The phrase of the week

One gets the distinct impression that not even Art Institute of Chicago director James Cuno believes what his museum is selling. I mean renting.

The AIC included these lines in a Friday press release: "The Art Institute of Chicago announces an unprecedented loan of 92 works from the museum's collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings to the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas," and my favorite: "The loan of these Impressionist and Post-Impressionist works is an historic occasion for the Art Institute."

Carol Vogel came oh-so-close to calling the deal what it is: A rental. To put it any other way, as the AIC tried to do by dropping the word "loan" into its press release with not-so-casual frequency (eight times!), stretches the museum's credibility. Even Cuno pretty much held his nose when discussing the rental: "We will produce a catalog of the show, so there will be scholarly residue."

Scholarly residue? Ha! That phrase tells you all you need to know. (Hey Filip Noterdaeme: How about printing up t-shirts that say, "Chicago pimps out Caillebotte, leaves Fort Worth with scholarly residue," and selling them in Texas?)

Look: This isn't the worst thing a museum has ever done -- but it definitely isn't the AIC's finest moment, either. If the AIC isn't ashamed about it -- though it sure sounds like Cuno is -- why not tell the truth in the museum's own press release? Better yet: Since the Art Institute of Chicago is a "public trust" (that's Cuno's phrase, not mine) why not establish a standard for transparency and trust the public with the terms of the rental? Whatever you do, AIC, stop calling it a loan. It's not. It's the re-monetization of art held by the museum in a public trust, almost -- but not quite -- King Malcolm-style. (Yes, Jim Cuno, that's right. You and Malcolm Rogers now have something in common. How's it feel?)

Related: The Kimbell is about to undergo the Renzo-knife itself, so why didn't the two museums simply work out a deal by which Fort Worth got some Chicago goods now, and by which Chicago got some Fort Worth good later? Or has this deal already been made, with another $2 million-ish changing hands? The Chicago Tribune's Alan Artner bought the AIC's spin, every word of it. AJ did too.