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Here's a novel approach: Dispose of cultural patrimony claims through event planning. Tito Mazzetta, the Atlanta attorney who has been pursuing the claim made by the Italian village of Monteleone di Spoleto for return of the Metropolitan Museum's Etruscan chariot, sent me a copy of the letter he received two years ago from Sharon Cott, vice president secretary and counsel of … [Read more...] about The Met to Monteleone: Drop Your Chariot Claim and We’ll Host a Celebratory Event

Richard Lacayo Time magazine's new art and architecture blog, by critic Richard Lacayo, has just launched, and while "Looking Around," he ogled CultureGrrl: He discussed me and linked to me at the beginning of his second post. Back at you, Richard! You're now on my blogroll. He had this to say about the comparison I made between the new Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, … [Read more...] about Time Magazine’s Art Blog Has Liftoff (and Takes CultureGrrl for a Ride)

Mark Steele in Columbia Magazine, Fall 2006 Another Met-sensitive book, also due out from an Italian publisher this month (after several delays), is James Beck's From Duccio to Raphael: Connoisseurship in Crisis, which elucidates his doubts about the attributions to Duccio of the Metropolitan Museum's "Madonna and Child" and to Raphael of the London National Gallery's "Madonna … [Read more...] about Duking It Out Over Duccio in Columbia Magazine

Due in Italian bookstores later this month, a new book, "La Biga Rapita" (The Stolen Chariot), above, investigates the allegedly clandestine removal from Italy more than 100 years ago of the Metropolitan Museum's celebrated 6th century B.C. Etruscan chariot. The book's author, journalist Mario La Ferla, writes that the chariot was "dismantled, hidden in barrels of grain, [and] … [Read more...] about Etruscan Chariot of Fire: Another Repatriation Flare-Up at the Met

The major exception to the general absence from U.S. art shows of works addressing the morass in Iraq is the Abu Ghraib series by Colombian artist Fernando Botero, shown last fall at Marlborough Gallery in New York. Yesterday the San Francisco Chronicle reported that this series will be shown, beginning Jan. 29, at the Doe Library of the University of California, … [Read more...] about More on Political Art: Botero’s “Abu Ghraib” at Berkeley

Rob Krulak, a development officer at the Brooklyn Museum, replies to New York Public Library Sells Its Washington: Regardless of how the Steinhardts ultimately dispose of the portrait of Washington that they purchased from the New York Public Library, New Yorkers should remember that there is an equally lovely, and nearly identical painting by the same artist accessible to all … [Read more...] about BlogBack: Rob Krulak on the Steinhardt Stuart

Another curatorial nudge (like John Elderfield's Manet show) that seems to be calling attention to the dearth of political art in our politically unsettled times: "DISSENT!," to Feb. 25, at Harvard University's Fogg Art Museum. Organized by the museum's print curator, Susan Dackerman, the show is described in its press release as: ...an exhibition of 62 prints, books, … [Read more...] about Political Art at Harvard: Wake-Up Call for Artists?

First the Louvre, now the American Museum of Natural History: Museums that star in movies see a boost in their own box-office numbers, as AMNH has now discovered, thanks to the popular success of "Night at the Museum." Is this why the Louvre and the Musée d'Orsay have decided to "underwrite screenplays by seven critically acclaimed international filmmakers for films to be … [Read more...] about The “Da Vinci” Effect, American-Style

WNYC got me at least one new fan. (Actually, a lot of people liked my sound bites.) Derek Fordjour is "a 32-year-old African-American painter, living and working in New York": Congratulations on your interview with WNYC. I have not heard about you until now. I visited your blog and checked out some of your archives. It's great to know that someone like you exists. Your writing … [Read more...] about BlogBack: Derek Fordjour Discovers CultureGrrl on the Radio

On Nov. 20, I e-mailed the New York Public Library's incoming vice president for communications and marketing, Anthony Calnek (erstwhile of the Guggenheim), asking him to get me the answers to two questions: What happened to the works that [the Library] consigned to Sotheby's but that failed to sell? To what use have they actually put the proceeds of the art sales? Yesterday, … [Read more...] about New York Public Library Sells Its Washington (See PR Gripe #2)

Looks like Time magazine is planning a new art and architecture blog by critic Richard Lacayo. Lots of ArtsJournal-ites, including CultureGrrl, are on the blogroll (of course). Right now the test entries are all in Latin, but I'm sure he'll learn English soon. Here's part of his blog description: What I won't be reporting on is parties, gallery openings or gossip. If you like … [Read more...] about New Art Blog for Time Magazine?

Approach with caution: Like everything else from Wikipedia, there may be some errors here. But listed all in one place is a voluminous compilation of known big-money painting sales, both public and private, naming prices, sellers and buyers. Apparently the Wikipedians know that David Martinez bought the $140-million Jackson Pollock. Thank goodness we've finally got THAT … [Read more...] about Wiki’s Wacky List of the World’s Most Expensive Paintings

Having just spent four early-morning minutes talking on the radio about the "money-no-object" collector (a topic about which I still plan to blog), I experienced as a welcome tonic an article in today's Christian Science Monitor about a new plan to get art into the hands of the "no money for objects" collector---the art lover who wants to enjoy quality work at home, but can't … [Read more...] about Adopt an Artwork—For Free

Have I mastered the art of the sound bite? Click below for my lightning-quick take on the state of the art market, aired early this morning (too early!) on New York Public Radio (WNYC). I'm not responsible for my host's comment about Sotheby's sales "doubling." Actually, North American sales were up 52 percent last year; worldwide sales up 36 percent. But never contradict your … [Read more...] about CultureGrrl’s 4 Minutes of Radio Stardom

As described yesterday by the "Felcholino" duo of the LA Times, the procedure by which the J. Paul Getty Museum in 1988 acquired the 5th century B.C. "Cult Statue of a Goddess" (possibly Aphrodite), now claimed by Italy, may seem ethically deficient by today's standards. But it was standard practice at the time: American museums would customarily contact possible source … [Read more...] about The Getty’s Goddess: Acquired on the “No News is Good News” Principle