Archives for February 2007

Here's the update from today's Buffalo News on the Albright-Knox deaccession battle, which was to move to the Erie County Legislature today. Colin Dabkowski reports on further developments: The Buffalo Art Keepers...plan to file a petition in State Supreme Court early next week to force the gallery to stop the sale....The litigation by Buffalo Art Keepers...plans to refer to a … [Read more...] about Albright-Knox Showdown Today

On March 1, you can find out about Sotheby's financials, when its earnings report for 2006 will be released. Only publicly traded Sotheby's, not privately held Christie's, releases details on profits (as distinguished from gross totals of public auction sales). Meanwhile, Sotheby's stock hit $40.50 on the NY Stock Exchange this morning, then backed off. The last time its … [Read more...] about How’s Sotheby’s Doing? And Who’s at the Fairs?

CultureGrrl has just obtained a copy of the 1998 tax return for the New York Fine Arts Support Trust, the private foundation that funneled money from David Rockefeller, Agnes Gund, Ronald Lauder and Laurance Rockefeller to the Museum of Modern Art's director, Glenn Lowry. It shows that more money went directly to Lowry in 1998---$422,953---than in any of the five years reported … [Read more...] about More Details on Glenn Lowry’s Sweet Deal

Sophia Loren Necklace and Earrings Set, Bulgari. Gold, diamonds. Bulgari Collection When in come to marketing tie-ins for corporate support of museums, as discussed in Robin Pogrebin's article in today's NY Times, nothing has as much conflict-of-interest potential as grants for exhibitions showcasing objects with direct connections to the grantor's own products. Perhaps the … [Read more...] about Museums Cede Curatorial Control to Bauble Boosters

"Super Vision" installation view MoMA, Albright-Knox, Barnes, Eakins...I'm so tired of being negative. So I'm ready to make nice! I may have had mixed feelings about the new Diller Scofidio + Renfro-designed building for the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, but once I made my way up to the art displays on the top floor, they had me from "hello." The introductory … [Read more...] about The ICA Boston Does it Right

There is one important aspect of MoMAgate that I have not yet mentioned in my various posts: the effect that these disclosures may have in tarnishing the entire field. Some enterprising journalist or government investigator will now likely be moved to probe further into how museums compensate their directors. I don't know if they will hit paydirt. On Friday, when I asked … [Read more...] about MoMA and Museums’ Public Trust

Michael Heizer, "North, East, South, West," Dia Art Foundation, gift of Lannan Foundation. Photo: Tom Vinetz Carol Vogel has the scoop in tomorrow's NY Times: The Dia Art Foundation has at last appointed a new director---Jeffrey Weiss, head of the department of modern and contemporary art at the National Gallery, Washington, and curator of its current Jasper Johns show. His … [Read more...] about The Return of Dia?

This just in from Buffalo Art Keepers, the group of Albright-Knox Art Gallery members opposed to the planned major deaccessions of works from the Buffalo museum's collection: The Erie County Legislature will address the issue of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery's controversial decision to sell at auction 207 works of art from the gallery's permanent collection at the Feb. 22 … [Read more...] about The Albright-Knox Deaccession Dispute, Continued

I know I'm supposed to keep following the Glenn Lowry story, or some other artworld controversy (like the continuing "Pollock" follies, subject of this article by Geoff Edgers in yesterday's Boston Globe). But I really need to rescue Tom Stoppard from Ben Brantley. This morning, I finished reading the third play, "Salvage," in Stoppard's "The Coast of Utopia" trilogy. Then I … [Read more...] about The Coast of Myopia: Ben Brantley’s Short-Sighted Stoppard Review

I've been deeply troubled from the moment I read the NY Times' revelations about Glenn Lowry's secret side deal to supplement his compensation as MoMA's director. That's because I knew I had to come out swinging, but I didn't want this assignment. I have sometimes strongly disagreed with Glenn, but I've always admired his energy, vision, talents and, yes, his integrity. Let … [Read more...] about The Secret Lowry Dowry: What’s Wrong with This Picture?

Here are my New York Public Radio broadcast remarks on the Glenn Lowry contretemps. I sounded much less lively than on my previous radio outings, because I felt no relish in talking about this. You can listen to me … [Read more...] about CultureGrrl’s Radio Rant on MoMA

If all goes according to plan, I'll be featured in a brief live phone interview about the Glenn Lowry story on New York Public Radio's "All Things Considered," today at 5:40 p.m. I should have some new details to report. You can hear it live on WNYC, 93.9 FM in the New York City area, and online at http://www.wnyc.org. I'll be posting a link to the audio, once it's up. … [Read more...] about CultureGrrl on New York Public Radio (Again)

[Consider this a bit of comic relief on a very heavy-hearted day. I wrote this before the Glenn Lowry story broke, and had intended to post it late last night.] The answer to the headline above is: Absolutely nothing. No, this is not a new low for CultureGrrl (or maybe it is), but an exploration of the not-so-fine art of blog promotion, which is all about increasing your … [Read more...] about Anna Nicole Smith: What Does CultureGrrl Think?

I sent Glenn Lowry my MoMA post of last night, and offered to publish his reponse in CultureGrrl. Today, I e-mailed him again. Here is his BlackBerried reply: I am in Mexico city on business and have not yet seen the article and am in no position to comment at this time. Glenn, you may have thought that building the MegaMoma was tough, but this is the crisis of your … [Read more...] about Update on the Glenn Lowry Bombshell

This makes me very sad: an article posted minutes ago by the NY Times that might well bring down the directorship of Glenn Lowry of the Museum of Modern Art and seriously tarnish the reputation of a museum that is already being exhaustively interrogated, for other reasons, by investigators for the Senate Finance Committee. Lowry's compensation was, according to the Times, … [Read more...] about Glenn Lowry’s Sweet Deal