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If you've finished donating to Philadelphia's Eakins campaign and are looking to save another artwork for its homeland, London's Tate Gallery has just the thing: For a mere £5 you can buy a brushstroke of Turner's "The Blue Rigi," as part of the campaign to keep it from going to the private, non-British collector who offered £5.8 million for it at auction last June. The British … [Read more...] about Purchasing Turner by the Brushstroke

I'll be offline for a couple of hours, while I reveal the sacred rites of arts journalism to a class of middle schoolers. I'll be talking about the process of producing my Wall Street Journal article about the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston---from conception to publication. Although this may be of dubious educational value, my classroom stint will allow me to tell the … [Read more...] about CultureGrrl Teaches What She Preaches

Here's a panel discussion, to be held on Feb. 24, 10 a.m. to noon, that I'm sure my NYC-area readers will find interesting: ADAA [the Art Dealers Association of America] will present a Collectors' Forum panel discussion entitled "The Museum as Collector." This historic gathering of museum directors will discuss one of the most critical issues affecting the art world … [Read more...] about All-Star Panel on the Museum Collecting Crisis

A list of works said to be Great Britain's 25 most important paintings in private hands has been published by today's Daily Telegraph of London. This masterpiece roster has been compiled in connection with a campaign by Lord Howarth, a former arts minister, to get the British government "to revive its secret Paramount List--a list of works of art so important the Government … [Read more...] about What Are the 25 Most Important Paintings Owned Privately in Britain?

In the latest development related to one of the sorriest episodes in museum history, Nikolai Zavadsky, husband of deceased State Hermitage Museum curator Larisa Zavadskaya, admitted in court today that he and his wife stole 77 objects from the museum's collection. More than 200 objects from the Department of Russian Culture were discovered missing last summer. Some have since … [Read more...] about Hermitage Theft Trial Begins

Forget Nazi-loot databases. Marei von Saher, the daughter-in-law of the Dutch dealer Jacques Goudstikker, is giving her claim a higher profile: She has compiled a catalogue of the works he was forced to sell to Hermann Göring and Göring's dealer in 1940. Goudstikker, who was Jewish, died on a ship while fleeing Amsterdam for Great Britain during World War II. This volume, to … [Read more...] about New Goudstikker Catalogue to Facilitate Nazi-Loot Return

UPDATE from Bloomberg: Christie's says the sale will go on. Greek Culture Minister George Voulgarakis sent a letter yesteday to Christie's, London, asking the auction house to halt a planned sale tomorrow and Thursday of 850 lots formerly from the collection of King George I of Greece, according to a report in today's Bloomberg. This is not another Greek antiquities claim: The … [Read more...] about Greeks Announce Possible Claim; Christie’s Hasn’t Received It

Imagine the Moustache Sure, I can see that! They've both got a talent for over-the-top flamboyance. "Dalí & I: The Surreal Story" (let's hope they change the title) starts filming in June in New York and Spain, Variety reports. Andrew Niccol directs. But Al, can you do the accent? If not, please don't dilly-Dalí: Just fuhgeddaboudit! Meanwhile, you can start getting into … [Read more...] about Pacino as Dalí?

Let's get out of Philly and go to Paris. The answer to the question posed in the headline above appears to be the Louvre, which just reported that its total attendance for 2006 was a record 8.3 million, compared to 7.5 million the previous year. If another museum can boast higher numbers, please brag in an e-mail to CultureGrrl. If 8.3 million isn't enough, just think how many … [Read more...] about Mirror, Mirror: Who’s the Most Popular Art Museum of Them All?

Rendell Bashing Powell at the Eakins Bash Saturday's "Gross Clinic" festivities at the Philadelphia Museum drew political heavy hitters U.S. Senator Arlen Specter and Governor Ed Rendell, but Mayor John Street was not on hand, nor was the museum told why his plans had changed. No matter. The burly Governor made matters sufficiently interesting with his impolitic remarks … [Read more...] about More on “The Gross Clinic’s” Swell Party

In its inaugural display of its new stellar acquisition, Thomas Eakins' "The Gross Clinic," the Philadelphia Museum makes it the centerpiece in a room that also displays one of the artist's oil studies for the painting, as well as his boxing picture, "Between Rounds," his luminous Schuylkill River scene, "The Pair-Oared Shell" and a portrait of him by his wife, Susan Macdowell … [Read more...] about Grand Displays for “Gross”: Present and Future

Why is This Tall Woman Clapping? Because she's Anne d'Harnoncourt, director of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, congratulating a joyous crowd of donors to the fundraising campaign to keep the $68-million Thomas Eakins masterpiece, "The Gross Clinic," in Philadelphia. The museum invited some 3,000 Eakins contributors to a celebratory reception in its grand lobby Saturday … [Read more...] about Willy-Nilly in Philly: Museum Hosts Lovefest for 1,800 of Eakins’ Close Friends

To a place that rhymes with "Silly" and has something "Gross" about it. A place whose mayor has the perfect name for the denizen of a city. If you don't know where this is, then you haven't been paying attention! I'm going to try to lay off the laptop till I come back at the end of the weekend. But I've said that before, and you know me all too well. … [Read more...] about Where in the World is Lee Going?

We journalists should read nonprofits' publicly available tax returns more often. Had I done so, I'd already know that the net proceeds received by the New York Public Library from Alice Walton's purchases of Asher B. Durand's "Kindred Spirits" amounted to $33.81 million, as reported on last year's Form 990. I found this out today from Anthony Calnek, the library's new vice … [Read more...] about New York Public Library’s Durand Proceeds: $33.81 million

I have NEVER let anyone publish a CultureGrrl BlogBack at this length, and I probably never will again. But this is too important to cut or edit. I had solicited the response of Michael Brand, the J. Paul Getty Museum's director, to Italian Culture Minister Francesco Rutelli's Op-Ed piece in yesterday's Wall Street Journal. I got much more than I bargained for---an extremely … [Read more...] about BlogBack: Michael Brand Replies to Rutelli’s WSJ Opinion Piece