Displaying items by tag: writers

All styles eventually go out of fashion. Colonial hoop dresses, Victorian handlebar moustaches, and 1960s shag carpeting all enjoyed great popularity before falling out of favor. Similar cycles of taste have governed the history of furniture design. Going out of Style: 400 Years of Changing Tastes in Furniture, an exhibition presented by the Milwaukee Art Museum, displayed four centuries of major American furniture styles alongside scathing commentary written in the period by designers, architects, and writers.

Their critiques—which range from sarcastic to downright ruthless—reveal powerful opinions that helped drive the ebb and flow of taste from generation to generation. While the harsh assessments of the past may seem unfounded to antiques enthusiasts today, they remind us that most period styles—even the perennial favorites—were out of fashion at one time or another

Today, May 13, 2013 marked the end of the second-ever Frieze New York. One of the most highly anticipated art fairs, Frieze’s New York iteration took place at Randall’s Island Park and featured approximately 180 of the heaviest hitting contemporary art galleries from around the globe.

Along with its primary offerings, Frieze New York included two separate sections, Frame and Focus, which were dedicated to promising up-and-coming galleries. This year’s fair also featured seven site-specific commissions, a sculpture park, and a series of panel discussions and conversations led by high-profile artists, writers, and cultural commentators.

Frieze New York kicked off with a VIP opening on Thursday, May 9, which attracted throngs of the art world’s most elite collectors. Top sales that day included Sigmar Polke’s (1941-2010) Nachtkappel (1986) which was sold by Paris’ Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac for $4 million; an Anish Kapoor (b. 1954) sculpture sold by London’s Lisson Gallery for $764,500; and a painting of a flying tiger titled Tri Thong Minh, which was sold by New York’s Paul Kasmin gallery for $950,000.

The sister fair of Frieze London, which launched in 2001, the 2013 edition of Frieze New York was the largest stateside version of the show to date.