Archives for March 2012

Brooke Astor's art-filled Park Avenue apartment Good things sometimes come to those who wait. The Metropolitan Museum announced late this afternoon that thanks to a settlement brokered by the office of NY Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, it stands to receive some $20 million from the estate of its major benefactor and trustee, Brooke Astor. The windfall "will be used … [Read more...] about Brooke Astor Settlement: Belated Windfall for Metropolitan Museum, Morgan Library, Brooklyn Museum, Other NY Cultural Institutions

Hilton Kramer, who died today at the age of 84, was a polarizing figure. That's part of what I liked about him.In a left-leaning artworld, he was a committed conservative, railing against what he perceived as mediocrity and speciousness in political thought and artistic practice. It was easy to disagree with him, but hard not to appreciate his intellectual acuity and graceful … [Read more...] about Hilton Kramer, 84, Cuttingly Cantankerous Critic

If a museum owns two major works from the same period by the same artist, can one of them---by far, the more celebrated of the two---be deemed redundant and expendable?That seems to be the thinking behind the Akron Art Museum's announcement, through Christie's, that on May 8 it will auction off Cindy Sherman's "Untitled #96" from her landmark "Centerfolds" series---the famous … [Read more...] about Sherman Surrender: Akron to Auction Cindy’s Iconic “Centerfolds” Image

                               David Ross David Ross, chair of MFA Art Practice at the School of Visual Arts, New York, and former director of the Boston ICA, Whitney Museum and SFMOMA, responds to Say it ain't so, John! Elderfield Goes Gagosian: Come now, Lee, do you think this is news? Or that we should be outraged? There are real scams to be uncovered, real conflicts of … [Read more...] about BlogBack: David Ross Applauds Elderfield’s Move to Gagosian

John Elderfield, center, chatting with visitors last September at the Museum of Modern Art's recent de Kooning retrospective, which he organized Is anyone else troubled by the revolving door between the nonprofit museum world and the commercial art market? My jaw dropped at this item (scroll down) just in from the NY Times' Carol Vogel, to appear in tomorrow's … [Read more...] about Say it ain’t so, John! Elderfield Goes Gagosian

Derek Gillman, president and executive director of the Barnes Foundation, speaking yesterday in San FranciscoIn the second time that he has spoken at an annual lawyers' conference on Legal Issues in Museum Administration organized by the American Law Institute of the American Bar Association, lawyer Derek Gillman, president and executive director of the Barnes Foundation, … [Read more...] about Attention Barnes Purists: Derek Gillman Will “Go Beyond” Dr. Barnes’ Vision

Yesterday, in my post about the latest skirmish in the cultural-property wars, I reproduced a passage from my book, The Complete Guide to Collecting Art (Knopf, 1982), which contained some revealing remarks by that late antiquities collector and benefactor of the Metropolitan Museum, Norbert Schimmel. It occurred to me that some CultureGrrl readers may be curious to see the … [Read more...] about Support CultureGrrl: Buy My Book, “The Complete Guide to Collecting Art”

James Russell, Bloomberg's architecture critic James Russell, Bloomberg's indispensable architecture critic, has done what I've yet to do---taken a roadtrip to Goshen, NY, to eyeball the endangered Paul Rudolph-designed Orange County Government Center. The question of whether Rudolph's "magnetic composition" should be knocked down is "not an easy call," he said, because … [Read more...] about Rueful about Rudolph: Bloomberg’s James Russell Goes to Goshen

Margy Waller, and arts researcher and advisor who was a senior White House advisor on domestic policy under President Clinton, responds to Mitt Snit: Romney Would Ax National Endowments for the Arts & Humanities:Saw your post about Mitt Romney on the NEA. He actually said this as early as last December, when he was caught on video. I've been using this video in my talks … [Read more...] about BlogBack: More on Romney’s Proposed Cultural Cuts (including PBS)

Today's NY Times special Museums section contained many meaty articles and eyebrow-raising ads: ---Fred Bernstein's article about the ways in which architects Tod Williams and Billie Tsien have cut themselves some slack in interpreting their mandate to "replicate" the original Barnes Foundation galleries in the foundation's new Philadelphia facility, opening May 19. Moldings … [Read more...] about Donor Intent Honored? Cleveland Museum Director Disavows Plan to Divert Acquisition Funds to Capital Project UPDATED

Mitt Romney chats with KSDK's Ann Rubin in Kirkwood, MO It's so rare that the campaigning candidates mention anything about the arts. Now culture has finally gotten some attention, but for all the wrong reasons [via]. This just in from Ann Rubin of St. Louis' KSDK NewsChannel 5, reporting on what Mitt Romney told her in Kirkwood, MO: "The test [for budget cuts] is pretty … [Read more...] about Mitt Snit: Romney Would Ax National Endowments for the Arts & Humanities

The campaign to save Orange County's endangered Paul Rudolph-designed Government Center, Goshen, NY, now has a logo (above), a website and petition. The petition (173 signatories at this writing) is for Orange County residents, but I added my name, with this full-disclosure statement: I am not an Orange County resident, but I would like to express my solidarity with this … [Read more...] about Goshen Commotion: Save-the-Rudolph Campaign’s Petition, Public Hearing

            The Sublime to the Ridiculous: Orange County's Paul Rudolph building and the "Proposed Concept Building Design" for its replacement Chris Mckenna of the the Times Herald-Record, the go-to person for news stories on the Orange County Executive's proposal to knock down the county's 1970 Paul Rudolph-designed … [Read more...] about Goshen Commotion: Local Preservationists Rally to Save Endangered Paul Rudolph Building

Now, alas, you can. [UPDATE: And now,alas, you can't.]The video below will also give you a glimpse of what the main gallery will look like in the new Barnes Foundation, which opens to the public on May 19, after it completes the move from its longtime home in Merion, PA. Tickets will cost $18, compared to $15 at the old facility. (So much for making it more accessible to the … [Read more...] about Wanna See Matisse’s “Dance” Mural Installed at the Philly Barnes? UPDATED