Archives for 2017

One of the two major museum stories that broke while I was doting early this month on my newborn CultureGrandson (a Silicon Valley native) involved the Museum of Modern Art's decision to respond to the Trump travel ban (now in abeyance) by interpolating seven works in its fifth-floor permanent-collection galleries and one in its Garden Lobby, "to affirm the ideals of welcome … [Read more...] about Salves for Trump Bumps: Getty’s Direct Salvo vs. MoMA’s Discreet Indirection

Robin Pogrebin's damning NY Times report about the "tensions" and "challenged morale" among staffers at the Metropolitan Museum has emboldened me to say what I've been thinking for a long time about Tom Campbell's stewardship: Sadly, the misgivings that I expressed more than eight years ago, when the respected tapestry curator was named to succeed the revered Philippe de … [Read more...] about Buck Stops with the CEO: Holding Tom Campbell Accountable for The Met Mess (with podcasts, video)

More on this here. Catching up on museum news after five days in California, blissfully cuddling my precociously two-weeks-early new grandson (CultureDaughter's first child), I did a double-take at the online headline for Robin Pogrebin's Page One piece in Sunday's NY Times: Is the Met Museum "a Great Institution in Decline"? The print headline was only slightly less ominous … [Read more...] about The Met Mess in the NY Times: Are Tom Campbell’s Director Days Numbered?

Widespread reports that President Trump has decided to ax the National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities may (or may not) be premature. The only hard information on this that I've seen is Alexander Bolton's report in The Hill, a week ago, that the Trump transition team had proposed eliminating the NEA and NEH and privatizing the Corporation for Public … [Read more...] about Cause for Cautious Optimism? NEA’s Statement on Continued Federal Funding

Most of what I've seen so far regarding today's naming of Stephanie Stebich, director since 2005 of the Tacoma Art Museum, to become the next director of the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM), has left unmentioned her most notable (and laudable) past Smithsonian connection: In 2012, her Tacoma (WA) Art Museum proudly hosted the controversial HIDE/SEEK: Difference and … [Read more...] about “Hide/Seek” Champion Stephanie Stebich Named Director of Smithsonian American Art Museum

With President Trump's transition team's having reportedly recommended elimination of federal funding for the National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities (as well as for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting), a petition opposing possible NEA and NEH cuts has appeared on the White House's website, on the We the People webpage for citizens' petitions. At this writing, … [Read more...] about Never-Ending Battle: Mobilizing (once again) to Save the National Endowments for the Arts & Humanities

I opened up a can of worms at the Museum of Modern Art's press breakfast yesterday, when I asked the first question after the director's and curators' presentation about upcoming exhibitions: Many museums are wrestling with the problem of how to or whether to deal with the current political situation. Is MoMA addressing this in any way and, if so, how? Most of the … [Read more...] about Stumped by Trump: MoMA’s Lowry Walks “Fine Line” Between “Asserting Values” & Being Partisan

UPDATE, 7/18: Phoenix is back in the news with a libel suit against Dow Jones over this Wall Street Journal article. Regarding the gallery's January suit, described below, Ron Hartwig, the Getty Trust’s vice president for communications, today informed me: "We have moved to dismiss all of the tort claims and we are prepared to litigate any remaining issues should that be … [Read more...] about “Baseless Claims”: Getty Blasts Phoenix Ancient Art for Megamillion Lawsuit Over Torlonia Collection

When I read the art-related passages in the New Yorker's Total Return: When the feds went after a hedge-fund legend (aka Steve Cohen, the mega-collector ), all I could think of was: Where are the magazine's fact-checkers when it really needs them? Sheelah Kolhatkar, a former hedge fund analyst and current staff writer at the magazine, will publish a book next month enlarging … [Read more...] about Art Errors: Steve Cohen Evades Not Only the Feds, But Also the New Yorker’s Fact-Checkers

If you're down in the dumps about Trump, or just coping with some post-holiday blues, I'm making an effort this month to perk you up with something atypical of the hypercritical CultureGrrl---good news. I'll start by my eating some of my critical words while extolling plans for the Getty Villa's long-overdue sweeping reinstallation of its antiquities collection at the Getty … [Read more...] about Good News for the New Year: Reinstallation of the Getty Villa

Adam Weinberg went all Meryl Streep on us tonight. Like the impassioned actress speaking at the Golden Globes award ceremony last night, Weinberg never mentioned the President-elect by name earlier this evening, when he feelingly addressed the press at a cocktail reception at the museum. But neither speaker left any doubt that Trump was their subject. Weinberg's … [Read more...] about “Staying Strong” to Get Over the Trump Hump: Whitney Director Adam Weinberg Makes His Stand

In my Friday post about the St. Louis Art Museum's (SLAM's) controversial plan to lend Bingham's “The Verdict of the People,” 1854–55, to grace the Jan. 20 Presidential Inauguration Luncheon, I questioned the appropriateness of a museum's allowing one of its treasures to leave the building not for scholarly and/or public purposes, but as decor for a private event. As it … [Read more...] about St. Louis Blues: A Bingham for Trump’s Inaugural Lunch Could Have Come from the White House

Let's be blunt: Senator Roy Blunt of Missouri understandably turned to his home state's museum when, as chairman of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, he set out to find an appropriate American painting to grace the Jan. 20 Presidential Inauguration Luncheon. Who could slam SLAM (the St. Louis Art Museum) for obliging its Senator with this? As … [Read more...] about St. Louis Blues: Art Museum Unfairly Slammed As a Trump Chump

As chance would have it, I was on the premises of the Metropolitan Museum today when it issued its press release about regime change in Communications, the department with which I have the most contact. Kenneth Weine, an attorney, will soon become the Met's chief communications officer, with responsibility for media relations, as well as marketing, audience research, tourism, … [Read more...] about Weine & Weiss (aka Ken & Dan): Alliterative Communications Partners at Metropolitan Museum