Key points

Great art can be disliked by the public.

Public opinion counts in deciding what to do with art in public places.

Where art is viewed matters.

When Richard Serra died in 2024, the New York Times ran a front-page obituary that continued inside for another page and a half. The rest of the page was filled with a feature article about his sculpture. Serra was accorded such coverage because he is seen as one of the world’s most influential artists. His best-known works are large and looming pieces of cold steel that have “a mystical effect” from the “distortions of space created by their leaning, curving or circling walls and the frankness of their materials.”

The way to appreciate Serra’s sculptures is in person, I learned when I visited the Dia Beacon museum in the Hudson V

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