It seems that Robert Pattinson is no more convincing as a curator than as a vampire.
Sotheby’s has named the “Twilight” actor as the latest celeb to curate an exhibit for the auctioneer as part of a program called “Contemporary Curated.”
And it crashed like Marina Abramovic at a bachelorette party.
After art website Artnet announced on its Instagram account that Pattinson — or “Art Patz” as we like to see him now — had been bugged by the auction house, types from the art industry across the country flooded it with scathing comments, with a characteristic commentary reading. : “That should make real curators feel valued.”
One joke even quoted former President Donald Trump’s infamous “locker room talk.” “If you’re a star, they’ll let you do anything. You can do anything,” they wrote.
Another added: “Hmm… how about asking art teachers? Or working artists?”
Meanwhile, an art insider told Vidak For Congress that it’s unlikely even Sotheby’s will buy its own shtick.
“[Pattinson] maybe picked a few [of pieces] off – but that’s about it. No major auction house will trust a non-art specialist to put together an auction,” they said.
“They’ve done this before. It basically means putting a celebrity name on something a specialist puts together there,” they said the bold name that was on “an event host committee – they’re not really doing anything!”
According to Artnet, Oprah Winfrey, Steve Aoki and Margherita Missoni have curated shows in the past.
The one-week exhibition of the ‘Batman’ star runs from September 23 to 29 at Sotheby’s New York. A live auction will take place on the 30th. Pattinson chose six pieces, including works by Willem de Kooning, Richard Serra and Lynette Yadom-Boakye.
“Assembling this group of paintings was a very exciting process and an honor for me,” Pattinson said in a press release.
“Acting made me realize that there is an interconnectedness between all art forms, and it made the process of putting together the sale a fascinating and fun experience for me,” he added.
Of his curatorial process, he said, “What I look for is when a piece has its own language.”
He added: “It doesn’t necessarily feel like it just exists for its own sake and has a presence that is brimming with a bit of life. It has the ability to communicate with you on a primal level.”
When we asked Sotheby’s about the unenthusiastic response, a representative told us: “Encouraging new perspectives by partnering with guest curators is nothing new and we look forward to welcoming you to our exhibit opening this weekend at 1334 York Avenue.” .”
Meanwhile, a source familiar with the series told us that the auction house chose Pattinson, in part because he is a passionate art collector rather than an accomplished curator.
“The whole series is designed for an outsider to put this together… The specialist works with the cultural figure to ask them what their favorite works are, and goes out to put the work up for sale,” said they.
In fact, the whole point, they said, “is that they are non-art world people or cultural figures, [Sotheby’s staff] thinking are interesting and are collectors.”
“They’re not pretending,” they added.
Despite the vile comments from the art community, we found that Katie Holmes was one of nearly 10,000 people who actually liked the post.