Archives for March 2011

First the inventory. Now, happily, some recoveries:The Luxor Tmes reports [via] that seven statues and five necklaces (one gold, the others faience and coloured glass) that were missing from the Egyptian Museum have been recovered, and the alleged ringleader of the theft and two alleged accomplices, who were "offered" $50 million in a sting operation, were arrested, according … [Read more...] about 12 Objects Stolen from Egyptian Museum Recovered

Left to Right in Abu Dhabi: Lee Tabler, CEO of Abu Dhabi's Tourism Development and Investment Company; Richard Armstrong, director, Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation; architect Frank Gehry; Juan Ignacio Vidarte, Guggenheim's chief officer for global strategies and director, Guggenheim Bilbao; Frederick Henry, former Guggenheim trusteeI know you're all waiting for tomorrow's … [Read more...] about New Workers’ Rights Concerns for Guggenheim Abu Dhabi

Quarzite Head of an Amarna Princess, 7 cm. high, missing from Egyptian Museum Photo from list published by Supreme Council on Antiquities It's about time! The website of Egypt's Supreme Council on Antiquities (which still lists Zahi Hawass as its "secretary general") has now posted a link to what it says is the final list, with (mostly grainy) photographs, of 54 objects … [Read more...] about Egypt Releases Illustrated List of 54 Objects Missing from Egyptian Museum

Leo Steinberg With wide-ranging interests from the Renaissance to Rauschenberg, the art historian extraordinaire and Penn professor emeritus Leo Steinberg, dead at the age of 90, was as provocative and profane as he was erudite. Ken Johnson has written the definitive obit for the NY Times. But I have a personal revelation: He almost died prematurely at my own hands (just … [Read more...] about The Late Leo Steinberg and Me: Speaking of Michelangelo

Kevin Gover, director of the National Museum of the American Indian, in his office overlooking the CapitolAt left: Mateo Romero (Cochiti Pueblo), "Tewa, Tiwa, Towa," circa 1995, National Museum of the American IndianIn middle: David Bradley, "Indian Self Rule," lithograph, 1985, from Gover's personal collectionAt right: Partial view of a pottery/ceramic jar by Hubert … [Read more...] about Online Now: My WSJ Piece on American Indian Installations

Tokyo National MuseumIt's a bit early to worry about museums and cultural sites when the human costs are so high and the nuclear plants so imperiled. Nevertheless, I'm trying to get some answers.All that I know so far is that museums in Tokyo---both the Mori Art Museum and the Tokyo National Museum---have closed temporarily to conserve electricity but say that they have not … [Read more...] about Japan Watch: Two Tokyo Museums Are Safe but Shuttered UPDATED

Whenever I visit Philadelphia (as I did late last month), I indulge my morbid fascination for the slow-motion death of a great single-collector facility, to be interred at the construction site of the new home for the Barnes Foundation on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, scheduled to open in late spring of next year. Construction is now so far along that, notwithstanding the … [Read more...] about Barnes Developments: Desperation Lawsuit, Merion Closure, Philly Update UPDATED

Janet Landay, former executive director, Association of Art Museum DirectorsWhile we're on the subject of resignations, there's been another important abdication of perhaps more immediate relevance to CultureGrrl's core professional audience---the abrupt, unexplained departure of Janet Landay from the Association of Art Museum Directors, after two years as its executive … [Read more...] about Why Did Janet Landay Leave AAMD? (and what’s needed now)

Metropolitan Opera music director James Levine: Should he throw in the towel? In the wake of conductor James Levine's announcement that he would to resign the music directorship of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Justin Davidson of New York magazine declared that the maestro should do the same at the Metropolitan Opera. Davidson wrote: The time has come to make him conductor … [Read more...] about Should Levine Resign from Met? Justin Davidson’s Bad Call

One (as yet not publicly unidentified) of these three sandstone heads of an Amarna princess has been reported as missing from the Egyptian Museum.Photo from Antiquities Missing from Egypt report, Penn Cultural Heritage Center Partially filling the information vacuum about exactly what objects have gone missing during the chaotic situation in Egypt, the Penn Cultural Heritage … [Read more...] about Penn Center’s List (with photos) of Egypt’s Missing Objects

I've been on-topic for way too long. Let's now wander completely off-topic.The resignatons of Hawass and Levine notwithstanding, to me the most important news event of last week was the designation of CultureDaughter as a PhD-to-be (to become official at May graduation). On Thursday, she presented an enthusiastically acclaimed defense of her doctoral dissertation, entitled … [Read more...] about The Art of Dissertation Writing: “Enhanced Modeling”

Abu Sir, where, according to Zahi Hawass, the tomb of Petah-Shepses has been damagedPhoto from Blue Shield's report on Egyptian archaeological sitesCultureGrrl, at the risk of being tedious, has lately become "all Egypt, all the time." But I can't seem to avert my eyes from this archaeological disaster. In yesterday's post on his website, Zahi Hawass, Egypt's former Minister of … [Read more...] about Hawass Unhinged: Is Dr. Zahi Becoming Archaeology’s Charlie Sheen? UPDATED TWICE

De Morgan storage facility at Dahshur, site of a Metropolitan Museum expedition Photo from Blue Shield's report on Egyptian archaeological sites A joint statement on the "alarming picture on the state of antiquities and cultural sites" in Egypt was issued yesterday by the Association of Art Museum Directors and the Archaeological Institute of America. But it misses two … [Read more...] about Missing the Point: AAMD’s and AiA’s Joint Statement on Egypt’s Missing Objects

Zahi HawassMaybe my headline yesterday should have read:Zahi Hawass Resigns (or maybe not)CNN today reports [via]:Egypt's antiquities minister, Zahi Hawass, said Friday he plans to step down to protest police inaction as the country's ancient treasures are being looted and vandalized....Hawass said he has not resigned yet but will if asked by new Prime Minister Essam Sharaf. … [Read more...] about CNN Report Casts Doubt on Hawass Resignation

Happier Days: Zahi Hawass at the Valley of the KingsPhoto: Supreme Council of AntiquitiesThe NY Times this afternoon confirmed that Zahi Hawass, Egypt's long-time head of antiquities, has stepped down. As I indicated yesterday, his motivation is probably more than his stated dismay at unchecked looting. His probably more compelling concerns were evidenced by his using the … [Read more...] about End of an Egyptology Era: Zahi Hawass Resigns