Updates: Barnes Courtroom Drama, Wilmerding's NGA Board Chairmanship, Virginia Museum Association's Opposition to Maier Disposals, AAM's Silence

---The Philadelphia Inquirer shows up at the Norristown, PA, courtroom where the latest Barnes drama unfolded earlier today. Diane Mastrull reports:

One attorney for a group opposed to the move accused the judge of not doing enough fast enough. Visibly irritated yet composed, Montgomery County Orphans' Court Judge Stanley R. Ott accused the lawyer for the Friends of the Barnes Foundation, Mark Schwartz, of "grandstanding" for the benefit of a standing-room-only crowd of more than 50 Barnes art enthusiasts.

"I don't act impulsively," Ott said in giving attorneys for the Barnes Foundation's board of trustees 30 days to respond to the petition by the Friends group and Montgomery County seeking to keep the billion-dollar art collection of the late Dr. Albert Barnes in Merion.

Attorney's rule-of-thumb: Don't antagonize the judge whom you hope will rule in your favor.

---John Wilmerding is named chairman of the board of the National Gallery of Art. Nice to have an art historian, rather than a corporate magnate, in that important spot. But does he still get to moonlight as Alice Walton's acquisitions advisor for Crystal Bridges?

---The Virginia Association of Museums adds its voice to the overwhelming professional censure of Randolph College's planned sales of works from its Maier Museum:

"It is the consensus of the [association's] Council that the Randolph College Board of Trustees and administration are making a grave mistake in treating works of art in the Maier Museum collection as financial assets that can be sold to fund operating expenses of the college," noted Scott H. Harris, VAM President. "Such a clear violation of accepted museum standards compromises the museum's ethical standing among its peers, and sets a disturbing precedent that may hamper the collecting efforts of other institutions."

And why have we not heard from the American Association of Museums on this subject? Eileen Goldspiel, AAM's interim director for government and media relations, explains:

AAM does not comment on specific actions of individual institutions but rather speaks on issues of standards and best practices for all museums.

Hmmmm.