There’s
a really silly article regarding Richard Serra in the new Art
Newspaper. Apparently it’s breaking news that one of his drawings
needed some conservation in 2011. Really, that’s all there is to the
story. (Full disclosure: Serra is a longtime client of our firm.)
The
headline and lede say Serra “threatened” to “withdraw” one of his
drawings from the Broad Collection. That’s not true at all; he simply
objected to its being exhibited given its sub-optimal condition, which
he had every right to do.
The
story goes on to suggest that “historical accuracy” may have been
compromised because … I’m not sure why, really. The drawing was made in
1989. It was damaged, and in 2011 he restored it. He left the date as
1989, and the suggestion of the story is that there was something wrong
with that. But we don’t change the date of a work every time it’s
restored. There’s no “historical inaccuracy” involved. It’s really a
ridiculous story.
