is more Jack Nicholsons. Seriously. This revelation came in Monday's New York Post, which said that a new memoir from Allegra Huston, Angelica's sister, included a passage on Nicholson's acquisition habits. "He collected paintings to the point of obsession," she wrote. A little snooping around turned up more details. Nicholson apparently owns an eight-room  home, modest by Hollywood standards, on Mulholland Dr. that is stuffed with just part of his collection -- not just on the walls, but stacked in unoccupied rooms. The rest is in … [Read more...]

Why is the Iranian new year, Nowruz, a reason for celebration in the arts world? Well, the Met can rejoice because a group of Iranian-Americans held a sumptuous dinner-dance at -- where else? -- the Temple of Dendur. David Patrick Columbia's New York Social Diary has the pictures. (Keep scrolling -- NYSD also has some great pix of Maastricht.) That must have added some much-needed cash to the Met's coffers. But President Obama also gave a little signal when he sent a videotaped message to the Iranian people late last week. … [Read more...]

With arts groups struggling all around us, an article in yesterday's New York Times, "As Detroit Struggles, Foundations Adjust," really caught my eye. It contained a warning for arts organizations and arts-lovers. Describing how their reduced resources made them change the way they operate, foundation officials said they were "being forced to pick winners and losers." In some cases, the foundations were forcing mergers. As a condition of aid to "Women Arise," for example, the Hudson-Webber Foundation merged … [Read more...]

It's encouraging that people are trying to think creatively abou the broken publishing model, which I mentioned on this site in my March 11 post, "Everyone's A Writer." After all, who's going to cover the arts and publish reviews and criticism if not newspapers and magazines? Turning newspapers into non-profits (on purpose, that is) is one; micro-payments for using online news sites is another. Here's another, by Dan Gillmor, posted earlier this week on BoingBoing. Gillmor argues that a critical mass of elite journalism organizations … [Read more...]

West Side Story -- a new production of the great musical by Leonard Bernstein, Arthur Laurents, Stephen Sondheim, and of course Jerome Robbins -- has arrived on Broadway, opening last night. It's an event. Since I haven't seen it yet, I asked my friend Amanda Vaill -- who has -- to weigh in. Amanda wrote both Somewhere: The Life of Jerome Robbins (2006) and Jerome Robbins: Something to Dance About, the American Masters documentary that aired on PBS last month. Robbins … [Read more...]

I can't let today's special section on museums in the New York Times pass without handing out raspberries, for the dumbest things that were said, and strawberries, for the smartest. Plus, something for Tom Campbell, of the Met. Raspberries to: Ann Philbin, director, Hammer Museum, UCLA: "We can't just be about art anymore.  Museums are the new community centers." Lori Fogarty, director, Oakland Museum: "We're moving away from the authoritarian voice of a museum. We're taking the approach that everyone's perspective is … [Read more...]

My thanks to Doug McLennan at Diacritical for introducing my AJ blog earlier this week. I am glad to be here. Then yesterday Doug posted "Is the NEA Bad for the Arts?" about cultural policy, which sure brought back memories. It was 10 years ago this coming August that I wrote an article for the New York Times about the Pew Charitable Trust's effort to get the nation to focus on culture. The key paragraph: Over the next five years, the Pew plans to devote about 40 percent of its culture budget, some $50 million, toward getting … [Read more...]

In the business world, this would be illegal collusion. In opera, it's a way to help struggling companies survive. I wish I could say it was money, but it's not. And the idea was too little, too late for the Baltimore Opera Company and the Connecticut Opera, which were too crippled to avoid being shut down in recent months. But maybe the information-sharing that Opera America decided to begin last fall will help its nearly 200 member companies through this recession. It's a little idea, but it may be a useful one … [Read more...]

Every year the World Economic Forum, also known as Davos, selects a crop of 200 to 300 Young Global Leaders of Tomorrow. "Extraordinary" people all, they're supposed to work together on global problems, using their knowledge and energy to make the world a better place. Drawn from the business, academic, non-profit, arts and media worlds, they meet at biannual summits, plus other Forum events, and collaborate on various initiatives. They network. I have no idea what actual good comes of this. But I thought it would be interesting to … [Read more...]

Maybe the wave of censure directed at several museums for selling art from their collections has had a positive impact: yesterday, the Indianapolis Museum of Art announced that it has created and put online a searchable database of the art it has decided to deaccession, following a review of its collections begun in 2007.  You can see what has been sold for what amount and what will be sold. In the future, IMA promises to link proceeds received from deaccessioned works to the new art they purchased. … [Read more...]