Archives for May 2012

Mami Kataoka, chief curator, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, and originator of "Ai Weiwei: According to What?" (coming Oct. 7 to the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden) Photo by Lee Rosenbaum The Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, which is currently displaying Ai Weiwei's Circle of Animals in its sculpture garden, has applied for a visa to allow the Chinese dissident artist to assist … [Read more...] about Weiwei in Washington? Hirshhorn Applies for Ai’s Visa to Attend His Exhibition

Jackson Pollock, "Mural on Indian Red Ground," 1950, Tehran Museum of Contemporary ArtOn Friday I reported that the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art's Pollock masterpiece, "Mural on Indian Red Ground," 1950, having returned from a Pollock retrospective in Nagoya and Tokyo, Japan, was being held by Iran's customs service because of what Agence France-Presse reported as an … [Read more...] about Iran Pollock Update: Back at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art

Entry doors from the Light Court to the Barnes Foundation's galleries  during the less crowded press preview. Below: Reader's photo taken during an overbooked day.Photo by Lee RosenbaumI'll let the Barnes Foundation's own Facebook page entry, posted yesterday, speak for itself:Dear Patrons, It has been brought to our attention [didn't they observe it firsthand?] that many … [Read more...] about Ticketing Glitch: Barnes Foundation Apologizes to Visitors for Chaotic Opening UPDATED WITH PHOTO

Exhibition catalogue page for the star attraction of Japan's recent Jackson Pollock: A Centennial Retrospective Photos by Lee Rosenbaum. Video by Helen Harrison [UPDATE: here] Usually, when a loaned masterpiece gets returned unscathed, all is well. But in yet another blow to cultural exchange, a highly important Jackson Pollock, "Mural on Indian Red Ground," 1950, … [Read more...] about Iran’s Pollock Masterpiece Seized Upon Return from Japan UPDATED

The celebrated Matisse "Dance" mural in the Barnes Foundation's main gallery, obscured by modern lighting fixtures. (A better view can be had from the balcony on the upper level.) [More on the Barnes, here, here and here.] I'm coming to terms with the fact that mine is a minority view regarding the new Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia. My downbeat mourning is out of step … [Read more...] about Critical Reverence for the New Barnes Foundation, Plus My Irreverent Photo Essay (and video)

Dark night of the BarnesPhoto by Lee RosenbaumI've already touched on some aspects of my reaction to the new Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia, here and here. But I've saved my lead piece---Bogus Barnes Foundation: Fake Galleries, Phony Populism---for the more widely read Huffington Post. It's just gone up this evening on the site.So take an early look at my exploration of how … [Read more...] about My Huffington Post Piece: “Bogus Barnes Foundation: Fake Galleries, Phony Populism”

For those who have been following the fracas over Opera News' decision to stop reviewing Metropolitan Opera productions, this just in from the Met's press office:Opera News Will Continue to Review Metropolitan Opera Productions In view of the outpouring of reaction [my links, not theirs] from opera fans about the recent decision to discontinue Met performance reviews in Opera … [Read more...] about “Opera News” Kerfuffle: Reviews Will Continue (but are there strictures?)

Kimerly Rorschach, incoming president of the Association of Art Museum DirectorsThere's going to be no honeymoon period for the new president of the Association of Art Museum Directors. Kim Rorschach, the director of the Nasher Museum, Duke University, takes the reigns from Peabody Essex Museum director Dan Monroe at the association's annual meeting, now in progress in Chicago. … [Read more...] about Rorschach Test: New AAMD President Takes Office Amidst Foreign-Loan Controversy

Overthrowing Royalty: Judge Jacqueline H. Nguyen The U.S. District Court, Central District of California, struck down the California Resale Royalties Act (CRRA) on Thursday, saying that it violated the U.S. Constitution's Interstate Commerce Clause. This handed a victory to Sotheby's and Christie's, which had sought dismissal of lawsuits brought against them by several … [Read more...] about Federal Court Finds California Resale Royalties Act Unconstitutional

I'll be en route back home today from my sojourn at the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia. It was, for me, a sad journey from the moment that I arrived at the new home for Albert Barnes' superlative collection of Impressionist, post-Impressionist and early modern art (among many more objects from world cultures).As you'll see in the video, below, access to an institution that … [Read more...] about MeTube: The Long, Winding Road to the New Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia

Part of the newly re-lit Orozco mural, "The Epic of American Civilization," at Dartmouth's Baker Library Very belatedly (and in haste, because I'm preparing for my imminent trip to see the new Philly Barnes), I wanted to fulfill my promise (scroll down) to elaborate on my Wall Street Journal piece of earlier this month---Becoming Jackson Pollock---by providing some related … [Read more...] about MeTube with Helen Harrison: More on the Pollock-Orozco Show at Dartmouth

The Paul Rudolph-designed Orange County Government Center, now closed All photos by Lee Rosenbaum Having attended the Orange County Legislators' meeting last week, I now have a better understanding of the arguments on the pro-demolition side in the controversy over the Paul Rudolph-designed Orange County Government Center (OCGC) in Goshen, NY. At the end of lengthy … [Read more...] about Goshen’s Rudolph Building Gets Reprieve (plus my video from the legislative debate)

CultureGrrl awaiting remarks at the Metropolitan Museum's Prada/Schiaparelli preview Photo © Jill Krementz I admit it. I love it when roving photographer Jill Krementz takes my photo. (She is also responsible for my blog logo-photo at the upper right, taken at the Museum of Modern's Art's de Kooning retrospective.) This time, I'm in her New York Social Diary piece on … [Read more...] about Photo Op: My Jill Krementz Moment at Met’s Schiaparelli/Prada Preview (plus Philadelphia Museum news)

Lichtenstein, "Sleeping Girl," 1964, sold at Sotheby's tonight for $44.88 million, an auction record for the artistAs I had predicted (at the end of this post), the balance of power between the Big Two auction houses shifted at the contemporary sales this week (compared with last week's Impressionist/modern sales). It was all a matter of who had the best … [Read more...] about Bacon and Record Lichtenstein Top Sotheby’s Solid but Stolid Contemporary Sale