Archives for June 2009

Peter Dobrin, Philadelphia Inquirer's culture writerI was steamed when Robin Pogrebin's NY Times story broke the news embargo I'd agreed to (regarding the Brodsky Bill), and now Peter Dobrin of the Philadelphia Inquirer is steamed about a similar run-in with the same newspaper's Carol Vogel, regarding the announcement of Timothy Rub's appointment to the directorship of the … [Read more...] about Busting the Embargo-Busters: NY Times’ Sam Sifton Explains What Happened UPDATED

Bernard Tschumi, architect of the New Acropolis Museum just opened in Athens, responds to my criticism of new installation of the Greek-owned Parthenon marbles, chock-a-bloc with replicas of the British-owned slabs from the same frieze: One of the special aspects of the new Acropolis Museum is that it reconstitutes the original narrative continuity of the Parthenon frieze. For … [Read more...] about BlogBack: Bernard Tschumi on New Acropolis Museum’s Parthenon Marbles Display

Okay, I'll start you off with with one name: Everett Fahy, chairman of the department of European paintings, 22 years of service CultureGrrl has just obtained the complete list of the 96 Metropolitan Museum staffers who accepted the museum's recession-driven offer of voluntary retirement. (It's not 95, as reported in the Met's press release of June 22.) My list comes from … [Read more...] about Who’s Leaving the Metropolitan Museum? Official List of Retirees

Timothy Rub in the entrance hall of the Philadelphia Museum of Art Having only this weekend opened its new East Wing designed by Rafael Viñoly, the Cleveland Museum dropped a bombshell in my inbox at 9:25 p.m. today (Sunday): The Cleveland Museum of Art today announced the decision of its Director and Chief Executive Officer, Timothy Rub, to resign after three years of … [Read more...] about News Flash: Timothy Rub Quits Cleveland for Philly UPDATED

Last night I picked up the tangible evidence of my Front Page Award for "Best Blog" from the Newswomen's Club of New York. Here's the award: And here's what they said about me: The front page award for Best Blog goes to Lee Rosenbaum of CultureGrrl for her story, "Stealth Deaccessions by the National Academy" [here, here and here]. The judges noted that although it can … [Read more...] about Ceremony for My Best Blog Award: CultureGrrl’s “Great Impact” and “Flair”

Harold Holzer, Metropolitan Museum's senior vice president for external affairs Photo by Don Pollard While I give NY State Assemblyman Richard Brodsky high marks for his efforts to craft legislation regulating museum deaccessioning, he loses some points for being more abrasive than diplomatic in his attitude towards museums that are understandably unenthusiastic about being … [Read more...] about Deaccession Legislation Showdown: Brodsky Blasts Metropolitan Museum

Albrecht Dürer, "Hare," 1502This from today's Austrian Times: Heavy rain also came close to causing a catastrophe at Vienna's Albertina Museum. Water leaking into its storage area threatened serious damage to a number of priceless works by artists such as Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele and Michelangelo.The museum issued a statement saying: "Appropriate measures have been taken to … [Read more...] about Albertina Art Evacuation: Sustained Rains Leak into Storage

View of the Acropolis and Parthenon (top, above the white building), from within the New Acropolis MuseumMichael Kimmelman, in his cautiously worded, evenhanded article in today's NY Times on the the Elgin Marbles controversy (pegged to the opening of the New Acropolis Museum), appears to rue the fact that the British and Greeks can't manage to find a way to put the Parthenon … [Read more...] about Reuniting the Parthenon Marbles: The Only Argument You’ll Ever Need

Maxwell Anderson, director of Indianapolis Museum of Art"What does the current version of NY State Assemblyman Richard Brodsky's deaccession bill actually SAY?" readers of Robin Pogrebin's embargo-busting article are asking themselves plaintively.CultureGrrl is here to tell you. First, you should know that it's no longer the same bill that we encountered back in March.When … [Read more...] about Channeling Max Anderson: NY State’s Deaccession Bill Rewritten

Earlier today I made nice to NY Times art writer Robin Pogrebin.That was so seven hours ago.In a piece now posted on the Times' website, Pogrebin broke a firm embargo established by NY State Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, whose recently rewritten bill to regulate deaccessioning is pending in the state legislature.Brodsky dispatched some 80 pages of his correspondence with museums … [Read more...] about NY Times’ Robin Pogrebin Breaks an Embargo in Error-Marred Deaccession Article UPDATED

As previewed by CultureGrrl last week, the Met has now issued its official statement on its recession-driven staff cuts, which have reduced its full- and part-time work force by 14% since Jan. 1.You can read the Met's statement in full, here.Voluntary retirements accounted for 95 positions and "the Museum has further reduced its work force by 74 union and non-union employees," … [Read more...] about 357 Metropolitan Museum Positions Cut Since Jan. 1: The Official Tally UPDATED

Robin Pogrebin, NY Times culture writerUPDATE: Robin Pogrebin scoops me...by breaking an embargo.I'll get to the subject of this headline in a moment, but first I wanted to call your attention to the announcement buried at end of my previous post, in which I introduced a new perk for CultureGrrl's Premier Donors. That select group received an advance heads-up about the topic of … [Read more...] about Robin Pogrebin-David Smith Smackdown on the Future of NEA

Rendering of Jean Nouvel's design for 53 W. 53rd Street, NYCUnanimously approved last month's by New York City's Landmarks Preservation Commission (despite community opposition), Jean Nouvel's design for a soaring glass tower, contiguous with the Museum of Modern Art, hit a snag last week when Manhattan Community Board 5 voted against the project, 30 to 9 (with one abstaining … [Read more...] about Attacking the MoMA Monster: Community Board 5 Nixes Nouvel Tower

Jack Rasmussen, director, American University Museum What do I know about visual arts journalism? Someone thinks I know something, because tomorrow I'll be addressing the American and foreign journalists who were selected to be the inaugural fellows in the NEA International Arts Journalism Institute in Visual Arts, sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts and the … [Read more...] about CultureGrrl Curriculum: The Blog Slogger Talks to NEA Visual Arts Journalism Fellows

Image from the New Acropolis MuseumIf, like mine, your invitation to the opening of the New Acropolis Museum tomorrow in Athens somehow got lost in the mail, you can view it live tomorrow, Saturday, on the museum's website, here. In the meantime, here's a view of the installation of the Parthenon marbles.There's just one problem, though: The museum's website, only partly … [Read more...] about Live Broadcast Tomorrow of New Acropolis Museum’s Opening