“I’ve always been interested in the new, and don’t understand why everybody isn’t. I like complexity, challenge, ambiguity, abstraction.”
-Philanthropist and arts patron Betty Freeman (1921-2009), the statuesque subject of David Hockney‘s 1966-67 painting “Beverly Hills Housewife,” which sold for $7.9 million (including buyer’s premium) on Wednesday evening at Christie’s. Freeman is pictured at left in a drawing by Hockney.
“It’s very difficult to sell simplicity. There’s no perceived value. It doesn’t have a lot of buttons or seams. So how do you create value in something that is apparently undetailed? He did it by putting it in the social context of his life. He gathered not only old-money and new-money society but also Broadway and Hollywood, which gave context to the clothes. Otherwise, the public might have said, ‘Well, the sleeve is just a sleeve, the trench coat is just a shirtwaist dress.'” –Harold Koda, curator-in-chief of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, on Halston.
“When I look at an artist for the first time, the initial reaction I’m hoping for can be anything from discomfort to puzzlement. I go up to any artwork with a huge storage of information that I’ve accumulated over the years, and if I can’t file it or it makes me angry, I think, ‘Interesting.'”
-Gallerist David Zwirner in the summer issue of WSJ., which will be tucked inside this weekend’s Wall Street Journal
“In a hot climate, strong color is a cliché. I don’t mean you should ever, God forbid, resort to beige, but a muted spectrum feels more contemporary.”
-Architect and designer Peter Marino in the May issue of Architectural Digest
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
.jpg){kind=link}