LACMA and Met Updates: Contemporary Gallery Namers Named; Hirst Shark Gets New Roommate

---Remember when I told you that the new Broad Contemporary Art Museum, opening next month at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, would have a gallery named for (then unannounced) collector/benefactors, who didn't mind that some other guy's name was on the building?

Now those names are out: LACMA trustee Jane Nathanson and her husband Marc have forked over $10 million for gallery naming rights. Now we need to see if collectors will go where Broad hasn't, donating to BCAM major groupings of contemporary art.

---Remember when I complained about the Metropolitan Museum's lame juxtaposition of Hirst's shark with shark-themed paintings from the 18th and 19th centuries?

Now Copley and Homer are out; Anish Kapoor is in. His "As Yet Untitled," 2007, a recent Met purchase, is in a stainless steely face-off with the fierce predator. I'll have to get over to the Met to see who wins.

Purchase? Did I just say PURCHASE? What ever happened to Philippe's 50-year rule? Honored in the breach, I'm happy to report.

And here's another Met purchase of newly created art: "Between Earth and Heaven," a 2006 sculpture by Ghanaian artist El Anatsui, installed in the African art galleries.