main

Terracotta Kylix, Greek, Laconian, ca. 560-500 B.C., composite of a man, a sea creature and snakes, attributed to the Typhon Painter from Cerveteri, necropolis of Bufaloreccia, lent by the Republic of Italy Size and ceremony aren't everything, but the low-key loan by Italy to the Metropolitan Museum of an 8 1/2-inch wide drinking cup (above), displayed inconspicuously today in … [Read more...] about Boston Got a Big Statue; the Met Gets a Small Drinking Cup

Mixtec Bell, Mexico, c. 1200-1521 The show was so nice, I'll say it twice: I adored "Gold" at the American Museum of Natural History. It came across like your best 8th-grade science and social studies teachers combined---plying you with fun facts; dazzling you with fascinating illustrative materials (huge, fancifully shaped gold nuggets, gold ingots, gold jewelry, Beyoncé's … [Read more...] about Golden Opportunities Missed at AMNH’s Gold Show

I surmise that this statue from Italy... "Eirene" (Goddess of Peace), Roman, Imperial Period, late first century B.C. to early first century A.D., (Height: over 9 feet) Marble, body from Mt. Pentelikon, Greece, head from the Greek island of Paros, Lent by the Republic of Italy ...is intended to substitute for this statue, returned to Italy on Sept. 28 by the Boston Museum of … [Read more...] about Boston Gets “Peace” from Italy; Getty Gets Op-Ed Piece

Architecture critic James Russell, in today's Bloomberg, has the guts to publish what CultureGrrl thought but dared not say: Renzo Piano may not be the Whitney Museum's best choice as architect, as it relocates its proposed expansion from well-mannered Madison Avenue to the gritty High Line. Russell writes: The Whitney has pledged to continue with Piano, but his Madison Avenue … [Read more...] about Should Piano Design the New New Whitney?

Can Christie's claim a new auction record for a Qing Dynasty ceramic without appending a big asterisk, when the buyer turns out to be the consignor's own sister? Bloomberg reported that Alice Cheng was the Hong Kong auction's winning bidder today, at $19.5 million, for the Qing porcelain bowl sold by her own brother, 80-year-old Hong Kong art dealer Robert Chang. The final … [Read more...] about When Is an Auction Record Not an Auction Record?

It's a variation on the old philosophical question that begins, "If a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it..." The question raised by the current Roundabout Theatre production of George Bernard Shaw's "Heartbreak House" is: If a character is excised from a play and no one notices, does it nevertheless violate the author's intentions? The answer: YES. Ever the college … [Read more...] about Play Doctors Perform Surgery on “Heartbreak House”

Fourth time (Graves, Koolhaas, Piano, Piano) is the charm? Carol Vogel of the NY Times gets the High Line scoop (to be published in tomorrow's paper, but online tonight). CultureGrrl gets to link. (What, me jealous?) The Coalition of Concerned Whitney Neighbors, as well as the Defenders of the Historic Upper Eastside and the Hotel Carlyle Owners Corp., get to pop the champagne … [Read more...] about The Whitney’s Next New Building

UPDATES: Here and Here. The disturbing breakdown in negotiations between the J. Paul Getty Museum and the Italian Culture Ministry revolves around competing claims for one object---the ancient Greek statue of an athlete---formerly dubbed "The Getty Bronze." Purchased by the museum in 1977 for $3.95 million, it is now called the "Athlete of Lysippos" by the Italians and … [Read more...] about The Battle of the Bronze: Italy’s Argument; Getty’s Rebuttal

Italian Culture Minister Francesco Rutelli is in Washington today to hold a press conference and to meet with government officials in the White House, Congress and the State Department, as part of a whirlwind three-city tour. Tomorrow he meets with officials of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and Wednesday he is scheduled to meet in New York with the Metropolitan Museum's … [Read more...] about Cultural Diplomacy, Italian Style: Rutelli Now in the USA

While you impatiently await my first post of the new week, please note that I did hit the keyboard over the Thanksgiving weekend. (So catch up, if you've been away.) More importantly, please scroll down my righthand column, where you will see, for the first time, links to some of my articles published in the Mainstream Media---the NY Times, Wall Street Journal, LA Times and Art … [Read more...] about Lee’s Greatest Hits

Do not miss...I SAID, DO NOT MISS Tom Wolfe's electric kool-aid acid bath for real estate developers, on Page 10 of today's NY Times "Week in Review" section. Aby Rosen, who rallied artworld support from such luminaries as artist Jeff Koons and dealers Lawrence Salander and Larry Gagosian for the 30-story Norman Foster glass tower he wants to build over five-story 980 Madison … [Read more...] about Bonfire of the Real Estate Developers

Maxwell Anderson, director of the Indianapolis Museum, responds to CultureGrrl's previous post, identifying him as "a key advisor to Barbara and Lawrence Fleischman, whose extensive collection of ancient art was later given to the Getty": While serving as a curator in the Metropolitan Museum's Greek and Roman Department until 1987, I actively encouraged the Fleischmans to … [Read more...] about BlogBack: Max Anderson on the Getty and Its Fleischman Collection

Maxwell L. Anderson, director of the Indianapolis Museum of Art, leaped to the defense of Michael Brand and the J. Paul Getty Museum in a news report broadcast Wednesday on NPR. Unmentioned in the radio report is that Anderson, a Greek and Roman specialist, played an important role in the development of the Getty's antiquities collection: He was a key advisor to Barbara and … [Read more...] about Max Anderson Defends Michael Brand

UPDATES: Those of you linking to this post from ArtsJournal, please see my updates here and here. A little Thanksgiving news bite with your turkey: Italian Culture Minister Francesco Rutelli today held a press conference in Rome, where he "pinn[ed] the blame on the John [sic] Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles for a halt in the return of pillaged art treasures," according to the … [Read more...] about Getty and Rutelli Trade Punches

I'm a bit late opining on the Gold show at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, but I did already tell you it was "extraordinary" and give you a tantalizing preview. The virtue of my procrastination is that when Roberta Smith of the NY Times weighs in before me, I have the luxury of linking to her and saying, "ditto." However, she did not have the luxury, in a … [Read more...] about Gold Rush at American Museum of Natural History