Archives for July 2012

Leon Black The Wall Street Journal's Kelly Crow reported online yesterday that anonymous sources informed her that Leon Black was the buyer of Munch's "The Scream." The 1895 pastel sold at Sotheby's on May 2 for $119.92 million, the record auction price for any work of art. Black, listed in the current issue of ARTnews as one of the world's top 10 collectors, is founder, … [Read more...] about Did Leon Black Buy Munch’s “The Scream”?

Dorothy Kosinski, in front of Helen Frankenthaler's "Canyon," 1965Photo: © Mary Noble OursIt's not uncommon for art museum directors and visual artists to be named to the National Council on the Arts, the advisory body to the National Endowment for the Arts, which reviews NEA's grants, guidelines and initiatives. (James Ballinger, director of the Phoenix Art Museum is currently … [Read more...] about Dorothy Kosinski, Phillips Collection’s Director, Named to National Council on the Humanities (plus some musings on NEA)

Harold Holzer: Downsized job descriptionHarold Holzer, the Metropolitan Museum's veteran senior vice president for external affairs, is not in the habit of publicizing director Tom Campbell's and president Emily Rafferty's internal staff memos. But he apparently got authorization to release this one, which just landed in numerous inboxes (including mine): THE METROPOLITAN … [Read more...] about Memo Re: Harold Holzer—Metropolitan Museum Seeking New Head of Communications, Marketing, Visitor Services

Eli Broad In all my years covering museums, I've never heard the kind of rhetoric applied to museum practices that Eli Broad employs in his Op-Ed piece for tomorrow's LA Times (online today). I've also never seen a "life trustee," who is not even a voting member of the museum's board, become the sole spokesperson for that institution during a time of crisis. Today, the LA … [Read more...] about Eli Broad Becomes LA MOCA Spokesperson: Seeking “Cost-Effective” Exhibitions

Jeffrey Deitch As I mentioned in my KCRW radio commentary, Jeffrey Deitch was hired as director of LA MOCA (effective June 1, 2010) to be a game-changer. It's important to remember, though, that there was nothing wrong with MOCA's curatorial game as it existed under previous director Jeremy Strick. MOCA's exhibition program was already widely esteemed and shows organized by … [Read more...] about Fiscal Fizzle: Jeffrey Deitch’s MOCA Fundraising

My apologies for giving you the wrong live-listening link on my last post. But you can now hear me (lead-off witness, coming back again near the end), LA Times art critic Christopher Knight and Robert Storr, dean of Yale University's School of Art, discussing the future of LA MOCA, pegged to Paul Schimmel's recent, sudden departure from its chief curatorship. Just click the … [Read more...] about Hear Us Now: Christopher Knight, Robert Storr and Me, Broadcasting on the MOCA Mess

Warren Olney, host of KCRW's "Which Way, L.A.?"If all goes according to plan you can hear me comment on the MOCA mess this evening on KCRW radio , along with LA Times art critic Christopher Knight and Robert Storr, dean of Yale University's School of Art. I'll be crunching numbers and they'll be crunching Jeffrey Deitch on Warren Olney's Which Way, LA?. You can listen live to … [Read more...] about Coming Soon: My LA MOCA Commentary (with Knight, Storr) on “Which Way, LA?” UPDATED

Logo for Jesús Vico, S.A., the Madrid dealer/auctioneer selling the ex-Archer Huntington coinsFor those of you who have followed my investigative reports on the Hispanic Society of America's deplorable coin disposal and its aftermath, there's a new development.Results are at last online for the first resale-auction, June 26, organized by Jesús Vico, the prominent Madrid coin … [Read more...] about Breaking Up Hispanic Society’s Collection: Price List Published for Recent Madrid Sale of 1,004 Coins

Kimberly Camp, former director of the Barnes FoundationThe Barnes Foundation's former director, Kimberly Camp, who has been under-the-radar since being replaced by current director Derek Gillman, has come back into public view with a vengeance and is likely to be a loose cannon. She is writing a tell-all book, tentatively titled, "Defending the Dead: The totally true story … [Read more...] about Barnes Yarns: What is Ex-Director Kimberly Camp Thinking? CLARIFIED

LA MOCA's flagship building on Grand Avenue The fallout from Paul Schimmel's lamentable exit from the chief curatorship of the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art is a reputational hit from which director Jeffrey Deitch may not recover. The outcry in the press and on MOCA"s own blog over Schimmel's dismissal/resignation (depending on whom you talk to) confirms what I … [Read more...] about MOCA Mess: Deitch/Schimmel Rupture Exposes Pitfalls of Dealer-to-Director