Giorgio Morandi's Paintings Make Me

Many Say An Art Dealer Running A Museum Is A 'conflict Of Interest.' But Maybe The Art World Has Lived An Artificial Or Unintentional Lie All Of These Years When It Comes To Conflicts Of Interest.

Being Critical Of Art Is A Way Of Showing Art Respect. No Sports Writer Would Say, "well The Yankees Had A Great Season This Year." No Food Critic Would Get A Bad Meal And Say, "oh, It Was So Lovely." It Always Strikes Me As Odd When People Say, "why Do You Write Negatively About Any Art?" I Think That Everybody Has Mixed Feelings About Everything - Even Goya. I Mean, I Look At Rembrandt Sometimes And I Hear A Voice In My Head Go, "it's Pretty Brown."

Galleries Began Growing In Both Number And Size In The Late Seventies, When Artists Who Worked In Lofts Wanted To Exhibit Their Work In Spaces Similar To The Ones The Art Was Made In.

'the Night Cafe' And 'the Starry Night' Still Emit Such Pathos, Density, And Intensity That They Send Shivers Down The Spine. Whether Van Gogh Thought In Color Or Felt With His Intellect, The Radical Color, Dynamic Distortion, Heart, Soul, And Part-by-part Structure In These Paintings Make Him A Bridge To A New Vision And The Vision Itself.

I See Around 100 Shows A Month, Going From Niketown-size Palaces Where You Feel Like Yelling, To Storefronts In Bushwick. Each Has To Pay The Bills; Keep Artists Happy; And Cope With Collectors (oy!), Curators (ay-yi-yi), Critics (woo-hoo!), And Occasionally Plumbers. That Their Fiscal Life Often Hangs In The Balance Only Adds To The Energy.