In my recent travels to art museums, I've spent far too much time gazing at digital screens instead of the art. That's because I've been researching an article for tomorrow's Wall Street Journal (online now) analyzing museums' use of technology to enhance the gallery experience. My article's unsung hero is Stephanie Cunningham, one of the Brooklyn Museum's group of educators … [Read more...] about “Inadequately Explained, Exasperatingly Dysfunctional”: My WSJ Piece on Tech in Museums
Archives for 2015
Trumpeting a Strumpet; Slammer to Glamor: Modigliani & Taubman Faceoff in Auction Wars
I had a did-he-really-say-that moment early last month, when listening to Sotheby's CEO Tad Smith woo stock analysts during the auction house's second-quarter conference call: Smith, new to Sotheby's, glowingly cited the late A. Alfred Taubman, the auction house's criminally convicted former chairman, as a role model. Taubman had done jail time for his role in the darkest … [Read more...] about Trumpeting a Strumpet; Slammer to Glamor: Modigliani & Taubman Faceoff in Auction Wars
“Hamilton’s” Universal Appeal: A Writer’s Writer, Immigrant’s Immigrant (& a Christie’s Market Tie-In)
Belatedly, because I just got there on Saturday, I'm joining the "Hamilton" chorus. One of the many mind-blowing strengths of Lin-Manuel Miranda's explosive rap opera is that it resonates on so many levels for so many different theatergoers. It certainly strikes a chord with the young: Every actor's rap aria was followed by loud, appreciative "woo-hoos!"---not your … [Read more...] about “Hamilton’s” Universal Appeal: A Writer’s Writer, Immigrant’s Immigrant (& a Christie’s Market Tie-In)
Adjaye in Play? What’s Behind Worldwide Search for Obama Center’s Architect?
Could architect David Adjaye be in play to design the planned Obama Presidential Center on Chicago's South Side? He was, after all, the choice of Thelma Golden to design the new home (on the old site) for the Studio Museum of Harlem, which she directs. Golden is a recent addition to the board of the Obama Foundation, which is responsible for all aspects of the plans for the … [Read more...] about Adjaye in Play? What’s Behind Worldwide Search for Obama Center’s Architect?
True-isms: Marion True, the Getty’s Sacrificial Ex-Curator, Vents Again
The lionization of the late dealer in dicey antiquities, Robert Hecht, on the occasion of the publication of his memoir, apparently struck a nerve with the Getty Museum's ex-curator of antiquities, Marion True: In her recent interview with Washington Post reporter Geoff Edgers, True again vented her bitterness about how she had been left to twist slowly in the wind by her … [Read more...] about True-isms: Marion True, the Getty’s Sacrificial Ex-Curator, Vents Again
Chewing Up Chiu: Thin-Skinned DC Critics Feel Snubbed by Hirshhorn’s NYC Fundraising Gala
Memo to Philip Kennicott and Kriston Capps: Get over it! These two estimable Washington, DC-based art writers have gotten bent out of shape over the decision by Melissa Chiu, director of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden since September, to hold a 40th-anniversary gala in New York, where she had directed the Asia Society Museum from 2004 until her Hirshhorn … [Read more...] about Chewing Up Chiu: Thin-Skinned DC Critics Feel Snubbed by Hirshhorn’s NYC Fundraising Gala
Reading the Tea Leaves: What is Ai Weiwei Thinking? UPDATED
Trying to interpret the underlying meaning of Ai Weiwei's enigmatic and sometimes contradictory pronouncements since he traveled to Germany from China is like trying to decipher the cryptic pronouncement inside a fortune cookie. The more Ai Weiwei speaks to Western media, the more people struggle to interpret his ambiguous words. Today he told Noah Barkin of Reuters that … [Read more...] about Reading the Tea Leaves: What is Ai Weiwei Thinking? UPDATED
Ai Weiwei Watch: International Travel Plans, Sympathy for His Tormentors UPDATED TWICE
UPDATE: Ai Weiwei retweeted and favorited my tweet that links to the post below. Does that constitute an endorsement? In what many will see as an excess of empathy for those who harshly punished him, Ai Weiwei, who promptly flew to reunite with his son and his son's mother in Germany, after being reunited with his passport, gave a revealing interview with Joerg Haentzschel, … [Read more...] about Ai Weiwei Watch: International Travel Plans, Sympathy for His Tormentors UPDATED TWICE
Sotheby’s Stock Price Plummets as CEO Tad Smith Reports “Rather Bumpy Quarter”
Activist investors who have roiled Sotheby's management and negatively impacted its bottom line may be gratified by the auction firm's announcement today that it will increase a previously authorized $125-million stock repurchase program by another $125 million, with the funds coming from the company's current cash balances. But investors can't be happy with the plummeting … [Read more...] about Sotheby’s Stock Price Plummets as CEO Tad Smith Reports “Rather Bumpy Quarter”
My Donald Trump and Yours: A Rueful Reminiscence UPDATED
With frontrunner Donald Trump's having staked out prime real estate at the table for the first Republican debate tomorrow, it's time for me to dust off a 41-year-old story of my personal encounter with The Donald, then known as "Young Donald." While working on a 1974 NY Times article in the Sunday Real Estate Section on the shifting rent patterns in New York City, I … [Read more...] about My Donald Trump and Yours: A Rueful Reminiscence UPDATED
Who’s “Unfair”? Guggenheim & Gulf Labor Coalition Exchange Barbs Over Delayed Abu Dhabi Project UPDATED
The Guggenheim appears to have lost all patience with the Gulf Labor Coalition, the watchdog group of artists and others concerned with the welfare of migrant workers who are building museums on Abu Dhabi's Saadiyat Island. Instead, the Guggenheim should lose patience with the slow and still inadequate progress that's been made in implementing essential labor reform. In its … [Read more...] about Who’s “Unfair”? Guggenheim & Gulf Labor Coalition Exchange Barbs Over Delayed Abu Dhabi Project UPDATED
Peter Brant’s Brands: Whither ARTnews and Art in America?
In its recently announced merger plans with Brant Publications' three art magazines---Art in America, The Magazine Antiques and Modern Magazine---ARTnews, sold in April 2014 by its long-time editor and publisher, Milton Esterow, will likely be altered beyond recognition. Ceasing monthly publication, it would be reduced to an unspecified number of "theme issues," along the lines … [Read more...] about Peter Brant’s Brands: Whither ARTnews and Art in America?
Philbrook Museum Director Randall Suffolk Gets High (Museum, that is)
The High Museum today named Randall Suffolk to become its new director, succeeding the Atlanta museum's 15-year head, Michael Shapiro, who leaves on July 31. Suffolk, director of the Philbrook Museum, Tulsa, since 2007, will assume his High position Nov. 2. Philip Verre, the High's COO of and previously director of the Hudson River Museum, Yonkers, will be the High's … [Read more...] about Philbrook Museum Director Randall Suffolk Gets High (Museum, that is)
Et Tu, Arnold? Lehman, Brooklyn Museum’s Director, Joins Museum-to-Market Defectors UPDATED THRICE
I’m always taken aback when a distinguished, long-time art professional crosses over from the sanctum of the nonprofit museum world to the commercial side of the artworld---auction houses and galleries. It’s about to happen again, with Phillips auction house’s announcement that Arnold Lehman, director of the Brooklyn Museum, will soon become senior advisor to Edward Dolman, the … [Read more...] about Et Tu, Arnold? Lehman, Brooklyn Museum’s Director, Joins Museum-to-Market Defectors UPDATED THRICE
FAILE Fail: Brooklyn Museum as Gaming Arcade (with video)
Always defying norms of museum propriety, Arnold Lehman has outdone himself in outrageousness with one of the final exhibitions opening under his transformative 18-year directorship at the Brooklyn Museum (ending on Aug. 31). I'm not talking about Sneaker Culture (although it's more a popular than scholarly success), but the astounding display that opened on the same floor … [Read more...] about FAILE Fail: Brooklyn Museum as Gaming Arcade (with video)