In its inaugural display of its new stellar acquisition, Thomas Eakins' "The Gross Clinic," the Philadelphia Museum makes it the centerpiece in a room that also displays one of the artist's oil studies for the painting, as well as his boxing picture, "Between Rounds," his luminous Schuylkill River scene, "The Pair-Oared Shell" and a portrait of him by his wife, Susan Macdowell … [Read more...] about Grand Displays for “Gross”: Present and Future
Archives for January 2007
Willy-Nilly in Philly: Museum Hosts Lovefest for 1,800 of Eakins’ Close Friends
Why is This Tall Woman Clapping? Because she's Anne d'Harnoncourt, director of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, congratulating a joyous crowd of donors to the fundraising campaign to keep the $68-million Thomas Eakins masterpiece, "The Gross Clinic," in Philadelphia. The museum invited some 3,000 Eakins contributors to a celebratory reception in its grand lobby Saturday … [Read more...] about Willy-Nilly in Philly: Museum Hosts Lovefest for 1,800 of Eakins’ Close Friends
Where in the World is Lee Going?
To a place that rhymes with "Silly" and has something "Gross" about it. A place whose mayor has the perfect name for the denizen of a city. If you don't know where this is, then you haven't been paying attention! I'm going to try to lay off the laptop till I come back at the end of the weekend. But I've said that before, and you know me all too well. … [Read more...] about Where in the World is Lee Going?
New York Public Library’s Durand Proceeds: $33.81 million
We journalists should read nonprofits' publicly available tax returns more often. Had I done so, I'd already know that the net proceeds received by the New York Public Library from Alice Walton's purchases of Asher B. Durand's "Kindred Spirits" amounted to $33.81 million, as reported on last year's Form 990. I found this out today from Anthony Calnek, the library's new vice … [Read more...] about New York Public Library’s Durand Proceeds: $33.81 million
BlogBack: Michael Brand Replies to Rutelli’s WSJ Opinion Piece
I have NEVER let anyone publish a CultureGrrl BlogBack at this length, and I probably never will again. But this is too important to cut or edit. I had solicited the response of Michael Brand, the J. Paul Getty Museum's director, to Italian Culture Minister Francesco Rutelli's Op-Ed piece in yesterday's Wall Street Journal. I got much more than I bargained for---an extremely … [Read more...] about BlogBack: Michael Brand Replies to Rutelli’s WSJ Opinion Piece
And on a Personal Note…
Paul Benjamin Rosenbaum, aka Son of CultureGrrl, is on Page A9 of today's Wall Street Journal, along with 2,015 other newly minted Chartered Financial Analysts who have undertaken an intensive, self-taught course of study for investment professionals and passed the rigorous three-test battery. According to the two-page ad of the CFA Institute in today's WSJ: You'll need a … [Read more...] about And on a Personal Note…
WNBC Hosts Blogger Summit: Come in Your PJs!
If you're not ready for the feminist art summit, how about a summit for Pajama Journalists, otherwise known as bloggers? (What do you think CultureGrrl was wearing when she posted on Rutelli and True today at 2 a.m.? Wouldn't you like to know!) Those of you who have been following CultureGrrl from the very beginning (and that's nobody, because I did it secretly for two … [Read more...] about WNBC Hosts Blogger Summit: Come in Your PJs!
Attention All Feminists! MoMA and Brooklyn Go Guerrilla
Judy Chicago, The Dinner Party, 1979. Brooklyn Museum, Gift of The Elizabeth A. Sackler Foundation. Photograph by Donald Woodman Art Radio WPS1.org, the Internet radio station of P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, will streamcast a live audio feed of The Feminist Future, Jan. 26-27, organized by The Museum of Modern Art. The sold-out symposium features such speakers as Lucy … [Read more...] about Attention All Feminists! MoMA and Brooklyn Go Guerrilla
The Man Who Knew How to Say Goodbye
Buchwald's Last Book "Hi! I'm Art Buchwald and I just died." With that mischievous quip begins the video obit on today's NY Times home page for the consummate humorist and satirist. He died Wednesday night in Washington of kidney failure at the age of 81. He made death the ultimate absurdity: "I was put on earth to make people laugh," he tells Times reporter Tim Weiner during … [Read more...] about The Man Who Knew How to Say Goodbye
Rutelli and True Deliver One-Two Punch to the Getty
Yesterday was the ultimate bad-news day for the J. Paul Getty Trust: Its nemesis, Italian Culture Minister Francesco Rutelli, scored an Op-Ed piece in the Wall Street Journal, to which the editors obligingly appended the headline "Rogue Gallery," along with a photo of the Getty Villa. WSJ subscribers can find it here. The rest of you can get the text, in English, from the … [Read more...] about Rutelli and True Deliver One-Two Punch to the Getty
In Case You Were Wondering Where the Political Art Has Gone…
...it's over at the Tate Britain, London. Maev Kennedy reports in the Guardian about that museum's current "State Britain" exhibition: Lawyers for the Tate pored over the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act before artist Mark Wallinger recreated a spectacular anti-war protest from Parliament Square, filling the stately Duveen galleries which mostly lie within the exclusion … [Read more...] about In Case You Were Wondering Where the Political Art Has Gone…
Is The NY Times the New People Magazine?
On Monday, the NY Times sardonically reported that, because of planned staff cuts, People magazine might have to make do with just one reporter covering Britney Spears, instead of the seven who supposedly composed a five-paragraph story on the tabloid queen and "her 'new guy,' model Isaac Cohen." On Tuesday, the august paper of record devoted almost two full pages and 16 … [Read more...] about Is The NY Times the New People Magazine?
Big Plans for a Bigger Uffizi
Model for new Uffizi entrance by Arata Isozaki A $39-million construction project to expand the Uffizi Gallery in Florence by 60% gets underway this week, but not without controversy. The museum will grow to occupy the entire first floor of its palazzo, according to the scant information provided on its website. Wanda Lattes reports in Corriere della Sera that Arata Isozaki's … [Read more...] about Big Plans for a Bigger Uffizi
Dealer Robert Noortman Dies; Gallery Was Acquired by Sotheby’s Last Year
The eminent Maastricht-based old masters, Impressionist and Post-Impressionist dealer, Robert Noortman, died of a heart attack at the age of 60, the ANP news agency reported on Sunday. He had been suffering from cancer. On June 8, Sotheby's had released this announcement of its acquisition of Noortman's gallery: Through the transaction, Sotheby's will acquire all the assets of … [Read more...] about Dealer Robert Noortman Dies; Gallery Was Acquired by Sotheby’s Last Year
Lamentable 2006 Artworld Developments—Part II: The Hegemony of the Money-No-Object Collector
(Part I is here.) You know some of the names: Ronald Lauder, Alice Walton, Steven Cohen---collectors who don't mind spending whatever it takes to buy a work that they covet, even if it means negotiating privately and paying a price well beyond what the market might bear if the object of their obsession were sold at auction. It used to be that most megacollectors came by … [Read more...] about Lamentable 2006 Artworld Developments—Part II: The Hegemony of the Money-No-Object Collector