While we wait for someone to get to the bottom of what's going on at the Getty Museum, I can report to you the reception that soon-to-be ex-director Michael Brand has been getting from his colleagues:He received, I am told, a standing ovation from the assembled Getty Museum staff last Thursday when he announced to them his impending departure. Upon his arrival for a strategic … [Read more...] about Rounds of Applause: Michael Brand’s Peer Validation (and his music)
Archives for January 2010
YouTube Special: LA MOCA’s Question-less “Press Conference”
LA MOCA's director-designateWish you could have been a fly on the wall of today's Jeffrey Deitch roll-out at LA MOCA? Now you can! Having flown in for Monday's press conference, and flown out when it got postponed (just kidding about my travels!), I asked the museum's press people if they had any audio, video or transcript of today's proceedings. Nothin' doing. But thanks to … [Read more...] about YouTube Special: LA MOCA’s Question-less “Press Conference”
Scenes from the Nelson-Atkins’ New American Indian Galleries
There was a bit of a disconnect between the slideshow and the text of my Wall Street Journal article today on the new American Indian galleries at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Only one of the objects that I mentioned in the piece, the Arikara shield, was in the slideshow. So here's a photo essay with views of the galleries and more of the objects I mentioned (as well as a … [Read more...] about Scenes from the Nelson-Atkins’ New American Indian Galleries
Dealer-to-Director: Why Jeffrey Deitch is Wrong for LA MOCA UPDATED
Jeffrey Deitch's new project: LA MOCA's Geffen Contemporary The membrane between the commercial and nonprofit artworlds has become considerably more permeable in recent years. As recently as 10 years ago (in connection with the Brooklyn Museum's "Sensation" exhibition, for example), it was considered inappropriate for museums to receive financial backing from dealers for … [Read more...] about Dealer-to-Director: Why Jeffrey Deitch is Wrong for LA MOCA UPDATED
Now Online: My WSJ Piece on Nelson-Atkins American Indian Galleries
You can read tomorrow's Wall Street Journal piece today: Elevating American Indian Art. And don't miss the slideshow, particularly the eighth image---the Arikara shield of a buffalo bull that curator Gaylord Torrence called, "probably the most important object that I will acquire."Here's my own inadequate photo:Not in the article is what Torrence told me about the "ambiguous … [Read more...] about Now Online: My WSJ Piece on Nelson-Atkins American Indian Galleries
Deitch Speaks! (to the Wall Street Journal)
Candace Jackson of the Wall Street Journal gets an early shot at talking to Jeffrey Deitch in his new capacity as director-designate of LA MOCA.Here's the part I'm interested in:Asked about possible conflicts, Mr. Deitch, who has been in the art business since the mid 1970s said, "there are too many long term relationships to be completely restrictive. We will do what … [Read more...] about Deitch Speaks! (to the Wall Street Journal)
Coming Tomorrow: My WSJ Appraisal of Nelson-Atkins’ New American Indian Galleries
Remember when I posted the above image, as a clue to where I would be traveling?I later reported you about the other places that I had visited during that trip, but never mentioned my first stop, where I was on a top-secret(!) mission for the Wall Street Journal.Tomorrow my article on the new American Indian galleries at the Nelson-Atkins Museum in Kansas City will at last … [Read more...] about Coming Tomorrow: My WSJ Appraisal of Nelson-Atkins’ New American Indian Galleries
BlogBack: NY Times “ArtsBeat” Editor on Today’s LA MOCA Coverage
Jay Benzel, editor of the NY Times' ArtsBeat blog, responds to Department of No News: LA MOCA Appointment Still Stalled:In your post about Carol Vogel's item Monday in the "Arts, Briefly" column, you say that the item was "pulled" from ArtsBeat. That is not the case. It ran online, as nearly all Sunday-for-Monday "Arts, Briefly" items do, only in the "Arts, Briefly" column, … [Read more...] about BlogBack: NY Times “ArtsBeat” Editor on Today’s LA MOCA Coverage
It’s Deitch (by press release): LA MOCA Press Conference Tomorrow
The rumor is now reality. LA MOCA has just issued a press release announcing the appointment of dealer Jeffrey Deitch as the museum's new director, replacing Charles Young, the interim CEO. Deitch even gets the Glenn Lowry and Michael Govan seals of approval, as if to head off criticism that appointing a commercial dealer to lead a nonprofit art museum is unseemly or even … [Read more...] about It’s Deitch (by press release): LA MOCA Press Conference Tomorrow
Department of No News: LA MOCA Appointment Still Stalled
Dewey Beats Truman? The returns aren't in yet.No word yet on when, if or who, regarding LA MOCA's announcement of its new director, which was to have occurred at 10:30 a.m. Pacific time today. But at least, thanks to Mike Boehm of the LA Times, we now know the subject matter of the mayoral press conference that supposedly conflicted with the planned announcement: The reason … [Read more...] about Department of No News: LA MOCA Appointment Still Stalled
LA MOCA Annoucement Glitch: Postponed Due to Mayoral Musings
This just in from the press office of the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art: Due to a scheduling conflict with a Mayoral press conference, this event [the announcement of the museum's new director] scheduled for Monday, January 11, 2010, at 10:30am has been postponed. New information will be forthcoming.You know what I always tell you: When I know more, you'll know more. … [Read more...] about LA MOCA Annoucement Glitch: Postponed Due to Mayoral Musings
Jerry Saltz’s Deitch Project: Preemptive Strike for Dealer’s LA MOCA Candidacy
Jerry Saltz[UPDATE: My own critical analysis of of Deitch's now confirmed appointment is here.]A good way to influence opinion is to be first. An early comment, especially from a respected source, catches the attention of other pundits, who may feel qualms about striking out in the opposite direction.Lacking my caution about opinionating on a development that hasn't even … [Read more...] about Jerry Saltz’s Deitch Project: Preemptive Strike for Dealer’s LA MOCA Candidacy
Lose One, Gain One: LA MOCA to Announce New Director on Monday UPDATED
[Now RESCHEDULED.]Now hitting art journalists' e-mail boxes around the country: MOCA BOARD OF TRUSTEES TO ANNOUNCE NEW DIRECTOR WHEN: MONDAY, JAN 11, 2010 10:30am WHERE: MOCA Grand Avenue Eli and Edythe L. Broad Reception Hall 250 South Grand Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90012 WHO: Maria Bell, MOCA BOARD CO-CHAIR David Johnson, MOCA BOARD CO-CHAIR Eli Broad, MOCA FOUNDING … [Read more...] about Lose One, Gain One: LA MOCA to Announce New Director on Monday UPDATED
The Getty’s Revolving Door: Harmful Brew of Instability and Secrecy
The sun sets at Michael Brand's Getty Museum.The LA Times' art critic, Christopher Knight, who has just posted his first take on the Getty management turmoil, ponders the deleterious effect on art museums of "revolving door" directorships.Knight writes:In the museum world, it takes at least two or three years [as director] just to begin to see a glimmer of the fruits of one's … [Read more...] about The Getty’s Revolving Door: Harmful Brew of Instability and Secrecy
Getty Benefits: Michael Brand’s Severance Pot Was Recently Sweetened
J. Paul Getty Museum's Los Angeles campusThe terms of Getty Museum director Michael Brand's severance package are hiding in plain sight in the Compensation Disclosure section of the Getty Trust's website, as was helpfully pointed out to me this evening by the Getty Trust's vice president for communications, Ron Hartwig.Scroll down to p. 5, "Senior Management Compensation," … [Read more...] about Getty Benefits: Michael Brand’s Severance Pot Was Recently Sweetened