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Don't worry. He's not leaving yet. But in an interview with Danny Daniziger, the London-based author of the new oral-history book, Museum: Behind the Scenes at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (above), director Philippe de Montebello poignantly anticipates his "one last walk" at the Met. The book is a series of short transcripts from Danziger's interviews with 49 Met-sters, … [Read more...] about Philippe’s Last Waltz (with Tears)

Alice Walton at the Crystal Bridges Construction Site I am not one of those who have criticized Alice Walton for buying important works from the collections of cultural institutions. When NY Times chief art critic Michael Kimmelman blasted her for "raiding the New York Public Library in 2005 for a civic landmark, Asher B. Durand's 'Kindred Spirits," I wrote: She didn't … [Read more...] about Alice Walton’s Bleeding Heart: A Paean to “Donor’s Intent”

It would be so nice if Alice Walton, who is seeking to buy a "50% undivided interest" in Fisk University's Alfred Stieglitz Collection for $30 million, would learn the correct spelling of "Steiglitz." In the four-page letter signed by Walton, informing Tennessee Attorney General Robert Cooper of her dramatic proposal, she (or, more likely, her lawyers) put Stieglitz's "e" … [Read more...] about Memo to Alice Walton: If You Want to Buy Into Fisk’s Collection, Learn How to Spell It

If you're trying to take on the powers that be, you'd best present a united front. But when attorney Mark Schwartz yesterday filed a 79-page petition in Montgomery County Orphans Court, asking Judge Stanley Ott to rescind his permission for the Barnes Foundation's board to move its collection from from Merion, PA, to Philadelphia, he did so on behalf of the Friends of the … [Read more...] about Disarray on Both Sides of the Barnes Wars: Philly Movers and Merion Shakers UPDATED

Did you want to see the press grill officials of the Houston Museum of Natural Science about the controversial I Love Lucy show of the 3.2 million-year-old skeleton fossil, shipped here (very carefully) from Ethiopia? Now you can---in a live webcast tomorrow (Tuesday) at 10 a.m. John F.L. Ross of the Associated Press reports that firefighters battling blazes that are ravaging … [Read more...] about Clink These Links: Lucy Meets the Press, Flames Skirt Ancient Olympia, “Pollocks” Meet the Public

Egon Schiele, "Krumau - Crescent of Houses (The Small City V)," 1915 © The Israel Museum, Jerusalem From the "better late than never" files: The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, announced that it has finally launched an online catalogue of art and Judaica in its possession that may have been looted during World War II. The new posting is titled World War II Provenance Research Online. … [Read more...] about Israel Museum, At Last, Posts Possible Nazi Loot Online

A must-read for Columbia University's expansionists (and anyone else interested in how neighborhood opposition can scotch starchitect projects) is Joan Wickersham's article, What Gets Built at Harvard, What Doesn't, and Why, in the Sept.-Oct. issue of Harvard Magazine. The article reaffirms that the Renzo Piano-designed renovation and expansion of Harvard's Fogg Museum will not … [Read more...] about Harvard’s Architectural Deficit: How Town vs. Mortarboard Affects Bricks & Mortar

Another new entry in the art blogroll from the mainstream media: Figure Painting, started earlier this month by Portfolio, the new Condé Nast "business intelligence" magazine. It's by Callen Bair (above), whose prior journalistic credentials, according to her profile, appears to be limited to student work at the Daily Princetonian, "where she covered a variety of subjects and … [Read more...] about “Figure Painting”: New Art Blog at Portfolio Magazine

Maier Museum, Randolph College My moles tell me that the Washington Post is working on a story about the possible Randolph College art sales and the irony of their being contemplated during its Maier Museum's 100th anniversary year. The Post writer will surely want to peruse the unambiguous terms of the bequest of Louise Jordan Smith regarding the exclusive use of her … [Read more...] about Louise Jordan Smith’s Unambiguous Bequest for Randolph College Art Purchases

A CultureGrrl reader who is a curator at a major museum but felt he could not allow me to use his name without permission from his institution's communications department (which should tell you which museum it is---see third item in above-linked post) chided me for not mentioning, in my recent Peabody Essex report, what he called "the best Joseph Cornell book." It's the 2003 … [Read more...] about A Book and Interactive DVD for Joseph Cornell’s Interactive Boxes

To attract consignors who might be leery of selling in a climate of economic uncertainty, Sotheby's has boldly (if not rashly) upped the ante on its bet that art prices will stay firm this fall: Just two weeks ago, Sotheby's had filed a 10-Q financial report with the SEC stating that as of Aug. 7, it had outstanding guarantees totaling $274.9 million. (Guarantees are the … [Read more...] about Sotheby’s High-Flying Market Wager: $475 Million in Possible Guarantees to Consigors

Brooklyn's Mummy Movers Speaking of Lucy's fragile bones, what's up with the recent flurry of CT scans for museum mummies (here, here and here)? Has this become a hot new medical specialty? Do mummies leave the hospital none the worse for the ride and the radiation? In other words, as we urgently inquire about any elective medical procedure, do the benefits outweigh the … [Read more...] about High-Tech Mummy Diagnoses: Disturbing the Dead UPDATED

The Blogmobile In his Exhibitionist arts blog yesterday, Boston Globe reporter Geoff Edgers published four photos (including the above) that demonstrate why obsessive bloggers should never post and drive simultaneously. Geoff, didn't I tell you to keep two hands on the laptop at all times? The crumpled evidence notwithstanding, it appears that Geoff is okay, because he got … [Read more...] about Boston’s “Exhibitionist” Blogger Exhibits His Carwreck

Edward Hopper, "Mrs. Scott's House," 1932, 26" by 50½" Maier Museum, Louise Jordan Smith Fund Ginger Worden, outgoing interim president of financially strapped Randolph College (formerly Randolph-Macon Woman's College), Lynchburg, VA, announced yesterday in her final letter to faculty, staff, alumnae and trustees that the institution was filing a "request for a court opinion … [Read more...] about Court Opinion Sought to Permit Maier Museum Art Sales

Met Store at JFK Terminal 8, New York The market for the art of India may be weakening, according to Delhi dealers quoted recently in the Hindustan Times. But the market for faux art offered at the Metropolitan Museum's new store in Delhi is apparently booming. The Indo-Asian News Service reports: The stream of visitors has come as a pleasant surprise to the museum authorities, … [Read more...] about Monsoon Merchandising: Metropolitan Museum Hawks Reproductions in India