The Mark Rothko Exhibit at Fondation Louis Vuitton Was Great, Despite All The People

I don’t think it’s just me who tends to want to hate a giant mega exhibition the likes of which The Fondation Louis Vuitton puts on in its Xanadu of art and architecture. I’ve been burnt too many times in the past by what a museum studies prof of mine called “blockbuster” exhibitions: the notorious King Tut exhibit at LACMA around 2006. The lovely though misplaced Scions of Sainai exhibit at The Getty in 2007. Any exhibit in Paris focusing on an impressionist master. I can’t take credit either for the phrase “McGuggenheim” to describe what these museums do. They hire a big name to build a big swirly building, then they create a blockbuster exhibit that will pierce the consciousness of the general, not-art-snobs public so that they can make several dollars. Who can blame them?

That said, despite The Fondation Louis Vuitton being primed to deliver the exact same art-as-Disneyland experience, the foundation always manages to win me over in terms of experience, content, and how the show is…