BARBARALEE DIAMONSTEIN
87
and more of their conversation seems to concern itself with box o ffice
ra ther than scho larshi p. Wha t do you see, in terms of showing
con tempora ry works of art, as the di ffere nces in rol e and fun ction
between mu seums and ga ll eries?
Caste lli:
Well , we a re obviously infin itely more flexibl e than museums
can be. T hey have to make a plan way ahead of time. T hey canno t
show an ything reall y important that appears on the scene. So we are
actuall y the pioneers. And sometimes-I would say through practi–
call y the who le of the sixties -the museums reall y have been very
remiss . T hey haven 't picked u p any o f the new movements, and the
few gall eri es tha t are involved in avant-garde art have done the who le
job of p romo ting the new art.
,)
Diamanstein:
Ro y, do you think the museums have been remi ss as
we ll?
L ichtenstein:
I think they' ve been very la te. I think they were very la te
with Abstract Exp ressioni sm , and I think they were very la te from
then on . T hey' ve been very la te with Pop and ever ything tha t came
after. I think Leo and some o ther gall eries are really important in
that ro le because they do show wo rk tha t may have no chance of
selling, but tha t o ught to be seen . I think tha t's a very important rol e.
You're also getting sepa ra te views from each gall ery. And there a re
many more ga ll eries than museums.
Castelli:
One thing tha t's no t reall y recognized is
th~t
abo ut ninety–
fi ve percent of our acti vity-I don 't speak of commercial gall eri es,
but the ga ll eries who ta ke care of the avant·garde, the new things –
I'd say nin ety-five percent o f our activity is public service ac tivity. We
have to fmance ourselves fo r public service acti vity. The museums get
fund s in o ther ways, and they're always crying for money. Well , we
have a tough time too.
Diamanstein:
Do you see the ro le of ga ll eries ta king on what were
considered to be the fun ctio ns of museums in the past-educational
roles and in the public interes t? How do you see your own ro le and
fun ction as an a rt dea ler-as an imp resario?
Castelli:
Yes, well , the impresario part, of course, is a little bit of a
joke, because I was always thinking tha t really I was not interes ted in
buying and selling paintings a t all , but doing the job, di scovering
and presenting to the public works tha t are new, tha t seemed
to
me
important, tha t indica ted historical development.
Diamanstein:
In
1964, Ra ben Rauschenberg won the top prize a t the
Venice Bi ennale, amid a sw irl of rumors, mos t of them also rela ted to
your activities . Wha t is yo u r version of these events?
Castelli:
My vers ion is simpl y tha t Il eana Sonnabend and I had
