At the Wadsworth Atheneum, an Old Building Gets New Life---my article in today's Wall Street Journal on the gloriously transformed Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford---paints many verbal pictures of what I enjoyed during my visit. But "verbal" is often a poor substitute for "visual." To help you see what I saw, here's my illustrated tour of what I described in the WSJ (and a bit … [Read more...] about Worth 1,000 Words: An Illustrated Companion to My WSJ Review of the Wadsworth Atheneum
Archives for 2015
“Overwhelmed by Art”: My WSJ Article on Wadsworth Atheneum’s Dazzling Transformation
More on this here. Can the Wadsworth Atheneum regain its former reputation as a midsized museum with outsized importance? My article for tomorrow's Wall Street Journal (online now)---At the Wadsworth Atheneum, an Old Building Gets New Life---details the sweeping physical and conceptual transformation that could help it return to its former glory, when legendary director A. … [Read more...] about “Overwhelmed by Art”: My WSJ Article on Wadsworth Atheneum’s Dazzling Transformation
Blank Space: What’s Missing from the Metropolitan Museum’s “Ancient Egypt” Show? (with video)
The Metropolitan Museum's grand Ancient Egypt Transformed: The Middle Kingdom (Oct. 12-Jan. 24) displays some 230 objects, ranging from monumental stone sculptures to delicate jewelry---"the first comprehensive exhibition to be presented of Middle Kingdom art," in the words of Met director Tom Campbell. Thanks in large measure to the museum's own excavations, about one-third … [Read more...] about Blank Space: What’s Missing from the Metropolitan Museum’s “Ancient Egypt” Show? (with video)
ISIS Crisis: AAMD’s Risky “Safe Haven” Initiative for Endangered Archaeological Material
Understandably distressed by the inability of the international cultural community to prevent the continued decimation of world heritage by ISIS, members of Association of Art Museum Directors could be putting their own institutions at risk by implementing their newly issued Protocols for Safe Havens for Works of Cultural Significance from Countries in Crisis. Intended to … [Read more...] about ISIS Crisis: AAMD’s Risky “Safe Haven” Initiative for Endangered Archaeological Material
National Academy Update (plus: details on its shaky financials)
The "update" is that there is no update. On Saturday, I was told by architect Bruce Fowle, president of the National Academy, that a press release would be issued on Sunday or Monday, “clarifying her [director Carmine Branagan’s] status at the Academy.” On Monday (yesterday), I was told by the Dewey Blanton, the Academy's director of communications and public … [Read more...] about National Academy Update (plus: details on its shaky financials)
More Perfect Union (than with Corcoran): University of Maryland & Phillips Collection Tie the Knot
It seems that Wallace Loh, president of the University of Maryland (UMD), never got over his desire to form a far-reaching partnership with a Washington, D.C., art museum. Change the partner from the (now dismantled) Corcoran Gallery to the thriving Phillips Collection, and you've got wedded bliss: The Phillips and UMD today jointly announced a new agreement for sharing … [Read more...] about More Perfect Union (than with Corcoran): University of Maryland & Phillips Collection Tie the Knot
Shakeup Rumored at the National Academy
Because of my past coverage, I've become an unofficial clearinghouse for rumors about trouble at the National Academy. Some haven't checked out and I've not published them. But I believe that the rumors I started hearing yesterday regarding an impending change of status of the Academy's director, Carmine Branagan, are likely to stick. One tipster (who gave me his name … [Read more...] about Shakeup Rumored at the National Academy
My Twitter Chain: Museum-Tech Tweeters Pummel Me, Re: My WSJ Article & Blog Posts
The museum digerati have struck back. Below is my compilation of the Twitter storm that erupted yesterday around my Wall Street Journal story and related blog posts about museums' use of technology in their galleries. I became the subject of a social-media feeding frenzy, in which I was transformed into a straw man (stick-in-the-mud adversary of tech-related experimentation, … [Read more...] about My Twitter Chain: Museum-Tech Tweeters Pummel Me, Re: My WSJ Article & Blog Posts
Sudden Departure: Max Anderson Precipitously Leaves Dallas Museum Directorship
This is not how amicable resignations usually happen: The Dallas Museum of Art today announced that its director of less than four years, Maxwell Anderson, "has stepped down [emphasis added] as director of the DMA to take on the position of director of grant programs at the [Paris-based] New Cities Foundation in New York." In other words, he has already left, with no … [Read more...] about Sudden Departure: Max Anderson Precipitously Leaves Dallas Museum Directorship
Tech Trauma: MoMA’s New Chief Tech Officer, Plus More on Museums’ Digital Disasters
The Museum of Modern Art's use of technology (including its Audio+ museum tours and its hyperactive, frustrating-to-navigate website) could certainly use improvement. But promoting from within may not be the best way to achieve that. MoMA today announced the appointment of Diana Pan, its director of technology and applications since 2009, to be its chief technology officer, … [Read more...] about Tech Trauma: MoMA’s New Chief Tech Officer, Plus More on Museums’ Digital Disasters
Rethinking Displays: My Q&A with Salort-Pons, Detroit Institute’s New Director—Part II
Part I is here. We interrupt our two-part interview with Salvador Salort-Pons, the Detroit Institute of Arts' new director (effective Oct. 15) to bring a news bulletin regarding his predecessor, Graham Beal: Michigan State University announced last week that Beal will remain in-state for this academic year, as MSU's visiting Hannah Distinguished Professor, "the most … [Read more...] about Rethinking Displays: My Q&A with Salort-Pons, Detroit Institute’s New Director—Part II
$600-Million Endowment?!? My Q&A with Salort-Pons, Detroit Institute’s New Director—Part I
Part II is here. In an appointment reminiscent of the Art Institute of Chicago's elevation to its directorship of Douglas Druick and the Metropolitan Museum's appointment of Tom Campbell to its top spot, the Detroit Institute of Arts today named an inside candidate with solid art credentials, Salvador Salort-Pons, 45, to become its 11th director, effective Oct. 15. He succeeds … [Read more...] about $600-Million Endowment?!? My Q&A with Salort-Pons, Detroit Institute’s New Director—Part I
The Broad Broadsided: Critics Take Aim
No good deed goes unpunished. That adage seems sadly apt when it comes to collector/philanthropist Eli Broad, whose eponymous downtown Los Angeles museum, opening Sept. 20, has already sustained potshots from leading art critics, giving new symbolic meaning to the signature dent in its Diller Scofidio + Refro-designed façade: Beginning with a display of some 250 selections … [Read more...] about The Broad Broadsided: Critics Take Aim
Whopping Risk for Sotheby’s: Some $500 Million Guaranteed to Taubman Estate
In the annals of art auction guarantees for a single consignor, this one may well set a record. In its Form 8-K SEC filing yesterday, Sotheby's reported this about its upcoming sales of more than 500 works from the estate of its former chairman, A. Alfred Taubman: On Sept. 2, 2015, Sotheby’s entered into an arrangement with the Estate of A. Alfred Taubman (“the Estate”) … [Read more...] about Whopping Risk for Sotheby’s: Some $500 Million Guaranteed to Taubman Estate
MoMA’s “Picasso Sculpture” Blunder: Mr. Lowry, Put Up Those Labels!
I know that I saw a landmark show of wit and whimsy yesterday, but I'm not entirely clear on exactly what was there: To be sure, there were lots of things that I recognized (and many others that I was glad to discover) in the Museum of Modern Art's sweeping Picasso Sculpture (Sept. 14-Feb. 7). But making sense of it all was something of a chore, because this sprawling … [Read more...] about MoMA’s “Picasso Sculpture” Blunder: Mr. Lowry, Put Up Those Labels!