When I published today's Wall Street Journal piece on the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art's technological transformation---Golden Gate Gigabytes (this hardcopy headline is much catchier than the online one)---I knew from the heated tweets inspired by my previous WSJ tech piece that I'd better duck. I'll have more to say about what I admired most about SFMOMA's eclectic … [Read more...] about Twitter Swarm: Reactions to My WSJ Review of SFMOMA’s New Tech
Archives for 2016
Robust App, Weak Tours: My WSJ Review of SFMOMA’s Technological Transformation
I seem to have landed the museum-tech beat on the Wall Street Journal's "Arts in Review" page. In tomorrow's Personal Journal section (online now), you can read: At SFMOMA, Tech and Culture Meet---my mixed review of the newly expanded San Francisco Museum of Modern Art's digital transformation. In my previous digital adventure---The Brave New Museum Sputters Into Life---I … [Read more...] about Robust App, Weak Tours: My WSJ Review of SFMOMA’s Technological Transformation
Willful Wilsey Wilts: Regime Change at Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
The long overdue wresting of control over the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco from a bejeweled socialite and consummate fundraiser, Diane "Dede" Wilsey, is finally occurring under the museums' new director, Max Hollein, who assumed his post on June 1. What we don't yet know is whether Max impelled this change or just got lucky. In her dual role as FAMSF's board … [Read more...] about Willful Wilsey Wilts: Regime Change at Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
“The Keeper” Sleeper: The New Museum Displays the Harrowing “Sketchbook from Auschwitz”
"Start on the fourth floor, but make sure not to miss the second floor," New Museum director Lisa Phillips advised me when I arrived with only an hour to spare for the press preview of The Keeper (to Sept. 25)---an ephemera-packed exhibition of the stuff assembled and preserved by obsessive-compulsive accumulators of objects and images. Astutely curated by the indispensable … [Read more...] about “The Keeper” Sleeper: The New Museum Displays the Harrowing “Sketchbook from Auschwitz”
The Met Mess: Parsing the Organizational Upheavals at the Metropolitan Museum
What do the disarray of the Metropolitan Museum's finances and the shakeup of its senior staff say about Tom Campbell's performance as director of this country's preeminent art museum? It could be that directing the Met is too complicated and challenging a task for someone who assumed the post with scant administrative experience. In September 2008, at Campbell's … [Read more...] about The Met Mess: Parsing the Organizational Upheavals at the Metropolitan Museum
GOP Stop? Cleveland Museum’s Convention Intervention
The Cleveland Museum of Art today finds itself near "the room where it happens" (to quote from Broadway's "Hamilton"). Some convention-weary delegates and families will probably migrate there, seeking respite and cultural solace. While awaiting further developments, the museum posted a mischievous tweet, which sparked this @ClevelandArt/@CultureGrrl exchange: … [Read more...] about GOP Stop? Cleveland Museum’s Convention Intervention
Shiner Whiner: Warhol Museum’s Director Joins the Flight from Museum to Market
Should museum directors and curators parlay their nonprofit contacts into for-profit pursuits? The latest news in museum-to-market defections---last week's announcement that Eric Shiner, the five-year director of the Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, will leave Aug. 15 to join Sotheby's---is one of several eyebrow-raising transitions suggesting that the financial incentive and … [Read more...] about Shiner Whiner: Warhol Museum’s Director Joins the Flight from Museum to Market
Climate-Control Crisis Closes Brooklyn Museum
The Brooklyn Museum dropped this bombshell in my inbox at 5:23 p.m.: Because of an air-conditioning outage, the Brooklyn Museum will be closed tomorrow, Friday, July 8 through Sunday, July 10. Our team is working around the clock to replace the damaged systems during this time. All museum collections are being constantly monitored and sensitive materials are being moved to … [Read more...] about Climate-Control Crisis Closes Brooklyn Museum
Injured Elvis’ Secret Tryst with Conservators: SFMOMA’s Neal Benezra Tells All
Journalists (including me) extracted only minimal information from the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art's press office about the "minimal" damage suffered by Warhol's celebrated "Triple Elvis [Ferus type]," 1963, on 100-year loan from the Doris and Donald Fisher Collection. But Neal Benezra, the museum's director, was more forthcoming when I caught up with him last week in … [Read more...] about Injured Elvis’ Secret Tryst with Conservators: SFMOMA’s Neal Benezra Tells All
“Masterpiece of Design”: MoMA Flies Its Copy of “Rainbow Flag” for Pride Week; SFMOMA Marches!
I scooped the Museum of Modern Art on Twitter, regarding its observance of Pride Week. On Thursday, I tweeted about the museum's prominent display (in front of the picture window overlooking its Sculpture Garden) of the iconic "Rainbow Flag," as it is titled on its wall label. (The museum's collection website gives it a different name---"LGBT Flag.") Two days later, … [Read more...] about “Masterpiece of Design”: MoMA Flies Its Copy of “Rainbow Flag” for Pride Week; SFMOMA Marches!
“Commercial in Confidence”: National Gallery of Victoria Upholds MoMA’s Secrecy on Loan (or rental) Fees
In my post last week spotlighting the lack of transparency about the financial terms (collegial loan or money-making rental?) of the Museum of Modern Art's planned dispatch of some 150 masterworks for temporary display at the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), Melbourne, I promised that if I learned more from the NGV, you'd learn more. Here's how a spokesperson from the … [Read more...] about “Commercial in Confidence”: National Gallery of Victoria Upholds MoMA’s Secrecy on Loan (or rental) Fees
Broken Link: Sree Sreenivasan, Metropolitan Museum’s Chief Digital Officer, to Depart
This bombshell (in the form of an internal memo) has just been dropped by Thomas Campbell and Daniel Weiss, director and president, respectively, of the Metropolitan Museum. (Photos, text in italics and links are mine, not theirs): We wanted to share the news that Sree Sreenivasan will be leaving his position at the Met after three years serving as the Museum’s first chief … [Read more...] about Broken Link: Sree Sreenivasan, Metropolitan Museum’s Chief Digital Officer, to Depart
ARTnews Lives! (former parent company files for bankruptcy)
A lot of confusion ensued from this artnet post today, in which Brian Boucher reported: Artnews S.A., the Polish company that briefly published the New York-based ARTnews magazine and, even briefer still, Art in America, has filed for bankruptcy and liquidation of its assets, according to the Polish website Investments. Did this mean that ARTnews was going to fold? Not so, … [Read more...] about ARTnews Lives! (former parent company files for bankruptcy)
“What Is an Art Museum?” Some 50 AAMD Members Tell Us (video)
For museum junkies like me, the video below, produced by the Association of Art Museum Directors in connection with its 100th birthday, is a delight---not only for the contagious enthusiasm and astute insights of museum leaders from around the country, limning the value of the museum experience, but also, in my case, for the chance to reencounter many directors whom I've known … [Read more...] about “What Is an Art Museum?” Some 50 AAMD Members Tell Us (video)
Ruing Roulin: MoMA Lends (or rents?) Some 150 Works to National Gallery of Victoria
Bye-bye, Joseph Roulin! The National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), Melbourne, recently announced that it will be the exclusive venue for a multi-disciplinary installation of some 150 MoMA masterworks, June 8, 2018-Oct. 7, 2018. Fans of the home team are going to miss these heavy-hitters by van Gogh, Dali and Lichtenstein (top to bottom), among many others: If you … [Read more...] about Ruing Roulin: MoMA Lends (or rents?) Some 150 Works to National Gallery of Victoria