Archives for March 2011

Martin Sullivan, director of National Portrait Gallery, sitting next to me at NY Public Library's Dec. 15 discussion on "Hide/Seek"Martin Sullivan, the admirable director of the National Portrait Gallery, is going to get stuck sitting with me once again.He's the headliner of an Apr. 9 panel discussion at Rutgers University, Newark, NJ, in which I will be one of his … [Read more...] about NPG’s Martin Sullivan and Me: “Hide/Seek: Museums, Ethics and the Press”

Architect's rendering of Clyfford Still Museum, Denver The Clyfford Still Museum, now under construction in Denver, is getting off on the wrong foot, before it even opens, by monetizing four works by the eponymous artist that would otherwise have been part of its collection. They are being sold, against the express wishes of the artist and his widow, due to a failure of … [Read more...] about Clyfford Still Museum Circumvents Donor Intent (CultureGrrl Circumnavigates Construction Site)

Zahi Hawass meeting at the end of Februrary with young archaeologists representing the protestersWhen I commented on Monday that Zahi Hawass was "still issuing statements on his website as if he were in charge," maybe he knew something that I didn't: He essentially WAS in charge (or was about to be).No word on his own website yet, but the Middle East News Agency (MENA), owned … [Read more...] about News Flash: Hawass Reappointed as Egypt’s Minister of Antiquities

Head of UNESCO's delegation to Egypt: Christian Manhart, chief of the Museums and Cultural Objects SectionThe recoveries of some of the 54 objects reported missing from the Egyptian Museum as of Mar. 15 continue.Nevine El-Aref of Al-Ahram reports that five more objects were recovered yesterday, "with the help of Egypt's armed forces and the tourism and antiquities police." (No … [Read more...] about Egyptian Museum Recoveries: Five More Missing Objects Reclaimed

Damaged by earthquake: Ōsaki Hachiman Shrine, a designated Japanese National Treasure, SendaiThe Japanese Agency of Cultural Affairs' previous list of damage to cultural properties caused by the recent earthquake has now been updated. The total number of known instances of damage has risen from 246 to 353. For the first time, some of the affected sites have been specifically … [Read more...] about Japan Watch: Damage Toll Rises for Cultural Sites

Fabergé Miniatures of the Imperial Coronation Regalia, St. Petersburg, C. Fabergé's Company. 1900, State Hermitage Museum As reported last month by the NY Times' Carol Vogel and Clifford Levy, the attempt by an international organization of Orthodox Jews to reclaim books, manuscripts and archival materials held by two Russian public libraries has led to the refusal of Russian … [Read more...] about Cessation of Russian Loans: Piotrovski’s Diatribe and Houston’s Big Hermitage Show

I've had the sad task this week of escorting a close friend to her radiation treatments at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. Forever CultureGrrl, I can't help looking at the pictures on the walls as I trudge through these corridors of anxiety. I did a double-take when we got to the radiation oncology reception desk and saw the poster installed behind the … [Read more...] about Dept. of Black Humor: Salander-O’Reilly at Sloan-Kettering

"Portrait of the Qianlong Emperor" (detail), Qianlong Period (1736-95), Palace Museum, BeijingIt's Asia Week in New York and Qianlong Week on CultureGrrl. Having just posted about the over-the-top price at Sotheby's for what bidders apparently believed to be a Qianlong vase, let's wander crosstown to the Metropolitan Museum's exhibition of over-the-top objects, The Emperor's … [Read more...] about Exotic Opulence at the Met: Qianlong Emperor’s Hidden Furnishings from the Forbidden City

The $18-million vase: Front and side views (Click photos for magnified images.) A Sotheby's auction yesterday, grandly titled, "Informing the Eye of the Collector: Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art from J.T. Tai & Co.," achieved a strong $36.31 million, which, according to the auction house, "reflect[ed] the reverence for Tai's legendary connoisseurship and the electric … [Read more...] about Underpriced at Sotheby’s: The “$1,000” Chinese Vase that Sold for $18 Million UPDATED

Smithsonian Secretary G. Wayne Clough, addressing attendees this morning at "Legal Issues in Museum Administration," a three-day course in Washington organized by American Law Institute-American Bar Association (screenshot of webcast)At today's opening of the 39th annual course for museum attorneys (inside and outside counsel) on the subject of "Legal Issues in Museum … [Read more...] about Blame the Bloggers: Clough Briefs Museum Lawyers on “Hide/Seek” Controversy

Seiichi Kondo, Japan's Commissioner for Cultural Affairs My attempt to get further information about the impact of Japan's disaster on museums and cultural sites resulted in my receiving by e-mail this document from Japan's Agency of Cultural Affairs: Damages of cultural properties of 2011 Tohoku - Pacific Ocean Earthquake.As of Thursday, according to this list, there were some … [Read more...] about Japanese Cultural Properties: 246 Instances of Damage; Sendai’s “Pompeii” Exhibition

Celebrating its 15-year anniversary, Artnet magazine has unearthed a shard from my online past---an example of my "Visual Reality" columns from the time of Artnet's birth."Visual Reality," as described by Artnet mag's original and still-going-strong editor, Walter Robinson, "cast a skeptical and informed eye on the doings of the official art-museum world (an endeavor that … [Read more...] about Artnet Resurrects CultureGrrl’s Progenitor, “Visual Reality”

UNESCO Director-General Irina BokovaAt last, the crisis of looting and damage to archaeological sites and museums in those Middle East nations that have been roiled by uprisings may receive some concerted international attention.While international experts in cultural-property issues were meeting in at UNESCO's headquarters in Paris over the last two days (belatedly … [Read more...] about UNESCO Coordinates International Response to Middle East Antiquities Crisis

Nancy Rosoff, co-curator of the Brooklyn Museum's "Tipi: Heritage of the Great Plains," in front of Lyle Heavy Runner's "Blackfeet Tipi," 2010, commissioned for the showI wasn't originally planning to lavish a long CultureGrrl post on the Brooklyn Museum's Tipi: Heritage of the Great Plains exhibition (to May 15), which I had described as both "deeply informative" and … [Read more...] about Beyond the Tepid Tepees: Brooklyn’s Engrossing Plains Indian Show

Early Rendering of Frank Gehry-designed Guggenheim Abu Dhabi Human Rights Watch, which has long been critical of conditions for construction workers at the Gehry-designed Guggenheim and other projects on Abu Dhabi's Saadiyat Island, issued a statement today endorsing the announced boycott of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi by a group of artists who are concerned about alleged … [Read more...] about Guggenheim Abu Dhabi Workers’ Rights: New Statements Issued UPDATED