Archives for June 2010

George Goldner, chairman of drawings and prints at the Metropolitan Museum and drawings curator at the Getty Museum from 1984-93, succinctly responds to After the Mourning: Reimagining the Getty (in which I quoted his prior comments criticizing the J. Paul Getty Trust's priorities and administrative structure): The issues I brought up in 1998 still hold true and the sad results … [Read more...] about BlogBack: George Goldner on Rethinking the Getty

The new Rick Mather-designed McGlothlin Wing of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts I've gone far afield from Richmond since I began fleshing out my Wall Street Journal article about the 165,000-square foot expansion of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. But I've still got one more CultureGrrl photo essay to go, in completing our tour of the recently renewed and reopened VMFA. … [Read more...] about Rick in Richmond: Virginia MFA’s Architectural Hits and Misses

The Getty Villa, MalibuIn his LA Times piece today, Jason Felch returns to his Getty beat, reporting that Getty Foundation director Deborah Marrow would be named today (as has now been officially announced) as the J. Paul Getty Trust's interim president and CEO. Felch also provided details on the cause of death of James Wood, the president and CEO of the Trust: He died in his … [Read more...] about After the Mourning: Reimagining the Getty

James WoodIf all goes according to plan, I'll be sharing my thoughts about James Wood, the late president of the J. Paul Getty Trust, on Warren Olney's Which Way LA?, broadcast over public radio station KCRW, 7 p.m. LA time (10 p.m. on the East Coast). My segment is supposed to air at 7:19 p.m. [See update below.]You've already read some of my reminiscences about this … [Read more...] about Coming Today: My “Which Way LA?” Commentary on KCRW about James Wood UPDATED

Today's a good day to think about the theater, post-Tony Awards, and it's a particularly good day to think about the state of American musicals, which both Charles Isherwood of the NY Times and Charles McNulty of the LA Times criticized, in their pre-Tony musings, for "stitch[ing] together new narratives with already recorded (and popular) music" (Isherwood's words) so that … [Read more...] about CultureCougar: My (forced) Bit Part in Off-Broadway’s “Andrew Jackson”

James Wood, 69, the late president of the J. Paul Getty TrustThe best obit I could write for James Wood, the late president and CEO of the J. Paul Getty Trust, Los Angeles (formerly director of the Art Institute of Chicago and St. Louis Museum of Art), is something that I've already written---my Solid Wood profile that I produced on the occasion of his ascension to the Getty … [Read more...] about Getty CEO James Wood, 69, Dies: A Leader of Integrity and Fair-Mindedness

Stephen Talasnik, discussing his bamboo "Stream" sculptureOne of the more popular of recent CultureGrrl Videos (we're not talking about Gaga numbers here) features me not climbing the Starn Twins' Big Bambú at the Metropolitan Museum.How much more exciting, then, to watch me actually "climb" the smaller bamboo construction, now open for exploration by the cultured (and … [Read more...] about MeTube at Storm King: CultureGrrl Climbs “Little Bamboo”

J. Paul Getty Trust's endowment (in billions), from fiscal '09 annual reportNearly a full year after the June 30, 2009 close of its annus horribilis, the J. Paul Getty Trust has just published online its Annual Report and Financial Statements for fiscal '09. Although, percentage-wise, the endowment decline is in line with that at other recession-hit institutions, the numbers, … [Read more...] about Getty’s Belated Fiscal 2009 Report: $1.25-Billion Net Investment Loss

Arbiters of "Artist": Jeanne Greenberg Rohatyn, Bill Powers, China Chow, Jerry Saltz After reading two favorable reviews of the first episode of Bravo's "The Next Great Artist" (as well as Christopher Knight's unfavorable take), I decided it was possible that my revulsion at the show's trailer might have been more a function of Bravo's misguided marketing campaign than of … [Read more...] about BlogBack: Artist/Administrator on “Next Great Artist” Show (and Saltz’s post-mortem)

In a press release issued after today's conclusion of its annual meeting, the Association of Art Museum Directors praised its own conclave as "noteworthy for the unprecedented membership-wide discussion of issues and opportunities facing the museum field." As I reported earlier today, the association certainly seems to have grappled with the controversial issues of the day. … [Read more...] about Post-Conference Wrap-Up: What AAMD Accomplished at Its Annual Meeting

AAMD members on the fast track (site of the Indy 500). Zero-to-Forty Conforti in the driver's seat. (Couldn't they get the Jeff Koons racecar for this occasion?) I've always wanted to be a fly on the wall of the Association of Art Museum Directors' national meetings. In one of the most infamous moments of my so-called career, I went undercover, grabbing an unclaimed name … [Read more...] about AAMD Pushes the Hot Buttons: Rent-a-Rose, Private-Collection Shows, Recession Exhibitions

Bison in Altamira Cave, Santillana de Mar, SpainOn Sept. 18, 2001, I published a piece in the Wall Street Journal (no online link) about my memorable visit to Spain's prehistoric Altamira Cave. I then described the "intense spiritual charge of being surrounded by the creative aura of our inspired precursors, who, gazing at the bumps, cracks and curves of their abode's inner … [Read more...] about Attention Prehistoric Cave Lovers: Altamira Reopening

Left to right: Jeanne Greenberg Rohatyn, Jerry Saltz, China Chow, Bill Powers, Simon de PuryI don't watch reality shows. I couldn't even sit through a full episode of "Project Runway," let alone "American Idol." So despite my artworld interest, I'm not the target audience for Work of Art: The Next Great Artist, premiering Wednesday on Bravo. I take the roles of artists and art … [Read more...] about “The Next Great Artist”? Where’s Simon When We Really Need Him?

Wanna follow what's going on at the Association of Art Museum Directors' annual powwow? Now you can!The story so far from Indianapolis:Great gift bags with mugs made from corn by-products! More excitingly:127 directors and several guests from federal agencies and foundations arriving today.And outgoing president Michael Conforti isn't even there yet. He's still home in … [Read more...] about Department of Transparency: AAMD Tweets!

In an editorial dated tomorrow (Sunday) but online tonight, the Boston Globe has strongly endorsed Rent-a-Rose, demonstrating a shocking lack of comprehension of why Brandeis is seeking to monetize the Rose Art Museum's collection. After the university incurred widespread condemnation for its initial plan to sell all or some of its collection to address Brandeis' broader … [Read more...] about Boston Globe’s Clueless Editorial on Rent-a-Rose