Customer Reviews

Leo and His Circle: The Life of Leo Castelli

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An informative book on the post-World War II emergence of New York City as the center of the art world. It will also be appreciated by those wishing to better understand the stressful experiences, prior to World War II, of certain Jewish families in the Old World's Monte San Savino, Trieste, and Bucharest---business families that produced Leo Castelli, the naturalized American, and his first wife and life-long friend, Ileana.

As Annie Cohnen-Solal relates, the ever polite, urbane Mr. Castelli, during the last half of the twentieth century, was a vital bridge between Europe and American cultures, who possessed a wonderous eye for discovering the "new" in art.

I personally found the rich family history at the start of this biography more rewarding than the often hagiological text at its end.

People who are interested in Leo Castelli and the challenging art that he promoted, I would think might also enjoy reading James Rosenquist's "Painting Below Zero" (2009) and Giuseppe Panza's "Memories of a Collector" (2007).

Written by a former French cultural attaché in NYC in the late 1980's (who met Leo Castelli at the time), this book is an interesting, though somewhat frustrating, biography of one of the greatest art dealers in post-war America. The book dwells on Castelli's childhood in Trieste, Italy and on his youth in Bucharest,Romania, where he was to meet his first wife and later business partner Ileana (the famous Ileana Sonnabend) and stresses some interesting points about Castelli's attitude towards his own Jewishness (here,an interesting overview of the history of the Jews in Tuscany, where the Castelli family originated,makes for good reading) a topic seldom tackled by earlier commentators. Many sources come from Castelli's own family, which accounts for a precise and truthful account of those early years, up to the beginning of WWII when he would move to NYC from Paris where he had already started to deal in art with French dealer René Drouin.

Now, the book is somewhat disappointing once Castelli and his wife arrive in post-war NYC : here, very little new information is brought forth (especially on the ability of Castelli to build an unparalleled network of influence in NYC's high society), Castelli's career as a successful and prescient art dealer from 1957 on (Johns, Rauschenberg, Lichtenstein...)being already well-known. The book tends to become too anecdotical and one would certainly have appreciated to read more about the opinions of the artists who knew the dealer first-hand through their mutual business ties (Cy Twombly's nuanced opinion is indeed quoted in the book, but very briefly). Also, reading the many interviews of dealers and art historians in the book, one slowly gets the impression of Castelli as an omniscient and flawless art priest enshrined in art history, an impression which undoubtedly is the wrong one... Also, if one is to fully understand Leo Castelli's success, it is impossible not to stress the pivotal role of gallery director Ivan Karp, who was much more than Castelli's "right-hand man": he was the real talent scout, Castelli being the ultimate urban salesman. I would have loved to learn more about Castelli's own thoughts on his artists (especially on the hard sells such as Donald Judd) and on art in general (Castelli's statement about showing only artists influenced in one way or other by Duchamp being one of the few insights into the dealer's mind), and here, the book fell short of my expectations (one aspect that is well shown, though, is the gradual shift from Paris to New York of the center of the artworld, beginning with a 1951 show at the Sidney Janis gallery confronting French and American contemporary art, a show curated by Castelli).

On the whole, a pleasant but not memorable read on a memorable character.

The rise of contemporary American art is a an oft-told story but this book offers an intriguing new perspective by showing how much of it depended on one man's entrepreneurial drive and personal devotion to artists. In that sense it's a rather inspiring narrative--certainly for anyone trying to launch a career at age 50 as Castelli did! It's also full of great insights about how the art world works, both from Castelli's artists and all the dealers for whom his career become the model, i.e. every major dealer now in business. The author's own understanding of the man and the scene are also very astute.

I am fairly well read in this area, but I learned a lot from the book. I had no idea of the role Castelli had played in Kandinsky's career, for instance--hilarious story of his charming the artist's widow. At the same time, I think the book is a wonderful introduction to American contemporary art. Both an education and entertaining, too. Highly recommend it.

Annie Cohen-Solal was adopted into Leo Castelli's inner circle in 1989 when she came to New York as the cultural counselor for the French embassy; so her writing has the biases of a great friend and admirer. The first 168 pages of this 464 page biography gives a very good social and political history of life in mainly Trieste and Vienna where Castelli was born and raised. She not only recounts his immediate family but the family history from the 17th century. He was brought up as a privileged young man, despite the two world wars and escape from Europe during the second war that was accomplished to avoid the fate of the camps so many others met. This part of the book is well researched and relates some interesting historical tidbits from family letters and diaries, such as the relief at the news of Archduke Ferdinand and his wife, since they were not well liked. The rise of the black shirts and the dictatorships of the second war are covered as well as his return to Europe in the service.

Most of all this is a recounting of the rise of an intellectual and a gallerist and collector of art. There seems to be little of his inner thoughts and real motivation, except for his pride at receiving the French Legion of Honor for `discovering works of art'. His building of a gallery' empire' and his influence on the modern art world are recounted and well documented, there is a lack of inner depth and emotion, even in the telling of his many affairs, wives and family life; other than a few examples there is little of his real emotions.

There are photographs throughout the book of family, artists and documents. It is a book that those who are interested in the modern art world would certainly be engrossed in and for the first few chapters those who would like to learn of the life of the advantaged few in Trieste and Vienna - they could find interesting information too.

Whatever may be the faults any particular reader may find with this book, it is almost certainly the best biography that will be written on the Life and Work of one of the most significant figures in the achievement of world dominance for New York City and American Art in the world in the second half of the Twentieth Century. Not only did the author have the full and close cooperation of the subject for an extended period but, of equal importance, the full cooperation of his family, in the United States and Europe. No doubt this work will take its rightful place as a standard biography of its subject, particularly with regard to his 'prehistory" in Europe and the United States, that is, of the fifty years of his life in which he had no official role in the art world.

Is there justification for the substantial portion of the book devoted to the history of his and related families in Europe. Depends on the questions which you, the individual reader, pose to the author. If your set of questions includes, how did a person come onto the scene as art dealer who had the personality and skills of Leo Castelli, then her approach is justified. Only with some understanding of the distinctive experiences imposed on the Jewish community, Jewish banking and commercial leaders, and this particular Jewish boy and man, can one get some clues as to how this novice of 50 with almost no Capital in his own name, could nurture and achieve recognition for a group of artists who, in previous periods, would have been only peripheral to art history.

It is my acceptance of this premise that underlies my judgment that this is an essential book for any amateur or professional art historian interested in twentieth century Art. A coincidence of various interests of mine made the approach particularly apt; however, some may find the earlier years overstressed. They may want only Leo Castelli, owner of a NYC gallery. For them, the earlier years may seem to play too great a role in the book. So be it. Still, there is no other source for the NYC Leo Castelli, so this book is essential for them, too.

How about the reader who has no particularly interest in the art world but is rather a devotee of biography itself (as many are). I am less certain in my advice for them. On the whole, however, I should think most of its elements will be of general interest as well as more precise concerns. As I say, I can only be tentative in such advice.

This is a truly awful book. The subject and period of time are fascinating, but the writing style is so baroquely bad that overcoming my aversion to the writing style was almost impossible. But I plowed forward, hoping to learn something of his life as a gallryis.

I can overlook the fact that the first hundred pages are so are family background--if you are not interested you can skim through. But the writing can be redundant, unclear and in some places downright silly or wrong. For example in Chapter 12, "Bucharest Redux" the first two long paragraphs are nothing but a series of obscure questions. She doesn't answer them--and no one else could either. They are just there--repeatedly querying "what was Sargeant Castelli thinking..." over and over. She uses this question technique throughout the book, and it is simply repetative and silly. Bob Monk describes Castelli's dog Paddie on page 451. The picture is on page 354. She compares Castelli's 20th century business dealings to the House of Savoy military dynasty---a stretch at best. Just one more annoyance.

I finished the book. And I learned a few things, one of which is never, no matter how enticing the subject, to read any future writings by Ms. Cohen-Solal.