Archives for August 2008

New Regime: the September issueIt's out with the old, in with the new in the September issue of Art in America magazine, where Marcia Vetrocq assumed the editorship in June, replacing artworld editorial giant Betsy Baker (who remains as "Editor-at-Large/Special Projects").A redesign is underway, which for September features bolder headlines and bylines and new layout for the … [Read more...] about The New “Art in America”: Vetrocq Vets the Masthead

A CultureGrrl reader helpfully alerted me to the fact that Max Hollein, possibly to be named the next Metropolitan Museum director, is also on the board of trustees of the Neue Galerie, New York. And I've also discovered that a documentary film has recently been made about him by Avanti Media.According to the description of "Max Hollein---My Life":Hollein's museum policies … [Read more...] about More on Hollein: Another U.S. Museum Connection; “Too American”?

Max Hollein: The frontrunner? Pop Quiz for Met Museumologists: Which of these four museum professionals is not like the others? A) Gary Tinterow, the Metropolitan Museum's curator in charge of 19th-century, modern and contemporary art B) Ian Wardropper, the Met's chairman of European sculpture and decorative arts C) Thomas Campbell, a curator specializing in … [Read more...] about Name That Met Director: The Game Show’s Final Round

Damien Hirst, "For the Love of God," 2007It looks like the investment syndicate that owns Damien Hirst's diamond skull, "For the Love of God," has finally succeeded in lining up an exhibition for it at a major museum: The Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, has just announced that it will present the "world premier of the work's international tour," Nov. 1-Dec. 15. But wait! There's … [Read more...] about Hirst Skull to Rijksmuseum Exhibition, Curated by Diamond Damien

Claude Gerstle, subject of an Impact Film Festival documentary on stem cell research, being shown during each party's national conventionNow that we've shifted from the athletic Olympics to the political olympics, it's time to peruse Barack Obama's Platform in Support of the Arts (see P. 3). It's pro-arts education and also favors a budget increase for the National Endowment … [Read more...] about Obama Drama: Tax Fairness for Artists, Impact Film Festival

Damien Hirst, "The Virgin Mother," 2005, the Lever House Art CollectionWhen it comes to the two mega-million contemporary art-market stars---Koons and Hirst---I've sometimes thought that the sensibility that feels attuned to one cannot also strongly admire the other (unless you're a profit-oriented dealer or a trophy-hunting collector). The former artist is engaged in what … [Read more...] about Hirstians vs. Koonsians: Two Warring Camps?

John Russell and his wife, Rosamond BernierPhotograph by Trish LewisThe last time I saw John Russell, the former NY Times art critic who died Saturday at 89, he looked frail, supported by his wife Rosamond Bernier, the arts writer and cultural raconteur, at the opening of the expanded Taniguchi-designed Museum of Modern Art. I asked him what he thought and, of course, he gave … [Read more...] about John Russell, 89: The Kinder, Gentler Critic

Eric Gibson, editor of Wall Street Journal's "Leisure & Arts" pageEric Gibson, on today's "Taste" page in the Wall Street Journal, adds his baritone to what he calls the "chorus of condemnation" against the idea of selling the Pollock held by the University of Iowa's art museum. And he appends a new verse, recommending that the federal government step in to deter future … [Read more...] about Iowa Brouhaha: WSJ’s Eric Gibson Calls for Enforcement of Deaccession Standards

Crystal Bridges: the planIn its recently file appeals brief arguing for a proposed $30-million deal with Alice Walton's planned Crystal Bridges Museum, Bentonville, Arkansas, Fisk University sought to convince the Tennessee Court of Appeals that the in-construction institution will be a solid collection-sharing partner.Using information supplied in the legal deposition of Bob … [Read more...] about Crystal Bridges: Alice Walton’s $488-Million Museum

Fisk University's Carl Van Vechten Gallery, prior to closingIn its appeals brief (full text here) seeking to enter into a $30-million collection-sharing agreement with Alice Walton's Crystal Bridges Museum, Fisk University continues to send a mixed and contradictory message about its ability to display and care for its Stieglitz Collection. (Complete list of its 101 works is … [Read more...] about A Brief that Strains Belief: Fisk’s Legal Flip-Flop

Thomas HovingTom Hoving has a journalistic conflict-of-interest problem. As a newly minted columnist for Artnet Magazine, he's got a not-so-hidden personal agenda---to rehabilitate his reputation as an authority who knows what's best for museums in general and for the Metropolitan Museum in particular. Marginalized long ago by the institution he used to run, he seems to be … [Read more...] about Hoving’s Ravings: Been to the Met Lately?

Cash Cow: Warhol limited edition key ringDoes anyone worry any more about cheapening an artist's image by indiscriminate commercial licensing of images?The Andy Warhol Foundation has been in the forefront of exploiting art as a licensing cash cow, an activity regarded by some as consistent with Warhol's own values, because "early on he saw himself as a brand, as a vehicle to … [Read more...] about Andy Warhol Chocolates? Licensing Goes Gooey

John Morganelli, Candidate for PA Attorney GeneralIn a press release posted Friday (go here, click "Press Releases" and then on the Aug. 13 release), John Morganelli, Democratic candidate for attorney general of Pennsylvania, blasted Republican incumbent Tom Corbett for his "failure [in the Barnes case]...to fulfill his responsibilities to represent the public interest when it … [Read more...] about PA Attorney General Candidate Joins the Battle of the Barnes

Fisk just won't give up.In a case of unfortunate timing, the Nashville university last week filed in Tennessee Court of Appeals a brief arguing for reversal of a lower court decision that prevents Fisk from selling for $30 million a half-share in its Stieglitz Collection to Alice Walton's Crystal Bridges Museum. Just a few days later, the Association of Art Museum Directors … [Read more...] about Fisk Files Appeals Brief for Collection-Sharing Deal with Alice Walton

Little mentioned in all the excitement about the new Whitney ocean liner (as I described it Tuesday on WNYC), which is expected to be launched in late 2012 in New York's Meatpacking District, is that several buildings will be have to be demolished and businesses relocated to make way for it. (The museum will also construct a new meat refrigeration facility as part of the deal. … [Read more...] about The Whitney’s Downtown Dilemma: In Irreverent Street-Art Photo Essay