Milton Esterow reviews Leo and His Circle: The Life of Leo Castelli, by Anni Cohen-Solal
Leo Castelli was called generous, shrewd, tireless, mercurial, magical, and charmingly cagey; a constant whirlwind of invention; a man with Old World charm, courage, audacity, dedication; and always a gentleman “in a business where it is sometimes rather difficult to be anything of the sort.”
Annie Cohen-Solal, who wrote a highly praised biography of Jean-Paul Sartre and was cultural counselor at the French embassy in New York from 1989 to 1993, has dissected the life of Castelli, who died in 1999, at the age of 91. She visited many cities, dug into archives, including internal memorandums at the Museum of Modern Art, and interviewed almost everyone who knew Castelli. She even found his report card from when he was 15 years old and had to take a make-up exam in math. (…more at ARTNews website…)