Notwithstanding its sale last year of the most expensive work of art ever sold at auction, Sotheby's today reported lackluster results for 2012: Net income was down a whopping 37%, ($108.29 million, compared to $171.42 million the previous year). Total sales for the year (including private and dealer sales) were $5.4 billion (down 7%), compared to $6.27 billion at Christie's … [Read more...] about Bested by Christie’s, Sotheby’s Sales Drop. Net Income Plummets 37%. Both Raise Buyer’s Fee.
Archives for February 2013
Flower Power: A Personal Note…
Those of you who follow my @CultureGrrl Twitter feed (embedded on the blog, at right) know I was in Washington, DC, last week (on assignment). Now I need to write that article, host CultureDaughter's bridal shower (centerpiece pictured) and undergo (gulp) cataract surgery on my left eye---all in rapid succession. After that come preparations for a family Passover seder (late … [Read more...] about Flower Power: A Personal Note…
A Bent for Bentonville: Crystal Bridges’ Don Bacigalupi Was Considered for San Francisco’s Directorship UPDATED
An unimpeachably reliable inside source at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF) has unequivocally confirmed to me one part of a rumor that I heard yesterday after I published this post about the surprising administrative realignment and worrisome staff departures at the Crystal Bridges Museum, Bentonville, AR: My source confirmed that Don Bacigalupi, director of … [Read more...] about A Bent for Bentonville: Crystal Bridges’ Don Bacigalupi Was Considered for San Francisco’s Directorship UPDATED
Crystal Bridges Shake-Up: What Is Alice Walton Thinking?
What's going on between the lines and behind the scenes of the recent surprising news about the regime change at Crystal Bridges Museum, Bentonville, AR? The answers could prove telling for the future of a still nascent institution that's trying to find its way and play in the big leagues, with the help of munificent financial support from its founder, Alice Walton. The … [Read more...] about Crystal Bridges Shake-Up: What Is Alice Walton Thinking?
NY Public Library Responds to Architecture Critics’ Letter Regarding Norman Foster’s Design
The NY Public Library today issued a statement in response to the letter by 20 architecture critics who called on the library's board to reconsider the planned renovation designed by Norman Foster. This hit my inbox earlier this evening, sent to me by Ken Weine, who last week assumed his post as the NY Public Library's vice president for communications and marketing (and is … [Read more...] about NY Public Library Responds to Architecture Critics’ Letter Regarding Norman Foster’s Design
Goshen Commotion: Paul Rudolph’s Government Center May Not be Saved After All
It's not over until the construction contract is signed. Although the county legislature voted last week in favor of renovating, rather than knocking down, the flood-damaged Orange County Government Center, politicians on both sides of the controversy (the pro-renovation Democrats and the pro-demolition Republicans) now indicate that the rescue of architect Paul Rudolph's … [Read more...] about Goshen Commotion: Paul Rudolph’s Government Center May Not be Saved After All
20 Architecture Critics Call on NY Public Library to Reconsider Norman Foster Renovation Plan
The skeptical sensibility of our city's preeminent architecture watchdog, Ada Louise Huxtable, lives on through her devoted disciples. Some 20 architecture critics, including such notables as Martin Filler, Joseph Giovannini, Cathleen McGuigan, Victoria Newhouse and Suzanne Stephens, have shot off a letter to the NY Public Library's board, citing Ada Louise's "last essay … [Read more...] about 20 Architecture Critics Call on NY Public Library to Reconsider Norman Foster Renovation Plan
Crystal Bridges’ Administrative Turnover: Director’s “Promotion” Follows Exodus of Top Curatorial Officials
In my mental file cabinet of future stories, this one was at the top of my to-do list---a detailed post on the brain drain from Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. Now a surprising press release has hit my inbox. It tries to put a positive spin on Crystal Bridges' future, but instead suggests even more administrative turmoil may lie ahead: Crystal Bridges Museum of … [Read more...] about Crystal Bridges’ Administrative Turnover: Director’s “Promotion” Follows Exodus of Top Curatorial Officials
A Conservator’s BlogBack: Are the Purported Bush Paintings a Hoax?
When you're dealing with a self-proclaimed hacker, how can you ever be sure that the information and images you get from such a dubious source are reliable? CultureGrrl reader Lenora Paglia, a paintings conservator in New York (and evidently an amateur detective on the side), closely scrutinized the online images of putative Presidential daubs and responded to yesterday's … [Read more...] about A Conservator’s BlogBack: Are the Purported Bush Paintings a Hoax?
The Bush Paintings: Saltz and Smith as Hacker Flacks
Where's a culture editor when the NY Times really needs one? Husband-and-wife art critics Jerry Saltz (NY Magazine) and Roberta Smith (NY Times) simultaneously got all excited about the fact that George W. Bush could actually paint a decent picture. Saltz calls W's paintings … [Read more...] about The Bush Paintings: Saltz and Smith as Hacker Flacks
Online Now: Complete Video of AFA’s All-Star Panel on Museum Funding Complexities
Judging from the large number of viewers of my 12-minute CultureGrrl Video excerpting comments from last October's all-star panel discussion of Art Museum Funding at the Crossroads, I'm certain that some of you wish you were there. Now you can be. The American Federation of Arts, which organized the event, has posted videos of the entire fascinating discussion---here … [Read more...] about Online Now: Complete Video of AFA’s All-Star Panel on Museum Funding Complexities
From Glocal to Local: Does “Checkpoint Helsinki” Supplant Guggenheim Helsinki?
With the proposed Guggenheim Helsinki stalled, if not moribund (and with one of its prime movers, Janne Gallen-Kallela-Sirén, director of the Helsinki Art Museum, about to shuffle to Buffalo), it now appears that the elaborate plans (embodied in the Guggenheim's $2-million, 186-page feasibility study) to boost the Finnish capital's cultural profile through the intervention of … [Read more...] about From Glocal to Local: Does “Checkpoint Helsinki” Supplant Guggenheim Helsinki?
Goshen Commotion: Paul Rudolph’s Orange County Government Center Saved!
Sometimes miracles (and bipartisan cooperation) do happen. I've been reporting since last March about the precarious situation of the flood-damaged Orange County Government Center, Goshen, NY, a masterful composition of cubes by architect Paul Rudolph. It was deemed so important that it had been placed on the World Monuments Fund’s 2012 Watch List of endangered … [Read more...] about Goshen Commotion: Paul Rudolph’s Orange County Government Center Saved!
Birth of the “Blues”: From 2006 at Boston ICA to Today at the Whitney (with video)
When Adam Weinberg, director af the Whitney Museum, mentioned at yesterday's press preview for the revelatory Blues for Smoke (to Apr. 28) that he had first discussed the show six years ago with its curator, Bennett Simpson, then at the Boston ICA (and now at LA MOCA, which organized the show), I had a sudden flashback to my own conversation in December 2006 with the ICA's … [Read more...] about Birth of the “Blues”: From 2006 at Boston ICA to Today at the Whitney (with video)
Dept. of Tasteless Product Promos by Museums: Brillo® at the Warhol
From time to time, I have griped about how some museums have allowed themselves to be co-opted into promoting the commercial products of their corporate sponsors. One such instance involved the Warhol Museum's loan of 30 Warhol Coca-Colas to the then new World of Coca-Cola museum near the soft-drink company’s Atlanta headquarters. (I also published rebuttals by the Pittsburgh … [Read more...] about Dept. of Tasteless Product Promos by Museums: Brillo® at the Warhol