These two articles were cited today on edward_hussein_winkleman's blog:
via NewsBiscuit:
Damien Hirst sets new auction record with 'Investment Banker in Formaldehyde'
A piece of art by Damien Hirst has set the new record for a single
item at auction. The piece entitled ‘Oh Shit’ fetched £2.3bn after
frantic bidding by an anonymous investor. The work, which features a
Merrill Lynch employee suspended in a tank of formaldehyde secured the
highest price yet paid for a single piece of banking history.
It
was believed that it was purchased for a private exhibit, and is
unlikely to be put on display to the public or auditors, in the
immediate future. ‘Pay Day’, a piece comprised of empty envelopes and
which was expected to make between 4,000 to 5,000 people happy,
eventually went to administrators Price Waterhouse Coopers for well
over the asking price.
Art critic Mathias Van-Leer praised
Hirst for his courageous decision to sell all these works from his
Financial Meltdown period. ‘It is a remarkable that Damien has been
able to command these sort of prices,’ he said, ‘especially as we are
seeing a lot of similar pieces suddenly coming onto the market.’
[read full article]
via NYTimes:
Museums Fear Lean Days Ahead
By CAROL VOGEL
Published: October 19, 2008
Since it opened last month at the Museum of Modern Art, “Van Gogh
and the Colors of the Night” has been attracting several thousand
people each day to the second-floor galleries. Visitors can be seen
waiting in line for tables at all three of the museum’s restaurants,
and MoMA’s shops are reporting a 5 percent increase in sales over a year ago.
But in executive offices several floors above the bustle, officials are wondering how long the good times will last.
“We know there’s a storm at sea and we know it’s going to hit land and it could get ugly,” said Glenn D. Lowry, the museum’s director. “But we don’t know how hard it will be or when it’s coming. So we are trying to make educated guesses.”
As
a result, the museum instituted a temporary hiring freeze last week as
well as a 10 percent cut in its general operating budget that will be
revisited in December.
Across the country directors like Mr.
Lowry are bracing for the effects of an economic crisis that could
change everything from the size and kinds of exhibitions a museum
presents to the acquisitions it could afford and the merchandise it
should offer in its shops.
Already the financial-market meltdown has diminished the endowment funds that cover museums’ day-to-day operating expenses. Lehman Brothers,
for years a crucial sponsor for museums across the country, is no more.
Surviving banking institutions and corporations that also have been the
bedrock of exhibition support are likely to give far less or cut off
gifts altogether.
Even the most beneficent of museum trustees
are feeling the pinch. So are paying members, like the 115,000 signed
up by MoMA who fork out anywhere from $50 (student membership) to
$60,000 for their privileges. Directors and curators are thus in a
holding pattern, waiting to see if year-end gifts materialize or
membership revenues take a tumble.
“Caution is the word of the moment,” Mr. Lowry said.
[read full article]
