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February 28, 2008
Finally
Admin: I'm back home and posting will (finally) get back to normal. That was going to start with more Francis Alys, but there are two other newsy items that will bump the next Alys post into Friday.
Yesterday evening, when the LAT report of Tom Krens' pending departure from the Guggenheim came across the e-transom, I blinked. I'm embarrassed to say that I'd actually forgotten that Krens was still around. The Gugg has become that irrelevant.
I think we're all familiar with the Tom Krens record. Bilbao was an architectural success, everything else failed. Bilbao opened in 1997, which means that Krens has spent 11 years pointing at one great building when someone, everyone, pointed out his repeated, multi-continental failures. A big part of the Bilbao legacy is this: It inspired Krens to chase dreams. It distracted him from New York, where the Guggenheim's flagship New York museum has languished. When was the last time you heard anyone in New York -- let alone anyone anywhere else -- talk about the Guggenheim?
It's been years since the museum had a recognizable identity. Under Krens the museum's exhibition program swung from "Russia!" to "The Aztec Empire" to Cremaster, a mystifying program for a museum built around a collection that had little to do with pre-modern Russia or the Aztecs. Often Krens' shows seemed more determined by the potential sponsor lineup than by curators, a shame because the Guggenheim's often exceptional collection-driven (and based) shows regularly out-drew Krens' fantasies.
The bottom line on Krens is this: His swashbuckling-dealmaker act grew tired years ago. His model for a museum empire was a thorough failure. The Guggenheim board belatedly realized this, finally recognizing that Krens' continued presence was the impediment to bringing a in a high-quality director in to run the NYC museum.
The next question is: How much difference will Krens' departure make to potential director candidates? The foundation's board is betting that it will matter a lot. It should: The Guggenheim is still a prominent museum in New York (which is different from being a New York museum -- as the museum's tiny membership figures show, it's been years since the museum had any real connection with its city). It has a fine collection. Its curators are still widely respected. Sure, the Gugg's a turnaround job, but the next director will surely enjoy a post-Krensian honeymoon. We aren't happy to see Krens go because we don't like the Guggenheim. We're happy to see him go because we want to see the Guggenheim succeed.
Today's Vogelism: "The move comes three years after Mr. Krens triumphed in a him-or-me showdown with the foundation's biggest benefactor, the Cleveland philanthropist Peter B. Lewis." Krens triumphed? Really?!?
Today's Rosenbaumism: "I always thought he truly believed his own hype and I know, from several conversations that we had, how convincing he could be in communicating his convictions to others." Great. That makes Krens George W. Bush.
Related: Tom Krens: The most influential museum director in NYC.
Posted February 28, 2008 8:16 AM
