Guggenheim Gets The New Adam At Long Last "A monumental example of Pop Art whose whereabouts were unknown to scholars and art historians for 30 years has been given to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. The New Adam, a nine-panel painting 8 feet high and nearly 40 feet long by the Oklahoma-born artist Harold Stevenson, has long been considered one of the great American nudes." The painting was originally created for the Guggenheim in 1962, but was rejected for exhibition due to its content. The New York Times 09/30/05

The Mouse That Keeps On Giving The Walt Disney Company is donating its considerable collection of West African art to the Smithsonian Institution. 525 pieces of traditional African art and craft, which were originally gathered by a New York real estate tycoon, will go to the Smithsonian's National Museum of African Art, which has been struggling financially. The collection is difficult to appraise, but experts place its monetary value somewhere between $20 million and $50 million. The New York Times 09/30/05

London Mayor Gets Personal In Statue Battle The mayor of London is taking sides in a debate over whether a new sculpture of Nelson Mandela by artist Ian Walters should be placed in Trafalgar Square. The Westminster City Council decided on the advice of renowned sculptor Glynn Williams to reject the statue, saying it doesn't fit the area. Mayor Ken Livingstone took expection, and took a highly personal shot at Williams in the process, holding up a photo of a Williams sculpture design and declaring that "The only sense in which that looks like [former UK Prime Minister] Harold Wilson is if he has been dead for several days, has started to decompose, and is emerging through a pile of dog mess." Livingstone also pointed out that Williams's design for that particular sculpture was rejected in favor of one by the very same Ian Walters. The Guardian (UK) 09/30/05

The Tate Scramble Five years after its opening, London's Tate Modern museum is rehanging its entire collection, changing the order in which patrons will view the works and replacing groupings organized by subject matter with a system of categories such as cubism, minimalism, and surrealism. "When the new look is unveiled in May 2006 about 40% of the works will not have been seen at the gallery before." BBC 09/30/05

Vindication Of An Architect - 169 Years Too Late "When the National Portrait Gallery reopens next July after a six-year, $216-million renovation, the new space will represent a triumph for preservationists, for artists, for historians -- and for Robert Mills. Mills, the original architect, was taken off the project after a rival designer convinced Congress that Mills' plan in 1836 for a fireproof building -- a major preoccupation for a city in which the British had burned the White House 22 years earlier -- would not work... Now restorers have peeled away 169 years of history and found that Mills was right." Chicago Tribune (LAT) 09/29/05

Unknown Lowry Painting To Hit The Block "A previously unseen LS Lowry painting is expected to fetch around £500,000 when it is sold in November. The Footbridge will be seen in public for the first time before it goes up for auction at Christie's in London. The painting shows an industrial scene with Lowry's trademark matchstick figures rushing through the snow. It was sold to a private collector 60 years ago and has not changed hands since. Lowry, who died in 1976, was known for depicting northern England." BBC 09/29/05

NY Governor Gives Freedom Center The Boot New York governor George Pataki has canceled plans for a "freedom center" as part of the World Trade Center site redevelopment. "Pataki initially said the state would help the International Freedom Center find another home, but center officials said they weren't interested and considered the project dead. The decision followed months of acrimony, with some Sept. 11 families and politicians saying that such a museum would overshadow and take space from a separate memorial devoted to the 2,749 World Trade Center dead and would dishonor them by fostering debate about the attacks and other world events." The New York Times 09/29/05

Has Saatchi Lost His Game? Charles Saatchi has dominated the British art scene for more than a decade, his taste influencing the art of a country. Now that he's moving his gallery out of its prestigious address, does this mean his influence is waning? The Guardian (UK) 09/28/05

Summing Up The Thomas Krens Era "The Krens Era showed that museum directors could wander far from the traditionally ethical as long as their boards were compliant. While many of Mr. Krens’ peers copied his “innovations,” many more watched and said nothing. The Association of Art Museum Directors—a strong candidate for the most spineless, useless industry association in America—never sanctioned, censured or formally criticized Mr. Krens in any way. In the end, Mr. Krens’ most lasting legacy is this: He made the building of synergies between nonprofit art museums and for-profit corporations acceptable to his peers. More than anything else, that’s made him the most influential museum director in America." New York Observer 09/28/05

The British Art Show Goes International Every five years the British Art Show takes the temperature of contemporary art in the UK. "What has changed in the years since 2000 is that British art, like British society, has become international. Though every artist in the 2005 show lives, works, and may have trained here in Britain, they come from the Netherlands, France, Turkey, Serbia, the USA, Italy, Brazil, Pakistan, Uganda, Zambia, Germany, Poland, Canada, Bulgaria and India. That feels absolutely right. London has always been a cosmopolitan city, but over the past five years it has become the centre of the art world." The Telegraph (UK) 09/28/05

Getty: Memos On Artifacts Were Stolen The Getty Museum says that memos cited in a Los Angeles Times story last weekend about questionable provenance of many Getty artifacts were stolen from the museum. "As much as it would like to be able to do so, the Getty cannot respond to many of the Times' assertions because they rely on privileged and confidential information stolen from the Getty's files,' the museum said in a statement. The statement did not specify who allegedly stole the information." San Diego Union-Tribune (AP) 09/27/05

• Previously: Getty Attorneys: "Masterpieces' Of Questionable Origins Getty attorneys have determined that as many as half of the ancient masterpieces in the museum's collection can be traced back to suspect dealers. "In correspondence with the Getty, the dealers made frank, almost casual references to ancient sites from which artifacts had been excavated, apparently in violation of Italian law, the records show. The Getty's outside attorney considered the letters "troublesome" and advised the museum not to turn them over to Italian authorities. Although Italy is seeking the return of 42 objects, the Getty's lawyers did their own assessment and determined that the museum had purchased 82 artworks from dealers and galleries under investigation by the Italians. They include 54 of the 104 ancient artworks that the Getty has identified as masterpieces." Los Angeles Times 09/25/05

Saatchi To Move Gallery Charles Saatchi is moving his successful gallery out of London's South Bank. "The gallery, which opened its doors at County Hall near Waterloo in 2003, is to move into the Duke of York's HQ building near Sloane Square in 2007. The 62-year-old collector has blamed the behaviour of his current landlord, Makota Okamoto, for his decision to move premises." BBC 09/27/05

• Saatchi On Why He's Relocating His London Gallery "The behaviour of the landlord has made our long-term tenancy untenable. He has made the gallery staff despondent with an endless campaign of petty unpleasantness and we didn't feel the gallery could develop in this malevolent atmosphere." The Guardian (UK) 09/27/05

U Of Wisconsin Chancellor Bans Artwork The piece - an anti-Bush statement - was to have been part of a show at the university's art gallery. "In the eyes of UW-Green Bay's chancellor, 'Patriot Act' is an endorsement of assassination. He has banned it from the university's gallery, where it was scheduled to be shown as part of a traveling exhibit, saying in a letter to faculty and staff that 'in a society all too violence prone, using these or other venues to appear to advocate or suggest assassination is not something the UW-Green Bay may do.' To the artist, the work expresses nothing more than a desire to see Bush voted out of office." Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel 09/21/05

Italian Police Recover Stolen Art Italian police have "recovered works of art worth €1.5m that had been stolen from churches, castles and private homes throughout northern Italy since 1990. The 19 paintings and one 18th-century kneeling-stool were discovered at the home of a farmer near the city of Cremona, about 62 miles south-west of Milan." Ireland Online 09/27/05

Hoving: How I'd Reform The Getty By its own admission, the Getty Museum has a potentially big problem with stolen Italian artifacts. Former Metropolitan Museum director Thomas Hoving has some suggestions for resolving the issue... Los Angeles Times 09/27/05

London Museum Attendance Off Since July Bombings "It’s clearly a good time to go to galleries. Tate’s visitor numbers have dropped by up to 20% since July 7, and while that’s obviously not a good thing in itself, it does make for fantastic viewing conditions. Tate Britain at the weekend was similarly quiet, although the gorgeous new Chris Ofili installation, The Upper Room, was getting quite a lot of punters." The Guardian (UK) 08/23/05

Cleveland Museum - Betting On City's Future The Cleveland Museum's $258 million expansion is one of the biggest cultural construction projects in the city's history. "Critics say the museum is overreaching. They claim the museum was good enough as it was and should be left alone. And they say it’s questionable whether the museum can raise all the money it needs in a city with a flagging economy, a shrinking population and a school system in financial distress." But architecture critic Steve Litt writes that "rather than envision a future based on the worst fears imaginable, trustees of the Cleveland Museum of Art are making a huge bet on the future of Cleveland. That, it seems to me, is what they ought to be doing." The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) 09/25/05

Why Are Architects Bad At Theatres? Architects have a terrible track record when it comes to building theatre spaces. "All the interesting practitioners say the same thing about buildings: 'Why is it that we can't build permissive, exciting, beautiful, available theatre space? Why is it that so many of our new buildings feel corporate, overmanaged, overfinished, icily perfect and therefore alienating to a process which by its nature is exploratory and provisional?'" Time for some new thinking? The Guardian (UK) 09/26/05

NY Design Schools Go For New Building Design "Amid growing student interest in their programs, New York architecture and design schools are moving to add new buildings conceived by hot architects of the moment." The New York Times 09/26/05

Act Of "Vandalism" To Be Reversed 35 Years Later "Celebrated German abstract artist Blinky Palermo caused confusion and consternation at Edinburgh College of Art when he painted his lines in the entrance hall. The Scottish arts establishment regarded the 'work' as anti-art and concealed it behind a thick coat of emulsion. Now the lost work is regarded as a masterpiece with a theoretical value of £300,000. Sadly, removing the paint without destroying the original is cost-prohibitive, so the lines will be recreated on top of the originals." Scoltland on Sunday 09/25/05

A Call To Replace Italy's Outdoor Art With Replicas Some of Italy's most famous public artworks have been vandalized, and experts are calling for originals to be removed and copies put in their places. "It may sound extreme to suggest that cities such as Florence and Rome could be stripped bare in the future, their historic statues and monuments moved indoors and copies put in their place, but calls are growing for a debate on whether many of the most vulnerable works of art should be removed from public locations for their own safety." The Observer (UK) 09/25/05

Professor Objects To Mandela Statue In Trafalgar Square Professor Glynn Williams, the head of the school of fine art at the Royal College of Art is objecting to plans for a statue of Nelson Mandela to be erected in Trafalgar Square outside the National Gallery. "My main objection to the proposed sculpture is the quality of the work on offer. I believe this to be a run-of-the mill mediocre modelling in an attempt to get a mimetic likeness. The sculpture proposed by Ian Walters is an adequate portrait but nothing more. In my opinion a sculptor of more originality and inventiveness should have been chosen, so a lasting piece of artistic heritage will be left." The Guardian (UK) 09/24/05

Tate Cancels Display For Fear Of Offending Muslims Tate Britain has canceled display of John Latham's God Is Great because the museum says it is afraid of "offending some Muslims after the London terrorist bombings." The Tate says "that it had to take the 'difficult decision' to avoid its motives being misunderstood given the attacks, which killed 52 people in July, and the present political climate. However, it admitted it had not consulted the Metropolitan Police or the Muslim Council of Britain. Latham, 84, who insists that the piece is not anti-Islamic, says: 'Tate Britain have shown cowardice over this. I think it's a daft thing to do because if they want to help the militants, this is the way to do it." The Observer (UK) 09/25/05

Bilbao-On-Roanoke Roanoke Virginia is the latest to roll the dice on the "Bilbao effect." The Art Museum of Western Viginia is building a new $46 million home. "Interlocking roofs, sheathed with ribs of brushed stainless steel, will roll like hills across the site. Walls with chemically treated zinc shingles will remind visitors of rock striations they've seen in the nearby mountains. A soaring prow of glass will erupt from these layers of metal, inviting wonder and, at the same time, signaling where the front door is. Another word people might use a lot to describe the 75,000-square-foot building, after the dust settles, is beautiful." Washington Post 09/25/05

Getty Attorneys: "Masterpieces' Of Questionable Origins Getty attorneys have determined that as many as half of the ancient masterpieces in the museum's collection can be traced back to suspect dealers. "In correspondence with the Getty, the dealers made frank, almost casual references to ancient sites from which artifacts had been excavated, apparently in violation of Italian law, the records show. The Getty's outside attorney considered the letters "troublesome" and advised the museum not to turn them over to Italian authorities. Although Italy is seeking the return of 42 objects, the Getty's lawyers did their own assessment and determined that the museum had purchased 82 artworks from dealers and galleries under investigation by the Italians. They include 54 of the 104 ancient artworks that the Getty has identified as masterpieces." Los Angeles Times 09/25/05

US Considers Chinese Art Import Ban The US is considering a request by the Chinese government o restrict imports of Chinese art. "The Chinese asked for the embargo in an effort reclaim stolen good and to stem looting and illicit export of archaeological material by reducing the market demand overseas. The request was made under the 1970 Unesco Convention regarding cultural property." The Art Newspaper 09/23/05

Wrapping A River In Colorado Christo and Jeanne-Claude are working on their next project. "After more than 40 years of supersized artworks, one last mega-art project remains on the couple's drawing board. They propose draping nearly seven miles of reflective translucent fabric at periodic intervals above a winding, 40-mile stretch of the Arkansas River in south central Colorado. Christian Science Monitor 09/23/05

What Kinds Of Buildings Win The Stirling Prize? "Certain sorts of building have always been doomed: specifically, private houses (too self-indulgent) and (other than one exceptional case) commercial buildings. Architects are still shot through with a certain moralism and remain uncomfortable with buildings celebrating capitalism. The ideal winner is still a public building. But moralism goes only so far. Architects are also seduced by glamour. Worthy buildings never win the Stirling. If you want worthy, follow the Prime Minister's Better Buildings Award." New Statesman 09/19/05

Arrest In "Scream" Theft Police in Norway have arrested a woman and charged her with being an accomplice in the theft of Edvard Munch's The Scream last year. "She was charged with handling stolen goods after allegedly being found to have banknotes from a bank robbery in which a policeman was shot dead. A police lawyer said the woman was suspected of being an accomplice to the Munch theft but gave no more details." BBC 09/22/05

Couldn't This Have Been Settled On The Playground? In what may be the most bizarre copyright lawsuit of the year, a Colombian painter is being sued by two marketing firms for interfering with their efforts to sell reproductions of his work. The fracas started when artist Fernando Botero donated a number of his works to a Colombian museum, which turned around and sold the right to produce and market posters of several of the works. Angered by the move, Botero told several media outlets in Miami that the posters were "unauthorized and illegitimate," which the company producing the posters viewed as a deliberate effort to suppress sales. The Globe & Mail (Canada) 09/22/05

New Rembrandt Declared After two years of exploration, a painting has been declared a Rembrandt. "X-rays showed many layers to the painting. Around the woman's neck was the fur collar, but under it there was a black layer of paint, and under that what Rembrandt had originally intended: a whitish collar. That explained the reflections, since light could well reflect off a white collar, but not off dark, fur." The New York Times 09/22/05

The Phenomenon That Was Thomas Krens So the legendary Thomas Krens is stepping aside at the Guggenheim. "This departure is a genuine art world event, because of Mr. Krens's influence and buccaneering style. He has done more to redefine museum practice than anyone since Thomas Hoving was director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the 1960s and 1970s. Still, as with Mr. Hoving, the surprise isn't that his departure took place, but that it didn't happen sooner." OpinionJournal.com 09/21/05

Ailing Art Investment Funds Art investment funds are struggling. "The fact is that, while a host of funds are currently jostling to find investors, few are succeeding. Most have scaled back their initial optimistic targets, and only one is actually up and running. It is a struggle to make the concept fit with financial institutions." The Art Newspaper 09/21/05

Dennison To Run Guggnheim New York's Guggenheim Museum has found its next director within its own ranks: Lisa Dennison, a 27-year veteran of the Guggenheim organization, will take over running the New York museum on October 1, succeeding Thomas Krens. Dennison will also continue in her current capacity as chief curator for all the various Guggenheim museums spread across the world. The New York Times 09/21/05

The "Art" Of Kidnapping (Really?) "Brock Enright is notorious in the US as the man who performs 'bespoke executive kidnappings' for $1,500 a time. He's persona non grata with the NYPD, fantasy salesman to the stars, and now he's opened his first London exhibition with a performance-art extravaganza starring his own mother and the Easter bunny. 'In what I do there is a lot of smoke and mirrors.' He works at the edge of truth and fiction." The Guardian (UK) 09/20/05

Researcher Find Ancient Building By Using Google An Italian researcher has discovered an ancient villa by looking at satellite maps doenloaded from Google. "Luca Mori was looking at Google Earth images of the region around his town of Sorbolo, near Parma, when he noticed a shaded oval area more than 500 metres (1,640ft) long, which marked the path of an ancient river." The Guardian (UK) 09/21/05

Russia's Stolen Art Problem Russian police are searching for more than 48,000 stolen works of art. "The missing pieces of artwork include pictures, icons, sculptures, metalwork, gems, military decorations, vintage armor, and rare books. Some of them were stolen from museums and churches, but most from private houses. The biggest challenge is to track down pieces that have been smuggled out of the country, investigators said." Navosti 09/20/05

Milwaukee Art Dealer Accuse Of Fraud "Once-eminent Milwaukee art dealer Michael H. Lord has been charged with stealing about $180,000 from an old friend by buying artwork on the friend's behalf and then selling it to Major League Baseball commissioner Allan H. "Bud" Selig and his wife, and keeping the proceeds." Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel 09/20/05

I Smithsonian, Land Trader If the art and artifacts business doesn't work out, the Smithsonian ought to consider the real estate business. The Smithsonian has flipped a building it bought and rehabbed, making a huge profit. "The museum bought the property and refurbished it in 1999 for $114 million and had used the nine-story building for office space. It sold for $157.5 million." Washington Post 09/20/05

The Island Circling Manhattan Robert Smithson once dreamed of a floating island that would circle Manhattan. "Thirty-five years after the now-deceased Smithson drew it, his island artwork has become reality: a 150-ton flat-bottom boat full of dirt planted with trees, shrubs and grass. Through Sept. 25, tugboat captain Bob Henry will spend at least 12 hours a day pulling 'Floating Island' up and down the East and Hudson rivers around Manhattan." Los Angeles Times 09/20/05

• And A Continent Away - The Island In Lake Washington Three Seattle-area artists build and float their own island in the middle of Lake Washington, sranrling traffic on a nearby bridge. "The 15-by-15-foot artwork titled, not surprisingly, 'The Island,' consists of a palm tree and granite-colored foam rocks on sand-colored canvas, as well as crabs, starfish, coconuts and other tropical props. "The only thing missing is Wilson, the volleyball from 'Cast Away'."
  King County Journal (Seattle) 09/20/05

MFA: Getcher' Galleries Fast! Boston's Museum of Fine Arts announces a schedule for its $500 million expansion. And how is the project being paid for? "Galleries are going fast," museum director Malcom Rogers said. "But I do know, for instance, that the galleries of pre-Columbian art are still available. We also have the major American paintings galleries, where one or two of those are open at the moment. And also, people like to name endowment funds, funds supporting exhibitions, lectures, concerts." Boston Globe 09/20/05

The Da Vinci Code's Real Detective Maurizio Seracini is what Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown calls an "art diagnostician", which is "not a bad description for someone who probes paintings with state-of-the-art-technology, often to advise museums, dealers and collectors on their restoration. One question raised by Mr Seracini's painstaking investigation is why Da Vinci wanted to include such a bloody scene in a nativity painting, and why he - or someone else - thought better of it. But another question, and the one that will fascinate the Dan Brown fans, is what Da Vinci was up to on the other side of the painting in the last area of the panel to be fully rendered by Mr Seracini's technicians. The Guardian (UK) 09/19/05

The National's New Artist-In-Residence London's National Gallery has a new artist-in-residence - Chris Ofili. "It is a surprising step for the National Gallery, an unshakable bastion of traditional high culture, to be employing the services of an artist who symbolises, perhaps more than any other, Britart cool. 'Some people will no doubt regard it as a sell-out. But it's about engaging with contemporary culture rather than adopting an aloof view'." The Guardian (UK) 09/19/05

Phillips Powers Into Bigger, Better Washington DC's Phillips Collection is heading into expansion in the fast lane. "The Phillips has raised $29 million in its first-ever capital campaign -- $2 million more than the goal and two years ahead of schedule. In December, the museum receives the keys to its new building, next door to its intimate Dupont Circle home, which will add 3,000 square feet of gallery space and an auditorium." Washington Post 09/19/05

New Orleans Museum - An Oasis Of Calm The New Orleans Museum survived Katrina intact. It "opened in 1911 and is one of the central cultural institutions of New Orleans, and is an oasis of calm and beauty in a city of despair and ruin. But it is an empty oasis. Wind and water have driven away its 150,000 annual visitors, its 10,000 members, and many members of its staff and board of trustees. 'My first priority to the staff and trustees is to ensure that the museum opens up as soon as possible. I wouldn't want to have our best pictures leave the museum right now'." The New York Times 09/19/05

LA County Museum To Sell Off Major Art The Los Angeles County Museum of Art is selling off 42 works, including paintings by Amedeo Modigliani, Camille Pissarro, Alfred Sisley and Max Beckmann, sculptures by Alberto Giacometti and Henry Moore, and works on paper by Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse and Edgar Degas. "The idea, said LACMA Deputy Director Nancy Thomas, is to prune redundant and unrepresentative items and spend the income on works that will fill in gaps — especially modern works that could shine when the museum expands, reorganizes and rehangs its collection in 2007." Los Angeles Times 09/17/05

Dali Scores Big For Philly The Philadelphia Museum of Art's Dali show earlier this year "generated $55 million for the Philadelphia region, including $4.46 million in state and local taxes," says a new study. The Art Newspaper 09/16/05

A New Museum For Paris? "Canadian architect Frank Gehry has been hired by Bernard Arnault, chairman of the luxury goods group LVMH, to produce designs for a new museum in Paris. If the project goes forward, the new museum would house works from the French billionaire’s contemporary art collection." The Art Newspaper 09/16/05

Do-Over - When Prominent Architecture Needs Fixin' The Wexner Center for the Arts at Ohio State University was architect Peter Eisenman's first large-scale work, a renowned 1989 building. But it leaked. And the temperature inside swung wildly during the day. Eventually the museum had to close for a redo. "That leaks and zigzagging temperatures would plague such an experimental building is not so surprising, some architects say, given that the design elements would have been challenging for any structural engineer. But, inevitably, the setbacks of celebrated architects seem to draw attention." The New York Times 09/17/05

The Titian Under The Paint It was a painting by a mediocre artist. But there was something under the top layers of paint. "What lies beneath is a Titian, a unique double portrait of a mother and daughter whose subjects remain an intriguing mystery. Christie's yesterday announced it was auctioning Portrait of a Lady and Her Daughter in December for an estimated £5 million." The Guardian (UK) 09/17/05

Munch's Hell The currently missing Scream may be Edvard Munch's best-known painting, but the bleak, horrible emotion running through that work is a good representation of the artist's overall body of work. In fact, Munch was arguably the world's most skilled artist at inspiring a feeling of utter dread in those who view his work. "His relentless and self-absorbed despair makes everyone else's spleen look almost kittenish. Hell, you realise, could be defined as being locked in a small room with Edvard Munch for all eternity; and certainly it seemed that way to Munch himself." The Guardian (UK) 09/17/05

Stolen Rembrandt, Renoir Both Safe And Sound Hours after police in Denmark recovered a $40 million Rembrandt stolen five years ago from Sweden's National Museum, it was revealed that the other major work stolen from the museum in that infamous raid, Renoir's portrait entitled A Young Parisienne, had been recovered months ago by American authorities. The Renoir recovery was kept quiet so as not to jeopardize the ongoing investigation into the whereabouts of the Rembrandt. Four men are in custody and will likely be charged in the crime. Washington Post 09/17/05

Stolen Rembrandt Recovered "A self-portrait by Rembrandt has been recovered by Danish police, nearly five years after it was stolen in a daring raid on Sweden's National Museum. It was retrieved on Thursday during an operation at a Copenhagen hotel that resulted in the arrest of four people... The artwork - which was reportedly undamaged and still in its original frame - is worth an estimated £34m." BBC 09/16/05

Can A Single Painting Do More Than A Whole Exhibition? Not every museum can afford to bring in the so-called blockbuster shows that have increasingly come to be the financial backbone of the visual arts industry, but smaller institutions do have another option for drawing a crowd: a single, spectacular, and (most importantly) high-profile work borrowed or bought to get bodies in the door. These "destination pictures" not only serve as a draw unto themselves, but unlike a blockbuster show, they sit well in the midst of the museum's larger collection, inviting patrons to experience all the museum has to offer. Sydney Morning Herald 09/16/05

New York's New Boldness The Freedom Tower may be looking ever more like a lost cause, but "four years on, there is an architectural renaissance in New York that would have been difficult to imagine in the weeks that followed 9/11. Since the 1960s, the shape of New York’s skyline has been under the control of savvy developers who made fortunes erecting uniform brick apartment towers and boxy office buildings. Architects wanting to do something new had little choice but to look to Europe or Asia. This is changing: New York is once again becoming a city where adventurous architecture can happen." Financial Times 09/15/05

Chicago's Endangered Architectural Treasures "Some of the Chicago area's most important architectural treasures are in danger, and because of various pressures -- including the opposition of local developers, corporations, municipal governments, aldermen and planning commissions -- they may soon be altered beyond all recognition or completely demolished." Chicago Sun-Times 09/15/05

Vegas Gets A Face Life (For The 408,309th Time) Big-name architects Rafael Viñoly, Lord Norman Foster, James KM Cheng, Cesar Pelli, and Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates have been enlisted to "design various parts of a $5 billion, 66-acre development in the heart of Las Vegas. Called Project CityCenter, the complex of hotels, casinos, retail and residential space is to be built by November 2009 on a site between the Monte Carlo and Bellagio hotels on the city's famous strip." The New York Times 09/15/05

Naked And Pregnant In Trafalar Square Trafalgar Square's vacant fourth plinth gets a new sculpture, a statue of a naked preggnant woman. "The 12ft marble sculpture, 'Alison Lapper Pregnant', is already dividing opinion among art critics and disability campaigners. Artist Marc Quinn said he had sculpted his friend Ms Lapper because disabled people were under-represented in art." BBC 09/15/05

Architect Chosen For St. Louis Museum Expansion British architect David Chipperfield has been chosen to design a major expansion of the St. Louis Art Museum. The expansion will increase space by 40 percent. "The St. Louis Art Museum is bursting at its seams. Strategic acquisitions by the Museum and gifts from local benefactors have created a great collection that cannot be properly shown. Major works by such artists as Matisse and Picasso are confined to storage, and entire collections can only be viewed on a rotating basis. Chipperfield was chosen after a 10-month search." St. Louis Post-Dispatch 09/12/05

When Architects Copy "How important should artistic authorship be in the world of architecture? For most of the last 500 years, imitation was the sincerest form of architectural flattery. The pattern was established during the Renaissance, whose architects were trying to re-create the buildings of ancient Rome. The fact that most of these buildings lay in ruins meant that designers had to do a lot of creative reconstruction, but that didn't alter the principle of learning from—and copying—the past. Invention was necessary, but it was not the most important factor." Slate 09/14/05

The Tate's Mini-Tours The Tate has put together mini-collections within its buildings to offer "themed" tours for visitors. "Visitors can also curate their own tours by visiting Tate’s website and selecting paintings according to any theme they choose." The Times (UK) 09/14/05

Getty Villa Almost Ready For Reopening After five years of extensive renovations, the Getty villa in Malibu is almost ready to reopen. "The expected 2001 completion date was pushed back repeatedly by legal wrangling with neighbors and construction delays. But the $275-million project — transforming the J. Paul Getty Trust's former general art museum into an educational center and museum dedicated to the study of the arts and cultures of ancient Greece, Rome and Etruria — is nearly complete. A series of invitational previews this fall will lead to the public opening in early 2006." Los Angeles Times 09/14/05

RIBA Head: Architecture Shows Are Crap London needs a place to stage architecture exhibitions. The head of the Royal Institute of British Architects Trust says that "most architecture exhibitions are crap. In my opinion, yes they are. The content isn't crap but the way it engages is appalling because it's the wrong medium. I've seen many architecture exhibitions where the subject matter should be in a book or on a website or in a journal or on television, but it's not an exhibition." The Guardian (UK) 09/13/05

Kidnapping As Art (Really?) Journalist Morgan Fowler has homself "kidnapped" by a performance artist, who beats on him. "Lying on the floor I had felt genuinely degraded, afraid of the next punch, ashamed that I’d submitted to it at all. Yet something like determination kept me submitting to this for a full 40 minutes. Even after a cab home and a shower I found myself oddly reluctant to talk about what had happened. The game had been a little more involving than I had envisaged. I had quite a few bruises." Is this really art? The Times (UK) 09/13/05

The Disappointment That Is Baltic GAteshead's Baltic gallery opened in 2002 with great fanfare and high hopes. But "the Baltic has become the safely provincial test bed of the wannabe cutting-edgers. You know the kind of thing: formulaic novelty and predictable, in-your-face transgression, not to mention those darkened rooms containing videos that render visitors comatose. Fair enough, Bill Viola is a master, but how about the others? If the Baltic's programme of institutional avant-gardism has been underwhelming, its managerial record has been abysmal." New Statesman 09/13/05

Philly Calder Museum Dies A planned Alexander Calder museum in Philadelphia has died. "Both the state and the proposed museum's major financial backer have withdrawn their support for the project. The proposed museum was to have been a permanent home for about 100 artworks, mostly those of Alexander (Sandy) Calder, a Philadelphia-area born sculptor famous for whimsical mobiles and steel sculptures." Philadelphia Daily News 09/13/05

Cleveland Museum Goes Ahead With Expansion The Cleveland Museum board has voted to accept bids on a $258 million expansion of the museum. "This is the culmination of 10 years of work, and now it's a reality. It's going to happen." In other news, the museum also says it hopes to name a new director soon. The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) 09/13/05

High-Tech Looters Pillage Mediterranean Shipwrecks Ancient shipwrecks in the Mediterranean are being looted of their treasures. "Traffickers have caught on to the fact that there are more than 12,000 shipwrecks in Greek waters. Many of the submerged gems date back to the Golden Age of the fifth century BC. Armed with archeological service maps acquired on the black market, burgeoning numbers of international smugglers have made it their mission to locate the wrecks, authorities say." Boston Globe 09/13/05

How A Hurricane Will Change Art? New Orleans artists talk about what they lost and how Katrina will change their work. "The imagery has to change; it's inevitable. I was always interested in the street life, the poor and what is at the root of that lifestyle. Now my concern is that New Orleans will become a middle-class city. The whole landscape of American art is in the process of upheaval. Between 9/11 and Katrina, I am seeing artists dealing with history. When I was at school we were concerned primarily with form. Now that's all changed." The New York Times 09/13/05

Giving Up On Ground Zero Quality? Project after project has been foiled at the site of the old World Trade Center. "On this anniversary weekend, it may be time to face up to what few have wanted to acknowledge: that nothing of value can be built at ground zero while the anguish and anxiety remain so fresh - nor while political and economic forces are eager to exploit those emotions." The New York Times 09/12/05

British/China Art Deal - Does It Harm Tibet? Does Britain's major deal with China to trade archaeological treasures damage Tibet's culture? "By lending their prestigious names to the Chinese government, the British Museum and others implicitly sanction Beijing's cultural policy and, with it, the ongoing artistic, linguistic and religious genocide in Tibet. Over the past 10 years, mainland China has rediscovered its pre-communist past. The iconoclastic modernism of the Great Leap Forward has been replaced by official respect for China's ancient civilisation. But this admiration for heritage has come too late for the people of Tibet." The Guardian (UK) 09/11/05

World's Greatest Painting? (Time To Vote) Fresh off the success of polling for Britain's greatest painting, producers intend to export the idea worldwide. "Voters will be asked to discriminate between Picasso and Pollock, Botticelli and Bosch, in the latest manifestation of the trend to popularise high culture by applying the voting principles of Big Brother. The global success of television formats such as Pop Idol, Big Brother and Strictly Come Dancing has shown an appetite for interactive entertainment formats that can be replicated internationally." The Guardian (UK) 09/10/05

Serota: Reimagining The Tate Tate director Nicholas Serota has big plans for the Tate. "He plans a radical unseating of painting and sculpture from their positions as the "king and queen" of art. In addition, he aims to create a Tate that "does not appear monocultural" but reflects a "broader British society, in all its richness". His ambition also includes representing the full depth of contemporary life, such as club culture." The Guardian (UK) 09/12/05

Families Protest Freedom Museum A group of 9/11 families rallies against plans for a Freedom Center Museum at the site of the World Trade Center in New York. "Family members worry the International Freedom Center will take attention away from those who died in the attack. They said the museum should not be allowed to show exhibits about struggles for freedom around the world. 'These are important stories to tell. Elsewhere, not at America's memorial'." Denver Post (AP) `09/11/05

800 Years Of Russia In The House How do you describe the art of a sprawling country like Russia in a single exhibition. The Guggenheim attempts to negotiate the premise... The New York Times 09/11/05

New Orleans - History To Build On "Deep racial and class divisions aside, New Orleans is one of the few places in America that, in the best sense, looks its age. Though it is unusually vulnerable to natural disaster, nearly all of its neighborhoods have managed to avoid the urban renewal and crass commercial projects that have taken their toll elsewhere. This is partly due to the intractable poverty here, which has made great sections of New Orleans unattractive to national developers, and partly to a long-standing preservation movement. Katrina, in other words, has managed to do to this city what a wrecking ball never could." Los Angeles Times 09/08/05

130 Years Of Maturing America's Artists The Art Students' League of New York turns 130 this year, and its history is chock full of legendary artists and impressive anecdotes. More importantly, the school has amassed an extensive collection of works by its former students, and many of the pieces are on display this fall at the school's West Side headquarters. "And it won't be partying alone. As an anniversary salute, more than a dozen Manhattan art galleries have organized smaller shows, some already on view, devoted to artists associated with the institution." The New York Times 09/09/05

Taubmans Loosen Grip On Sotheby's The Taubman family, which has owned controlling interest in Sotheby's auction house, is reducing its investment to minority shareholder status. "The deal, which ends years of speculation about the Taubmans' intentions for their holding, ends a dual share structure that had allowed the family's 22% stake to carry 62% of the votes. The family will continue to hold 7.1 million shares, which will give them the same power as other investors in the company." The Guardian (UK) 09/09/05

Renoir Kin Implicated in Potential Billion-Dollar Art Fraud "According to documents filed in an Arizona court, Jean-Emmanuel Renoir, great-grandson of Pierre-Auguste Renoir, has lent his name to what one lawyer claims could be the 'biggest art fraud in history', a plan to market hundreds of thousands of works inspired by Renoir-Guino sculptures to which the artist’s descendant does not hold copyright. Projected revenues are over $1 billion." The Art Newspaper 09/09/05

Do We Want "Appropriate" Art For WTC Projects? Cultural buildings at the site of the World Trade Center are mired in debates about what is "appropriate." " 'The challenge for the curators is going to be: given the context of where these cultural institutions are, what's appropriate here?' Whatever else this particular controversy has illustrated, it is just the latest trouble to visit the four cultural structures of the new World Trade Center site. One way or another, the future of all four of them -- the memorial, the memorial museum, the performing arts center, and the cultural building -- is unclear. Gotahm Gazette 09/05

MoMA Scores A 'Lost' Matisse New York's Museum of Modern Art has a new Matisse in its collection. The Plum Blossoms, from the artist's last series of paintings, was purchased for MoMA by its new president and her husband for an amount estimated to be $25 million. The painting's whereabouts had been unknown for more than 30 years until a Manhattan dealer approached MoMA on behalf of the anonymous collector who owned it. It was last put on public display in 1970, and because it has always been in private collections, it is reportedly in extraordinary condition. MoMA hopes to have the painting on its walls within a week. The New York Times 09/08/05

Reynolds Masterpiece Denied Exit From UK An 18th-century painting by Sir Joshua Reynolds will remain in the UK despite its having been sold last year to a foreign institution. Keeping important works of art in country has become a crusade in Britain in recent years, and "the government slapped a temporary export ban on the sale to give the [Tate Modern] time to raise the necessary £3.2m" to buy the painting back. "The London gallery managed to meet the figure through a combination of grants, donations, the Tate's own collection fund and £500,000 raised by the gallery's own members." The Guardian (UK) 09/08/05

Italian Architects Revolt Against International Superstars 35 of Italy's top architects have signed an open letter to the government asking for an immediate cessation of all building projects designed by foreign "star" architects, and calling for a return to Italy's traditional architectural standard. "The writers warn of the 'architectural mongrelisation' of Italy, and say Italian architects are 'an invaluable cultural resource that cannot continue to be thwarted and ignored'." The Guardian (UK) 09/08/05

Speculation In Cleveland "Trustees of the Cleveland Museum of Art have been mum on the search for a new director. But that hasn't stopped one current and one former candidate from talking. Charles Venable, the museum's deputy director for collections and programs, acknowledged publicly last week that he's one of a small number of candidates under consideration. Meanwhile, Michael Shapiro, director of the High Museum in Atlanta, said he withdrew, as he put it, 'before an offer was finalized.'" The museum would like to have a new director in place by the time ground is broken for its massive expansion and renovation on October 1, but isn't setting any firm deadlines for the process. The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) 09/06/05

No Help Coming In Effort To Keep Titian In UK A major painting by Titian is being put up for sale, and the National Gallery, which last year prevented Raphael's Madonna of the Pinks from being purchased by a foreign bidder with an emergency infusion of cash from the government, hoped to do the same with the Titian. But the Heritage Lottery Fund, which grudgingly ponied up for the Raphael, calls the acquisition of art a "low priority." Adding to the intrigue is the consenseus opinion of art experts that the Titian is a more significant work than the Raphael. The Guardian (UK) 09/06/05

Bristol's Arnolfini Reopens "The burgeoning reputation of Bristol as a buzzing centre for cutting-edge contemporary culture took another leap forward when the doors of Arnolfini, its modern arts centre reopened yesterday. After a two-year refurbishment, the warren of corridors and rather cramped galleries at the converted 19th-century tea warehouse have gone, replaced by wide open, inviting white spaces. The re-birth of Arnolfini is also a further boost for the city's waterside area, which has undergone a transformation in recent years into a major tourist destination." The Guardian (UK) 09/07/05

d'Offay In Talks To Sell His Collection "Scotland's gallery bosses are in talks to buy one of the world's most spectacular collections of modern art. Art chiefs are hoping to clinch famous works by leading figures such as Andy Warhol and Damien Hirst in a deal with London-based collector Anthony d'Offay. His £100m collection features more than 700 works that he has gathered during a 40-year career. Officials at the National Galleries of Scotland in Edinburgh and Glasgow City Council have been in joint talks with the art dealer in a bid to agree a deal. And a new gallery to rival London's Tate Modern could be built in Edinburgh to house the collection." The Scotsman 09/04/05

• Officials Warn Against Press Scrutiny Scotland's First Minister is personally involved in the d'Offay negotiations, but Scottish officials have warned that the media attention is jeopardizing a potential deal. The collector has made it known that he would like his art holdings to be housed in Scotland, but there are numerous logistical hurdles to be overcome, not the least of which is a lack of appropriate space in either Glasgow or Edinburgh to house the massive collection. The Scotsman 09/06/05

Beijing And London To Swap Art London and Beijing make an agreement for a big swap of archaeological treasures. "This could lead to one or more of China's world-famous terracotta warriors going on show at the British Museum and to Chinese crowds having their first chance to see Egyptian mummies and cuneiform tablets from London. The directors of the British Museum and Victoria and Albert Museum, who are in China with Tony Blair, unveiled the exchange deals after two years of secret preparations." The Guardian (UK) 09/06/05

Will Reseller Fee Kill UK Art Biz? "In January, the U.K. will follow France and Germany in making sellers of art pay living artists a royalty, ranging from 120 euros ($149) to 12,500 euros. Art merchants must live with that, though they continue to lobby against such measures. They argue that they will be less competitive with the U.S. market, where the rule does not apply, and will be hurt by scheduled extensions to the resale rights, known in France as ``droit de suite,'' in 2010 to 2012." Bloomberg.com 09/05/05

Woman Attacks Lichtenstein Painting A woman has slashed a painting by Roy Lichtenstein in an Austrian museum. "Nudes in Mirror - which was insured for $6m (£3.2m) - was damaged but not destroyed in the incident. Police said a 35-year-old woman, from Munich, in Germany, pulled a knife from her bag and slashed it four times on Saturday afternoon. She was stopped by visitors and staff at the Kunsthaus Bregenz museum." BBC 09/05/05

Turner Wins Greatest British Painting A painting by JMW Turner has won a poll to find Britain's Grreatest Painting. "The full title of Turner's painting, completed in 1839, is "The Fighting Temeraire tugged to her Last Berth to be broken up, 1838". The 98-gun ship Temeraire played a distinguished role in Nelson's victory at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805." BBC 09/05/05

London Museums See Big Drop In Attendance After Bombings In the wake of the bombings in London this summer, attendance at the city's museums has dropped off considerably. "Overall the seven galleries recorded an average fall of 26% compared with the same week last year. Obviously this has a financial impact, in that less revenue is generated from exhibition tickets, shop sales and catering. The hope must be that numbers will pick up this month and begin returning to normal levels." The Art Newspaper 09/03/05

Modern Western Art Reappears In Iran A collection of modern Western art goes on display in Iran for the first time in 25 years. "The exhibition at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Arts includes works by Van Gogh, Picasso, Gauguin, and Warhol. Most of the 188 works were purchased to further Iran's cultural activities by the wife of the late Shah. But the Shah's fall saw the collection locked away by an Islamic government opposed to Western influence. BBC 09/04/05

Full Disclosure: Getty Fails To Turn Over Documents Related To Looting "The J. Paul Getty Trust, which has said it was fully cooperating with Italian authorities, did not disclose a series of letters and photographs that show its chief antiquities curator maintained close relationships with dealers suspected of selling art looted from Italy, according to documents and interviews." Los Angeles Times 09/01/05

Competing For Art Major auction houses compete hard for the collections they sell. "To win a coveted collection, Sotheby’s and Christie’s will offer everything from elaborate dinner parties and Champagne and caviar served in the skyboxes to single-owner catalogues and all-expense-paid trips around the world. But what matters most right now is the money that the firms are guaranteeing and advancing to consignors, more so than the track record of the auction house or the personal relationships that have been created. In the majority of cases, when push comes to shove, the money will win.” ARTnews 09/05

Is Leipzig The Next Big Thing? The city of Leipzig is opening a new museum, building on a thriving new visual arts scene. "The city's vast train station made it central Europe's transport hub and, particularly in music (Bach, Mendelssohn and Schumann all lived there for a while), it has long been a cultural hub as well. Now it is the storming art scene that is driving the city's rise, with young artists emerging from the conservative (they teach painting) academy being touted, with the usual art world hyperbole, as the successors to the Young British Artists, while their work is snapped up - leading collectors including Jay Jopling, Charles Saatchi and Marianne Boesky." Financial Times 09/01/05