With art-market pundits expressing cautious pessimism (here, here and here) about the prospects for this week's underwhelming Impressionist/Modern and Contemporary offerings at the New York auction houses, it's not the most auspicious of times for Sotheby's to be seeking solid footing after a management upheaval---a new owner, Patrick Drahi, and new CEO, Charles Stewart. At … [Read more...] about Big Learning Curve for Sotheby’s New CEO in a Season of Lowered Expectations: My Q&As
Discriminatingly Nondiscriminatory: MoMA Expands the Canon (but Leaves Out Native Americans)
Although I griped in my previous post about jarring juxtapositions of strange bedfellows in the reinstalled Museum of Modern Art, I also came across new matches made at MoMA that seemed meant-to-be. Those involved works that strongly resonated with each other, but that might not have been previously displayed together because artists from certain demographics---women, … [Read more...] about Discriminatingly Nondiscriminatory: MoMA Expands the Canon (but Leaves Out Native Americans)
Picasso Fiasco: Jarring Juxtapositions & Missed Connections at the New MoMA
The aggressively transgressive new MoMA, trying to combat museum-ennui by shaking up its displays, has aimed its cannon at the canon. Its disruptive installation strategy audaciously breaches traditional geographic, temporal and art-historical boundaries, arranging shotgun marriages among strange (and strained) bedfellows and sundering longtime soulmates. Particularly … [Read more...] about Picasso Fiasco: Jarring Juxtapositions & Missed Connections at the New MoMA
“Getty Fire” Update: “Improved but Still Active”
This just in from Lisa Lapin, the Getty Trust’s vice president for communications, who this morning gave me a comprehensive report on the effect of the wildfire that had encroached on the Getty Center's property (but not on the museum itself): Situation improved, but still active. Fire Department estimates 48-72 hours to control and extinguish, according to their last press … [Read more...] about “Getty Fire” Update: “Improved but Still Active”
Worse Than 2017: The Getty’s Emergency Response to the Fire on Its Property
More on this here. Dubbed #GettyFire on Twitter, the conflagration threatening the Getty Center in LA today is a worse threat that the wildfire that menaced it in 2017. Unlike the previous one (about which I reported here), which was across the 405 freeway from the Getty, this one is "100% on our side of the 405, immediately north and west of us, and on our property … [Read more...] about Worse Than 2017: The Getty’s Emergency Response to the Fire on Its Property
Where Am I? MoMA’s Impermanent Displays of Its Permanent Collection (with video)
Which Way to Starry Night? That headline for Robin Pogrebin's NY Times report on the recently reopened Museum of Modern Art captures the disorientation of visitors as they attempt to figure out what's where in museum displays that have been expanded and entirely reshuffled. Here's one guidepost that flummoxed me at the press preview, as I tried to find my way to Gallery 516 … [Read more...] about Where Am I? MoMA’s Impermanent Displays of Its Permanent Collection (with video)
Confronting the MoMA Monster: How Its Rehang Lynches the Collection
How do I not love the Museum of Modern Art's reinstallation of its permanent collection in it expanded, renovated galleries? Let me count the ways. The galleries featuring two of MoMA's most beloved works best exemplify what's wrong with the museum's wayward arrays. As my Twitter followers already know, I managed to get a privileged look at what is arguably the museum's … [Read more...] about Confronting the MoMA Monster: How Its Rehang Lynches the Collection
“The Frick Breuer”? Metropolitan Museum May Hand Over the Keys for the Whitney’s Rental in July…
...or maybe not. The Metropolitan Museum last year had agreed to let the Frick Collection take over the Met's lease next summer on the Whitney Museum's Marcel Breuer-designed former home, conveniently located just a few blocks north of the Frick. But whether this bit of musical chairs will actually happen remains uncertain. The Frick still hopes to mount displays next … [Read more...] about “The Frick Breuer”? Metropolitan Museum May Hand Over the Keys for the Whitney’s Rental in July…
Balking at Walker: Darren, Ford Foundation’s President, Becomes National Gallery’s New Trustee
The news that Darren Walker, activist president of the deep-pocketed Ford Foundation, has been named as one of the National Gallery of Art's five "general trustees" (as distinguished from its trustees emeriti and ex officio members) gave me pause. My misgivings arose from what struck me as Walker's astonishingly clueless views on the current state of American museums, as … [Read more...] about Balking at Walker: Darren, Ford Foundation’s President, Becomes National Gallery’s New Trustee
Brazilian Whistle-Blower: Conservationist Roberto Burle Marx at the New York Botanical Garden
Brazilian Modern: The Living Art of Roberto Burle Marx turned out to be more timely than the New York Botanical Garden could have known when it began to organize what it billed as its "largest botanical exhibition ever." But the show, which closes Sunday, muffed its opportunity to make a strong stand in defense of these plants on their home turf in the wild---the Amazon rain … [Read more...] about Brazilian Whistle-Blower: Conservationist Roberto Burle Marx at the New York Botanical Garden
Burnishing Bertoldo: The Frick Spotlights Donatello’s Pupil/Michelangelo’s Teacher (with video)
Bertoldo di Giovanni, a favorite of Lorenzo de' Medici and now the subject of a compact but comprehensive Frick Collection survey (to Jan. 12), is a Florentine sculptor who has been overshadowed by his more illustrious teacher (Donatello) and revered pupil (Michelangelo). As with last year's Leonardo show at Yale, which explored the blurred lines between Italian Renaissance … [Read more...] about Burnishing Bertoldo: The Frick Spotlights Donatello’s Pupil/Michelangelo’s Teacher (with video)
Nature Calls: Blenheim Palace Gives Thieves a Golden Opportunity to Steal Cattelan’s Toilet
Q: How do you invite thieves to steal a famous, expensive, publicly exhibited artwork? A: Publicly announce that no guards are protecting it. That strange-but-true scenario played out very early yesterday morning at Blenheim Palace, birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill. In talking last August about plans for a Maurizio Cattelan show, Victory Is Not an Option (which opened on … [Read more...] about Nature Calls: Blenheim Palace Gives Thieves a Golden Opportunity to Steal Cattelan’s Toilet
$8.27 Million & Counting: Metropolitan Museum’s Disposable Irving Gift of Chinese Art
When I attended the the Metropolitan Museum's celebratory press conference in March 2015 that announced multiple major benefactions to its Asian Art Department, little did I know that five years later the Met would auction off a good chunk of those lauded gifts---more than 300 of the 1,277 works of Asian art given by then trustee emerita Florence Irving and her husband … [Read more...] about $8.27 Million & Counting: Metropolitan Museum’s Disposable Irving Gift of Chinese Art
Toxic or Tonic? The Late David Koch’s Munificent Cultural Philanthropy (with video)
I did a double-take recently while reading this excerpt from the first paragraph of Robin Pogrebin’s and Elizabeth Harris’ mostly hagiographic eulogy for the late David Koch as arts donor: Within cultural circles, he was largely uncontroversial, a result of his prodigiously generous support for the arts and the enthusiasm he demonstrated for institutions like Lincoln Center … [Read more...] about Toxic or Tonic? The Late David Koch’s Munificent Cultural Philanthropy (with video)
Failed Diplomacy: Can Lonnie Bunch, Smithsonian’s New Secretary, Out-Bully the Bully-in-Chief?
I was jolted by several seismic "did-he-really-say-that?" shocks while reading Peggy McGlone's excerpts in the Washington Post from Lonnie Bunch III's upcoming memoir about the creation of the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Bunch founded and led the NMAAHC before his promotion in June to the top spot at the Smithsonian Institution (which oversees the … [Read more...] about Failed Diplomacy: Can Lonnie Bunch, Smithsonian’s New Secretary, Out-Bully the Bully-in-Chief?