Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Links Links Links

by Robert Boyd

I failed to make the 200 top collectors list again! Every year ARTnews publishes a list of the 200 top art collectors in the world. I wonder if the Vogels ever made the list? There are four Houstonians on the list. Laura and John Arnold collect impressionist, post-war and contemporary art--John Arnold owns Centaurus Energy, a big energy speculating hedge fund. Fayez Sarofim and Louisa Stude Sarofim are listed separately (they are divorced). Fayez collects modern and contemporary art, old masters, 19th century American art, and most interesting, Coptic art (I've always loved old Coptic paintings). Louisa collects modern and contemporary art and works on paper. Notably missing--Lester Marks. As far as I can tell, Marks only made the list once--but he'll never let you forget it! (ARTnews)

Data gathering and visualization for art historians. If there was ever a field that seems like it would not particularly benefit from modern data visualization techniques, it's art history. But Jerry Saltz has initiated a project that will probably prove me wrong. He is gathering a list of all artists who have worked for other artists. His criteria are:
1. At least one of the names in each paring should have a modicum of recognition.
2. Please, only artists who worked for other artists, not artists who worked for galleries, dealers who worked for other dealers, or artists who worked at museums — or DIA.
3. The chart will be all post-war artists.
The "chart" he refers to is the data visualization. The simple visualization would be kind of a family tree or flow-chart construction. But you could add additional dimensions of data--obvious demographic ones (race, gender, sexual orientation) as well as stylistic ones (what particular style or school is the artist associated with). Carrying this back to pre-war artists would also be interesting. If you know of any artists who worked for other artists and fit Saltz's three criteria, add it in the comments section under Saltz's article. (New York Magazine)

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George Stubbs, Gimcrack on Newmarket Heath, with a Trainer, a Stable Lad, and a Jockey, oil painting, 1765

$35.9 million for the sporting life. I don't usually bother with auction results (they always seem kind of evil). But George Stubbs is one of my favorite artists--I wrote a paper about him back in college. Our family was surprisingly horsey growing up--my brother and sisters all rode, some of us competitively. That may be why I love Stubbs so much. Is Gimcrack worth $35.9 million? I can't say, but it is a truly wonderful painting. (Artdaily.org)


Art Lies is Dead, Long Live Pastelegram. In the wake of Art Lies, a new hybrid online/print magazine is starting up. It's called Pastelegram, and the editor, Ariel Evans, is a veteran of Art Lies. The online portion will be like a standard art magazine, while the biannual print edition will be full of artists projects. I expect it will make many future appearances amongst the links here at Pan. (Pastelegram)

Surprise, Coagula hates the Getty. And it hates it so amusingly. Sample quote: "The Norton Simon has a far superior permanent collection than the Getty. The Huntington has better gardens than the Getty. The L.A. County Arboretum is a better day in the park than the Getty. The Walt Disney Concert Hall is a better immersion in architectural possibilities than the Getty. The L.A. County Museum has better traveling exhibitions than the Getty." And this photo:
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(photo by Mat Gleason)
had this caption: "[T]his beautiful vista only serves to underscore how isolated you and your date are from any food choices available to everyone down there."(Coagula)


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2 comments:

  1. (via lestermarksart.com)

    "...over sixty of my own works are hung throughout my collection..."


    I've been collecting my own work all of my life and I never thought to brag about it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lester Marks is the country's preeminent collector of work by Lester Marks.

    ReplyDelete