Archives for September 2006

I knew immediately that there was a big error in Tyler Green's list of errors in Michael Kimmelman's NY Times piece on the restitution and sale of the Bloch-Bauer Klimts. But I wanted to focus on more substantive issues regarding the disposition of restituted Nazi loot, rather than quibble over the fine points. But now, Tyler's done it again, so attention should be paid: The … [Read more...] about Department of Klimt Corrections, Continued

Not too many fresh insights from Calvin Tomkins about the reasons for the general malaise felt by many long-time Museum of Modern Art visitors at the new mega-MoMA. But his Sept. 25 article, "I Remember MoMA" in The New Yorker, does break new journalistic ground in detailing at least some of the story behind the obvious (but never fully explained) rifts between director Glenn … [Read more...] about Tomkins Weighs in on Mega-MoMA

The J. Paul Getty Museum has always struggled against the fact that, aside from photography, it does not collect contemporary art. So now, as discussed at yesterday's NYC press lunch, it has inaugurated "a new program of exhibitions focused on contemporary art and its relevance to the museum's collection and mission." First up is Tim Hawkinson, Mar. 6-Sept. 9. Whether his work … [Read more...] about The Getty Gets Contemporary

NY Times chief art critic Michael Kimmelman trod on delicate ground yesterday, when he suggested that Nazi victims or their heirs might do well to consider a more public-spirited response to restitution of their family treasures than immediately cashing them in at auction, as is about to happen with the four Klimts owned by the Bloch-Bauer heirs. For this, he got a blogging … [Read more...] about Cashing In on Restituted Nazi Loot

When I wrote my two-part screed about art-PR people (here and here), I knew that my broad brush might appear to tar the many professionals---two above all---who have been close to impeccable in their dealings with me over many years. My top two are: Philippa Polskin of Ruder Finn Arts & Communications, and Betsy Ennis of the Guggenheim Museum. At the Getty press lunch … [Read more...] about What I Love About Art-PR People

but sculptor Josiah McElheny, painter Shahzia Sikander and "commemorative artist" Anna Schuleit are, according to the MacArthur Foundation. Oh well, is there a Pulitzer for bloggers? … [Read more...] about I’m No Genius…

The elephant in the salesroom (or, more likely, on the phone) on Nov. 8, when Christie's sells four Klimts for the Bloch-Bauer heirs, will be the $135-million-dollar man, Ronald Lauder. The deep-pocketed collector recently predicted to television interviewer Charlie Rose that the four companion works to "Adele Bloch-Bauer I," his stellar acquisition for the Neue Galerie, would … [Read more...] about The Lauder Factor: Klimts at Auction

Although I believe (along with Tate Gallery director Nicholas Serota) that transparency is the best policy for most museum expenditures, I not only disagree with requiring museums to publicize the appraised value of donated art (as I explain here), but I'm still pondering how far museums ought to go in disclosing what they pay for works that they purchase from collectors or … [Read more...] about The Broader Signficance of the Tate Disclosures

You have to work really hard to find the Tate Gallery's list of art purchase prices and gift valuations online (see my previous post), but I've done the deep-clicking for you: Here are the prices of recent acquisitions. Here are the valuations of donated art. These are in the online version only of the Tate's biennial report for 2004-6, just published. The Tate doesn't include … [Read more...] about Tate Acquisition Disclosures, Continued

Bloomberg reports that the Tate Gallery, London, released at its annual press conference today "prices paid for recent art purchases, moving to boost transparency after criticism that the London museum bought from an artist on its board---Chris Ofili---without seeking regulatory permission." There are museums in this country that have previously disclosed prices of privately … [Read more...] about Tate Discloses Acquisition Prices

and again and again and again and again. It's not up on the web yet [see update, below], but in tomorrow's NY Times magazine (which subscribers get today) you can read the latest installment in the paper's exhaustive coverage of that earthshaking story, the Lee Siegel follies. For Siegel, now revealed to the world looking slightly shlumpy in a page-length color photograph, … [Read more...] about Oops! The Times Did It Again…

Here's a "Did he really say that?" shocker from Philippe de Montebello, the Metropolitan Museum's director, taken from Hilton Kramer's Q&A in the September issue of The New Criterion: There's a critical framework in place to approach older art. When you're looking at very recent art, it's much more difficult. There are no rules. It's simply much more intuitive, much more … [Read more...] about The Met’s Generation Gap

No museum officials have sent me comments on my call for advance public notice of planned deaccessions by museums, but George Keyes, chief curator of the Detroit Institute of Arts, did tell me yesterday (at a DIA press lunch in New York) that he supports this idea. Weighing in on the other side, David Ross, former director of the Whitney Museum and the San Francisco Museum of … [Read more...] about The Deaccession Singalong, Continued

At its "first-ever art auction and gala dinner," The New Criterion magazine on Sept. 21 will sell "rare and unique work by many of our favorite artists." So who are these anointed "favorites"? Here's the list, heavy on the traditional and the figurative, as befits a conservative bastion: William Bailey, Max Beckmann, Oscar Bluemner, Jacob Collins, Viviano Codazzi, Adrienne … [Read more...] about Artists Who Meet “New Criterion” Criteria

Full disclosure, in advance, of proposed art sales from museum collections is an issue ripe for a united art journalists' front. I am happy to see that my radically conservative proposal, previously propounded in CultureGrrl, has gained a bit of traction on the West Coast. On July 26, I wrote: Museums should identify on their websites any works that they have targeted for … [Read more...] about The Deaccession Singalong