Leo and His Circle: The Life of Leo Castelli

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 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 emphasis on the subject's early roots? 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 over-stressed. They may want only Leo Castelli, owner of a NYC gallery. For them, the earlier years may seem to be over-emphasized. 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 I say, I can only be tentative in such advice.

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).

This was an enormous history of 20th century art seen through the life of one of the most important people and his unique circle responsible for the recognition of the art and the connections that made it all happen transporting the world to American art and the art he rest of the world. The life of Leo Castelli and his work reads like one of the great mysteries of the world revealing a little known path of this art in large part due to .his eye and genius.

As promised and on time.

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.

Book jacket so dirty as to inhibit reading the book though the pages are in good condition

Great deal

ist ein interessantes Werk, indem ich mich immer wieder sehe - Leo Castelli war einer der ganz feinen und weisen Männer

Please please please when the book is edited for paperback remove the endless exclamation marks, if something is funny or ironic or whatever this will appear in the writing itself. Adding an exclamation point is a sylistic nuisance.The book itself has too much about Castellis forefathers in place of a deeper look at the gallery, the artists and the network he built, surely the interest for any reader.