Art Talk

Somehow in the last several weeks, Russian avant-garde culture of the early 20th century has been presenting itself with surprising consistency, both here in LA and during my recent trip to Holland. In Amsterdam I saw excellent early paintings by Kandinsky, and on the last day there, I was invited to see The Four Temperaments by Balanchine performed by the Dutch National Ballet. The theater was packed, and the dancers were very good. All that made me think about the famous Ballets Russes and its impresario Sergei Diaghilev, who introduced the whole world to the genius of Igor Stravinsky’s music in his ballets Petrushka and The Rite of Spring...

Returning to LA from a ten-day trip to Holland, I jumped head first into the thick of things, trying to catch up with the new exhibitions in museums and galleries. First I drove downtown to the USC Fisher Museum, which has become the happy recipient of a generous gift from the Andy Warhol Foundation...

The name of the picturesque ancient city Maastricht, in the south of Holland, might not ring a bell in American ears, but in Europe it’s definitely well known as the place where the Maastricht Treaty was signed in 1992, giving birth to the European Union. Another reason to be aware of this city is TEFAF, the celebrated annual international art fair, often referred to as the ‘Tiffany’ of all art fairs. That’s where curators and discriminating collectors from around the world go in search of rare examples of Greek and Roman art, Old Master drawings and paintings, and fabulous pieces of furniture, tapestries, and porcelain that once upon a time decorated the stately homes of European nobility..

The last couple of months, running into various art dealers, the first thing I ask is how they're holding up. No doubt, it's been a difficult time for the art market, where sales of contemporary art are way below what they were even a year ago. One exception was the recent sale of the Yves Saint Laurent collection, a big success, probably attributable to the worldwide recognition of the designer's name; people are willing to pay extra for an art work belonging to a famous person...

When you think about the most important Los Angeles cultural patrons of the last fifty years –- people who devoted their sizable fortunes and limitless passion to supporting and promoting the arts 0– three names spring immediately to mind: Dorothy Chandler, who gave us the Music Center, Marcia Weisman, the driving force behind the creation of MOCA; and, last but not least, Betty Freeman, a legendary patron of avant-garde music as well as a major collector of American post-war art...

Now that the razzle dazzle of Oscar night has mercifully passed, and our tuxedos and one-strap designer gowns are back in the closet, let's put on overalls and roll up our sleeves: it's time for a reality check...at least reality the way I see it...

Whatever the state of the economy right now, one thing is clear: major museums in LA are not wanting for attendance. Last Sunday, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art was pleasantly crowded; not only its temporary exhibitions, but the galleries with permanent collections were full of visitors as well. A lot of young people gathered around four BMW Art Cars exhibited outdoors on the museum plaza. You might want to check out these cars painted by Andy Warhol, Frank Stella, Robert Rauschenberg, and Roy Lichtenstein; this small traveling exhibition closes next Tuesday...

Bad weather, with its strong winds and rain, can sure put a damper on weekend plans, unless you get a little bit creative – after all, there are always museums out there waiting for us. It was pouring when I hit the Pacific Coast Highway last Sunday, but all of a sudden, the celestial authorities had a change of heart, and the rest of the drive to Malibu was smooth sailing: few cars and plenty of sunshine...

It's been a whole week since the dawning of a new era, with President Obama urging fellow citizens to work harder rather than sending us to shop our way out of trouble. I can honestly say that I've never worked harder than this last week; it was all art, all the time, and then some. Judge for yourself...

Since Election Day, when Barack Hussein Obama became President-Elect of the United States, I, like everyone else, have been swept up in the wave of enthusiasm over the results of the election. But truth be told, I'm elated not just because we have our first black president, but because...

It shouldn't come as a surprise that with so many good, important art exhibitions fighting for our attention, we inevitably miss one or two of them. But what about the smaller exhibitions and art events which often don't make headlines, though definitely worthy of our attention?

I do remember the opening of the first Los Angeles gallery dedicated exclusively to showing photography, an event that was met with considerable skepticism. Then, in the early 80's, not only the public, but a lot of critics considered photography to be the stepchild of the art scene, dominated by painting and sculpture and the critical darlings, conceptual and installation art. These days photography is all the rage...

This year, Santa Claus has decided to deliver his gift to us a little bit ahead of time. Today's announcement that MOCA at last accepted a generous 'bail out' offer of $30 million from L.A. philanthropist Eli Broad put an end to a flurry of speculations that had inflamed the local and national art scene. It seems that the museum survived the storm and has figured out a way to come out of this mess as a lean, mean and stronger fighting art machine...

By nature, I am an optimist. But being an art critic and historian, I put things in perspective, which keeps my positive impulses in check. So, I guess that makes me a cautious optimist...

When I went to Paris in March 2006 for the opening of the groundbreaking exhibition at the Pompidou Centre, which hailed the emergence of Los Angeles as one of the art capitals of the world, I rejoiced not only in celebrating the art and artists of our City of Angels, but also in the fact that so many outstanding works of art came from the collections of our own Museum of Contemporary Art...

Rumors about the financial difficulties at LA's Museum of Contemporary Art have been circulating for a few years, but the institution, much admired for its cutting edge exhibition program, has maintained a brave face. The museum continued to mount exhibitions in all three of its facilities –- two large spaces downtown and a smaller one at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood. Ambitious exhibitions were accompanied by thick, scholarly catalogues, well designed and obviously expensively produced. So, maybe these rumors were unsubstantiated; after all, in the last few years the museum, instead of cutting its staff, actually expanded it...

After being seen in London, Paris, and New York, the retrospective exhibition of works by 96-year-old Louise Bourgeois has finally arrived in LA -– to dazzle, to provoke, and to unsettle virtually everyone who walks through the galleries of the Museum of Contemporary Art, hosting this exhibition until the end of January...

I never start my weekly radio broadcast by giving you its title; only if you visit the KCRW website or sign up to receive Art Talk via email do you find out that each program comes with a headline. Today, for the first time, I want to start this broadcast with the title. Here it goes: PLEASE, MR. PRESIDENT, TAKE US ON A DATE...

With just one week left before the election, it's difficult to think or talk about anything else. The political drama –- or comedy, if you will -– of the presidential election proves that we Americans do have a National Theater after all...

In the last few years, I've had the good fortune to visit a number of great cities famous for their art and culture -- from Paris and London to Beijing and Mexico City -- but the eight days I recently spent in Berlin left an especially indelible impression on me. To put it simply: I never worked so hard and, definitely, I don't remember ever having so much fun...