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Report from the Front

Art criticism, sometimes with context, occasional politics. New shows: "events;" how to support the online edition: "works."

 

PERSONALITY V. TALENT (CHAPTER ONE)

Marc Chagall, Double Portrait with Wine Glass, 1917–18, oil on canvas. Centre Pompidou, Musée National d’Art Moderne, Paris, gift of the artist, 1949. Artwork © Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris; image provided by CNAC/MNAM/Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Art Resource, New York.
The older I get, the more convinced I am that to achieve success in the art world one needs not only visual talent, but the “right” personality. In fact, sometimes the “right” personality (variously defined) trumps the greater visual talents of others. In Manhattan this fall, we have two major museum exhibitions demonstrating the truth of my maxim. The first I shall deal with here and now. It’s the solidly conceived, abundantly documented and handsomely mounted “Chagall, Lissitzky, Malevich: The Russian Avant-Garde in Vitebsk, 1918-1922,” at The Jewish Museum (through January 6, 2019). Read More 
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12 PREVIEWS, 1 REVIEW

Marc Chagall, Solitude, 1933. Oil on canvas, 44 x 66 in. The Tel Aviv Museum of Art, gift of the artist 1953, (c)2013 /Artists Rights Society (ARS), New Y ork/ADAGP, Paris.
Once again, I present my list of the more noteworthy coming attractions this fall. Three of them have already opened, but I’ve only been to one of those three (and as a result include a review of it at the end of this listing). The two biggest museums in town are, in their main exhibits, sitting back on their academic haunches this year, but some of the city’s smaller museums are nobly stepping into the breach (to mix my metaphors). Plus even the occasional gallery.  Read More 
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