The Best and the Worst: The Choice Is Yours

My last program with a reference to the art of super-famous Jeff Koons as "Shiny, Bubbly and Boring..." hit a nerve with listeners. I got quite a lot of responses to this program and you might want to read them on KCRW's website. Here are a few of my favorites:

Esther wrote:

I may not have the money of Eli Broad or Taschen, but, to me, Koons' work is dreck [Yiddish for bad smelly stuff]...............and your column is not.

This next comment was submitted by Kathy:

Really good column. When I was reviewing art in the 1980s, Koons was considered a joke. (Still is as far as I'm concerned.)

David exclaimed:

OMG! That is the ugliest piece of art I've ever seen! Thanks for calling a spade a spade.

From K.:

I tip my hat to you on your Jeff Koons article. I feel compelled to write you for saying exactly what a lot of us (myself and many artists I work with) would say. I remember seeing "Michael Jackson and the Monkey" at Gagosian's last time and said the same thing to myself.

And last, but not least, my favorite from Patty:

Dude, you always make art talk so damn interesting....thanks bunches.... -Just a Nerdy Radio Listener

So once again, I want to thank all of you for paying attention to my Art Talk and please continue to share your thoughts with me. If you would like to have a more hands-on experience of the Los Angeles Art Scene and to find out what's happening behind the closed doors of museums, galleries and artists' studios come to my Art Collecting Seminars. You can find out more about them at www.EdwardGoldman.com.

Today, while you are listening to this program, I am traveling in Europe, gathering juicy information from my various art spies to share the best with you upon my return. But I am sure that many of you are traveling yourselves right now. And so, I thought I would tell you about a few interesting exhibitions you might want to check out on your own here in the U.S. as well as in Europe.

Balenciaga and Spain

Cecil Beaton famously called Balenciaga "fashion's Picasso" and Baroness Pauline de Rothschild said his name was "synonymous with perfection and elegance." Legendary fashion editor Diana Vreeland described him as "forever a Spaniard ...whose inspiration came from bullfights, the flamenco dancers, the fishermen in their boots ...and glories of the church." The exhibition demonstrates the unique style and technical innovations of a singularly talented designer who revolutionized fashion.

Manet: The Man Who Invented Modern Art

With the passing years, the genius of Edouard Manet continues to loom even larger. One can say that, in his art, he was channeling — or challenging? — Old Masters, from Fra Angelico to Velasquez. This upcoming exhibition in the City of Light at the Musée d'Orsay takes a look at the influence of Charles Baudelaire and Stephane Mallarme on his art. Among other themes presented by the exhibition are religion, erotic imagery, high society, and Manet's relationship with women painters, particularly his student, Berthe Morisot.

Picasso, Miró, Dalí. Angry Young Men: the Birth of Modernity

To see an exhibition of these three artistic rabble-rousers in any museum would be a treat, but to do so at, of all place, the Palazzo Strozzi in Florence is simply irresistible. Each artist will be represented by a few dozen masterpieces from the earlier period of their careers. Just think about Picasso's trip to Italy in 1917 in the company of Jean Cocteau, both of them involved with Sergei Diaghilev in creation of Parade, one of the most celebrated collaborations of the Ballets Russes. If that's not enough, think of Picasso, on a trip to Florence, meeting and subsequently falling in love with the Russian ballerina Olga Koklova, his future wife. All of that and more are cornerstones of cultural life of the 20th century.

Balenciaga and Spain

de Young Museum, San Francisco

Through July 4

Manet: The Man Who Invented Modern Art

Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France

Through July 3

Picasso, Miró, Dalí. Angry Young Men: the Birth of Modernity

Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi, Florence, Italy

Through July 17

To see images discussed in Art Talk, go to KCRW.org/ArtTalk.

Banner image: Jeff Koons, Pink Panther, 1988, ceramic sculpture