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My doubts about whether the chief source for the NY Times' Afghanistan antiquities article yesterday was adequately vetted for reliability made me think again about the lamentable three-week silence of the paper's new public editor, Clark Hoyt. My concern for his (and his mission's) welfare prompted me to reread the the May 4 official announcement of his appointment, where I … [Read more...] about No News is Good News for the NY Times Public Editor

There are so many problematic aspects surrounding Robin Pogrebin's story in yesterday's NY Times about the allegedly "unconscionable" financial arrangements between the National Geographic Society and the government of Afghanistan, for a proposed tour of that country's Bactrian hoard, that it's hard to know where to begin. Critics cited in the article charge that Afghanistan is … [Read more...] about Afghanistan Attack: Who is Lynne Munson?

Randy Kennedy has already posted four items today for the NY Times' ArtsBeat blog from Venice, and he did it all in less than four hours: the airport, the parties, the American VIPs, the Canadian pavilion. Now we're cooking. I knew all that energy he spent stalking the Metropolitan Museum admissions staff and the denizens of Chelsea would some day be put to better use. Here's a … [Read more...] about Now THIS Is a Blog: Dandy Randy Kennedy in Venice

Rendering of the New 2 Columbus Circle When I was in Seattle at the end of April for the press preview of architect Brad Cloepfil's addition to the Seattle Art Museum, he had invited me to attend the May 3 hardhat tour for his redesign of 2 Columbus Circle in New York, the future home of the Museum of Arts & Design. But after I got home, the invitation was rescinded by his … [Read more...] about The Reptilian Lollipop: 2 Columbus Circle Sheds Its Skin

I deliberately waited a couple of days before discussing the new, souped-up Sotheby's website, because the Sunday launch, while fully functional, still looked interim: It was visually barebones, and "receive" was misspelled twice as "recieve." Don't techies use spellcheck? Today it's proofread, dressed up and ready to go, although still not officially launched, I suppose, … [Read more...] about MySotheby’s: Greatly Improved Website Still a Work-in-Progress

Yes! The NY Times ArtsBeat blog has announced (in its righthand column) that it's going to be covering "art in Venice." I'd been hoping The Beat would pound at this summer's European art fairs and festivals. Now it will! But while it's at the Venice Biennale (opening to the public, beginning Saturday, to Nov. 21), is the Times going to cover this dispute? If they'd also blog … [Read more...] about NY Times ArtsBeat Goes Visual in Venice

Damien Hirst, "For the Love of God," 2007, platinum, diamonds and human teeth Photo: Prudence Cuming Associates What to make of Damien Hirst's "For the Love of God," the $99-million, diamond-studded, tongueless tongue-wagger now preening at White Cube Mason's Yard gallery in London, the centerpiece of his solo exhibition Beyond Belief (to July 7)? I regard Hirst as … [Read more...] about Diamond Damien: Evil Genius or Profound Provocateur?

Speaking of publishers' press-copy lists, I just got a copy of the book I was afraid I'd be professionally obligated to read: Danielle Ganek's Lulu Meets God and Doubts Him. Now I'm even more afraid, since it's gotten surprisingly good reviews for its incisive inside portrayal of artworld denizens. And Guggenheim Museum director, Lisa Dennison, even threw it a book party. … [Read more...] about CultureGrrl Meets Lulu and Doubts Her

Ralph Frammolino, part of the tenacious investigative duo at the LA Times (also including Jason Felch) that brought down Barry Munitz's presidency at the J. Paul Getty Trust, is one of 60 journalists leaving the paper as part of its overhaul under new publisher David Hiller. Felch informs me that Frammolino volunteered for a buyout, "feeling his 27+ years at the paper were … [Read more...] about No More “Felcholino” at the LA Times

MySotheby's, the auction house's revved-up website, has liftoff. (More on that later.) The anticipated weekly column of Clark Hoyt, the NY Times new public editor, still hasn't launched. But later on the same day that I lamented the long snooze of the Times' ArtsBeat blog, music critic James Oestreich finally woke it up, blogging from the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, SC. … [Read more...] about Follow-Ups on the News in CultureGrrl

Looks like Sotheby's may be getting ready for the launch of mySotheby's. But couldn't their techies have accomplished this without forcing their website to go dead, just before the important London auctions? By the way, I'm getting a bit irritated by how Christie's keeps puffing itself, in its press releases, as "the world's leading art business." It now seems that whenever … [Read more...] about Sotheby’s Website Down, Competition Up

I loved "The Clark Brothers Collect" when I saw it last summer at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, MA, and I still liked it, but not as much, at the Metropolitan Museum (to Aug. 19). The problem is that these Impressionist and modern paintings, while glorious, are very familiar to anyone who's a habitué of these two museums: Sterling Clark founded the Clark Institute to … [Read more...] about Met’s “Clark Brothers” Downplays Sibling Rivalry

That was quick. Here's the story, from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. … [Read more...] about Potts to Fitzwilliam at Cambridge

A particularly complicated passage in "Sequence," 2006, Collection of Richard Serra It's not often that you see seen-it-all art journalists and critics walk through an art installation with jaws permanently dropped. But when I first realized, while perambulating Richard Serra's three new tours de force, that my crooked mouth had slackened into a torqued ellipse, I looked … [Read more...] about Terra Serra: Swept Away by MoMA’s New Installation

It took them almost three months, but The Montgomery County Commissioners has finally gotten around to hiring an attorney, Mark Schwartz of Bryn Mawr, pursuant to their resolution to seek "proposals from law firms to explore legal strategies and options" to keep the Barnes Fourdation from moving to Philadelphia. He faces a formidable challenge: A court case has already been … [Read more...] about Battle of the Barnes: Montgomery County Hires a Lawyer