DAM's Staff Before the Cuts: Preview Party of the New Hamilton Building, Sept. 10, 2006. Photo by Brendan Harrington and the DAM photographic services department. This has been a bad news week for Daniel Libeskind: First this report of suspected arson at his first completed building, the Felix Nussbaum Museum in Germany. (Karsten Luecke, a CultureGrrl reader in Germany, today … [Read more...] about Libeskind’s Fire and Rain: You Mean It Snows a Lot in Denver?
Archives for April 2007
Do You Wish You Could Have Attended the Senate’s Smithsonian Hearings?
Now you can. The prepared statements by Smithsonian honchos are already up on the website of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration. And in her opening remarks today, Sen. Diane Feinstein wasted no time in calling for an overhaul of the Smithsonian's board. The GAO's Mark Goldstein was also on hand, to report on how the infrastructure is crumbing. The link for viewing … [Read more...] about Do You Wish You Could Have Attended the Senate’s Smithsonian Hearings?
If at First Alice Walton Doesn’t Succeed…
...she tries again...and wins. Two Thomas Jefferson University Eakins sales done, one more to go---"Portrait of William S. Forbes." And we still haven't heard whether the Philadelphia Museum will sell another Eakins, to help pay for "The Gross Clinic." No messy price-matching grace period this time, and no sharing with the National Gallery (let alone a Philadelphia … [Read more...] about If at First Alice Walton Doesn’t Succeed…
Christie’s Cedes American Indian Territory to Sotheby’s
I don't know why this is happening, but I do know that it's happening: Christie's has cancelled its May 24 American Indian art auction, while Sotheby's has two such sales scheduled for next month: the Saul and Marsha Stanoff Collection, May 17 and a mixed-owner sale May 18 that includes a Zuni jar deaccessioned by the Albright-Knox Gallery. Regina Kolbe of Antiques and the Arts … [Read more...] about Christie’s Cedes American Indian Territory to Sotheby’s
No Restitution Please, We’re British
This is a statement that no U.S. museum officials could get away with, even if it might accurately reflect their thinking: The British Museum is here to present world culture. In principle the trustees are against restitution because it would detract from that mission. This from Hannah Boulton, the British Museum's spokesperson, reacting to a demand by President Imamali … [Read more...] about No Restitution Please, We’re British
Suspected Arson at Felix Nussbaum Museum
Nussbaum Museum, Osnabrück, Germany A sad new development to contemplate at observances this Sunday of Yom Ha-Shoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day): Agence France-Press reports that suspected arson has caused extensive damage to the wooden façade of the Felix Nussbaum Museum in Osnabrück, Germany, which opened in 1998 and was Daniel Libeskind's first completed building. The museum … [Read more...] about Suspected Arson at Felix Nussbaum Museum
Learning Curve for New Sotheby’s Asia CEO
An article today from Agence France-Presse, quoting Kevin Ching, incoming CEO of Sotheby's Asia, contained so many puzzling "did he really say that?" moments that we can only hope it's the reporter, not Ching, who was confused. First head-scratcher: Kevin Ching says one of his aims as the newly-appointed chairman of Sotheby's in Asia is to see the first Asian bid for a European … [Read more...] about Learning Curve for New Sotheby’s Asia CEO
Uneasy in Abu Dhabi: Will UAE Eschew Past Construction Worker Abuses in New Museum Projects?
Unmentioned in the excitement over the four breathtakingly ambitious starchitect museums being planned for Abu Dhabi are the serious human rights questions recently raised about construction workers' conditions in the United Arab Emirates. In a report released last November, Human Rights Watch, an an independent, nongovernmental watchdog organization, charged: As the United … [Read more...] about Uneasy in Abu Dhabi: Will UAE Eschew Past Construction Worker Abuses in New Museum Projects?
Why Does the State Department Favor Import Restrictions on Cultural Property? Why Is CPAC’s China Recommendation Still Secret?
In Jeremy Kahn's excellent article in yesterday's NY Times, Is the U.S. Protecting Foreign Artifacts? Don't Ask, he provides a detailed analysis of the State Department's secretive Cultural Property Advisory Committee, which studies requests by foreign countries for U.S. import restrictions on cultural objects. No such request has ever been turned down by the State Department, … [Read more...] about Why Does the State Department Favor Import Restrictions on Cultural Property? Why Is CPAC’s China Recommendation Still Secret?
2007 John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowships Announced
The names of the winners of the prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship, their projects and affiliations are here. For the names (but no further information) arranged by fields, go here. There are 17 fellows in fine arts, five in photography, eight in film, two in video and audio. … [Read more...] about 2007 John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowships Announced
MASS MoCA’s Memorial to Sol LeWitt, and My Postcard
With the sad news today of the death of Sol LeWitt, this very atypical initiative by MASS MoCA---its plan to transform a three-story, 27,000-square-foot building on its North Adams campus into a "quasi-permanent living archive" for 50 of his wall drawings---seems all the more a stroke of genius. It now becomes a living memorial. The galleries were designed by the artist. The … [Read more...] about MASS MoCA’s Memorial to Sol LeWitt, and My Postcard
Cultural Property Advisory Committee: NY Times Exposes the Secrecy
I'm going to break my self-imposed three-day blogging gag to direct you to a must-read in tomorrow's NY Times "Arts & Leisure" section: Jeremy Kahn's detailed exploration of the controversies embroiling the State Department's Cultural Property Advisory Committee, which considers requests of foreign governments for U.S. import restrictions on cultural patrimony deemed at … [Read more...] about Cultural Property Advisory Committee: NY Times Exposes the Secrecy
Blogging Addiction Rehab
Having posted fast and furiously yesterday, I've begged my boss for a three-day weekend, and CultureGrrl graciously acceded. This weekend encompasses the trifecta of Good Friday, Easter and (still) Passover, so I suspect few of you want to hear my whining and kvetching anyway. I leave you with this link to what I thought was a terrifically well written review by NY Times movie … [Read more...] about Blogging Addiction Rehab
Breaking News on Fisk’s O’Keeffe: AG Rejects Sale to O’Keeffe Museum
Finally, a State Attorney General with teeth: Tennessee Attorney General Bob Cooper today announced that he had rejected the proposed settlement whereby Fisk University would sell its "Radiator Building" to the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum for $7 million. In return for being allowed to purchase the painting at what the AG termed a "bargain-basement price," the O'Keeffe Museum had … [Read more...] about Breaking News on Fisk’s O’Keeffe: AG Rejects Sale to O’Keeffe Museum
Kimbell to Build Long-Awaited Annex, Designed by Piano
This welcome announcement is many years in the making: The Kimbell Museum, Fort Worth, is finally set to expand. Since tacking on an extension to Louis Kahn's celebrated masterpiece was unthinkable, the museum had acquired in 1998 a site across the street (next to the Tadao Ando-designed Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth) for a new building. The annex to be designed by Renzo … [Read more...] about Kimbell to Build Long-Awaited Annex, Designed by Piano