In the sell-job for its New Vision, the Berkshire Museum, Pittsfield, MA, has made much of the fact that "approximately 400 people have participated in the community consultation process" during the planning phase. But a letter (text obtained by CultureGrrl and posted below), sent this week by director Van Shields to members of the museum's community focus groups, reveals … [Read more...] about Berkshire Bumble: Director’s Letter Reveals Focus Groups Kept in the Dark About Planned Art Sales
Archives for 2017
Resistance Insistence: Museums (& CultureGrrl) Grapple with Political Turmoil UPDATED
If you’re not outraged, you’re not paying attention. ---the late Heather Heyer Like most of you, I've been "paying attention" all week---upset and obsessed with the Charlottesville explosion and its toxic fallout. I've finally emerged from my apartment complex's fallout shelter. I haven't felt up to tweeting, let along posting, on my usual subject---the artworld---since … [Read more...] about Resistance Insistence: Museums (& CultureGrrl) Grapple with Political Turmoil UPDATED
Save the Forsaken 40! Protest March Tomorrow by Opponents of Berkshire Museum’s Art Sales UPDATED
Opponents of the Berkshire Museum's planned sale of 40 artworks from its collection plan to stage a protest march tomorrow (Saturday), 9 a.m.-noon, on the sidewalk in front of the Berkshire Museum, South Street, Pittsfield, MA. Yesterday evening, Leslie Ferrin of Ferrin Contemporary (a gallery for contemporary ceramics) told me this about the plan: We hope to engage the … [Read more...] about Save the Forsaken 40! Protest March Tomorrow by Opponents of Berkshire Museum’s Art Sales UPDATED
Pink Jinx? Sotheby’s Still Awaits Payment for Record-Setting $71.2-Million “Pink Star” Diamond
When the Pink Star---a 59.60-carat, oval, internally flawless diamond---fetched $71.2 million (including buyers premium) at Sotheby's Hong Kong on Apr. 4, it was touted by the auction house as setting a "New World Auction Record for Any Diamond or Jewel." That amount was considerably less, however, than the aborted $83-million Sotheby's sale of that the same gem in 2013---a … [Read more...] about Pink Jinx? Sotheby’s Still Awaits Payment for Record-Setting $71.2-Million “Pink Star” Diamond
Memo to Berkshire Museum: Homeless National Academy Suspends Its School, Slashes Price for Its Posh Digs
The Berkshire Museum's self-proclaimed deaccession-or-die desperation measure has triggered traumatic flashbacks to the National Academy's failed attempt to secure its future by selling off important works by Frederic Edwin Church and Sanford Robinson Gifford---a story I broke and closely followed on CultureGrrl. In light of the widely condemned, deplorable developments in … [Read more...] about Memo to Berkshire Museum: Homeless National Academy Suspends Its School, Slashes Price for Its Posh Digs
“Deeply Opposed”: Joint Statement by AAMD & AAM Blasts Berkshire Museum’s Planned Art Sales UPDATED TWICE
I predicted in my previous post that the Association of Art Museum Directors and the American Alliance of Museums were "likely to exert pushback" against the Berkshire Museum's deplorable deaccession plans. Now they have, after communicating with the errant museum's leadership earlier today via … [Read more...] about “Deeply Opposed”: Joint Statement by AAMD & AAM Blasts Berkshire Museum’s Planned Art Sales UPDATED TWICE
Berkshire Museum Disposables: Bierstadts, Bouguereaus, Calders, Church, Inness, “George Washington”
More on this here. The hit list is out. The Berkshire Museum, Pittsfield, MA, today identified all 40 works that it intends to sell through Sotheby's to bankroll its $60-million reinvention plan. Based on this report in the Berkshire Eagle, I had previously written that the museum's Calder mobiles were "not being sold." In fact, two landmark 1932 Calders---"Dancing Torpedo … [Read more...] about Berkshire Museum Disposables: Bierstadts, Bouguereaus, Calders, Church, Inness, “George Washington”
“Public Trust” Bust: Berkshire Museum to Jettison 40 Works (including 2 artist-donated Rockwells) UPDATED
More on this here, here and here. Why should it matter if the Berkshires lose two major paintings by Norman Rockwell, when there are already so many in the vicinity? That mindless mindset seems to be driving the deplorable decision by the Berkshire Museum, Pittsfield, MA, to monetize, in a series of Sotheby's auctions, some 40 artworks in its collection, including … [Read more...] about “Public Trust” Bust: Berkshire Museum to Jettison 40 Works (including 2 artist-donated Rockwells) UPDATED
Bible Bumble: The Befuddled Build-Up to the New Museum of the Bible
How is the ambitious, soon-to-open Museum of the Bible (MOTB) hoping to repair the collateral damage to its reputation, now that Hobby Lobby---the crafts and home decor company led by the museum's founder, chairman and mega-donor, Steve Green---has been roundly condemned by the US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York for committing antiquities-collecting sins … [Read more...] about Bible Bumble: The Befuddled Build-Up to the New Museum of the Bible
Metropolitan Museum’s Empty Director’s Chair: Text of Dan Weiss Memo to Staff
Now that Metropolitan Museum director Thomas Campbell has officially left the building (as of June 30), who will serve as acting director until a new director is chosen? Surprisingly, the short answer appears to be: "No one." Here's the memo sent to the museum's staff by its president and CEO, Daniel Weiss (the text of which I received from a highly reliable Met … [Read more...] about Metropolitan Museum’s Empty Director’s Chair: Text of Dan Weiss Memo to Staff
Shoehorned at Hirshhorn: Imprisoning Ai Weiwei’s “@Large” Alcatraz Installation
I can understand why Philip Kennicott felt unenthusiastic about the Hirshhorn Museum's Ai Weiwei: Trace at Hirshhorn (to Jan. 1), which riveted me when I saw it to best advantage at its original venue---Alcatraz. The Washington Post's art critic dismissively stated that the renowned Chinese dissident "needs to make better art, more thoughtful art, art that isn’t consumed and … [Read more...] about Shoehorned at Hirshhorn: Imprisoning Ai Weiwei’s “@Large” Alcatraz Installation
“On Deadline with Gabe Pressman”: My Starstruck 1973 Profile of the Late Dean of NYC TV Reporters
Back in 1973, clutching a masters degree in journalism from Columbia, I decided to take the class that Gabe Pressman, gave at the New School. This "indefatigable dean of New York's television reporters" (as described in his Friday NY Times obit) generously allowed a few students to shadow him on different days. I was one of the lucky ones. Gabe proved to be both a tough … [Read more...] about “On Deadline with Gabe Pressman”: My Starstruck 1973 Profile of the Late Dean of NYC TV Reporters
Ethics and Critics: Conflicts of Interest Infect NY Times Reviews
If a newspaper accepted outside compensation for favorable coverage, that would be clearly be a violation of journalistic ethics---a conflict of interest, potentially compromising the integrity of its reports. That's essentially what's happening, though, on the arts pages of the NY Times, where clickable "FIND TICKETS" buttons have been appended to theater and movie reviews. … [Read more...] about Ethics and Critics: Conflicts of Interest Infect NY Times Reviews
AAMD’s Response to Metropolitan Museum’s Renegade Reorganization: “Guidance to Consider”
In last week's post---Metropolitan Museum as Renegade: Reorganization Defies AAMD’s Professional Standards---I noted that Met President Daniel Weiss' designation as his museum's CEO, with the yet-to-be-named new director as his subordinate, ran contrary to the professional guidelines (P. 5) of the Association of Art Museum Directors. I also predicted that AAMD's reaction to the … [Read more...] about AAMD’s Response to Metropolitan Museum’s Renegade Reorganization: “Guidance to Consider”
Metropolitan Museum as Renegade: Reorganization Defies AAMD’s Professional Standards
The Metropolitan Museum has become a renegade. Its decision to rejigger its organizational chart---elevating the finance-oriented CEO (now President Daniel Weiss) above its (as yet unnamed) new art-centric director---runs contrary to common wisdom about the appropriate chain of command in art museums. That said, I reluctantly concede that desperate times may call for … [Read more...] about Metropolitan Museum as Renegade: Reorganization Defies AAMD’s Professional Standards