Also in this Issue
The New Realism
Middle-Aged Gods and Giant Babies
Sculptors are taking realism into other dimensions: the weird, the uncanny, and the monstrous. They are hyping the imperfections of the figure, chopping it up, painting it, and even putting clothes on it
Cynthia Nadelman
Thinking Outside the Grid
Abstract painter Juan Uslé brings an unexpected sensuousness and translucency to dense, chaotic geometry
Hilarie M. Sheets
The Future of China’s Past
With thousands of underfunded museums and historical sites threatened by development, environmental damage, and inadequate security, China’s preservation challenge has become increasingly urgent. Now culture officials are looking to other countries for guidance
Hugh Eakin
Departments
Art Talk
Dan Cameron, William Wegman, Judy Pfaff, Dan Graham, Thomas Krens, Thaddaeus Ropac, Francis Alÿs, Tracey Emin
National News
Los Angeles Is the Getty shifting focus?; Heirs of Nazi victim sue Liz Taylor New York Terminal show terminated; Aperture goes west; Richard Avedon: Defining the big shot Stanford, California Stanford keeps church out of school<
International News
London The V&A’s downward spiral Paris Opening up the Louvre Mexico City Guggenheim eyes Guadalajara Cuzco Conserving Peru’s churches
Art Market
Paris FIAC: “Getting better” London At Frieze, the unknown and the unshown shine; Pharmacy on the block New York Savvy buyers lift photo sales
Studio
Parrots, Peonies, and Peace of Mind: Joseph Raffael’s crisp watercolors reflect his quiet Mediterranean surroundings
Valerie Gladstone
Looking at Art
The Emperor’s New Pose: An Italian missionary’s resplendent portrait of Qianlong introduced Western techniques to the Chinese court
Lilly Wei
Artful Traveler
A Cabinet of Casual Mysteries: The Museum and Art Gallery of Lower Austria is a modern-day cabinet of curiosities
Victoria Newhouse
Books
Leonardo By Martin Kemp
Reviews
New York Rackstraw Downes; “The Colonial Andes”; “In the Realm of Gods and Kings”; Ellen Gallagher; Giorgio Morandi; On Kawara; Hans Accola; Robert Kushner; George Kalinsky; Nancy Chunn; Deborah Claxton; Kathleen Kucka; “Breaking Boundaries”; Nicola Hicks; Iran do Espírito Santo; “Masters of the Florence Academy of Art” Los Angeles Robert Smithson Pittsburgh Carnegie International Venice, California Charles Garabedian San Francisco Vik Muniz Baltimore Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec St. Petersburg, Florida Salvador Dalí Chicago “The Essential X” Santa Fe Eva Carter Washington, D.C. Gene Davis Berlin The Friedrich Christian Flick Collection London Paul Noble Paris Jean Le Gac Zurich Berlinde de Bruyckere Monterrey, Mexico “Only Characters Change” Lima Moico Yaker