Archives for 2009

Noortman Master Paintings, MaastrichtThe NY Times isn't touching this one with a 10-foot pole.I need to be careful too, so all that I'm going to do, for now, is link to this story from Great Britain's Times, which quotes a detective making damaging allegations about the late Maastricht old masters dealer, Robert Noortman, whose gallery was acquired by Sotheby's in 2006, shortly … [Read more...] about Noortman Paintings, Reported Stolen, Recovered 22 Years Later UPDATED

Larry GagosianNOTE: I was holding this piece for tomorrow morning, but since ArtJournal's newest blogger, Judith Dobrzynski, this evening discusses what she calls, "the most interesting arts story in Sunday's New York Times," I thought I should weigh in now with my contrarian view.The long profile of mega-dealer Larry Gagosian by David Segal, on the front page of today's NY … [Read more...] about NY Times’ Gagosian Profile: More “Style” than “Business”

Inside (and outside) the Nasher Sculpture Center If you connect the dots in my Q&A with Jeremy Strick, published yesterday, you will note that I found (literally) 10 different ways of asking him what mistakes he made that contributed to LA MOCA's near-fatal financial crash. Jeremy found 10 different ways of admitting that he bore some responsibility, while evading my … [Read more...] about Jeremy Strick’s New Gig: Not Your Founder’s Nasher

Carmine Branagan, director of the National Academy Following up on the Association of Art Museum Director's stated willingness to "revisit its decision" blackballing the National Academy for its desperation deaccessions, and taking it up on its offer to meet with "the National Academy's leaders to clarify their intentions for the future of the collection," Carmine Branagan, … [Read more...] about National Academy’s Branagan to Meet with AAMD Representatives

Jeremy Strick, taking his place in the "Bronze Crowd," 1990-91, by Magdalena Abakanowicz, at the Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas When LA MOCA's financial survival was looking doubtful, I placed a call to the office of director Jeremy Strick, requesting comment. I had pleasant memories of a far-ranging conversation we had over lunch during a group press visit to MOCA, … [Read more...] about Jeremy Unmuzzled: Strick’s Candid Account of the LA MOCA Saga

I just got back from sulking, only to discover that two faithful readers have responded admirably to the CultureGrrl Challenge---one with a small donation, one with a large one. I'm equally moved by each. Many, many thanks! As for the rest of you: Do you read me?Courtesy of my benefactors, it looks like you'll be consuming tomorrow that "juicy post" I promised. It has to do … [Read more...] about The Return of the Grrl

No ads are decorating my right column. No one has hit my "Donate" button since Monday. I do want to warmly thank my 14 faithful readers who have deemed this blog worthy of support in the two weeks since the CultureGrrl Fund Drive began. As for the rest of you who hit my blog 64,500 times last month: Please do not take this Grrl for granted!Unless someone rises to this … [Read more...] about Another Day Without CultureGrrl

From NEA's just-released report: Artists' 4th-quarter unemployment rates in 2007 (blue) and 2008 (orange), compared to rates in general workforce and professional workforceJust in case you live a sheltered life and think that performing and visual artists are doing great in this recession, the National Endowment for the Arts is here to set you straight.NEA's latest research … [Read more...] about NEA’s Bad-News Report: Artists’ Unemployment Rises (Duh)

For another in the continuing series of exhibitions demonstrating why disposing of important works from the collection of Brandeis University's Rose Art Museum collection should be a non-starter, we now take you to Cézanne and Beyond at the Philadelphia Museum.Below, on the left, is a Rose-owned painting in that show. On the right, the painting that hangs to its right:Left: … [Read more...] about Rose Lends to Philly’s Cézanne Show; More Brandeis Administration Disinformation

Jean-Baptiste Pigalle, "Denis Diderot," 1777, Musée de Louvre While we're on the subject of bronze-related ambushes... Ian Wardropper and James David Draper: I've got your back: Draper's back. (Wardropper's front) They're the chairman and curator, respectively, of the Metropolitan Museum's department of European sculpture and decorative arts, who must have been … [Read more...] about Another Bronze Deal-Buster: Ken Johnson Bashes Met’s Shapely French Show

The scene at Christie's Saint Laurent/Bergé auction at the Grand Palais, ParisAs if coping with a severe art-market slump weren't difficult enough, Christie's, basking in the afterglow of its recession-defying Saint Laurent/Bergé sales, now has to contend with the brazen guerilla sabotage of the bidding for two of the sales' star lots. A previously reliable megabucks Chinese … [Read more...] about Guerilla Bidding War: Christie’s Ambushed by Bogus Chinese-Bronze Bids UPDATED

Richard Koshalek, the Hirshhorn Museum's director designatePhoto: Steven A. HellerI don't remember everything I read, but as soon as I learned that veteran art museum director Richard Koshalek had been named to become the new director of the Smithsonian's Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (effective Apr. 13), a startling article that had appeared on the front page of the … [Read more...] about Richard Koshalek: From High Life to Hirshhorn

The Philadelphia Museum of Art, decked out for its new blockbuster If you live within driving distance of Philadelphia, I've got just two words for you: ROAD TRIP! If the Philadelphia Museum is too far a drive, then hop a train, a boat or a plane, but DO NOT let May 17 pass by without devoting serious time to the masterful Cézanne and Beyond, crafted by that consummate … [Read more...] about Resourceful Rishel: Philadelphia’s Sensational “Cézanne and Beyond”

Jackie Chan, repatriation fighterCalling the two 18th-century Qing Dynasty bronzes of a rat and rabbit, auctioned yesterday by Christie's, "Chinese bronzes" (as I did in yesterday's post) is a bit of a misnomer.According to Christie's catalogue entry:These superb and remarkably realistic heads were almost certainly designed by Giuseppe Castiglione [an Italian Jesuit missionary … [Read more...] about Castiglione Casting: Auctioned “Chinese” Bronzes, Sought By China, Likely Italian-Designed

Bronzes from the Zodiac Fountain of Beijing's Summer Palace, sold today by Christie's in Paris from the collection of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé With the final session of the Saint Laurent/Bergé dispersal still in progress, the two rare Chinese Qing Dynasty bronzes of a rat and a rabbit, looted by French and British troops in 1860 (during the Second Opium War) from the … [Read more...] about Rare Chinese Bronzes Fetch $20.12 Million Each at Christie’s Bravura French Auction