Lee Rosenbaum's cultural commentary

In Monday's post about the latest regrettable sales of art from the collection of Randolph College's Maier Museum, I adopted the NY Times' use of the term "cash cow" to signify what I've previously dubbed "deplorable deaccessions"---museums' disposals of art to raise money for purposes other than acquisitions. My own past use of "cash cow" has referred to a another dicey … [Read more...] about More on “Cash Cow” Collections: Scotland’s Dazzling Rent-a-Show at the De Young

While a front-page NY Times piece by Doreen Carvajal yesterday focused primarily on recent European examples of museums' holdings being regarded as possible "cash cows" (in the words of the headline), an under-the-radar development in the U.S. has just added another chapter to the saga of deplorable deaccessions from Randolph College's Maier Museum. Randolph President … [Read more...] about “Cash Cow” Collections: Two More Maier Museum Works Sold, by Hicks & Hennings

Just when Klaus Biesenbach must have thought the critics' response to his Björk retrospective couldn't get worse, he became the butt of an unfunny April Fools joke today on the website of the Art Newspaper. There's admittedly much to debate about the Museum of Modern Art's chief curator-at-large, who undeniably has had a mixed track record of hits and misses. But the … [Read more...] about Grousing about Klaus: Biesenbach and MoMA Get Björked

William Griswold came to the Cleveland Museum of Art ready to party. With the museum celebrating its centennial in 2016, "there will be the requisite parties all year long, starting early in the year but certainly reaching a fevered pitch in June [the anniversary month]," he told me over lunch while visiting to work on two articles, including this Wall Street Journal review of … [Read more...] about Extolling Viñoly: Q&A with Bill Griswold on Cleveland’s New Additions & How He’ll Pay for Them

As I suggest in my Wall Street Journal review on tomorrow's "Arts in Review" page (online now), the Cleveland Museum's stunning installation of what Westerners (but not the creators themselves) call "Senufo" art produces an immediate "wow" effect. But the museum's African art curator, Constantine Petridis, had a didactic, as well as aesthetic, agenda in how he orchestrated … [Read more...] about Boffo Senufo: Companion Images for My WSJ Piece on Cleveland Museum’s African Show

While Christie's last week was triumphantly totaling up some $131.6 million in sales from the estate of the consummate Chinese art connoisseur, collector and dealer, Robert Ellsworth, the Metropolitan Museum's Asian Art Department chairman, Maxwell "Mike" Hearn, was quietly anticipating some Ellsworth worth for his own institution. "It's a new golden age," Hearn told me … [Read more...] about More Metropolitan Museum Good News: Elated Over Ellsworth, Chipper About Chipperfield

UPDATE: Michael Taylor promptly replied to my post: This is an ongoing situation and all I can say right now is that: "I have left my position as Director of the Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth College to pursue other career opportunities." Under mysterious circumstances, Michael Taylor has abruptly exited Dartmouth's Hood Museum, which he directed since 2011, after having … [Read more...] about Mysterious Disappearance: Michael Taylor’s Unceremonious Departure from Dartmouth’s Hood Museum UPDATED

Part I is here. During our recent phone conversation, Daniel Weiss, soon-to-be president of the Metropolitan Museum, repeatedly (and understandably) deflected my persistent queries seeking specific details about what he hopes to accomplish at the Met. "I'm not there yet!" he patiently reminded me. What Weiss did convey to me was a deep, sympathetic understanding of … [Read more...] about Weiss’ Wishes: Dan’s Plans for the Metropolitan Museum–Part II

Part II is here. In our wide-ranging phone conversation yesterday, Daniel Weiss demonstrated analytic acumen, unforced candor and fluid articulateness that should serve him well as the next president of the Metropolitan Museum. The first thing that impressed me about Dan was his willingness to talk to me at all, in light of yesterday's CultureGrrl post, in which I … [Read more...] about Bridging the Scholarly/Administrative Divide: My Q&A with Daniel Weiss, Metropolitan Museum’s Next President—Part I

More on this here and here. Daniel Weiss' attractiveness as incoming president of the Metropolitan Museum---a post he is to assume this summer--derives more from his deep knowledge of art history than from his brief, mixed record as Haverford College's president. With an art history PhD from Johns Hopkins and an MBA from Yale, this Medieval Studies specialist has a … [Read more...] about Hard Times at Haverford: Recent Travails of Daniel Weiss, Metropolitan Museum’s Incoming President

As revealed in its 2014 Annual Report, released on Monday, Sotheby's sustained a 9% drop in its net income (profits), compared to 2013. Its profitability has been under close scrutiny ever since activist investor Dan Loeb launched his attack on management. But this drop in profitability seems less significant after analyzing what caused it: Last year's $12 million decline in … [Read more...] about Sotheby’s Annual Report: Doubled Cap on Guarantees; Reduced Profits Attributable to Investor Activism

In light of news reports that some of the objects seen being smashed by members of ISIS in videos widely circulated yesterday may have been replicas, I have sought clarification from the Metropolitan Museum (which yesterday issued a forceful statement decrying the destruction) and from archaeologist Pedro Azara, who had worked on a dig near Mosul and had described unstable … [Read more...] about ISIS Crisis: Archaeologist Pedro Azara, UNESCO, AAMD & AIA on the Mosul Museum Attack UPDATED

Tom Campbell, director of the Metropolitan Museum, was among those sickened by the videos released today by Islamic State (to which I shall not link) showing militants smashing archaeological artifacts (which they regard as forms of idolatry) from Iraq’s Mosul Museum. The museum was also looted during the 2003 Iraq war. Here in full is Campbell's statement, issued … [Read more...] about Metropolitan Museum Decries “Catastrophic Destruction” of Mosul Museum’s Collection

As CultureGrrl readers may remember, the Cleveland Museum's great Caravaggio, "The Crucifixion of Saint Andrew," 1606-1607, was recently used as a bargaining chip by that institution's previous director, David Franklin, to salvage a nearly sabotaged show of antiquities loaned from Sicily. But that proposed loan to Sicily was subsequently scrapped (or at least postponed) … [Read more...] about “Crucifixion” Conservation: Cleveland Museum’s Time-Ravaged Caravaggio (with video)

The ebullient, always welcoming William Griswold is a ubiquitous presence at the Cleveland Museum of Art, where he assumed the directorship in May. After hearing him introduce two scholarly lectures related to the museum's exhibition program... ...I kept seeing Bill popping up around the premises, engaging with visitors and staff at every turn. During the time that he … [Read more...] about From “Griddle Griswold” to “Twister Griswold”: New Outreach by Cleveland Museum’s Playful Director (with video)