Lee Rosenbaum's cultural commentary

I was saddened by the recent news that Dimitrios Pandermalis, 82, the guiding spirit behind the New Acropolis Museum in Athens, had died---not only because he had always graciously answered my pesky questions and had been a kind, informative host when I visited Greece as an invited speaker at the 2008 "Athens International Conference on the Return of Cultural Objects to their … [Read more...] about Dimitrios Pandermalis, Acropolis Museum’s Devoted Champion, Dies (but Campaign to Reunite Marbles lives)

Reading Wednesday's announcement from the World Monuments Fund (WMF) of a plan "for the creation of new high-resolution digital documentation of the Cave of Altamira" took be back to one of my favorite journalistic jaunts ever---my firsthand exploration (for a 2001 Wall Street Journal review) of the original cave's famed 14,500-year-old wall paintings, followed by a … [Read more...] about Mirroring Altamira: Plan for High-Res Digital Documentation of Prehistoric Cave (plus: my own visits)

I've known and liked the knowledgeable, affable David Breslin when he served at the Clark Art Institute (where I first met him when he was associate director of the Clark’s Research and Academic Program and its associate curator of contemporary projects) and at the Whitney Museum (where he was curator and director of the collection, and subsequently curator and director of … [Read more...] about My Take on the Met’s Appointment of David Breslin as New Head of Modern & Contemporary Art

I did a déjà-vu doubletake upon reading on Wednesday that "a foundation for CBS founder William Paley plans to auction off [at Sotheby's, in both London and New York] a trove of masterpieces long lent [emphasis added] to New York’s Museum of Modern Art for at least $70 million this fall to expand the museum’s digital footprint," in the words of Kelly Crow's Wall Street Journal … [Read more...] about Impaling Paley: MoMA, “Entrusted” with the Broadcast Mogul’s Collection, Violates His Trust

As someone with a lust for culture, from the time of my wide-eyed childhood in the Bronx to my bleary-eyed advanced years in Northern New Jersey, I've counted on two constant sources of aesthetic sustenance---the music of the NY Philharmonic and the masterpieces of Metropolitan Museum of Art. But lately I've been jolted by a noxious noise emanating from many of my favorite Met … [Read more...] about Repatriation Ruminations: How Can US Museums Stop Hemorrhaging Art?

A Cultural Legacy---the title of Seattle Art Museum's (SAM's) 2019-2020 one-at-a-time display of three works (a Lucian Freud, a Botticelli and an O'Keeffe) from the late Paul Allen's collection---may have reflected some understandable (but erroneous) wishful thinking on the part of the museum's officials regarding the eventual fate of his holdings. Might their institution have … [Read more...] about Paul Allen’s Dicey “Legacy”: From Museum Exposure to Private Ownership? (CORRECTED)

For better or worse, Melvin Edwards, now 85, is probably destined always to be best known for his grimly provocative, widely exhibited "Lynch Fragments"---small wall-mounted assemblages, composed of pieces of dark welded steel (both found and fabricated), that evoke broken chains and other instruments of bondage and brutality. Four of these totemic works were acquired this year … [Read more...] about Melvin Edwards Unchained: Ascending from “Lynch Fragments” to “Brighter Days”

As my readers know, I'm all in favor of hard-hitting investigative reporting. But I was astonished by the NY Times' focus on the Metropolitan Museum's two 10th-century Koh Ker “Kneeling Attendants” (repatriated in 2013) as the principal objects of contention in its long P.1 exposé---Cambodia Says It’s Found Its Lost Artifacts: In Gallery 249 at the Met. First, let me expose … [Read more...] about NY Times Ignores Facts about Metropolitan Museum’s Proactive, Principled Return of Cambodian “Attendants”

In his intrepid---even heroic---on-the-ground exploration (here, here, here and here) of the deplorable endangerment of embattled Ukraine's cultural heritage, Jason Farago of the NY Times has gone where most art journalists would fear to tread: He has provided moving personal accounts of ad hoc actions by Ukrainian art professionals and concerned citizens who have valiantly … [Read more...] about Not a Zero-Sum Game: Protecting Ukrainians While Taking Steps to Preserve Cultural Sites & Property

Daniel Weiss has just resigned himself to lame-ducksmanship, almost a year before he will officially step down from his position as CEO and President of the Metropolitan Museum. This interim period will give the Met a chance to get its administrative act together, but it may diminish Dan's clout and effectiveness at a time when the Met faces challenges on many fronts. We … [Read more...] about Wholly Hollein’s: The Metropolitan Museum’s Director to Add CEO to His Title

Of all the offbeat market milestones at Sotheby's and Christie's that I've witnessed over the course of my checkered journalistic career (a record for a chastity belt comes to mind), this one ($2.77 million, including fees) for a celebrated U.S. astronaut's space garb, achieved on Tuesday afternoon at Sotheby's, New York, is not only one of the most arcane, but also one of the … [Read more...] about “One Giant Leap” for Commercial Exploitation? Sotheby’s & Buzz Aldrin Cash in on the Fabled Apollo 11 Moon Walk

In my previous post debunking the Metropolitan Museum's highly speculative new exhibition---Chroma: Ancient Sculpture in Color (to Mar. 26), I intentionally omitted mention of what is arguably the most important (and most debatable) piece in the show---the "reconstructed" copy of the ancient Greek masterpiece that had most riveted me when I had the privilege of admiring the … [Read more...] about Battle of “The Boxer”: Grappling with Brinkmann’s 2022 Reimagination after Accepting the Met’s 2013 Elucidation

Ever since I learned that ancient Greek and Roman sculptures were originally cloaked in color (not in shades of ivory and beige, as they appear today in their faded state), I've been curious to learn more. Disappointingly, the Metropolitan Museum's new exhibition exploring "polychromy"---the use of color in ancient art---left me longing for less. The tempting description … [Read more...] about Garish, Gaudy, Goofy: Seeing Double from Metropolitan Museum’s “Chroma” Clones of Ancient Statues

This hit me hard. On Tuesday, an announcement from the Metropolitan Museum landed in my inbox with a thud: I have admired Daniel Weiss' skill, knowledge and proactive approach in deftly steering the Metropolitan Museum through troubled waters since he arrived in 2015, and I think he's been a much needed steadying influence after the instability of the Tom Campbell years. … [Read more...] about Weiss Flight: The Challenges Confronting the Metropolitan Museum’s Next President

Sam Gilliam, as Alex Greenberger pointed out in yesterday's online obit for ARTnews, has always been in the artworld's eye. But with today's diversity-conscious emphasis on artists of color, his mesmerizingly mottled canvases, textured surfaces and other inventions have lately gained status as museum must-haves. Simplistically classified as the works of a Washington Color … [Read more...] about Coming Full Circle: Sam Gilliam, 88, Shapeshifter & Quintessential Colorist