Harold Koda, curator in charge of the Met's Costume Institute, at the entrance to its new extravaganza, "The Model as Muse"There are elephants in the room at the Metropolitan Museum's absorbing, highly entertaining (but also highly problematic) The Model as Muse show (to Aug. 9). And those conspicuous pachyderms are not the huge cutouts looming at the entrance to the Costume … [Read more...] about Sponsor As Muse: Wintour, Jacobs and the Met’s Latest Fashion Faux Pas
Archives for May 2009
Ned Rifkin Goes Back to Texas: From Smithsonian Undersecretary to Blanton Museum Head
Ned RifkinA year after his resignation from the top art spot at the Smithsonian Institution, Ned Rifkin has been named director of the Blanton Museum of the University of Texas at Austin. Prior to his departure from his federal post as undersecretary of art, he oversaw a major report by a panel of distinguished art museum officials. The report's findings were particularly … [Read more...] about Ned Rifkin Goes Back to Texas: From Smithsonian Undersecretary to Blanton Museum Head
Metropolitan Museum Got First Chance to Buy Auctioned Havemeyer Pictures
Monet, "Sailboat on the Little Branch of the Seine, Argenteuil," 1872 ($3.5 million at Sotheby's)Two of the three Havemeyer paintings that sold well above their presale estimates at Sotheby's on Tuesday had a connection to the Metropolitan Museum going far beyond their 1993 appearance in the museum's exhibition of the Havemeyer Collection.As disclosed in Sotheby's auction … [Read more...] about Metropolitan Museum Got First Chance to Buy Auctioned Havemeyer Pictures
Christie’s Solid $102.77-Million Sale: One Star Lot (Picasso) Sells; Another (Ernst) Withdrawn Beforehand
Picasso, "Musketeer with Pipe," 1968, sold for $14.64 millionI didn't stand watch at Christie's tonight with the rest of the art-scribe tribe, but it seems clear from the results of this evening's Impressionist/Modern sale that gloating must have occurred at the post-sale press conference: Some 38 of the 48 lots offered found buyers---about the same sold-lot percentage as at … [Read more...] about Christie’s Solid $102.77-Million Sale: One Star Lot (Picasso) Sells; Another (Ernst) Withdrawn Beforehand
Sotheby’s Depressing Start to the Spring Evening Sales
Sotheby's unsold Picasso, the auction's cover lotI'm not going to exhaustively cover the evening sales this season. It's probably better to avert our eyes from the shrunken catalogues with their shrunken estimates.So let's get this over with quickly: Sotheby's Impressionist/Modern sale tonight fetched a hammer total of $52.95 million, against its presale estimate of $81.5-118.8 … [Read more...] about Sotheby’s Depressing Start to the Spring Evening Sales
BlogBack: Ron Hartwig of the Getty on “Probably Aphrodite” (or not)
Ron Hartwig, the J. Paul Getty Trust's vice president for communications, responds to my comments about the Getty's label for its so-called "Aphrodite," which I discussed in the last part of Iowa's Pollock at the Figge: The Masterpiece and the Myth:To answer your question about why gallery labels sometimes disagree with scholarship, and with regard to our particular case, I'd … [Read more...] about BlogBack: Ron Hartwig of the Getty on “Probably Aphrodite” (or not)
Iowa’s Pollock at the Figge: The Masterpiece and the Myth
Pollock, "Mural," 1943, University of Iowa Museum of Art, as installed at the Figge Art Museum "I'm just totally awed and amazed by it," I lamely told an Iowa television interviewer, who popped the "what-do-you-think?" question, only a few moments after I had set eyes on "Mural." That monumental 1943 Pollock, owned by the flood-ravaged University of Iowa Museum of Art, Iowa … [Read more...] about Iowa’s Pollock at the Figge: The Masterpiece and the Myth
A Bit of Housekeeping: Future CultureGrrl Alerts for Donors
On Tuesday evening, I sent an e-mail blast to those of you who have donated to the blog, to let you know that I will be sending you e-mail notifications of future postings, now that I'm slowing down the pace of my additions. If you donated and did not receive the message that I sent, please let me know by clicking the "Contact Me" link in the middle column. I think I got … [Read more...] about A Bit of Housekeeping: Future CultureGrrl Alerts for Donors
Figge Gig: O’Harrow Gives Shelter to University of Iowa’s Homeless Collection
Now for the upbeat part of the story of the flooding of the University of Iowa Museum of Art: It resulted in a terrific, beautifully installed exhibition---A Legacy for Iowa: Pollock's "Mural" and Modern Masterworks from the University of Iowa Museum of Art . That show is the most visible part of the new, win-win cooperative relationship between UIMA, Iowa City, and the Figge … [Read more...] about Figge Gig: O’Harrow Gives Shelter to University of Iowa’s Homeless Collection