Nauman Drawing Praise

The Philadelphia Museum of Art's Bruce Nauman show in Venice has critics echoing the sentiments of Biennale judges who awarded it a Golden Lion for best national pavilion.

The Boston Globe calls it the "best exhibition in town."

"Venice's ornament and theatricality sets off his muted, unyielding aesthetic to superb effect, proving that even a celebrated artist resonates anew here," writes the Financial Times.

New York Magazine was impressed.

The Washington Post crowned Nauman a "contemporary classic."

"...Bruce Nauman commands center stage unlike any American representative since perhaps the young Robert Rauschenberg, 45 years ago," writes a critic for the New York Times.

The museum, by the way, is planning to bring two Nauman audio installations from the show to Philadelphia this fall. I'm still hoping they'll reconsider and try to assemble a larger representation of their 33-piece splash in Venice.

Pictured: Philadelphia Museum of Art contemporary art curator Carlos Basualdo, who assembled the Nauman show in Venice.