Lee Rosenbaum's cultural commentary

I've written often over the years about museums' givebacks of antiquities to countries of origin. But the Metropolitan Museum's eyebrow-raising announcement (via this court document) that it is returning monetary contributions it received from the indicted Sam Bankman-Fried (aka: SBF), founder of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange, is a reversal that rarely (if ever) happens in … [Read more...] about FTX Hex at the Met: Givebacks of Bankman-Fried’s Problematic Benefactions

Notwithstanding the eager visitors who have been drawn to the Metropolitan Museum's current crowd-magnet---Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty (to July 16), I found the show repellent, and not only because of the late designer's distasteful views that have been called out by several commentators. In its installation missteps, its awkwardly written labels and, especially, in its … [Read more...] about “Lagerfeld” Saga: Metropolitan Museum’s Costume Institute Needs a Rewrite (so might “Pueblo Pottery”)

I could say that I told you so, but in this case, I take no delight in being right. By now you've probably heard the (heart)breaking news: "Sotheby’s said that it has purchased the Whitney Museum of American Art’s 1966 Brutalist building by Marcel Breuer on Madison Avenue and will move its headquarters there from York Avenue in 2025," (in the words of Robin Pogrebin's report … [Read more...] about Whitney Spits Out Its Breuer, While Sotheby’s Salivates

The press spokesperson for the National Gallery, Washington, alerted me late Friday to a breaking development in the case of the attack on its beloved treasure---Degas’ unique, original wax version of “Little Dancer Aged Fourteen": The two alleged perpetrators---Timothy Martin of North Carolina and Joanna Smith of New York, both 53, were taken into custody on May 26 after … [Read more...] about Stop the Music! Degas “Little Dancer’s” Alleged Attackers Indicted

In an unfortunate coincidence, the Whitney Museum sold seven works from its collection on the evening of and on the day after the museum's May 16 gala celebration and studio party honoring the exhibition of Jaune Quick-to-See Smith: Memory Map and marking the imminent conclusion of the distinguished 20-year directorship of Adam Weinberg. In March, he announced that he'd hand … [Read more...] about Whitney’s Unlucky 7: Dicey Auction Disposals Coincided with Gala Under Departing Director Adam Weinberg (UPDATED)

Like many lifelong habitués of the Metropolitan Museum, I have mixed feelings about the growing impetus to return to "countries of origin" works that have been gathered by the Met's curator-connoisseurs and long treasured by the museum's local, national and international audiences. Clearly, stolen artworks should go back to their rightful owners, unless a win-win compromise can … [Read more...] about Collection Redirection: Pointed Commentary from “a Source Close to the Met” on the Flood of Givebacks

The deplorable, irrational attempts to gain support for climate activism by attacking iconic artworks have sadly resumed, after a brief hiatus, with today's attack on Degas' unique, original wax version of "Little Dancer Aged Fourteen"--a beloved treasure of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, which has attracted international admirers around the world, thanks to the … [Read more...] about (Heart)Breaking News: The Original Wax Version of Degas’ “Little Dancer” Attacked at National Gallery, DC UPDATED

I've been covering the artworld long enough to remember the celebrated "détente" exhibitions, jointly organized by cultural institutions in Russia and the US during a period from the late 1960s to the late 1970s, when tensions between the two countries eased under American Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford and Russian leader Leonid Brezhnev. The most prominent … [Read more...] about From Détente to Rent (as in, “ripped apart”): Planned Displays in US & Russia Shredded by Strife in Ukraine

I had tried to suspend my disbelief (but not to squelch my excitement) when I heard the news, almost two years ago, that the “Pompidou x Jersey City” would be coming to a renovated, repurposed 1912 building, a mere 10 miles south of La Maison Rosenbaum in The Garden State. That said, the projected opening date of the Jersey Pompidou (as of two weeks ago, when I asked for … [Read more...] about Pomp(idou) & Circumstance: Will a New Mayor Affect Plans for a Jersey City Outpost of Paris Museum?

In a livestreamed symposium last Friday about insights and issues raised by the Met's recent Chroma exhibition, Seán Hemingway, the Metropolitan Museum's curator of Greek and Roman Art, diplomatically soft-pedaled his ambivalence about the jarring interventions in his galleries by archaeologist Vinzenz Brinkmann of the Liebieghaus Sculpture Collection in Frankfurt and his wife, … [Read more...] about Battling “The Boxer”: Should the Met Juxtapose Modern “Reconstructions” with Ancient Originals?

It's as if the disposal disputes that roiled Brandeis University, Randolph College and La Salle University had never happened: In those three infamous cases involving art museums under the auspices of educational institutions, the schools' trustees and administrators saw fit to monetize their art to provide cash for operating expenses or capital projects, contrary to the … [Read more...] about Brauer Error: Ditch Ethical Norms to Pay for Dorms?

It's small recompense for having been unceremoniously dumped from a much publicized, coveted commission. But British architect David Chipperfield must have felt at least a twinge of satisfaction in thumbing his nose at his fickle client, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, on the occasion of his having been named as the recipient of architecture's highest (and most lucrative) … [Read more...] about Revenge Is Sweet? Chipperfield Wields His ’23 Pritzker Prize to Cudgel the Metropolitan Museum

I can't be the only veteran NY Philharmonic subscriber who rubbed her eyes and raised her eyebrows upon reading (in Derek Lawrence's recent Vanity Fair article) that Gustavo Dudamel, now the director-designate of New York's premier symphony orchestra, had semi-jokingly offered his current job as the LA Philharmonic's director, to actress Cate Blanchett, on the strength of her … [Read more...] about Dudamel Dazzles New York with Hollywood Stardust (but the orchestra’s core audience is slighted)

Cue the "Bravo Gustavo" ovations! The NY Philharmonic today announced that "conductor Gustavo Dudamel will become the orchestra’s next Music Director, beginning in the 2026–27 season, succeeding Jaap van Zweden. Dudamel will hold the title of Music and Artistic Director of the New York Philharmonic for a five-year term, after serving as Music Director Designate during the … [Read more...] about Bravo Gustavo: Is Dudamel’s Appointment (to Lead the NY Philharmonic) Deborah Borda’s Parting Gift ?

Why was the opening at the National Gallery of Art of the much anticipated (and much delayed) Philip Guston Now retrospective postponed yet again? It's already been seen at both the Boston and Houston Museums of Fine Arts, so I did a doubletake on Jan. 19, when a "News Brief" from the NGA hit my inbox with the surprise announcement that the Washington opening date for the … [Read more...] about “Philip Guston Now”…(but not quite yet)