Archives for November 2006

Who need's Otto's Pizzeria? On this, my actual birthday, I headed to the local supermarket to buy myself a present. ("Cardone," on the label, is a variant of "cardoon.") Admittedly, my example is not nearly as attractive as the one I first spotted at the Guggenheim. It does not sport any of the pinkish tint that helps make Juan Sánchez Cotán's vegetable so strangely … [Read more...] about My Very Own Cardoon

An important cardoon update from faithful CultureGrrl reader Rob Krulak, a development officer at the Brooklyn Museum: Cardoons are on the menu almost every fall (including this one) at Otto Enoteca/Pizzeria on East 8th St. They taste kind of like artichokes, but crunch kind of like celery---in case you want to round out your Cotán experience. Sounds like a perfect … [Read more...] about Cardoon Karma

Juan Sánchez Cotán (1560-1627), "Still Life with Fruit and Vegetables," ca. 1602, Collection Várez Fisa, Madrid In his NY Times review today of the Guggenheim's just opened Spanish Painting from El Greco to Picasso, Michael Kimmelman leads with three paragraphs archly questioning the museum's motives. Then he finally gets around to calling the show "very grand and quite … [Read more...] about Guggenheim’s Extraordinary Spanish Extravaganza

A must read on the Taste page of today's Wall Street Journal: Eric Gibson, editor of the paper's "Leisure & Arts" page, thoughtfully examines the controversy over recent tax-law changes that severely restrict fractional gifts of works of art to museums. And he advances the discussion by considering this hot-button issue in the broader context of museum collection-building and … [Read more...] about Eric Gibson of the WSJ on Fractional Gifts and Collection-Building

That gleaming cone in the center of the photo is a gold penis shield, Sinú culture, Columbia---part of the extraordinary "Gold" exhibition opening Saturday at the American Museum of Natural History. Consisting largely of a vast array of objects from AMNH's own collection, this is the show that tells you everything you wanted to know (and some things you didn't) about how that … [Read more...] about For the Man Who Has Everything…

If you've been following CultureGrrl very closely, you probably can guess: I'm going to a performance, and it's a birthday present from my son and daughter (who DO read CultureGrrl closely!). But do come back late tonight, after the little ones are tucked in, and you will be treated to an X-rated CultureGrrl exclusive. I feel confident in saying that this has never before been … [Read more...] about Where in the World is Lee Going Tonight?

Here's something more for you Metropolitan Museumologists (and I know you are legion, because my lead-off piece this week, Who Should Succeed Philippe at the Met?, was the most viewed post in CultureGrrl's illustrious history). Just posted online: the Met's fiscal 2006 annual report. For all you museum finance aficionados, here's the Report of the Chief Financial Officer and … [Read more...] about Just Posted: The Year That Was at the Met

In a victory so decisive that it could affect not only current profits but also future consignments, Christie's has won the latest evening-sale heavyweight championships in a knockout: With an auction total (with buyer's premium) for tonight's sale of postwar and contemporary art of $239.7 million, compared with Sotheby's total of $125.1 million the night before, and with … [Read more...] about Christie’s Trounces Sotheby’s; Mao Bests Marilyn

Having expressed my eager anticipation of the epic Battle of the Trolls at Sotheby's and Christie's dueling contemporary auctions, CultureGrrl is sad to report that Christie's version of Jeff Koons' "Cape Codder Troll" has beat a hasty retreat: My recent perusal of Christie's website revealed that Lot 71, estimated at $400,000-600,000 (compared to Sotheby's price last night of … [Read more...] about Who Stole My Troll?

Denying the NY Times's Nicolai Ouroussoff the highly critical last word ("a flop") on Richard Meier's Ara Pacis Museum in Rome, architecture critic Joseph Giovannini, in this month's Art in America, calls it: "at every level a major success....A century from now visitors won't be able to imagine Rome without it....This is a structure that confirms the past of Roman building … [Read more...] about Richard Meier Gets Some Respect

Kate Taylor, in yesterday's NY Sun, quotes CultureGrrl's praise of Christie's auctioneer Christopher Burge. Then she adds some admiration of her own: Burge is "charmingly down-to-earth," compared to Sotheby's Tobias Meyer, who has "knowledge of and passion for contemporary art" but "is cool and unflappable, to the point of being inexpressive." Back off, Kate. I saw the Brit … [Read more...] about Christopher Burge’s Burgeoning Fan Club

Carol Vogel, reporting on last night's contemporary art sale at Sotheby's, in today's NY Times: The auction total, $125.1 million, was...squarely in the middle of its estimate, $109 million to $148 million. CultureGrrl, in last night's post: Tobias Meyer...hammer[ed] down $110.65 million's worth of contemporary art last night (not including the buyer's premium). That total … [Read more...] about Oops! Carol Vogel Did It Again.

"We're thrilled with the result of this evening's sale," declared Sotheby's auctioneer Tobias Meyer after hammering down $110.65 million's worth of contemporary art last night (not including the buyer's premium). That total, slightly above the $109.3-million low end of the presale estimate, was Sotheby's second-highest take for a sale of contemporary art. Statistically, the … [Read more...] about Sotheby’s Evening Sale: Solid But Not Thrilling

Veteran museum man Tom Freudenheim, in a piece to be published in tomorrow's Wall Street Journal (but posted early on ArtsJournal), beats me to my planned rebuttal of Tyler Green's favorable take on the Albright-Knox Gallery's planned art disposals. And Tom does it far better than CultureGrrl ever could, especially because he calls upon the museum's influence on his own … [Read more...] about Albright-Knox Nixed

I don't know how Tyler feels about this, but I think it's great that ArtsJournal hosts two visual-arts polemicists who almost never take the same side on any question. In diversity there is controversy. Today Modern Art Notes says: It's always a pleasure to compliment an arts institution for doing something right, especially when it comes to the ever-thorny issue of … [Read more...] about Bloggers at Loggerheads—Part ???