Somehow this escaped everyone's notice: MacDowell Colony* has named Kiki Smith as the recipient of the 50th Edward MacDowell Medal -- which she'll receive on Aug. 9. MacDowell is the oldest U.S. artists' residency program, with beautiful grounds near Peterborough, N.H., which was the model for Thornton Wilder's "Our Town." It rotates the annual medal among disciplines -- last year was the turn for achitecture, and the medal went to Thom Mayne. Among the previous visual arts winners are Alexander Calder, Edward … [Read more...]

Henry Hudson, working for the Dutch East India Company, first sailed into the river now named for him 400 years ago this September, leading to the founding of New Amsterdam/New York. I'm sure New York would have celebrated the occasion, but probably not as comprehensively as it is doing had not the government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands stepped up to the plate. You can see what I'm talking about by looking at the website created for the occasion, called NY400. Many (most?) events involve the arts. One, twin photography … [Read more...]

For all its drawbacks for writers, the Internet has its pluses, too. Easier research, for one. And here's another example: Two new websites in France are putting on display, for everyone to see, just how difficult writing novels (in particular) really is and how it was done by a master. Prospect Magazine has the story, and here's the lede: Flaubert, said Henry James, was "the novelist's novelist." And perhaps because he wanted to prove to his family of sceptical doctors that writing was hard work, or perhaps because he was incapable of … [Read more...]

New York's arts world has gone ga-ga over Michelle Obama's new role as arts ambassador, proving once again that hope springs eternal among them that maybe, just maybe, the President will elevate the arts during his administration (contrary to his first few months in office, which I wrote about here, here and here). In fact, after I filed my report on her ribbon-cutting visit to the Metropolitan Museum to the Daily Beast last night and signed off, the editors headlined it "Obama's New Arts Czar: His … [Read more...]

Last week, ArtsJournal listed, among the stories on the left of the page, an article from the Chronicle of Philanthropy about online giving: "Non-Profits Lure More Online Donors, But Donors Give Less." The total raised grew but the average gift dropped. Digging into the details proved more interesting. In its paper copy, the Chronicle broke down the numbers for 211 organizations, including eight arts/cultural/public broadcasting groups. The star of that class was undoubtedly the Metropolitan Museum, which in FY 2008 not only boosted the … [Read more...]

Over the weekend, the Frick Collection's Center for the History of Collecting in America put on an excellent symposium called "Holland's Golden Age in America: Collecting the Art of Rembrandt, Vermeer and Hals." Sounds too academic to be interesting, I know -- but the fact that the overflow audience was filled with collectors, dealers, auction house experts and people who are just interested in art suggests otherwise. (Disclosure: Inge Reist, the Center's director, is a friend, and as a consultant, I … [Read more...]

As the White House announced yesterday, Michelle Obama will visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Monday. She'll be there for the ribbon-cutting ceremony to open the redone American Wing. Afterwards, she'll meet with some of the city's "arts and entertainment leaders," and then -- no doubt after changing clothes -- she will head across Central Park to the Metropolitan Opera House for the opening gala of the American Ballet Theater's spring season. That's all good news; I'm as thrilled as any arts-lover that … [Read more...]

Lucky for me I was in Philadelphia the other day, and finished my task there early enough to stop in at "Cezanne & Beyond" at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. There's no need for me to repeat all the accolades it has received. I wholeheartedly agree with them. But I do want to differ with a recurring subtheme in some reviews of the show: that the connection drawn between Cezanne and post-1945 artists is, shall we say, stretched. For some artists, maybe, but for one -- and this was a true surprise to me -- no. I think … [Read more...]

Early yesterday morning, I caught the news that Rocco Landesman, a Broadway producer and president of Jujamcyn Theaters, had been appointed chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts; then I went out on an all-day assignment. I expected that, by the time I got home last evening, there'd be a lot of commentary on the choice. But I haven't seen any: people seem to be as mystified as I am by it.* Landesman's press over the years paints him as a dynamo and as outspoken. Other than that, … [Read more...]

May has been a busy month: that's why I have not yet had a chance to take note of the generous gift from photographer Yasuhiro Ishimoto to the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston that was announced on May 1. Ishimoto, born in San Francisco in 1921 to Japanese parents, gave MFAH 289 photos, spanning his career and including works from his major series. The museum purchased 11 more -- bringing its total collection of his work to 400 photographs.  Nearly seventy of the works are already on view in an exhibit … [Read more...]