PAINTED INTO A CORNER // A FILM REVIEW OF "DRIVEN TO ABSTRACTION"
If you've never heard the story of one of the biggest con job in the modern art world, DRIVEN TO ABSTRACTION is ready to tell you a doozy. Ann Freedman was the President of the world-known "Knoedler Art Gallery," which before it closed in 2011 was one of the oldest in New York City and one of the oldest commercial galleries in the United States (open for 165 years). Freedman's resignation in 2009 set off the eventual closure of the gallery, amidst a scandal that rocked the art world. Over the years, Freedman had purchased several paintings from the local art dealer Glafira Rosales and had sold them to various collectors for $60 million. Never before seen pieces from Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothcko. The problem was that they were all fake, every last one of them. So who was behind it? Who knew and who didn't? And who was going to go down for this unheard of forgery scandal?
Even if you know nothing about the art world, the story is fascinating, shocking and a roller coaster of twists and turns. The length of how long the forgeries went on is shocking and Darla Price's documentary covers a lot of ground. A lot of ground that's also covered in Barry Avrich's recent documentary Made you Look: A True Story About Fake Art, which I viewed shortly after seeing Abstraction. Is the information so juicy that it deserves two documentaries? Well, yes and no. Driven to Abstraction spends its times with many of the same talking heads that Made You Look does, but aligns the focus as a more somber affair. Which is a shame, because the details really are something straight out of a madcap film. On the flip side, Made You Look is very funny and actually has some of the key people involved as interviewees, such as Ann Freedman, which Abstraction does not. More jarring, however, is that the style of the film is, really, no style at all. There's a lot of wonderful information compiled by Director/Editor Darla Price but it seems to be all substance, no style. The credits even feel like they were created quickly on a laptop by an assistant at the last moment. There's also some embarrassing editing choices, such as when one of the talking heads mentions the phrase "red flags," we see an actual image of red flags. Yikes.
It's a shame that DRIVEN TO ABSTRACTION doesn't seem to have any soul to it, because the story is great, especially if you've never heard it before. The truth and lies that start to spill out of Ann Freedman's story is gripping, and though the film is as well, it's more due to the information rather than how the documentary is made. Which, sadly, feels more like an educational program than a gripping documentary showcasing a truly monumental moment in the art world.
GRADE: C-
DIRECTED BY Darla Price Now Playing in Virtual Cinemas.