Archives for January 2009

Andrew Wyeth, "Christina's World," 1948, Museum of Modern ArtMany serious art historians have long admired the work of Andrew Wyeth, who died today at his home in Chadds Ford, PA. Most of them are experts in traditional, pre-20th century American art. He's anathema, I now think unfairly, to contemporary art enthusiasts, because his art is so stubbornly traditional, if not … [Read more...] about Andrew Wyeth, 91: A 19th-Century Artist in a 20th-Century World

The next director of the Kimbell: Eric McCauley Lee(Photo by Tony Walsh)I promised not to break the news embargo set by the Kimbell unless someone else did. We were asked to wait until tomorrow (Friday). But another reporter (Janelle Gelfand of the Cincinnati Enquirer) has jumped the gun (or, more likely, got her news independently, from the Taft Museum's staff), so we're off … [Read more...] about Eric McCauley Lee Steps Up to the Kimbell’s Directorship

Nevada Museum of Art, RenoYesterday, in connection with my post about the whirlwind tour of American museums by Italian cultural officials, I issued a rare CultureGrrl correction. I had said that an already touring show of Leonardo drawings from the Biblioteca Reale, Turin, would be be coming to the Nevada Museum, Reno. In fact, it wasn't. I had based my erroneous report on a … [Read more...] about BlogBack: Nevada Museum’s Director Explains the Italian (Mis)connection

George Grosz, "Eclipse of the Sun," 1926, Heckscher MuseumTime magazine's Richard Lacayo, on today's Looking Around blog, takes the deaccession discussion to the next level. Lacayo opines:Why is it that museums routinely do these sales---meaning sales entirely within the rules as the AAMD has devised them---without making any kind of public announcement?...Quiet selling gives … [Read more...] about Deaccession Transparency: Museums’ Websites Should Post Proposed Disposals

Logo of the Italian Culture MinistryReading yesterday's Wall Street Journal article on Mario Resca, Italy's entrepreneurial cultural advisor (and former McDonald's executive), inspired me to surf over to the Italian Culture Ministry's website, and lo and behold, Big Mac has just been traveling all over the U.S., sitting down to Happy Meals with American museum directors and … [Read more...] about Mario Resca’s Whirlwind Tour of U.S. Museums: Exchanges and Exhibitions Discussed CORRECTED

Hitting the jackpot: Kevin Salatino gets matched with MoMA's Glenn Lowry and Tate's Nicholas SerotaI don't know about you, but I find these odd couples interesting.The second group of curatorial fellows selected for intensive training that's intended to lead to professional advancement (including directorships) has just been assigned mentors and residency hosts by the Center … [Read more...] about Who Wants to Be a Museum Director? CCL Announces Curator-Mentor Match-Ups

Italy's Mario Resca, framed in today's Wall Street Journal(image by Zina Saunders)Having just written about how the economy might put an end to profit-driven rent-a-shows, I was disappointed by these comments, published today in a Wall Street Journal profile of Mario ("Big Mac") Resca, whose planned appointment as Italian culture's "super manager" provoked widespread … [Read more...] about Mario Resca’s WSJ Profile: Visions of Rent-a-Shows Dance in His Head

Lucy, the 3.2 million-year-old womanOne favorable museum development related to the current financial crisis, aside from greater emphasis on permanent collections, may be a reduced emphasis on rent-a-shows---those blockbuster exhibitions through which museums raise money from other museums by charging exorbitant fees. Andrew Herrmann and Dave Newbart of the Chicago Sun-Times … [Read more...] about Skeletal Budget Cut: No “Lucy” Fossil Show for Chicago’s Field Museum

Sir John Pope-Hennessy: Most recent Brit in a major American museum job?Will the real Tom Campbell please stand up?The London Telegraph's Jasper Rees snagged an interview with the Metropolitan Museum's new director for today's paper. I got real excited when I got to this paragraph: As the exhaustive interview process with the 12 trustees began, it became increasingly apparent … [Read more...] about The Tom Campbell Watch: Another Kid-in-the-Candy-Store Interview

Lord Colin Renfew, Met Gadfly Here's one of the first substantive changes at the Metropolitan Museum since the ascent of its new director, Thomas Campbell: On Tuesday, the Met posted on its website its revised Collections Management Policy [reported on David Gill's Looting Matters blog], which incorporates the Association of Art Museum Directors' tightened standards, … [Read more...] about Metropolitan Museum Posts Revised Collections Management Policy

What's that new addition to the Metropolitan Museum's old masters galleries, catty-cornered with the museum's iconic Vermeer, "Woman with a Water Pitcher"?Let's approach for a closer look:Vermeer, "Young Woman Seated at a Virginal," Private CollectionWait a minute, I know that lady with the vacuous expression and the awkward arms. I last gawked at the gawky girl when she was … [Read more...] about Virginal Vermeer: Sold by Wynn, Now at the Met UPDATED

Super Cooper: Tennessee Attorney General Robert CooperLawyers for Fisk University, the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum and the Tennessee Attorney General's office got another chance to rumble at yesterday's hearing in Tennessee Court of Appeals, where the university is seeking a reversal of a lower court decision that prevented the Nashville university from selling a $30-million … [Read more...] about Tennessee AG’s Brief Suggests Opposition to Walton-Fisk Deal

There was something ineffably sad about visiting the Metropolitan Museum a couple of days ago (as I did) and sensing that it's still just as Philippe de Montebello had left it, but he's no longer there. (Or maybe he was, packing up the last few mementos and belongings.) He will be greatly missed.Still, it's now out with the old, in with the new, and Philippe's not the only Met … [Read more...] about The Met’s New Star: Tom Campbell’s YouTube Moment

Fisk exhibition traveling to Crystal Bridges' Massey outpostNo, this is not a report on this morning's court hearing.It turns out that while Fisk is working hard in court to effectuate a $30-million collection-sharing agreement with Alice Walton, they've put together a print exhibition that opens Feb. 13 at the Massey outpost of the Wal-Mart heiress' in-construction Crystal … [Read more...] about Walton and Fisk: Together at Last

Fisk University President Hazel O'LearyFisk University just won't give up trying to do that $30-million deal with Alice Walton to monetize its Stieglitz Collection, which was given to it by artist Georgia O'Keeffe.Back in court everyone goes later today (Wednesday), including representatives from the office of Tennessee Attorney General Robert Cooper, who has not publicly taken … [Read more...] about The Case Continues: Fisk Back in Court Today to Argue for Walton Deal