Archives for 2008

Now (for just $75 million) you can! Sotheby's International Realty has the listing for the 21,200 square feet of "grand and elegant neo-Italian Renaissance" space that once housed Lawrence Salander's financially beleaguered gallery. Christopher Gray of the NY Times reported on Sunday that the E. 71st Street townhouse (above) is being sold by its owner, the real estate mogul and … [Read more...] about Pssst! Wanna Buy the Salander-O’Reilly Townhouse?

Pablo Picasso, "Guernica," 1937, Reina Sofia, MadridDoes Picasso's "Guernica," one of the most celebrated paintings of the 20th century, have "a robust constitution," or is it in "stable but serious" condition?That depends on whether you ask Manuel Borja-Villel, the director of Madrid's Reina Sofia Museum, who provided the upbeat description (as reported by the Associated … [Read more...] about Guernica’s Condition: Robust or Fragile?

In Toronto's Globe and Mail later this morning (but online now), James Bradshaw and Josh Wingrove report on the contents of the legal affidavits in the dispute between the National Gallery of Canada's director, Pierre Théberge, and its deputy director, David Franklin, (who was abruptly put on leave). Franklin's July 16 request for a judicial review of the situation was … [Read more...] about News Flash: David Franklin Court Documents Unsealed; Canada National Gallery’s Conflicts Revealed

Kwame Opoku, a tireless commentator on restitution issues (one of whose essays recently attracted a rejoinder on Afrikanet.info from Metropolitan Museum director Philippe de Montebello), responds to Michael Conforti Q&A About AAMD and Antiquities: It is always interesting to hear from those whose work it is to keep records of the past achievements of mankind and society … [Read more...] about BlogBack: Kwame Opoku Responds to Michael Conforti

In the flood zone: The National Gallery of Art[NOTE: There is a correction to the first paragraph of this post, here.]Remember the June 2006 cresting of the Potomac River in Washington, DC, which caused temporary closures of the National Archives, National Gallery, Natural History Museum and American History Museum, not to mention the Internal Revenue Service?Now, according to … [Read more...] about Major Washington Museums at Serious Risk for Flooding

This message, which seems to debunk the latest identity theory, is now posted on the homepage of the Banksy website [via]:I think I'll let that be the last word on this momentous subject. … [Read more...] about Gunning for Gunningham: A Dispatch from Banksy?

Chanel and Karl Lagerfeld have done Vuitton and Marc Jacobs one better. Or, much more accurately, one worse.Vuitton merely usurped nonprofit museum space for commercial purposes. Chanel will invade a swath of public land to promote its brand: Its players will overtake Rumsey Playfield in New York's Central Park, Oct. 20 to Nov. 9, with "Mobile Art," a futuristic pod designed by … [Read more...] about Central Park Goes to Hell in a Handbag

Why do I bother trying to do serious journalism, anyway?This post, in which I reported my discovery of a 2004 obit for one Robin Gunningham of Bristol (the same name and town of the person identified as, possibly, the elusive guerilla artist, Banksy) is, at this writing, Number One on the Google hit parade that appears when you search, "Robin Gunningham." (The implication of my … [Read more...] about The Banksy/Robin Gunningham Search: CultureGrrl Is Number One on Google

Michael Conforti, Director of Clark Art Institute and President of AAMDWhen we sat down for a chat at the new Stone Hill Center last month, Michael Conforti, director of the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, MA, must have thought he was talking with Rosenbaum, not CultureGrrl. He asserts that he never reads blogs (although he's been known to read posts … [Read more...] about Michael Conforti Q&A About AAMD and Antiquities

Many new buildings have "punch lists"---things that didn't get done quite right the first time and need to be fixed or replaced. At the new Tadao Ando-designed Stone Hill Center built by the Williamstown Art Conservation Center and the Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, MA, the problems involve the window shades and the building material that Ando is most famous … [Read more...] about Punch List for the Clark’s Ando: Window Shades and Concrete

Because I've been posting less, I've dropped the ball on a number of recent developments on stories that we've been following. Here's a quick catch-up rundown:---Jacques Steinberg of the NY Times reports that "construction workers have begun dismantling the scaffolding that has encased the Guggenheim Museum on the Upper East Side of Manhattan for nearly three years." I recently … [Read more...] about Follow-Ups: Guggenheim, Lascaux, Vuitton, Qatar, Shelby White, Acropolis Museum

Not Coptic: Limestone Relief of a Paralytic Carrying a Bed on His Back, Brooklyn MuseumFor those of you who have heard my WNYC commentary, Fake Art at the Brooklyn Museum, here's more:Edna Russman, Brooklyn's curator of Egyptian art, told me last week that the problem pieces that will be displayed as part of the museum's Coptic sculpture show, Feb. 13-May 10, were known to have … [Read more...] about Coptic Antics: The Story Behind the Brooklyn Fakes

Richard Dearden, Freedom of Information FighterThe Ottawa Citizen newpaper wants to know what issues are involved in the David Franklin/National Gallery of Canada court battle and it's initiating its own court battle to find out. Federal Court Deputy Judge Orville Frenette on Wednesday had ordered the permanent sealing of the file pertaining to Franklin's application for "a … [Read more...] about Freedom of Information: More Legal Action on the David Franklin Fracas

My New York Public Radio segment on the Brooklyn Museum's Coptic art fakes was bumped to Monday by an story on Iran (fair enough) but it's up on their website today and I've got permission to post it on CultureGrrl. For those of you who still want to hear it on the radio, I'm told that it will air at 7:30 a.m. But these things can change (and probably will).At any rate, you can … [Read more...] about My Coptic Art Fakes Commentary: Monday on WNYC, Today on CultureGrrl

I will never call WNYC's studios "shabby" again. Today I visited New York Public Radio's shiny new headquarters, to tape a segment (which, if all goes according to plan, will be aired tomorrow on Morning Edition) about the upcoming Brooklyn Museum exhibition of Coptic stone sculptures, real and fake. I'm no longer caged in a glass booth, but I can't see host Soterios Johnson, … [Read more...] about My Commentary on Brooklyn’s Coptic Fakes: Tomorrow on New York Public Radio