The Year in CultureGrrl: 2007

For when you’ve had enough of other New Year’s countdowns, here’s CultureGrrl’s Top 20 for 2007, in chronological order from the beginning of the year. (The 2006 Year in CultureGrrl is here.) I’m focusing mainly on issue-related posts, rather than reviews of shows or new museum facilities. To get the full flavor of my acerbic offerings, you may also want to click the righthand column of my blog, for my rants and raves in the Wall Street Journal, New York Public Radio, NPR, the LA Times and my BBC-TV abduction in the backseat of a black SUV.
Here’s a selective recap of my 2007 blog posts:
The “Gross Clinic” Deaccession Debacle
The New Philly Barnes: Derek Gillman Reveals the Details
Burying Albert Barnes in the Philly MegaBarnes
The Secret Lowry Dowry: What’s Wrong with This Picture?
Why Does the Manner of Lowry’s Compensation Matter?
Uneasy in Abu Dhabi: Will UAE Eschew Past Construction Worker Abuses in New Museum Projects?
Who Should Succeed Lawrence Small at the Smithsonian?
The Albright-Knox Pox: Will It Be Catching?
Who Should Succeed Philippe at the Met? An Update
Après Philippe: Whither the Met?
Art-Market Fever: The Marginalization of Museums
Alice Walton’s Bleeding Heart: A Paean to “Donor’s Intent”
Why We Need Tax Deductions for Charitable Donations
Under the Wraps: Is It Christoph Büchel’s Compromised Artwork, Or Just MASS MoCA’s Stuff?
St. Louis Art Museum’s Off-the-Wall Deaccessions
Randolph College Sends its Signature Bellows to Auction
The Broader Significance of the Maier Massacre and the Stieglitz Egress
The “Times Change” Defense for Past Antiquities Transgressions
Metropolitan Museum’s Annual Report: Big Operating Surplus, Big Debt Increase, Big Lieberman Bequest
AAMD Issues New Statement on Deaccessioning
See you in 2008, when the Big Story will be: Deaccession Bubble Bursts When All Antiquities Go Home, Sen. Grassley Outlaws Museums and Philippe Succeeds Himself.
Happy New Year!