Archives for October 2011

From the Metropolitan Museum's collection: Miuccia Prada, Ensemble, fall/winter 2007-8, Gift of PradaIn a previous post, I fretted that the Metropolitan Museum's outsized success with its theatrically over-the-top Alexander McQueen installation (which, like everyone else, I greatly admired) might "considerably up the ante for sound, animation and atmospherics" in future shows … [Read more...] about Dept. of Theatrics: Met Gives “McQueen” Treatment to Elsa Schiaparelli, Miuccia Prada

View from my hotel window: Philadelphia Free Library in foreground, In-construction Barnes Foundation (with white rectangular light box atop its roof) directly behind it, Philadelphia Museum of Art at end of the parkwayWhen I posted on Thursday about the latest court decision reaffirming the permission for the Barnes Foundation's move to Philadelphia, I didn't mention that, by … [Read more...] about MeTube: My Narrated Barnes Foundation Walking Tour

The Egyptian Museum, Cairo, in more peaceful timesThe embattled Egyptian Museum again finds itself at the epicenter of violent protests. Alastair Beach of the Independent today reports on yesterday's events:By around 7 p.m. central Cairo was boiling over with angry protesters as thousands of youths fought running battles with the police and gangs of regime loyalists. At the … [Read more...] about Egyptian Chaos: New Antiquities Head, New Violent Protests Near Egyptian Museum (plus D.C. protesters at Air and Space Museum)

In a nutshell, Judge Stanley Ott of Montgomery County Orphans' Court this morning reaffirmed his own previous decision to allow the Barnes Foundation (already far along in construction) to move to Philadelphia. He said that the persistent litigants who have been trying to halt the move lack standing to bring the case. In the kicker, Judge Ott also decreed that "some portion" of … [Read more...] about News Flash: Judge Reaffirms Previous Decision Allowing Barnes’ Move to Philly

Composer John Corigliano, mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe and conductor Alan Gilbert (left to right) taking their bows after the performance of "One Sweet Morning"Photo by Chris LeeI have fond memories of John Corigliano's ambitious opera, The Ghosts of Versailles.But the New York composer's earnest, labored attempt to rise to the occasion of a grand symphonic statement … [Read more...] about 9/11 Memorial Meme: John Corigliano’s Off-Key New York Philharmonic Commission

First Boston. Now Brooklyn.Russian artist Vasily Vereshchagin, described by Sotheby's as "unquestionably the most famous of all Russian painters during his lifetime [1842-1904]" (but relatively obscure during ours), has the dubious distinction of being a deaccession superstar this fall in what is fast becoming the Season of the Museum Disposals (benefiting the Clyfford Still … [Read more...] about Vereshchagin Chagrin: Russian Realist the New Deaccession Sensation

Seeing Red: Clyfford Still, "1949-A-No.1," 93 by 79 in., the highest-estimated work ($25-35 million) of the four being auctioned by Denver to fund Clyfford Still Museum's endowmentIn his rigorously argued, detailed essay, Fighting Still; Still Fighting, David Colosi, an interdisciplinary artist with a background in literary theory, has picked up my reporting and commentary on … [Read more...] about Still Chill: Colossal Colosi Documents Denver’s “Betrayal of Trust”