Charge: Government Starving UK's National Gallery Manager's of London's National Gallery charge that the government is starving the museum of cash. "The difficulties faced in making big acquisitions had almost reached 'crisis proportions', and the decline in the annual grant left 'nothing to spare'. Taking inflation into account, the gallery would need an extra £2.5m on top of the 2002-03 government grant of £20.4m to match the support offered, say, eight years ago." The Independent (UK) 10/01/03

US Supreme Court To Hear Nazi Loot Case The US Supreme Court says it will hear a case "about Nazi-era stolen art to clarify when foreign governments can be sued in U.S. courts. 'The diplomatic ramifications of a United States court holding that Austria, a nation friendly to the United States, must appear in a United States court to answer charges that it is actively advancing Nazi war-crimes in connection with a matter of extreme domestic importance to Austria, cannot be understated'." CBSNews.com 09/30/03

Barnes Strides Toward The Future The way seems clear for the Barnes Collection to move to Philadelphia and have a shot at becoming self-sustaining. But still, some "critics worry that the groundwork is being laid for a new 'MacBarnes', a user-friendly museum/mall of gift shops and computer nooks designed to maximise the number of visitors. For now, the Barnes’s petition retains Albert C. Barnes’s ban on lending or selling works from the collection but critics warn that this might be reconsidered in the future if expansion plans collapse." The Art Newspaper 09/26/03

A New Biennale For Edinburgh? There has been no small amount of grumbling about the fact that the big summer festivals in Edinburgh don't include a visual arts component. Now a high-profile group is attempting to start one. "The summer event - which would be modelled on the lines of the Venice Biennale, Europe’s leading visual arts festival, is likely to involve exhibitions, discussions and book-signings by leading figures in the art world, as well as giving contemporary Scottish artists a showcase opportunity." Scotland on Sunday 09/28/03

No Nudes, Please. Not In Public When five of 60 artists participating in a group studio show in a California county building submitted pictures of nudes, they were told they couldn't display them. The artists were told it was a county policy for "no nudity:" "The artists were told to take the nudes down because it was our feeling since the art is being displayed in a public place where the public is not coming to the building to see art but rather to do business, that there's a more appropriate place for the pieces. It's a public building, they're asking our permission to put their art there, and we have a say." The Union (Nevada County, CA) 09/30/03

Danielle Steel Opens A Gallery Mega-selling author Danielle Steel is opening a gallery in San Francisco. "She plans to favor work by lesser-known and younger artists. 'Not necessarily chronologically young, but those who are really struggling with something.' Steel anticipates skepticism and even ridicule in her new venture. 'The first thing that was said about us came from San Francisco Magazine. We hadn't even put the carpet in yet and they wrote, 'Can you spell dilettante'?"
San Francisco Chronicle 09/30/03

Adventures In Retailing - Museum Shuts Down For-Profit Retailer Two years ago, Boston's Museum of Fine Arts was the first American museum to create a private company to "run its gift shops, publish its glossy mail-order catalog, and hawk posters, T-shirts, and jewelry on the Internet." But "with the company losing $2.9 million its first year and $3 million for the fiscal year that ended June 2002, the museum could no longer support it," and so the company is being closed. Boston Globe 09/30/03

White Cube... It's So.... Yesterday! Dealer Charles Saatchi says the white box gallery space is dead. "Many in the art world, artists included, feel contemporary art can only be seen properly in a perfect white space. If art can't look good outside the antiseptic gallery spaces dictated by museum fashion of the last 25 years, then it condemns itself to a worryingly limited lifespan. What's more, that once cutting-edge gallery style is beginning to look like a cliche trendy bar or loft conversion. It's time for a rethink." BBC 09/30/03

Us - Reflected In A Football Stadium Early reviews of Chicago's new Soldier Field have been critical. But Herbert Muschamp suspects the verdict will change: "I suspect that it won't be long before the city embraces the new field. The design's urban and architectural merits are considerable. Its conceptual qualities are better still. If you set out to write something bad about the design, you ultimately end up with a critique of the society that produced it. But the design is much more than a symptom of our time. It is a creative response to it. Soldier Field is a daring study of urban America in extremis, precariously poised for a future beyond its widely unlamented demise." The New York Times 09/30/03

Rhizome/New Museum Merge Manhattan's New Museum has taken in the Rhizome.org digital artist internet site. The museum world still doesn't really know what it's relationship with digital art is, so this is an interesting partnership. "When digital artists began to create online artworks in the mid-1990's, much of the art form's energy was derived from the notion that the works did not need museums or galleries to reach an audience. Spawned by that sensibility in 1996, Rhizome quickly became one of the most popular Internet sites devoted to the digital arts. It is an online-only meeting place where members can announce new artworks, request technical assistance or argue over obscure aesthetic issues." The New York Times 09/30/03

Bringing Weather To Tate Modern Artist Olafur Eliasson has "constructed a reversed waterfall in which the water shoots up rather than down; a massive disc which loomed low over the city of Malmo in Sweden, lit at night by yellow light so that it resembled a night-time sun; and a long, snaking slick of green dye in the waterways of Stockholm." Now he's taken on creating something for the giant turbine room at Tate Modern, which he hopes to tunr into a "microclimate." The Telegraph (UK) 09/30/03

US Congress Considers Tax Break For Donated Artwork A change in the American tax law would allow artists to get tax deductions for the full value of artwork they donate to museums. "Now, for example, if a collector gives his Jasper Johns paintings to a museum, he can deduct their full market value. But if Jasper Johns gives the paintings he made himself, he can deduct only the cost of the materials used to make them. Ironically, when their creators die, these same items suddenly gain conventional market value for estate-tax purposes. Definitely out of whack!" OpinionJournal.com 09/30/03

The Tower Of London Norman Foster's new tower on the London skyline (it looks like a gherkin) demands your attention. It is "the most conspicuous eruption on London's skyline in a quarter of a century; a single building that is as big as a small town, with 500,000 square feet of space and able to accommodate 4,000 people with ease. Whatever it's called, this is the tower that ignited London's current preoccupation with the skyscraper, breaking the 600-feet barrier in the Square Mile for the first time since 1979." The Observer (UK) 09/28/03

Kamin: Koolhaas Could Have Done Better "Five years ago, when the celebrated Rotterdam architect Rem Koolhaas won a much-hyped design competition for a campus center at the Illinois Institute of Technology, there was breathless talk about the sexy new building, and how it would devise a new architecture for the 21st Century... Now the future has arrived, complete with a sensuous, 530-foot-long, stainless steel tube that wraps around the elevated tracks and swallows Chicago Transit Authority trains. It's a wild, often wonderful vision of urban life, a bit like entering an oversize pinball machine. It is, as advertised, full of brilliant concepts. But it is not a brilliant work of architecture." Chicago Tribune 09/28/03

The Politics Of Architectural Renderings We've all seen them, the glossy, glittering "architectural renderings" of buildings yet to be built. They leap off the page, dazzling us with the promise of a skyscraper which will blend seamlessly with its surroundings, and yet add a brilliant new dynamic to the city skyline. It all seems too good to be true, and it often is. Architect's renderings are, by necessity, targeted to the audience to whom they are presented, with the overall aim of getting everyone with a say to sign off on a project that they otherwise might not view favorably. It would be too strong to call it manipulation, perhaps, but at the very least, it is architecture's signature marketing device. The New York Times 09/28/03

Expansion And Contraction In Detroit As the Detroit Institute of the Arts plows ahead with a major expansion project, slated to be completed in 2006, the museum is also undergoing some major changes behind the scenes. Earlier this year, the DIA laid off 55 staffers, and now, a shuffling of curator positions is reportedly causing some grumbling. The curatorial changes will see some departments combined, and others expanded. Some longtime curators are being reassigned to positions which could be seen as less prominent. DIA's chief curator says that the changes are merely meant to streamline the museum's operations. Detroit News 09/27/03

The Soldier Field Debate: Monstrosity or Magnificent? As Chicagoans begin to adjust to the new look of historic Soldier Field, home to the football Bears, an intense PR campaign is being waged in an effort to shout down the folks who are calling the renovated stadium an architectural joke. But somehow, even the best slogans and outreach efforts fizzle somewhat when the public gets another up-close look at what one Chicago critic has dubbed "the eyesore on Lake Shore." Chicago Tribune 09/26/03

Bellevue Museum Closes After Moving Into New Building The Bellevue Art Museum outside Seattle, which opened in a new Stephen Holl-designed building less than three years ago, has closed after failing to attract an audience. "The architectural community gave Stephen Holl's building a solid thumbs-up, but the visual arts community was considerably less impressed. In essence, the building is full of personality and high style, yet it is a difficult place to display art." Seattle Post-Intelligencer 09/25/03

Leonardo Theft, Reconstructed Want to see how thieves stole a valuable Leonardo painting from a Scottish gallery last month? Here's a Crimewatch reconsruction of the crime. BBC 09/24/03

Fort Worth Proposal To Slash Public Art Money In a big surprise, the mayor of Fort Worth, Texas proposes slashing the city's public art funds. "Mayor Mike Moncrief's unexpected plan would cut funding for public art from 2 percent to 1 percent in the Feb. 7 bond election, shifting about $2 million in funding." Fort Worth Star-Telegram 09/24/03

Saving The Barnes? Or Plundering It? It looks like the Barnes Collection will be moving to Philadelphia. "This plan was being painted as a boon to all parties: The Barnes would be saved, and Philadelphia would derive lucrative tourist income from the relocation. But you didn't have to scratch too far beneath the surface to reveal a web of influence that indicates that what is really under way is a raid on a beleaguered, helpless art collection." OpinionJournal.com 09/25/03

Boston's MFA Alters Expansion Designs Boston's Museum of Fine Arts has made a series of design changes to its $425 million expansion plan. "Most dramatically, the crystal spine designed by architect Norman Foster will be lowered from 100 to 70 feet. Locals had raised concerns about shadows that would be cast on the Emerald Necklace behind the MFA. In addition, the museum has agreed to keep Museum Road open." Boston Globe 09/24/03

Trying To Save The Color In Color Photos "All colour photographs fade. According to best estimates, the average colour print has a shelf life of about 200 years. Now, in Basel, Switzerland, the Cesar Foundation, chaired by Claudio Cesar, an American photography collector who runs a company that specialises in coloured glass is trying to reverse this deterioration." The Art Newspaper 09/20/03

5000 Year-Old Mask Returned To Iraq Museum One of Iraq's National Museum's most prized artifacts has been found and returned to the museum. "The 5000-year-old mask was "found after an intensive investigation by US troops and Iraqi police that led them to a farm just north of Baghdad. The Warka Mask was discovered buried under six inches of dirt, but has remained intact." BBC 09/23/03

WTC Sculpture Sold On eBay Arouses Protests An official sculpture made from steel of the fallen World Trade Center has been sold on the internet, infuriating relatives of victims of 9/11. "The 5-inch sculpture - one of nearly 3,000 created from mangled steel beams - sold for $255 in an auction on the eBay Web site last week. It wasn't immediately clear how one of the sculptures - distributed exclusively to victims' families - got into the hands of the company that hawked it on eBay." New York Daily News 09/23/03

Is Turner's Venice Really Portsmouth? Is a Turner painting long thought to be of a scene in Venice really a picture of Portsmouth? "If Turner expert Ian Warrell is right those dark shapes in the smoky gold light are not glamourous revellers, jaded with the pleasures of the most beautiful and decadent city in the world, being ferried home at dawn across the Venetian lagoon. They're a bevy of Portsmouth councillors, local dignitaries, layabouts, rubberneckers and riffraff, setting out in a little Armada across the harbour to meet the King of France, Louis-Philippe." The Guardian (UK) 09/23/03

Canadian Indians Want British Museum To Give Back Mask A tiny band of West Coast Canadian indians wants a mask in the British Museum returned to them. "It would be good if getting back the mask would be precedent-setting so everybody who wants their pieces get them back. The people who live in this bucolic corner of Canada's Pacific coast say retrieval of the mask — a beautifully carved and brightly painted crest that opens into a sullen, wide-eyed human face with what looks like sun rays protruding from around its circumference — is part of a broad effort to reverse a cultural theft by Christian missionaries and a series of Canadian governments." The New York Times 09/22/03

Sydney Opera House Gets An Original Completion After 30 years, the iconic Sydney Opera House is having its interior redone by its original architect. Joern Utzon, now 85, was thrown off the project before the building was complete, and some of the interior was completed by others. Now he is getting the chance to see some of his original ideas take shape... Sydney Morning Herald 09/23/03

Construction Endangers Taj Mahal "Conservation experts are warning that a massive mound of soil stretching across 72 acres of the banks of the Yamuna river opposite the Taj Mahal could turn into a mudslide and flood the foundations of the 17th-century mausoleum. This disaster waiting to happen is the latest chapter in the sorry story of the mismanagement of the great Islamic building." The Art Newspaper 09/22/03

Louvre: Sponsor This The Louvre is looking for sponsors, as one of a series of reforms that requires museums to raise more of their own budgets. "The three main principles of the reforms are to give museums the freedom to manage money from entry tickets; full responsibility for their exhibition and display policies; and freedom to manage their acquisitions policy." The Art Newspaper 09/22/03

London's Stab At A Contemporary Fair A new art fair dedicated to contemporary art is opening in London. "It is a momentous occasion because London has never hosted a truly international contemporary art fair before. The fairs that did take place were considered either too provincial or too traditional in content. And there were not, it was argued, enough collectors in the UK to make the journey worthwhile." The Telegraph (UK) 09/22/03

How Not To Refurbish A Stadium Sports venues are some of the most prominent architectural features of most American cities, and in the last ten years, there has been something of a renaissance in the manner in which ballparks and stadiums are designed. But in Chicago, where a newly refurbished Soldier Field is already being dubbed the "Eyesore on Lake Shore," most of the lessons in how to properly combine modern functionality with classic form seem to have gone unlearned, says Blair Kamin. Chicago Tribune 09/21/03

What's In A Logo? New York's Museum of Modern Art, better known the world over as MoMA, is changing its logo. Well, sort of. It actually looks about the same as it did before, with big block letters spelling out MoMA on a white background. In fact, even the typeface is the same. So what's the difference? Well, you see, the old logo was awful and soulless. The new one is fresh and charming, but with a nod to tradition. Really, it is. Just ask them. The New York Times 09/21/03

Toronto's Art Deco Renaissance "When art deco arrived in Toronto in the late '20s, it was more than an aesthetic or just a style; it was a declaration of faith — faith in the future and the power of technology. From the vantage point of today, such optimism seems naïve, even touching. The notion that art and industry can be combined, brought together in the service of mass-produced beauty, has been reduced to the lowest common denominator of mass marketing. Now, thanks to the Royal Ontario Museum and its London partner, the Victoria and Albert Museum, art deco is about to make a comeback, a rather splendid one at that... But the one form that the show can't fully cover, architecture, can still be enjoyed in buildings around the city." Toronto Star 09/20/03

Walker To Close For A Year Minneapolis' Walker Art Center is closing in February for a year. "Plans call for the Walker to reopen in spring 2005, when a $90 million addition on its south side will be finished. The addition includes new galleries, a small theater, new dining facilities and other public spaces." The Star-Tribune (Mpls) 09/19/03

A Lifetime Of Art "Dorothy Miller, who died in July at 99, was one of the first curators hired by the Museum of Modern Art in 1934. Over the years she championed painters like Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Frank Stella and Jasper Johns. The contents of her Greenwich Village apartment are to be sold in a series of auctions at Christie's beginning Nov. 11 and are expected to bring $9 million to $12.6 million. They chronicle the 35-year career of a woman who helped shape modern art." The New York Times 09/19/03

A Change In WTC Direction There have been significant changes in architect Daniel Libeskind's plan for rebuilding the World Trade Center site, which includes the world's tallest structure. The new plan now calls for slimmer office buildings and the shifting of office and other development. AJ blogger Jan Herman reviews changes... Straight Up (AJBlogs) 09/18/03

Why Art Deco Endures There's an Art Deco revival going on. But wait, there's always an Art Deco revival going on. "It's easy to explain why the stuff is always popular: It's gorgeous. The furniture is made of expensive natural materials -- glossy wood, ivory, marble -- and combines light and dark in a way that became unpopular in the all-white futuristic 1960s. It's nice to touch, unlike the practical plastic and aluminum of contemporary neo-modernist design. Art Deco satisfies the hipster's urge for modern shapes and lines -the sleek, the geometric, the angular - and yet is much more luxurious and ornate than the puritanical Bauhaus-inspired mid-century modernism that followed it." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 09/18/03

US Congress Votes Insurance Increase For Museums The US House of Representatives has voted to substantially increase the amount of insurance available to US museums to insure artwork borrowed from abroad. "The indemnity program, administered by the National Endowment for the Arts on behalf of the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities, was created in 1975 to minimize costs American museums pay to insure international exhibitions. Unlike standard commercial insurance, government indemnity covers the effects of terrorism both in transit and on site. The program has been flooded with requests from museums trying to organize ambitious international shows at a time when insurance costs have risen as much as 500 percent." The New York Times 09/18/03

Major Artifact Recovered In Iraq One of the most precious pieces of art stolen from Iraq's National Museum - a 5000-year-old sculpture - has been recovered. "The 20-centimetre high marble sculpture, dating from 3000 BC, depicts the head of a woman. It was fashioned in the southern city of Warka during the Sumerian period, and was among the five most precious pieces still missing since the museum was sacked after the April 9 fall of Saddam Hussein." The Mercury (Australia) 09/18/03

From The Front: Looking For Iraqi Art Matthew Bogdanos is a marine helping to recover art stolen from Iraq's National Museum: "To date over 1,700 items have been returned pursuant to the amnesty program, [but] there have been problems here, as well--specifically, the perception among the Iraqi people of the museum staff's identification and association with the former regime and the Baath Party. Time and time again when individuals would turn property over, they would make it clear that they were turning the property over to the U.S. forces for safekeeping until a lawful Iraqi government could be elected. The raids and seizures have resulted in the recovery of over 900 artifacts." OpinionJournal.com 09/18/03

Guerrilla Girls: Where Are They Now? When the underground feminist art movement known as the Guerrilla Girls began its in-your-face campaign to broaden the recognition granted to female artists in traditional institutions, its members were considered revolutionaries. Now, a quarter-century later, the group has mostly disbanded, though a few members still keep up the fight. In retrospect, the question of what was accomplished by the Guerrilla Girls, and whether their message has had any lasting effect on the American cultural scene is a matter open to debate, and the remaining members of the group seem to have taken their movement away from a strict focus on art, and towards more general issues of feminism and society. Minneapolis Star Tribune 09/17/03

Why No Auction House Reforms? "After a major price-fixing scandal in which Al Taubman was sent to jail, Dede Brooks placed under house arrest and numerous former Christie's senior officers were exposed as hypocritical backstabbing cowards, why does business at the high end of the New York market continue, without any major, or minor, reforms whatsoever?" Artnet.com 09/17/03

The Archaeology Sleuths New archaeological study is shedding light on sometimes long forgotten massacres in American history. "Archaeology can fill gaps in the incomplete oral and written histories of these atrocities, resolve discrepancies among various accounts, and help people to better understand what happened. This better understanding can lead to closure for many people, but archaeology can also cause controversy. These events all raise different issues and debates on the place of archaeology, and its helpful or damaging effect." Archaeology 09/16/03

British Museum Rejects Rosetta Stone Request The British Museum has rejected a request by Egypt to return the Rosetta Stone or loan it. “The trustees do not consent to the loan of what might be called ‘iconic’ objects which we consider to be central to the collection'—such as the Rosetta Stone. It added: 'We have excellent relationships with all our professional colleagues in Egypt. Whilst we are always willing to discuss new ways of cooperating with them on joint projects, we are clear, as are they, that the Rosetta Stone will stay in London.' This statement appears to rule out a loan." The Art Newspaper 09/12/03

Guggenheim In Taiwan? The Guggenheim board is considering a plan to build a branch of the museum in Taiwan. "The planned museum is to become part of a new NT$12.4 billion ($360.4 million) district in Taichung to include an opera house designed by Jean Nouvel, architect of the proposed Guggenheim Rio, and a new City Hall to be designed by Frank Gehry, architect of the Guggenheim Bilbao. The familiar roster is no coincidence, as Mr Krens served as advisor to the city in selecting the architects." The Art Newspaper 09/12/03

Florida County Wants Artist To "Fix" Rust On Sculpture Florida artist Bradley Arthur was hired to make sculpture out of melted guns. He did. But shortly after the sculpture was installed, it began to rust. "The county now contends Arthur has delivered a defective product. He must have done something wrong in making the sculpture. Officials with the county's public art program want him to 'fix' it.
Arthur, 50, of Land O'Lakes, says there's nothing broken. Of course the pieces are rusting, he said, because they're made largely of gunmetal. He fully expected his artwork to rust in parts, and took that into account in his design." St. Petersburg Times 09/15/03

Havana Biennial Imperiled "Troubles are mounting for the eighth Havana Biennial as Dutch sponsors pull the plug on funding, while visual artists in Miami and Costa Rica turn down invitations to participate in the international showcase opening Nov. 1. The Cuban government's crackdowns earlier this year on dissidents and artists' charges of censorship fueled the decisions." Miami Herald 09/16/03

Cleaning Of David To Resume Anxious to clean Michelangelo's David by next year's 500th anniversary of its sculpting, officials in Florence have resumed cleaning of the statue. "At a news conference yesterday in front of Michelangelo's marble vision of naked male beauty, experts defended their decision to resume the project, which was interrupted when an internationally respected restorer quit rather than follow orders to use a cleaning method she feared could harm the sculpture." Toronto Star (AP) 09/16/03

Colonial Willimaburg Lays Off Staff, Cuts Programs Colonial Williamsburg, the "museum" that tries to recreate American colonial times, is suffering. "With declining attendance and a $35 million budget deficit, the nation's largest living history museum is laying off nearly 400 of its 3,500 employees and cutting programs. Officials at the private, nonprofit foundation that operates Colonial Williamsburg blame the weak economy, lingering fears of terrorism since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, less focus on Colonial history in schools and rainy weather this year. And they note that other such 'heritage' sites also have falling or flat attendance." Marietta Daily Journal (Georgia) (AP) 09/15/03

Berlin's Louvre Plan "Germany now is in the process of transforming the five neoclassical museums that are clustered on an island in the Spree River in Berlin into a cultural center to rival Paris' Louvre and London's British Museum. The complex eventually will unite collections of Greek and Roman antiquities, Egyptian artifacts, 19th century paintings, Byzantine art and Near Eastern antiquities long scattered by last century's wars and political divisions. While construction has been underway for five years, Berlin's financial woes have discouraged anyone from predicting completion." Los Angeles Times (AP) 09/15/03

Tracking Down Iraq Art About 3,400 artifacts stolen from the Iraq National Museum have been recovered. But about 10,000 are still missing. "The majority of the work remaining, that of tracking down the missing pieces, will likely take years. It will require the cooperative efforts of all nations. Already 750 stolen objects have been recovered in Great Britain, Italy, Jordan and the United States." Washington Post 09/15/03

A New Snapshot Of Diane Arbus "During her lifetime, photographer Diane Arbus was lionized, but she was also lambasted for being exploitative. Her suicide in 1971 seemed to corroborate the caricature of her as a freaky ghoul." In the first retrospective of her work since 1972 a "new portrait is emerging of one of the most powerful American artists of the 20th century, in the style that she favored. Uncropped." New York Times Magazine 09/14/03

The Hague - A City Like A Painting "Think of the enigmatic stillness that permeates the works of Vermeer, Gerrit Dou and Pieter de Hooch. You won't find much of that amid the hubbub of Amsterdam. Yet along the Hague's slightly dour purple brick pavements, and particularly in the marvellous Mauritshuis, you absorb it from the very ether." The Telegraph (UK) 09/14/03

Dallas's Colorful New Skyline Dallas's skyline gets a burst of color this week with the opening of the new Latino Cultural Center, and architect Ricardo Legorreta is already being credited with designing the most exciting piece of skyscraper architecture ever to hit the Metroplex. "Already there is evidence of color creep. The window frames of one adjacent apartment building have gone from hunter green to electric blue; another has been meticulously outlined in enchilada red. The blue tower and the terra cotta wedge of the performance hall are already landmarks, and the doors aren't even open." Dallas Morning News 09/13/03

• Fusion Architecture, Without The Pretention "The new Latino Cultural Center manages to evoke ancient traditions and cultures without becoming a theme park. That's quite a trick in this scenographic era and one that only a sophisticated architect could pull off." Dallas Morning News 09/14/03

Chicago's Art Institute Looks To The Future The Art Institute of Chicago and its many supporters were taken quite by surprise last week when director James N. Wood announced his impending retirement from the post he has held since 1980. Wood is as much a Chicago institution as the institute itself, writes Alan Artner, and the AIC's board has a difficult task ahead in finding a replacement who can take the organization in new and exciting directions, without upsetting the balance of power which Wood maintained over the years. Chicago Tribune 09/14/03

Frank's Folly? When architect Frank Gehry was hired to design and build MIT's new Stata Center For Computer, Information, and Intelligence Sciences, the price tag was set at $100 million, gifts were rolling in, and the university was downright gleeful at having secured the services of arguably the hottest architect of the era. But "MIT brass now peg the budget at $300 million, although a June press release from a Stata Center supplier put the cost at $430 million. The completion date is spring 2004. And what once appeared futuristic now looks like a jumbly rehash of existing Gehry piles." Boston Globe 09/14/03

The Three-Dimensional Comeback Sculpture, it seems, is popular again, at least in Australia, and a new wave of artists working in three dimensions is garnering much attention from serious collectors. "The new breed of sculptors are decidedly challenging. Rendered death heads, dystopian buildings, a jury of chimpanzees and the Twelve Apostles constructed of chicken bones are among the pleasures to be encountered. And corporate and private money is getting behind it all." The Age (Melbourne) 09/15/03

Barnes Finally Moving To Philly? The Barnes Collection, an internationally renowned art collection which resides in a suburban community outside of Philadelphia, is one step closer to moving into the city itself. The Barnes move has long been a desire of local politicians and arts leaders, but internal and external politics have conistently intervened. Now, a deal has been struck between the Barnes and Lincoln University, a local state school which has historically held the right to appoint board members for the Barnes, under which Lincoln will drop its objections to the move. The deal must now be approved by a county judge. Philadelphia Inquirer 09/13/03

Laban Center Favored For Stirling Prize Herzog and de Meuron's new Laban dance center is the favorite to win this year's Stirling Prize - British architecture's top award. "The multicoloured building, as exotic as a hummingbird in the post-industrial wasteland of Deptford Creek, south-east London, was immediately made 2-1 favourite by William Hill bookmakers to take the £20,000 prize." The Guardian (UK) 09/12/03

Emin/Critic Feud Winding Down Earlier this summer critic Philip Hensher charged in print that artist Tracey Emin was harrassing him."The controversy began after Hensher claimed in the Independent that Emin was too stupid to be a good conceptual artist. Emin then complained in an Observer interview that she was being 'completely slagged off by people whose mortgage I'm paying' and made particular reference to a writer for the Independent." Now Hensher has conceded that Emin had "not been sending china Peter Rabbit figurines" to him as he claimed. Huh? The Guardian (UK) 09/12/03

Is Good Art Making A Comeback? "Thrillingly, for the first time in a while, art seems more important than the system. The professionalism of the recent past, the thing that made the late-'90s art world seem corporate and unsafe, is morphing into something less predictable, more homespun. The fringes feel frisky, good new artists and galleries are appearing, hype and fashionableness matter less, those capacious Chelsea galleries don't seem as off-putting, and art is becoming the focus again." Artnet.com 09/10/03

Billionaire Disputes Greek Statue One of Europe's leading art collectors bought a Greek statue said to have been carved between 1878 and 1843 BC. But a few years later, François Pinault, the head of Christie's and Gucci, has some doubts, and now believes it is a modern copy. The Guardian (UK) 09/10/03

US Considers Ban On Iraqi Artifacts The US Congress is considering legislation prohibiting the import of Iraqi artifacts unless accompanied by proof they were exported legally before UN and US sanctions. "The proposals would authorise US Customs to seize undocumented materials and return them to Iraq." The Art Newspaper 09/05/03

American Museums Admit Art Looting "Some of America’s most celebrated institutions — including Harvard’s Peabody, The Field Museum in Chicago and the American Museum of Natural History in New York — are indicating for the first time in reports to the U.S. government that they were more involved in the looting of Native American burial grounds than they have previously admitted. Those institutions now are in the process of returning hundreds of thousands of artifacts and human remains to tribal groups around the country." Denver Post 09/02/03

Dia:Beacon - Mindless Optimism? Hilton Kramer doesn't like much about the new Dia:Beacon building (or the art inside). "Most of the art in the Dia:Beacon collection requires huge amounts of space. Yet notwithstanding the gargantuan quantities of art that Dia:Beacon easily accommodates, so vast are its exhibition spaces that the place itself strikes the visitor as sterile and forlorn. Visitors wander about its endless interior with vacant stares and silent lips—not so much looking at the art as looking for it, even when they are in its immediate physical presence. Sooner or later, they are found huddling together for succor around the abundant wall texts, which, although easily read, tend to be even more confounding than the objects and spaces they are meant to illuminate." New York Observer 09/10/03

Artifacts Returned To Baghdad Museum Some 3000 artifacts stolen from Iraq's National Museum have been returned. "More than 1,700 items were returned in an amnesty with 900 seized in raids and at checkpoints, airports and borders. Another 750 were recovered from four different countries." About 10,000 objects are still missing. BBC 09/10/03

Damien Hirst And The Art Of Trying Too Hard Damien Hirst's new show at White Cube took eight years to assemble. "The idea of transition and transformation is everywhere at White Cube: mounds of dead flies turned into crunchy, black, monochrome canvases; cows' heads as apostles and as Adam and Eve; laboratory supplies and hardware store axes and mallets in reliquaries of martyred saints; animal blood for human blood." It all has the smell of trying too hard. The Guardian (UK) 09/09/03

Tourists See Leonardo Thieves A couple of tourists ran into the men who were stealing a Leonardo painting last week as they were getting away. "We heard the alarm going off and the first man climbed over the wall and said not to worry, 'Don't worry love, We're the police. This is just a practice' he said. When the second man came over the wall we felt something was going on. The third man over the wall was carrying something under his arm which appeared to be the same size as what we've been told about the painting." BBC 09/09/03

Chicago Art Institute Director Resigns James Wood announces he will leave. "The Art Institute has begun planning to build its first major new wing in 15 years, designed by Renzo Piano and expected to cost nearly $200 million. Mr. Wood said that it would be wise for a single director to oversee the final planning, construction and opening of the new wing, and that therefore he had to decide whether to leave now or stay on the job until at least 2008." The New York Times 09/09/03

City Of Light "Chandanagore is the capital of Indian illuminations. The small town employs up to 12,000 people, who work nine months of the year creating extravagant shows for major festivals. Sridhar Das is the town's most renowned light artist. In the past few years, he has made waterfalls, monkey gods, dragons spewing fire, the triumph of good over evil, portraits of Nobel prizewinners, political statements, environmental messages, even pontifications by politicians. His workshops are a cross between a foundry and a tapestry studio." The Guardian (UK) 09/08/03

Old Cuba In Danger Cuba is after the tourist trade. "Tourists have come: two million visitors are expected in Havana this year. However, the special city they have come to see is in danger of vanishing - not simply because of age, humidity, termites and general lack of maintenance. The word in Havana is that when the president, Fidel Castro, dies and the US finally lifts its longstanding economic embargo, Havana will be transformed, and not necessarily for the better." The Guardian (UK) 09/08/03

Has New York Lost Its Ability To Build Great Buildings? New York has lost its reputation as a place that great architecture can be built. "Between about 1890 and 1960, New York was an architectural powerhouse, a laboratory for architects who couldn't dream of achieving anything on that kind of scale anywhere else. From early Gothic skyscrapers like the Woolworth Building (1913) through the Art Deco of the Chrysler and Empire State Buildings (1930 and 1931) up to the Seagram Building (1958) and the smooth corporate Modernism of Fifth Avenue, architects who wanted to build big looked to New York. But... it is extraordinary that in the world's greatest and richest city, almost nothing (excepting a few good retail interiors) of international significance or interest has been built in New York since the appearance of unfortunate postmodern skyscrapers at the end of 1970s." Financial Times 09/08/03

Nazi-Loot Website Goes Online A new website designed to track down art looted by the Nazis goes online. "So far 66 museums have given details of their collection to the site, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and Chicago's Institute of Art. The Nazis were thought to have looted more than 1.5 million pieces of art. More than 100,000 items of museum quality are still missing, and some of them are said to have made their way to the US." BBC 09/08/03

Where Are The Blockbusters? Big museum shows seem to be in short supply this season. "At this time last year, the museum world looked as though it was doing some retrenching. Few blockbusters were on the roster; fewer shows of any kind had been announced than was the norm throughout the 1990s. If last year looked like a retreat, this year may be a rout. There's hardly a single true blockbuster built around a famous name." Washington Post 09/07/03

Of Art And Artists A PBS series explores art through its artists. "More than explaining any discrete work of art, `Art 21' leaves you with a sense of how artists think about what they do, as well as why they feel compelled to do it, and demystifies a group the public at large sometimes views as eccentric, unstable or, worse, charlatans." San Jose Mercury-News 09/07/03

The New "Modernism" "Nowadays, 'modernism' is everywhere. Gargantuan 'modernist' lofts jut up from every block of the SoMa district. Boutiques with monosyllabic names and monochrome wall-paint are everywhere selling "modernist" trinkets. An ever-growing slew of home catalogs offer requisite modernist furnishings, the photo spreads illustrating (proudly!) how 40 rooms in 20 different houses can look totally indistinguishable from one another. There's even a Web site - Etekt.com - that offers architectural plans to create your very own tract home based on designs by your favorite modernist designer. Oh yes, and on sale now at Levitz: the new "modernist" collection. Really. What's so frustrating is that this surge of minimalist modernism - what I will now refer to as modermalism - is not 'modern' at all." San Francisco Chronicle 09/07/03

Coming Together Over A Building "The debate that has unfolded over the rebuilding of the World Trade Center for the last year has brought New Yorkers as close as they have ever come to the ancient Florentine conviction that the most profound questions of urban design demand a public voice. Now, as the second anniversary of 9/11 approaches, that democratic moment seems to have passed." The New York Times 09/07/03

A Tower On Tate Modern's Front Door? A developer proposes to build a new 20-story apartment building about 50 metres from the front entrance of the Tate Modern. It's "a notion described by the Tate director, Sir Nicholas Serota, as 'the equivalent of building a tower block in the forecourt of the British Museum'." The Guardian (UK) 09/05/03

From Best To Worst - How'd This Happen? In Boston an architect builds one of the most-loved new buildings, then turns around and follows it with one of the most-hated. Robert Campbell observes: "In 30 years of writing about architecture, I've never heard so many expressions of outrage over a new building. The anguish arrives from all angles: from the general public, and from the community of architects." Boston Globe 09/07/03

Progress in Barnes Fate? In a switch, Lincoln University now says it might consider a change in the its role governing the Barnes Foundation. "We recognize our responsibility to the Barnes Foundation and the community. But if Lincoln's role is going to be disrupted, then we have to see how Lincoln can benefit from this. We're willing to talk." Philadephia Daily News 09/05/03

• Barnes Move In Jeopardy A proposal to move the Barnes Collection from a suburb of Philadelphia to downtown is close to falling apart. "The plan is unraveling, not over where the prized collection of French impressionist art and other masterpieces should be located, but over whether nominating control of the Barnes board should remain with Lincoln University, the historically black university in Chester County." Philadelphia Inquirer 09/03/03

Auction Sales Down The world art auction business has been shrinking. Total sales are down as are total number of lots for sale. "Artprice also lists the top selling artists, by total value of works sold. The front-runner is Picasso, followed by Renoir, Warhol, Degas and Mantegna (in fifth place, up from 12,734th place) a suitably absurd piece of knowledge since there is unlikely to be another Mantegna on the market again, ever." The Arts Newspaper 09/05/03

New Eyes At MoMA The Museum of Modern Art gets some new curators... The New York Times 09/05/03

Nefertiti Mummy Claim Disputed Earlier this year, archaeologists reported they may have found the mummy of Queen Nefertiti in Luxor. Now the claim is being disputed - in part because while Nefertiti was said to have had six children, the body found appeared not to have given birth. "The evidence does not at all support the finding of Nefertiti. It would be very obvious from any x-rays of the mummy whether it had given birth...there would be specific markings." Aljazeera 08/31/03

The Ancient Icon That "Kills Stuff" "An ancient icon depicting Christ has been removed from display at the Hermitage museum in St. Petersburg after claims that its 'energy field' is killing staff." Chicago Sun-Times 09/04/03

Art For Art's Sake 45 years ago, General Mills made a conscious decision to invest in serious contemporary art as a way to liven up its blockish new Minnesota headquarters. "Today, in an era of corporate cutbacks and pressures to increase employee productivity, sales and profits, General Mills is a holdout in emphasizing the importance of art in its corporate culture. The company displays original art and limited edition prints throughout its headquarters, and encourages employees with offices to choose pieces they like for display in their workspace. General Mills even has a full-time curator to oversee acquisitions, sales and care of the collection." Kansas City Star (AP) 09/03/03

The Importance Of Opera House Architecture "Marion Oliver McCaw Hall, which opened in August, is one of the best-sounding opera houses in the country. With sonics vivid and full-bodied, the building seems to work well on both sides of the proscenium. It's just too bad the building, inaugurated with a new Seattle Opera production of Wagner's Parsifal, isn't a better piece of architecture." So says Dallas critic Scott Cantrell, scouting other cities for ideas to inspire Dallas's own soon-to-be-built opera house. "Seattle's approach certainly plays up clichés about the two cities. Dallas is supposed to be about dazzle and prestige, Seattle about living comfortably and not making a fuss." Dallas Morning News 09/04/03

The Museum That History Forgot "In the dusty remote reaches of Uzbekistan, in a city so desolate that it served as the site of a Soviet chemical weapons factory, sits what may be one of the most important collections of 20th Century Soviet art in the world. This collection, virtually unknown during the Soviet era, has been revitalized by the attention of a group of art-loving expatriates whose efforts helped spur the completion in late 2002 of a long-stalled museum building, realizing the dream of its founder and the small cadre of dedicated women who for years kept the museum going under almost impossibly difficult conditions... However, although the security guards, curators and gift shop attendants all appear for work each day in the marble-clad edifice, the 'new' museum - designed in 1971 - remains shuttered." Chicago Tribune 09/04/03

The Auction Market Sweet Spot "The stereotypical image of the auction buyer as chief executive with a seven-figure salary isn't the only customer that auction houses are considering important these days. Now they're seeing a growing number of buyers with perhaps only a few thousand dollars to spend but who add up to a vitally lucrative market in their own right." The New York Times 09/04/03

The Eight-Year-Old 2000 Year-Old Carvings In July carvings on rocks in Norfolk were discovered and archaeologists suggested they could be 2000 years old. "But the mystery was solved after the Great Yarmouth Mercury local newspaper reported the 'potentially very important discovery'. Jobless construction worker Barry Luxton, 50, saw the report and a photograph of the rock and recognised it as one that he had engraved." In 1995. The Guardian (UK) 09/04/03

Art Of The Disappeared Art "There are hundreds of thousands of missing works of art. Some - like the Cellini sculpture that has just been ransomed for £3.5m and the 'Leonardo' that was stolen from the Duke of Buccleuch last week - have been taken by thieves. Others have been destroyed by war or natural disaster. All of them acquire special significance once they disappear." The Guardian puts together a virtual gallery of the disappeared. The Guardian (UK) 09/04/03

Rem Goes To China (Along With Everyone Else) Architect Rem Koolhaas struck out of some big projects in New York. So where did he go? China. "Every architect in the world right now is looking at China, because it seems to offer limitless opportunity. It’s a place of almost unstoppable optimism—despite this momentary setback from SARS—and immense building projects that are ideally suited for someone who positions himself right on the cusp of change, as [Mr. Koolhaas] does." New York Observer 09/03/03

Are American Museums Sanctioning Illegal Archaeology? "European museum officials and archeologists charge that American museums continue to purchase and to exhibit unprovenanced antiquities and that such practices encourage the destruction by looters of ancient sites. A number of museums in Europe, including the British Museum and the Berlin State Museums, have adopted stringent new standards for antiquities." ARTNews 09/03

The Cellini Ransom An insurance company has received a ransom demand for a Cellini scuplture, stolen three months ago from an Austrian museum. "According to reports, the Uniqa insurance company received a letter last week demanding €5m (£3.5m) for the return of the Saliera or Saltcellar. This is thought to be the first response that insurers or police have had from the thieves who stole the 16th century solid gold sculpture by Benvenuto Cellini, estimated to be worth €50m, in a raid three months ago." The Guardian (UK) 09/02/03

Theft - Artwork At Risk The theft last week of an important Leonardo painting "highlights the difficulties of safeguarding valuable works of art while allowing access for the public. It is the latest in a series of robberies of art works so famous that they would be impossible to sell on the open market. Still missing are Rembrandt’s “Storm on the Sea of Galilee”, and Vermeer’s “The Concert”, stolen in March 1990 from Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston by thieves dressed as policemen. Even art world insiders can only speculate as to their whereabouts and the motives of such robberies. Theories being put forward by the police and experts for this latest theft include links to terrorist groups and drugs gangs. Benvenuto Cellini’s salt, a masterpiece of 16th-century goldwork, was stolen in May from Vienna's Kunsthistorisches Museum." The Art Newspaper 08/29/03

Leonardo Theft - Opportunity Waiting To Happen? Last week's theft of a Leonardo in Scotland makes obvious the lack of security for artwork in many museums. "In recent years, the UK has become a target for the international gangs, who have learned that security of artworks in Britain is largely a matter of trust between owner and visitor. There are two famous stories about the Duke of Buccleuch that exemplify this. It is said the duke was once asked where the toilets were in the castle and he replied: 'Along the corridor and turn right at the Holbein'." The Scotsman 08/29/03

The Kennedy Center Problem Catesby Leigh doesn't like the Kennedy Center's Rafael Viñoly plans for a $250 million addition to Washington's Kennedy Center. At all. "For starters, the public space created by the eight-acre deck (including the roadway) is absurdly overblown. The plaza will be a desolate, windswept space. Moreover, an open-air stairway to the Potomac promenade from the Center's existing terrace would be far preferable to the one Mr. Viñoly proposes. And his futuristic buildings may end up looking like airport terminals. The deck and the new buildings on it must be designed to provide inviting, humanely scaled public spaces. Mr. Viñoly's scheme does not even begin to grasp this issue." OpinionJournal.com 09/02/03

Afghan Treasure Surfaces Much of Afghanistan's cultural heritage was destroyed during the country's civil war and rule of the Taliban. But "Afghanistan's legendary 2 000-year-old Tillya Tepe Bactrian gold hoard is safe and sound after lying hidden in a bank vault for the past 14 years, President Hamid Karzai said on Friday. The priceless collection of gold ornaments dating back about 2 000 years was safely stored in a presidential palace vault throughout the civil war and Taliban regime." The Independent (South Africa) 08/29/03