Every week, Artnet News brings you Wet Paint, a gossip column of original scoops. If you have a tip, email Annie Armstrong at aarmstrong@artnet.com.
SCOTT RUDIN CASHES OUT
You know the saying: Art collections tend to go to auction because of one of the “Three Ds”: debt, divorce, or death. I propose that we add a fourth D—disgraced.
Next week, Phillips is set to host a marathon sale of 259 works of contemporary art as part of its “New Now” series. Eleven of these works are labeled as follows: “Freestyle: Property From a Private New York Collection.” That is the same title given to a sale of 81 art and design objects that were offered by the house over the summer, selling for about $1.6 million. Wet Paint can exclusively reveal that all of these works come from the collection of Hollywood and Broadway producer Scott Rudin.
In case you’re not familiar with the Scott Rudin story: The EGOT-winning mega-producer was put on blast in 2021 by The Hollywood Reporter for fostering an abusive workplace, allegedly verbally and physically abusing staffers. The news came amid a drive to improve working conditions in Hollywood following the downfall of producer Harvey Weinstein. A spokesperson for Rudin later told New York magazine, when it published its own damning report, “Scott has acknowledged and apologized for the troubling office interactions that he has had with colleagues over the years, and has announced that he is stepping back from his professional work, so that he can do the proper work to address these issues.” That flack also termed some of the allegations as “extreme exaggerations” and “examples of urban legend.”
It’s interesting to read these pieces, and then examine the art that Rudin has been putting up for sale. Since the deluge of bad press in 2021, it seems that he turned his attention from making movies to snapping up freshly painted artworks, only to now turn around and consign them to auction.
Half of the works he is auctioning next week were created between 2021 and 2023, including examples by Georg Baselitz (estimated to sell between $30,000 to $40,000) and Arthur Jafa ($25,000 to $35,000). That’s some wet paint! The same trend was evident in the summer auction, which was led by a 2022 Rick Lowe painting that made $139,700. It also featured a Katherine Bradford painting from 2022, which sold for $76,200; he took a significant loss on that one, having originally purchased it for $163,800 at a Sotheby’s benefit auction for Planned Parenthood in 2022. Another notable sale was Chantal Joffe’s portrait of critic Hettie Judah, painted in 2021, which sold for $63,500. Three separate dealers told me that they sold works to Rudin that are tagged with the Freestyle label.
Asked for comment, a Phillips spokesperson that it “does not comment on the identity of its clients.” Rudin declined to comment. The New York Times reports that he is also offloading his West Village townhouse, previously owned by Air Mail kingpin Graydon Carter, in a joint listing with his neighbor for $37.5 million.
My eyes are peeled for what he dumps next.
A MOVEABLE FEAST
Chandelier for Manuela (2024) by Mika Rottenberg. Photo: Jacopo Maria Cinti, courtesy Artfarm.
Though Gordon Matta-Clark died at the age of only 35, in 1978, his influence on artists and curators has remained profound. David Hammons‘s 2021 installation along the Hudson River, Day’s End, pays tribute to Matta-Clark’s anti-architecture interventions, and there have been at least 10 one- or two-person shows of his work since 2019, most of them at museums, according to his official David Zwirner CV.
Now the legendary FOOD restaurant that Matta-Clark operated in SoHo from 1971 through 1974 is becoming a touchstone for two new New York spots—one very directly, one more loosely.
But first, for the uninitiated: FOOD, which the artist started with Carol Goodden and Tina Girouard, was famous for adventurous menus, relatively affordable prices, and an artist-heavy staff. On one occasion it sold frog legs and giant burbling vats of soup to John Cage and Robert Rauschenberg for $4, and one early employee was a young Vincent Gallo.
One of the two new ventures is Manuela, the restaurant founded by Hauser and Wirth founders Iwan and Manuela Wirth hospitality arm Artfarm. (It is, of course, named after Ms. Wirth, and opened first at the gallery’s location in Downtown Los Angeles). Manuela arrives next month on the exact same intersection in SoHo where FOOD once stood, where Wooster and Prince meet.
“In a sense, [Manuela] harkens back to the same spirit of artists carving out territory to dream aloud together, cultivate community and introduce guests to the ways in which artists’ creativity can radiate outwards to transform everyday life,” Marc Payot, Hauser and Wirth’s president, told Wet Paint in an email.
The restaurant will cater to a far more upscale audience than FOOD, but it pays homage to local creativity by hosting artwork by veteran New Yorkers Pat Steir and Mary Heilmann, who both show with Hauser and Wirth. “Manuela is not directly inspired by FOOD,” Payot said, “but it is definitely a place for that stripe of art and community—as guests will discover from the moment they enter.”
Those seeking a lower price point will soon be able to head to the other new venture, which will be located in what could be considered the SoHo of the 2020s, if you can swallow your cringe: Dimes Square.
“Every restaurant that has opened downtown has had FOOD in its deck, but no one has wanted to take on fully reopening it,” the artist Lucien Smith told me at his studio on Canal Street, a block from where he plans to relaunch FOOD in collaboration with the Gordon Matta-Clark Estate. The space, a former dumpling shop, is currently under construction. It’s a prime location, just a few doors down from a hotspot bar of the moment, Time Again. Smith’s aiming for a November opening, and has already hosted a few pop-up events, as you can see on the boîte’s Instagram page.
Lucien Smith at what will become the next iteration of Gordon Matta Clark’s FOOD on Canal Street. Photo by Annie Armstrong.
“The two things I’m taking are the menu format, and that we’re going to employ artists,” he said. The original FOOD had only one dish on offer for lunch service, and another for dinner service. Gumbos, curries, and stews made frequent appearances.
Smith has hired chef Mathieu Canet, who trained under Inaki Aizpitarte, head chef at Paris staple Le Dauphin, to handle the menu. “I talked to Danny Bowien,” of Mission Chinese Food fame, “and it was very evident to me that there is a liability in hiring artists,” Smith said, laughing. “So the menus are easy, and I want it to be set up so that people can just pick up some hours.”
Given that New York restaurants still tend to shut down earlier than they did pre-pandemic, it’s refreshing to hear that the new venture will likely offer late-night service. “I love the idea of people coming from a nightclub at 2 a.m.,” Smith said, “and being like, ‘Yo let’s go get a soup at FOOD.’”
I look forward to being one of them. Cheers!
WE HEAR
Speaking of artist-run restaurants, reservations are now open for artist Francesco Clemente and Eleven Madison Park chef Daniel Humm‘s new watering hole, Clemente Bar, which opens its doors on October 10 (sorry to report, almost all the slots have been booked!)… MoMA PS1 chief curator Ruba Katrib, artist Sheree Hovsepian, and Met director Max Hollein were among the art worlders in the crowd at the inimitable PJ Harvey’s recent concert at Terminal 5… Marking the end of an era for Los Angeles art reporting, Robin Pogrebin of the New York Times is apparently headed back to New York (perhaps now is the time for DivaCorp to reveal their identity and grab the spotlight?)… Pace Prints is on the hunt for a new director of communications and marketing, which could be a pretty cool gig (and the pay isn’t too shabby)… Alvin Ailey season at the Whitney has officially kicked off, and artists Mickalene Thomas, Kara Walker, Julie Mehretu, and Torkwase Dyon, plus Hamilton creator Lin Manuel-Miranda, were among those kicking off the show’s run at the museum at a late night fête…
GRIEVANCES
It is once again time to introduce a new section to shake up the column. I now present to you Grievances, a safe space for fine art professionals to kvetch about whatever they wish. For instance: What’s the deal with the “light bites” served by auction houses? Why isn’t there any clear elevator etiquette at the Whitney? Why does this art/tech exhibition require me to download an entire app?
You can send your 50-to-200-word grouse, either anonymously or with your name attached, to me at aarmstrong@artnet.com. At least semi-weekly, I will post a new grievance to kiss off the column.
To get it going, here is my rant about an artist named Noah Verrier’s so-kitsch-it’s-appalling painting of a Smucker’s® Uncrustables® sandwich that sold on eBay for about $5,000 and got a writeup in the Times Style section. I don’t want to yuck anyone’s yum—if you want to pay, say, half that price (at most), be my guest. But come on. The art market is in a crisis right now, and I can name 10 shows in New York with similarly priced work that would be a far better use of your hard-earned money.
Even without visiting a gallery, you can buy some great art for $5,000! Here’s a quick sweep of some other online marketplaces for art.
You could buy:
- Two Louise Lawler prints from the Karma Bookstore, and have cash left over for choice frames.
- The entire Esopus archive, plus a well-designed bookshelf to store it on.
- One badass Stephen Shore photo in crimson to tie a room together.
- A Bow-Tie Landscape print by Ed Ruscha.
- An extremely cool print on wood by Barbara Kruger (whose sale directly benefits my job security).
- A nice little painting of “Night Swimmers” by the artist Paul Ferney.
- This gnarled crustacean sculpture by the king of kitsch glass, Dale Chihuly.
- A print by KAWS that is inexplicably being sold on TheRealReal, and a couple pairs of MSCHF boots to wear while you admire it.
What chip has been on your shoulder about the art world? Write it out to me at aarmstrong@artnet.com with the subject line “GRIEVANCES.”