s and Chris-tie’s and not previously recognisedon the urban art scene.Even more intriguing was the lackof the Droit de Suite symbol nextto lots by eight different artists whoare eligible to receive the payment.Droit de Suite became law in Brit-ain in February 2006 and obligesvendors to remunerate artists 4%of the hammer price when a workis resold for over e1,000 ($1,450).This would suggest that the workswere consigned for the sale di-rectly by the artists themselves or their dealers—in effect a primarymarket auction.On 14 February three Banksyworks in the charity Red auction atSotheby’s New York made $2.9magainst an estimate of $650,000-$950,000.This total includes the artist’s col-laboration with Damien Hirst, Keepit Spotless, 2007/8, which made$1.9m (est $250,000-$350,000).

Bonhams’ top Banksy onits way to Hong Kong?

Banksy’s

Laugh Now

, (detail above) sold for £228,000March 2008 Choice articles from leading newspapers and art sources from around the world. Supplement to The South African Art TimesBy John MarzulliNew York Daily News Photos taken by late Diane Arbusof denizens of Hubert’s Dime Mu-seum and Flea Circus with letter addressed to R.C. Lucas, circusringleader. A Brooklyn collector of African-Americana says another collector tricked him into selling atrove of previously undiscoveredphotographs by the legendaryDiane Arbus for a mere $3,500.The photographs, depictingeccentric characters and freaksfrom Hubert’s Dime Museum andFlea Circus in Times Square in the1950s, are to be auctioned nextmonth in Manhattan. They couldbe worth hundreds of thousandsof dollars.“I feel victimized,” said Bayo Ogun-sanya, 50, of Fort Greene, whobought a storage trunk containingartifacts that belonged to Richard(Charlie) Lucas, a manager andringmaster at the wacky sideshow.

Ogunsanya sold the rst batch of

photos in late 2002 to Philadel-phia collector Robert Langmuir for $1,500, unaware of the Arbusconnection.Several weeks later, Langmuir paidan additional $2,000 for the restof the pictures and offered to givemore if the photos turned out to bevaluable, Ogunsanya said in courtpapers.“He was morally bound to give mea fair price especially since he hadmore knowledge [about the pho-tos] than I did,” Ogunsanya said.The Brooklyn Federal Court suitseeks to stop next month’s sale of the photos at a Manhattan auctionhouse. Langmuir’s spokesmandismissed Ogunsanya’s complaintas sour grapes.“Mr. Ogunsanya is a professionalwho seems to have had a case of seller’s remorse and is trying towring a few dollars out of my cli-ent,” lawyer Peter Meltzer said.

Dealer ‘lost out’ on lost Diane Arbus art

Global Art Times March 2008 Page 3

Paul Jeromack andJason Edward Kaufmanhe Art Newspaper NEW YORK. Jeff Koons, theartist known for his kitsch sculp-ures inspired by pop imagery,has emerged as a major spender on traditional masters. Lastmonth, Koons paid $6.3m atSotheby’s in New York for a largelimewood carving of St Cather-ine, dating from around 1505, byhe great German 16th-centurysculptor Tilman Riemenschnei-der.He had previously been identi-ied by The New Yorker as thelender of an 1866 GustaveCourbet nude to the MetropolitanMuseum’s current exhibition onhe French artist. He acquiredhis at Sotheby’s London on 27June 2007 for £1.64m ($3.2m).Koons currently holds the recordor the most expensive livingartist: his nine-foot suspendedHanging Heart sold for $23.6mo his dealer Larry Gagosian atSotheby’s New York in Novem-ber.In a lecture delivered at the92nd Street Y community centrein New York last month, Koonsprofessed his affinity for Courbet,comparing works from his “Madein Heaven” series—which showhim having sex with his former wife, the Hungarian-born IlonaStaller, a former porn star andhen MP in Italy—with Courbet’sl’Origine du Monde (1866) in theMusée d’Orsay.Koons told the audience thatwhile his own work is basedon balloon rabbits, porcelainfigurines and flower puppies,he collects older art, includinga Dalí gouache that he boughtas a memento of his visit to theCatalan artist at New York’s StRegis hotel in the early 1970s.

Jeff Koons’s taste for the classics

Martin BaileyThe Art Newspaper Tate has bought a group of faux-ethnographic sculptures by Britishartists Jake and Dinos Chapman.The Chapman Family Collectionconsists of 34 pieces carved in

wood and then painted. They rst

went on display at the Chapman’sLondon gallery, White Cube, in2002 where they were acquired byBritish collector Charles Saatchi.He is said to have paid £1m for theset. At the time he said that thiswas what “great art should be” (anedition of three painted bronzeswas also produced).The Chapman Family Collectionwas mainly responsible for thebrothers being shortlisted for theTate’s Turner Prize in 2003. InOctober that year, the work wasshown at the Saatchi Gallery inCounty Hall and it was later lentto an exhibition in the KunsthausBregenz in Austria. Most recently,Saatchi loaned the set for a Chap-man Brothers retrospective atTate Liverpool, which opened inDecember 2006. It was after thisthat discussions began on a saleto Tate.The deal was arranged throughWhite Cube. It is not known if thegallery bought the works back fromSaatchi before selling them on toTate or whether they served asintermediaries in the negotiations.The price paid by Tate will not bedisclosed until the publication of Tate’s next biennial report, butthe acquisition is likely to be oneof the gallery’s most expensivepurchases of contemporary art inrecent years (in 2004-6, a Sigmar Polke triptych was bought for £817,000).In December 2004 (p1) we re-vealed that Mr Saatchi had offeredhis entire collection of British con-temporary art to the Tate, althoughit was unclear whether a donationor sale had been intended.

Tate buys Charles Saatchi’sChapman sculptures

Koons paid $6.3m for thissculpture of St Catherine atSotheby’s New YorkBought by Tate The ChapmanFamily Collection consists of 34pieces carved in wood and thenpainted..By Jeremy LovellReuters UK LONDON - Good art, says AntonyGormley, should make you feel un-settled, even challenged, and not

t neatly into your everyday life.

The role of the artist is to foment

revolution not conrm the status

quo says the man who createdthe monolithic Angel of the Northstatue and has turned his ownbody into an art industry.“We have to continuously breakour own rules. Artists are capableof falling foul of their own conven-tions, of getting lazy,” Gormleytold Reuters at the opening to thepublic on Wednesday of his twonew works “Lost Horizon” and“Firmament”.“Art should be an agent of desta-bilisation, an agent for change,”added the 57-year-old Londoner.

Following the success of his rst

major retrospective at the HaywardGallery and Event Horizon exhibi-tion on the rooftops of London lastyear, Gormley’s new installationsat the White Cube, Mason’s Yardare again based on his body.“Lost Horizon” has 32 life-sizedsolid iron copies of Gormley’s body

adorning the oor, walls and ceiling

of one room in the gallery.“Firmament” has 1,770 steelrods welded together in a giantstructure depicting the human formthat arches across another, subter-ranean chamber.“It is all about questioning where

human beings t into the world,”

Gormley said. “When you walk intothese rooms they should unsettleyou, make you reexamine your place.” “Art that makes you feelcomfortable is likely to be craft, not

art. It will naturally t into conven

-tions, not be evolving, challeng-ing,” he said. Gormley is surprisedat the success of last year’s simul-taneous exhibitions which drewrecord crowds to London’s SouthBank and prompted numerouscalls to police from members of the public who mistook his rooftop

gures for suicide jumpers.

“That was very surprising. In myview good art is unlikely to beimmediately accepted. But thisclearly was,” he said.Best known for the Angel of theNorth, a project he describes as an“absolute experiment” that towersover the A1 road in northeasternEngland, Gormley has also exhib-ited in Venice, Germany, Australia,Singapore, Portugal and China.Despite being best known for public space installations, Gormleycomplains than most of today’spublic art is lazy and meaningless,dismissing it as “garnish” for badlydesigned buildings.“On the whole we have notreinvented the statue for the 21stcentury very convincingly,” he said.

Good art should unsettlenot soothe - Gormley