CultureGrrl
I’m a veteran cultural journalist and guest lecturer with many pieces in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, major art magazines. I’ve been a cultural contributor on New York Public Radio (WNYC and WQXR) and have provided arts commentary on NPR and public radio stations in Philadelphia and Los Angeles.
Meddling with Medici (Part II): “Unattainable Perfection,” Viewer Disaffection
For many museum visitors, the “Medici” cited in the title of the Metropolitan Museum’s current show (subtitled: “Portraits & Politics, 1512-1570”) will evoke the names of artists from the golden age of Renaissance painting...
“Wolo” Who? Stephan Wolohojian Succeeds Keith Christiansen as Metropolitan Museum’s Head of European Paintings
The Metropolitan Museum held off announcing its new designee to oversee its resplendent European Paintings Department until after Keith Christiansen had left the building (officially, June 30, although he is said to still have a desk there), with 43 years of superlative service. After a respectful week-long pause, the Met dispatched this announcement to my […]
Bronco Bust: NY Times Censors the “Story Told by Art in the Oval Office”
Where’s Frederic Remington? His “Bronco Buster,” arguably the most famous bronze sculpture by this popular “cowboys-and-Indians” artist, was chosen to energize the offices of a bipartisan roster of Presidents—Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump. You can see it repeatedly whipped into a frenzy in the NY Times‘ […]
Meddling With Medici at the Met: Provocations & Proclamations (Part I)
NOTE: Part II is here. The Medici: Portraits and Politics, at the Metropolitan Museum to Oct. 11, is a curatorial tour de force that only a veteran scholar with the deep knowledge and extensive contacts of Keith Christiansen could pull off. With his retirement today today after 43 years at the Met, this show is […]
Martha Baer, 82, Dies: Contemporary-Art Rainmaker in Christie’s Early Days in New York
I like to pay special tribute on CultureGrrl to art professionals who took time from their busy lives to deepen my limited understanding of art and the artworld, back when I was beginning my own professional journey. One always reliable, unfailingly gracious source of help and knowledge was Martha Baer, the founding head of contemporary […]