Leo Castelli reigned for decades as America’s most influential art dealer. Now Annie Cohen-Solal, author of the hugely acclaimed Sartre: A...
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reviews
Aug 25, 2010
Scott
rated it: 
I stole this from Emily and read it on vacation in Los Angeles. Great poolside reading prose. Of course, I read it from a painter's perspective, and it is actually instructive--and a cautionary tale--for those who wish to be involved in the gallery/dealer system. I enjoyed the last half of the biography where we see Castelli--after sixteen years in NYC developing his aesthetic, persona, connections to artists, gallerists, collectors, et al--burst onto the NYC art world with his Jasper Johns show
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May 31, 2010
Jonathan
rated it: 
From the mid-1950s until his death in 1999, Leo Castelli, the renowned New York gallery owner who discovered and promoted such now-famous artists as Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, and Roy Lichtenstein, exerted a profound and transformative influence on the aesthetic tastes and commercial practices of the contemporary art world. A beneficiary and instigator of American art’s postwar emergence on the international stage, this Italian-born impresario, with his perceptive eyes and enviably bespo
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Jul 19, 2010
Jill
rated it:
I didn't know much about Castelli before I read this book. I loved the details about Castelli's galleries in NYC and how he played a major role in the careers of artists such as Robert Rauschenburg, Jasper Johns, Roy Lichtenstein, Warhol, Judd, Serra, etc. The list goes on. I also liked the connections with current gallerists and delaers, such as Dietch and Larry Gagosian. Much of the book was on Castelli's life, and his family history, in Europe. I think this was more interesting to the au
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Jul 16, 2011
Sarah
rated it:
Annie Cohen-Solal writes a biography of the great gallery owner and luminary of the modern art world, Leo Castelli. The book, at 450 pages,is long and detailed but parts of it fascinated me.
Leo Castelli,born Leo Kurtz, with a Hungarian father and an Italian mother,grew up in Trieste, at the beginning of the 20th century. The first 100 pages are not about art, but rather about the history of the Italy and Austria, and his escape from the Nazi's. The rest the of the book covers his deve More...
Leo Castelli,born Leo Kurtz, with a Hungarian father and an Italian mother,grew up in Trieste, at the beginning of the 20th century. The first 100 pages are not about art, but rather about the history of the Italy and Austria, and his escape from the Nazi's. The rest the of the book covers his deve More...
Aug 09, 2010
Meredith
rated it: 
A fascinating look into Leo Castelli's life as an Tuscan Jew from Trieste going all the way back to his ancestors in the 17th century in Tuscany. A thick read that requires, perhaps, purchasing the book. 2 weeks is not long enough to read it from the library.
Sep 05, 2010
Elizabeth
rated it:
Very detailed and lots of history. Written well but know that it is 463 pages. I preferred the second part that was more about the gallery life and artists than the beginning which was Leo's history. However, it was interesting to see where he came from.
Jan 07, 2011
Bill
rated it:
At first I was daunted by the size of this book about an art dealer. The tome seemed more appropriate for a major artist. As I began to read the book, the flow of the work captivated me and made all the details worthwhile. In fact I liked the first half of the book before Castelli became an art dealer far better than the second half which, unless you are interested in brand name artists, is predictable. That is why I gave it three stars instead of five stars.
Dec 21, 2011
Stash
rated it: 
A good look into the art world via the dealer who "discovered" Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg and many others. However, it is focused a bit too much on him (I know its a biography of him but I would have liked to have "seen" more). It was also a bit to deifying of the man as well; we hardly see any flaws or faults of the man. I think that this book is also unlikely to be of interest to the casual reader.
Sep 23, 2011
Suzanne
rated it:
Though the first section of the book, which tracked the Castelli and Krausz family to their roots in the hill towns of Italy and the Ottoman Empire, was a bit slow going at first, Cohen-Solal's bio of Castelli was in the end difficult to put down. As the bio makes clear, it is almost impossible to separate Castelli from the trajectory of the art world / market in 20th century America.
Aug 11, 2011
Dry and rambling on and on - couldn't get into it and put it down after 1/4 of the way through. Maybe I'll pick it up again, since despite the book itself, I find Leo Castelli to be an interesting character.
Jun 17, 2011
Jessica
rated it:
Although it took about 75 pages to get to the point where Castelli became an art dealer, once it got going in that direction, I really enjoyed it and learned a great deal.
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