Archives for July 2008

Not Coptic: Limestone Relief of a Paralytic Carrying a Bed on His Back, Brooklyn MuseumFor those of you who have heard my WNYC commentary, Fake Art at the Brooklyn Museum, here's more:Edna Russman, Brooklyn's curator of Egyptian art, told me last week that the problem pieces that will be displayed as part of the museum's Coptic sculpture show, Feb. 13-May 10, were known to have … [Read more...] about Coptic Antics: The Story Behind the Brooklyn Fakes

Richard Dearden, Freedom of Information FighterThe Ottawa Citizen newpaper wants to know what issues are involved in the David Franklin/National Gallery of Canada court battle and it's initiating its own court battle to find out. Federal Court Deputy Judge Orville Frenette on Wednesday had ordered the permanent sealing of the file pertaining to Franklin's application for "a … [Read more...] about Freedom of Information: More Legal Action on the David Franklin Fracas

My New York Public Radio segment on the Brooklyn Museum's Coptic art fakes was bumped to Monday by an story on Iran (fair enough) but it's up on their website today and I've got permission to post it on CultureGrrl. For those of you who still want to hear it on the radio, I'm told that it will air at 7:30 a.m. But these things can change (and probably will).At any rate, you can … [Read more...] about My Coptic Art Fakes Commentary: Monday on WNYC, Today on CultureGrrl

I will never call WNYC's studios "shabby" again. Today I visited New York Public Radio's shiny new headquarters, to tape a segment (which, if all goes according to plan, will be aired tomorrow on Morning Edition) about the upcoming Brooklyn Museum exhibition of Coptic stone sculptures, real and fake. I'm no longer caged in a glass booth, but I can't see host Soterios Johnson, … [Read more...] about My Commentary on Brooklyn’s Coptic Fakes: Tomorrow on New York Public Radio

David Franklin, on leave and in court When David Franklin suddenly went "on leave" July 2 from his post as deputy director of the National Gallery of Canada, the museum's director of public affairs, Joanne Charette, told me: The man has a right to his privacy....Eventually, there will be further explanation. Now there is: Yesterday he went to court against both the museum … [Read more...] about David Franklin Goes to Court Against National Gallery of Canada UPDATED TWICE

Three limited-edition "Monogramouflage" canvases in the Vuitton boutique at the Brooklyn Museum's recent Murakami showI've always thought that ceding a museum's nonprofit space to a for-profit Louis Vuitton boutique (as occurred at the Takashi Murakami retrospective at the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art and the Brooklyn Museum) was a bad idea and an even worse … [Read more...] about LA MOCA’s Vuitton-Murakami Morass (and Brooklyn’s non-response)

Lisa Phillips annoucing the New Museum Triennial yesterdayMemo to Lisa Phillips: Please change this title while there's still time! While you're at it, consider changing the exhibition concept as well.At a press breakfast yesterday, Lisa Phillips (above), director of the New Museum, New York, proudly announced next spring's planned opening of a triennial exhibition devoted to … [Read more...] about Department of Bad Exhibition Titles: “Younger Than Jesus” at the New Museum

Fisk President Hazel O'Leary at a June 27 event to celebrate the university's raising over $8.3 million in the past fiscal yearWhatever happened to Fisk University's Apr. 3 appeal of Davidson County Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle's decision rejecting the school's plan to sell a half-share of its celebrated Stieglitz Collection to Alice Walton for $30 million?According to Colby … [Read more...] about Fisk Appeal of Stieglitz Collection Decision “Could Take Years”

I don't claim to know who Banksy is. Maybe he really is Robin Gunningham from Bristol; or maybe London's Mail on Sunday, the newspaper that claimed on Saturday to have possibly identified the elusive guerilla graffitist, is the victim of a hoax.All I know is that when I Googled the name of the Bristol bloke, I went straight to the high-numbered (less clicked-upon) pages and … [Read more...] about “Banksy” Died Four Years Ago? Robin Gunningham’s Death Notice

A portion of the famed rock garden at Ryoanji temple, KyotoDana Buntrock, associate professor of architecture, University of California, Berkeley, responds to Clash of Perfectionists: Ando and Conforti at the Clark: Loved the discussion. Comes down to one question: people or purity? Pure concrete, clean control of movement, etc. Both Ando and the director seem to have … [Read more...] about BlogBack: Berkeley Architecture Professor on Ando at the Clark

George Wachter, Sotheby's old masters specialistThe Frick Collection, New York, has just taken the unorthodox step of appointing to its board an auction-house official, George Wachter (above), vice chairman of Sotheby's North and South America and co-chairman of old master paintings---the mainstay of the Frick's holdings.Many museums refrain from appointing art dealers or … [Read more...] about Market Nexus: Frick Appoints Sotheby’s Vice Chairman to Its Board

You've got to see this photo on the NY Times' City Room blog.After a third climber tried yesterday to scale the Renzo Piano-designed jungle gym (scroll to bottom), composed of horizontal ceramic rods on the façade of the newspaper's new headquarters, workers (depicted in the photo) were busily prying off those stunt-tempting rungs.Sewell Chan reports in today's Times:A law … [Read more...] about NY Times Dismantles Its Piano

Sherman Lee, with two objects of his affectionThe last time I saw Sherman Lee, who died yesterday at the age of 90, was when he was in New York as curator of a section of the China: 5,000 Years show at the Guggenheim in 1998, some 15 years after he had retired from Cleveland Museum, where he had been director for 25 years.But when I was a fledgling art journalist, writing long … [Read more...] about Sherman Lee, Titan Among Museum Directors, Dies at 90

Michael Conforti, director of the Clark Art Institute, responds to Clash of Perfectionists: Ando and Conforti at the Clark: [Architect Tadao] Ando and I have great respect for one another (seriously) and there are many examples of our warm relationship. Each of us is looking forward to the work we will do together to realize the Clark's master plan. … [Read more...] about BlogBack: Michael Conforti on Tadao Ando

For those clicking here from my article, This Tadao Ando Project Is a Berkshires Rental, in today's Wall Street Journal, here's some of the quirky stuff not suitable for mainstream media, as well as some illustrations to accompany my WSJ commentary:Michael Conforti (left) and Tadao Ando (facing front) in the galleries during the press preview of the new Stone Hill CenterThe … [Read more...] about Clash of Perfectionists: Ando and Conforti at the Clark