Archives for February 2009

Richard Koshalek, the Hirshhorn Museum's director designatePhoto: Steven A. HellerI don't remember everything I read, but as soon as I learned that veteran art museum director Richard Koshalek had been named to become the new director of the Smithsonian's Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (effective Apr. 13), a startling article that had appeared on the front page of the … [Read more...] about Richard Koshalek: From High Life to Hirshhorn

The Philadelphia Museum of Art, decked out for its new blockbuster If you live within driving distance of Philadelphia, I've got just two words for you: ROAD TRIP! If the Philadelphia Museum is too far a drive, then hop a train, a boat or a plane, but DO NOT let May 17 pass by without devoting serious time to the masterful Cézanne and Beyond, crafted by that consummate … [Read more...] about Resourceful Rishel: Philadelphia’s Sensational “Cézanne and Beyond”

Jackie Chan, repatriation fighterCalling the two 18th-century Qing Dynasty bronzes of a rat and rabbit, auctioned yesterday by Christie's, "Chinese bronzes" (as I did in yesterday's post) is a bit of a misnomer.According to Christie's catalogue entry:These superb and remarkably realistic heads were almost certainly designed by Giuseppe Castiglione [an Italian Jesuit missionary … [Read more...] about Castiglione Casting: Auctioned “Chinese” Bronzes, Sought By China, Likely Italian-Designed

Bronzes from the Zodiac Fountain of Beijing's Summer Palace, sold today by Christie's in Paris from the collection of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé With the final session of the Saint Laurent/Bergé dispersal still in progress, the two rare Chinese Qing Dynasty bronzes of a rat and a rabbit, looted by French and British troops in 1860 (during the Second Opium War) from the … [Read more...] about Rare Chinese Bronzes Fetch $20.12 Million Each at Christie’s Bravura French Auction

[Part One is here.]It's an happy coincidence that this final post in my series about the death of a once admired example of Brutalist architecture, Pietro Belluschi's 1969 Alice Tully Hall and Juilliard School (reborn as Diller Scofidio + Renfro's new contemporary eye-catcher), appears on the same day as the indispensable Ada Louise Huxtable's Wall Street Journal appraisal of … [Read more...] about Concert Hall Gaffes: An Irreverent Alice Tully Hall Photo Essay (Part Two)

[Part Two is here. My previous posts on the transformation of Lincoln Center's intimate, multipurpose theater, designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro, are here, here and here.]Some critics think that the old Alice Tully Hall was the pits. But I thought that its new entrance pit was the pits.One of the strangest bits of misleading hype attached to this newly transformed performing … [Read more...] about Concert Hall Gaffes: An Irreverent Alice Tully Hall Photo Essay (Part One)

They don't make 'em like this in New York.Above is a view of the enormous, enthusiastic audience at yesterday's extraordinarily successful Impressionist/modern sale that kicked off the three-day, six-session dispersal of the collection of Pierre Bergé and the late fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent. (I hope they had lots of bid spotters.)Steven Erlanger of the NY Times … [Read more...] about Scene from a Paris Auction: Christie’s Saint Laurent/Bergé Sale

The original Alice Tully Hall, designed by Pietro Belluschi, 1969 Photo: Sandor Acs I've already told you what I admire about the total transformation of Alice Tully Hall. In a subsequent post, I'm going to take you on a curmudgeonly tour, grumbling about some vexing missteps as I escort you, via photographs, from the entrance to your seats, with a break for … [Read more...] about Alice Tully’s Extreme Makeover (Part Two): How Bad Was the Old Hall?

Those of you who aren't empty-nesters like me are just coming back to work from your winter-break, ski-or-swim vacations, so I just want to direct your attention to last week's innovation on the CultureGrrl website---the "Donate" button, administered through PayPal, on the right.For further explanation of the fiscal urgency of this blogger bailout, go here. I was gratified by … [Read more...] about The CultureGrrl Fund Drive, Continued

The new Alice Tully Hall [Part Two is here.] Diller Scofidio + Renfro's transformation of Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall is an enticing architectural eyeful to passersby on the outside and a bit of a letdown to concertgoers on the inside. Its deficiencies are basic---comfort, safety, and to my ears, acoustics (although the ears that count most, those of NY Times' chief … [Read more...] about Alice Tully’s Extreme Makeover (Part One): “Wow” Building Disappoints as Concert Hall

I attended yesterday's press preview of Diller Scofidio + Renfro's completely transformed Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center and I expect to attend the inaugural concert on Sunday. After that, I'll have much more to contribute, including an irreverent photo essay (but only if someone feels moved to click my dormant "Donate" button, on the right, sadly untouched all day … [Read more...] about Mulling Tully: Architecture Critics Jump the Gun

Instead showing you this notation from the book of remembrance stationed just outside of the Andrew Wyeth gallery at the Brandywine River Museum, Chadds Ford, PA, I wish I could have shown you an image of the artist's last painting, "Goodbye," which astonished me when I made my pilgrimage almost two weeks ago to the gallery-turned-shrine in Wyeth's hometown:For one weekend, … [Read more...] about Andrew Wyeth’s Last Painting, Fleetingly Displayed: His Elegaic “Goodbye”

While we're on the subject of nasty-looking demolition projects that are prelude to the construction of snazzy new museum facilities, guess which one this is: Let's move to the west for another view:That cheery construction worker, who color-coordinates (sort of) with the artwork behind him, informed me that there's a lot of asbestos in the hulk shown in the first picture, … [Read more...] about Demolition Derby: Another Teardown Preceding a Museum Buildup

Demolition-in-Progress: Site of the new Barnes Foundation building in Philadelphia, formerly home to a juvenile detention centerIn what is perhaps a harbinger of their future relationship as neighbors on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Barnes Foundation are collaborating on a high-powered lecture series, Cézanne, Still Going (scroll down), … [Read more...] about Philadelphia Museum and the Barnes: The Synergy Begins

Richard Armstrong, director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation"I have this private fantasy that the museum casts itself northwards," Richard Armstrong told me during our recent hour-long conversation in the director's office on the 8th floor of the Guggenheim Museum, which he has occupied for the last three months.Northwards? I immediately began seeing visions of the … [Read more...] about The Glocal Guggenheim: Richard Armstrong’s Plans for New York