The distance between Prague and La Jolla, Ca. is 6,000 miles, but if you've ever wondered how fast hot art can travel, a story coming out of the Art Loss Register suggests that kind of distance is nothing. Only four days elapsed between the time a photograph was stolen from Prague's Museum of Decorative Arts this month and when a suspicious California dealer contacted the Art Loss Register about the photo. The story also shows that the thief, or thieves, started looking for a buyer before they took the photograph. The photograph … [Read more...]

Another new museum opened its doors late last week: The Baroness Thyssen Museum in central Malaga, Spain. It contains about 230 paintings owned by the Baroness (below), from her "private collection." That's as opposed to what her late husband amassed over his lifetime, much of which is on display in Madrid at the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum. It's full of wonders by Old Masters, Impressionists and post-Impressionists, American Masters, and on and on. Located in the 16th Century Villalon Palace, which was restored over the past … [Read more...]

If you're not into Asian art, you may have skipped the article in The New York Times special Museums section on Mar. 17 about Maxwell Hearn, the incoming head of the Asian art department at the Metropolitan Museum*: "At Met, New Leadership (and Direction) for Asian Art" by Holland Cotter. Which would have been too bad, because it was the section's sleeper article. Within it were two-and-a-half excellent points about museums and art in general. 1) Hearn is looking for someone to replace himself as plain old curator of Chinese art, and it's … [Read more...]

Last November, I wrote here about a proposal by Dean Sobel, director of the Clyfford Still Museum, to sell four works from Still's gigantic collection (which are part of the estate of his widow, Patricia) before they are officially accessioned by the museum. The museum plans to use the money not for new acquisitions -- Still (pictured, right) is dead, afterall, and it's a one-artist museum -- but for all museum activities. No "accession," no "deaccession,' and presumably no furor, Sobel and the city of Denver (the actual beneficiary … [Read more...]

Everywhere, state governments are cutting spending, including arts budgets and education budgets. What does this mean for college museums and arts centers? The other day, the Chronicle of Higher Education published a somewhat contrarian article headlined In an Era of Campus Cutbacks, Performing-Arts Centers Keep Going Up. It led off with the opening of the Valley Performing Arts Center at Cal State, Northridge (left), which happened just about the time California was slashing its higher education budget by $1.4 billion. Of … [Read more...]

Well, there are lots of reasons for that. But a FB friend posted about an exhibit that I would really like to see, and when I sent him a message about it, he wrote back that Paris is loaded with seemingly great exhibitions at the moment, at both museums and galleries. So... What initially caught my attention was The Caillebotte Brothers' Private World, which opened today at the marvelous Jacquemart-Andre Museum. Of course we know about Gustave, whom I last saw in depth at the Brooklyn Museum's 2009 exhibit. Even though his best works … [Read more...]

Do museums that focus on American art need a new support group? That idea was floated the other day by Andrew J. Walker, the incoming director of the Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth, who starts his job in earnest on April 1. Walker, who moved to Texas from his post as assistant director of curatorial affairs at the St. Louis Art Museum, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that "he hopes to encourage a collaborative relationship of loans and exhibitions with museums such as the Whitney Museum of American art … [Read more...]

Here's a turnabout: Brandeis University, which set off a storm two years ago when trustees tried to sell art from the Rose Art Museum's collection, now plans to renovate the museum, rather than destroy it. Things are not so dire as they once seemed, which I what I posited in this space 11 months ago. The university has posted a press release, dated Mar. 10, on its website, but the fact just came to my attention. The renovations are scheduled to take this place in the original building this summer, in preparation for the museum's … [Read more...]

...from my trip to Chile (Santiago, Valparaiso and Vina del Mar). The sunny, warm weather was perfect -- the exact relief I was seeking from this miserable New York winter -- but I didn't see much art. What museums I visited have little of note, and a few are still closed as a result of the January, 2010 earthquake. Now I have a week's worth of newspapers (yes, I still read the inky kind) and mail to go through, plus much email, etc., which I couldn't access at time while I was away. I hope to post something later today. … [Read more...]

The Venice Biennale is months away -- it opens on June 4 -- but the other day there was some somewhat startling news about it: Not only is Saudi Arabia putting forward its inaugural entry, but also it has chosen two women artists to represent the Kingdom. This in a country where women mostly may not drive, among other constrictions. The artist Shadia Alem and writer Raja Alem -- sisters, shown at left -- are creating an installation called The Black Arch. Here´s the description: It is very much about a meeting point of the two … [Read more...]