Archives for February 2010

Picasso, "Self-Portrait with Palette," 1906, Philadelphia Museum of Art© Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New YorkIn her rundown last month of upcoming museum exhibitions of note, the Wall Street Journal's Candace Jackson highlighted the Metropolitan Museum's big spring show (which I later referred to in my own WSJ piece) of some 150 Picassos from its own … [Read more...] about Picasso Glut and the Met’s (very blue) Blue Period Lovemaking

"Victorious Youth," Greek, 300 - 100 B.C., J. Paul Getty Museum''Today marks the end of the sacking of our archaeological treasures,'' former Italian Culture Minister Francesco Rutelli exulted after today's ruling by an Italian appeals court that ordered the immediate seizure and return to Italy of the Getty Bronze.Not so fast.Here, in full, is the statement that just hit my … [Read more...] about Getty Bronze Ruling: Museum to Appeal Italian Court’s Order for Immediate Return

Christie's New YorkBear with me art-lings. It's CultureGrrl number-crunching time!Christie's has had a penchant for what we can euphemistically describe as "creative accounting" in reporting its year-end sale totals. Apparently, my past critiques of that auction house's self-serving statistical shenanigans (here and here) didn't make much of an impression. So fire up your … [Read more...] about Apples-to-Oranges: Christie’s Purported 56.4% Auction Market Share

Marc Wilson, director of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, in his office in the museum's Steven Holl-designed additionThe Nelson-Atkins Museum's recent announcement of 75 donors' gifts of 400 artworks in honor of the Kansas City museum's 75th anniversary and its soon-to-retire director, Marc Wilson, makes this a good moment for me to publish excerpts from my conversation with … [Read more...] about My Q&A with Marc Wilson of the Nelson-Atkins: “Getting Back to the Core”

University of Iowa Museum of Art's "Mural," 1943, by Jackson Pollock, as installed at the Figge Art Museum, Davenport, IAThe "Envisioning Committee," appointed last year by the University of Iowa's president, Sally Mason, to brainstorm about a new facility to replace its flood-ruined art museum, has just issued its final report, which calls for a new, bigger facility to be … [Read more...] about Flood Toll: Rebuilding the University of Iowa Museum of Art

My e-mail inbox tells me that getting your exhibitions (or other art-related announcements) on CultureGrrl is the goal of many readers. But few of you will make it to the end zone: Although I'm swarmed by by galleries seeking publicity, you should know (if you read me) that I cover almost no gallery exhibitions and I generally review museum shows only if I deem them highly … [Read more...] about Onside Kick: A Winning Strategy in the CultureGrrl Playbook UPDATE

Chuck Close, Self-Portrait, 1997, Museum of Modern Art© 2010 Chuck Close I don't have a link to this yet, but the list of President Obama's six new nominees to the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities (PCAH) just hit my inbox. The visual-arts notable is artist Chuck Close, who served from 2000 to 2008 as the artist-member of the Whitney Museum's board of … [Read more...] about Chuck Close, Five Others, Nominated for President’s Committee on Arts and Humanities

Rendering of Frank Gehry's planned Abu Dhabi golf clubhouseA 19th hole by Frank Gehry?Apparently the architect is having such a good time on Saadiyat Island, where his Guggenheim Abu Dhabi is to supposed to open in late 2013, that he's accepted another commission there.The Abu Dhabi-based The National reports that the golf clubhouse Gehry is designing will "put a postmodern … [Read more...] about Gehry Golf Clubhouse Planned for Abu Dhabi’s Saadiyat Island

Michael Brand, ex-director of the J. Paul Getty MuseumMichael Brand has now left the building and the Getty Museum is beset by yet another period of administrative instability. There has been no official explanation of why Brand threw in the towel, creating an informational vacuum inadequately filled by Jason Felch's analysis of the contretemps in the LA Times (which was … [Read more...] about Getty-Brand Face-Off: Ex-Director Gives Me His Side of the Story

The $104.3-million man: Giacometti, "L'Homme Qui Marche I," 1960 (cast in 1961) If you're looking for a symbol of a more robust art market, this emaciated six-footer could be it. At today's Impressionist/modern auction at Sotheby's London, Giacometti's "L'Homme Qui Marche I," estimated to bring a "mere" £12-18 million ($19.33-28.99 million) sold for what the auction house … [Read more...] about Is Sotheby’s $104.32-Million Giacometti the “Most Expensive Art Work Ever Sold at Auction”?

It's an exercise in painting-by-numbers. (Scroll down to the video to see.)The New York studio of Jeff Koons was abuzz last night with such artworld luminaries as Richard Armstrong, Adam Weinberg, Lisa Dennison, Agnes Gund, Lowery Sims, Richard Meier and, of course, CultureGrrl, ogling his paintings-in-progress, which were executed by underlings while the artist himself mingled … [Read more...] about MeTube: Jeff Koons Paints a Picture (or doesn’t)

There's a lot from what Thomas Campbell told me about what he hopes to change during his directorship at the Metropolitan Museum that, for space reasons, didn't make it into my Marathon Man profile of him in today's Wall Street Journal.Fortunately, I videoed him giving a speech at a Jan. 15 luncheon at Le Cirque restaurant in New York, where he covered a lot of the ground that … [Read more...] about MeTube: Tom Campbell Describes the Changes He’s Making at the Met

Zina Saunders' image of Tom Campbell for the Wall Street JournalYou can read me (and Tom) now on the Wall Street Journal's website: The Met's Marathon Man. Wait a minute! I just got word from the Metropolitan Museum's PR people that he was born in Singapore, not Cambridge. I guess I shouldn't have relied on the Met's press release that announced his appointment ("born and … [Read more...] about Online Now: My WSJ Piece on Thomas Campbell UPDATED

It's a little bit late, you might say. Actually, no. Pegged to the first anniversary of what's likely to be a long reign as director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, my "Cultural Conversation" with Tom Campbell on the "Leisure & Arts" page of tomorrow's Wall Street Journal will focus on what he's actually accomplishing, now that he has hit his stride and made some … [Read more...] about Coming Tomorrow: My WSJ “Cultural Conversation” with the Met’s Tom Campbell

The NEA's current "Art Works" logoWhere's Sen. William Proxmire when we really need him?The late legislator from Wisconsin famously delighted in bestowing his "Golden Fleece Awards" upon what he considered absurd applications of federal funds.What might he have thought of the Request for Proposals just issued by the National Endowment for the Arts, which asks applicants to … [Read more...] about Department of Wasteful Federal Spending: “Art Works” Logo Redesign