It's pretty darn hard to separate the life of Georgia O'Keeffe from the art of Georgia O'Keeffe. As critic Henry McBride once remarked, she was from the very start "a newspaper personality." But if the exhibit on view at the Whitney Museum, Georgia O'Keeffe: Abstraction, does what curator Barbara Haskell would like -- which is to recreate interest in her less well-known but more daring abstract works -- it won't change her image as a sexy temptress at all. In part, that's because the show's catalogue publishes, for the first time, excerpts … [Read more...]

As I mentioned here last week, the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution held their annual public meeting today, and according to an Associated Press article just posted on the Washington Post website, they -- no surprise -- approved Secretary G. Wayne Clough's plan to create four new "centers" to explore "the universe and climate change on Earth, world cultures and the American experience." Clough wants to "help scientists and curators foster new research" And who'll pay? The plan calls for an increase of … [Read more...]

A few weeks ago, I wrote in anticipation of seeing Icons of The Desert: Early Aboriginal Paintings From Papunya at the Grey Art Gallery of NYU -- here -- though I hadn't been able to see it. Now I have -- here's an update.   The exhibit didn't disappoint. This art was new to me, and it seemed magical, intricate, often powerful. While abstract, to us, the works are somewhat representational to the aborigines who painted them. Many are landscapes, with all those dots creating hills, creeks, caves and … [Read more...]

There was something new at the Guggenheim Museum when I visited the other evening -- and it wasn't just the Kandinsky exhibition. Which is, btw, quite fine. Beautifully installed. If you go, don't miss the works on paper in the side gallery. My two morning newspapers -- The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times -- gave it good reviews (here and here, respectively) on Friday. Not much more for me to say, really. Except. I noticed one definite improvement at the Guggenheim as I walked up the spiral: there were small, round, … [Read more...]

Leanne Goebel, writing on Adobe Airstream, asks (and answers) the right question about the Damien Hirst pencil theft incident: Scotland Yard says the theft was a stunt for publicity. But any more so than Hirst's diamond encrusted skull was a stunt for publicity and to inflate the value of his art before his "Beautiful Inside My Head Forever" direct-to-auction sale at Sotheby's? Perhaps the real issue is that Hirst, the most famous, well-known and richest living conceptual artist is being out-concepted by a teenager? Ah, but you want to read … [Read more...]

Back in August, while I was on vacation, Laurie Fendrich, a painter and fine arts professor who blogs for the Chronicle of Higher Education's Brainstorm site, raised an interesting point about art magazines. Comparing the table of contents from ARTnews of 1957 with those of today, she wrote: I'm not one to dwell on the idea that civilization is in decline. It probably is, but I try my best to follow Schiller's advice that you must embrace your own times, yet not let them consume you. Reading the ideas of previous … [Read more...]

Simon Cronshaw, the Managing Partner (E-commerce), for CultureLabel, read my last post, about his fledgling website, and wrote in a few answers to points raised.   1. Enhancing income: In the UK, only 1-3% of retail turnover for institutions is generated online, with comparable sectors closer to 20-30%. We therefore did a lot of consumer research on why this is the case, and one of the most important aspects is that users are on a 'visitor' journey to sites, rather than a 'purchasing' journey. When users are on a purchasing journey, … [Read more...]

"Come And Join Our Community of Culture Shoppers." That's one of the taglines employed by the new British site, CultureLabel.com, now in beta, which is self-described this way: Hello! CultureLabel.com is the first online platform to curate and showcase the best artist-designed and limited-edition products from over 60 leading galleries, museums, artists and culture institutions. Though most brands on the site are British, it has invited cultural institutions from around the world, and it looks as if the Museum of Modern Art has signed up, … [Read more...]

1962: Lincoln Center, New York. 2003: Disney Hall, Los Angeles. 2009: AT&T Performing Arts Center, Dallas. What a progression, from a president to an entertainment executive to a phone company. Yesterday, the country's newest and self-described "most significant" new performing arts complex to be built since Lincoln Center, nee the Dallas Performing Arts Center, announced that it would henceforth bear the name of AT&T. It will open on schedule on October 12, and the website URL has already been changed to … [Read more...]

The New York Times has just named a new culture editor, and it's Jon Landman. It's a great choice. Jon, currently a deputy managing editor, has spent the last four years or so overseeing the the integration of the print and Internet newsrooms at the Times. But before that he spent a "transitional year" -- as Executive Editor Bill Keller wrote in his email to staff -- "presiding over the [Culture] department, implementing a sweeping overhaul of the department and grooming new leadership" for it, namely Sam Sifton, whom he now replaces. Jon has … [Read more...]