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Before other stories rose to the top, I had been planning to start this week on a lighter (and light-filled) note---CultureGrrl's supplement to Saturday's offering from Real Clear Arts, where ArtsJournal blogger Judith Dobrzynski posted her photos of the James Turrell skyspace that she and I both visited earlier this month. So now let's get to it. Here's its bunker-like … [Read more...] about Crystal Bridges’ Turrell Skyspace: An Optical Mystery Tour

Warren Olney, host of "Which Way, L.A.?"I'm a bit player in this one, which also includes Ralph Frammolino, co-author with Jason Felch of the new book on the Getty's past antiquities scandals; and Ron Hartwig, the Getty Trust's vice president for communications.Our segment on Chasing Aphrodite (for which I bring up the rear) should air at about 7:06 p.m., LA time (10:06 p.m., … [Read more...] about My LA Public Radio Commentary on “Chasing Aphrodite” (Hear It Now)

I hate immediately posting over my important Rotten 'Soft Diplomacy opinion piece on U.S. museums' insufficient response to the plight of Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei. But this is also important: The Association of Art Museum Directors has just posted its revised Professional Practices in Art Museums, with some important changes. (These guidelines are reconsidered every … [Read more...] about News Flash: AAMD’s revised “Professional Practices” Guidelines

Virginia Meets China: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts' director Alex Nyerges, second from right, and Governor Bob McDonnell, fifth from right, visit the Forbidden City, Beijing, to sign a cultural-exchange agreement with China.My fellow AJ contributor, Judith Dobrzynski, has an important post today, pegged to the Milwaukee Art Museum's (MAM's) upcoming Summer of China (which is … [Read more...] about Rotten “Soft Diplomacy”: Ai Weiwei’s Plight and U.S. Museums’ Appeasement CLARIFIED and UPDATED

Ian Wardropper, Frick Collection's director-designate Colorful and dynamic, he's not. Strong on scholarly and administrative credentials, he is. I was almost as surprised to learn that Ian Wardropper had been named to be the Frick Collection's next director as I had been when I first heard, almost three years ago, that the under-the-radar chairman of the Metropolitan … [Read more...] about Ian Wardropper, The Frick’s Surprise Choice for Director

As I predicted, there are many in the museum field who do not joyously welcome the additional government oversight for deaccessions embodied in the new rules approved on Tuesday by the NY State Board of Regents (and also approved by CultureGrrl).Both the American Association of Museums and the Association of Art Museum Directors yesterday issued statements that express their … [Read more...] about NY State’s New Deaccession Rules: Ambivalent Response from AAM, AAMD

Ralph Frammolino, left, and Jason Felch with their finished productFelcholino, the investigative reporting team, above (who clearly appreciate my nickname for them), have been doing a victory lap in Sicily, where the eponymous, although probably misnamed (scroll down), goddess of their new book, Chasing Aphrodite, was unveiled Tuesday in a small museum in Aidone, Italy, after … [Read more...] about “Chasing Aphrodite”: My Q&A with the Getty Regarding Book’s Revelations

If all goes according to plan, I'll have a soundbite on New York Public Radio (WNYC) on this evening's "All Things Considered" and/or tomorrow's "Morning Edition," regarding the NY State Board of Regents landmark deaccession regulations. Here's a link to producer Abbie Fentress Swanson's written story (which quotes me). I'll embed the audio here, if/when it's available … [Read more...] about Coming Soon: My WNYC Comments on NY State’s New Deaccession Rules (plus NY Times’ Catch-Up Gaffe)

John King Jr., New York State's newly elected Education Commissioner It's been a long slog, but a new, overdue national model for the regulation of museum deaccessions was enacted today by the NY State Board of Regents. The Regents unanimously approved a permanent amendment to Regents Rule §3.27, relating to museum collections management policies. The new rules, effective … [Read more...] about News Flash: NYS Regents Pass Stringent Deaccession Regulations (finally!)

A small sigh of relief.If Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei were in demonstrably poor physical condition, it's unlikely that the Chinese authorities would have allowed his wife to see him yesterday, albeit briefly and closely monitored. Ai had been previously unheard from since taken into custody on Apr. 3.Alexa Olesen and Isolda Morillo of the Associated Press report:Lu Qing … [Read more...] about Ai Weiwei Visited by Wife; His “Circle of Animals” Visits New York and London (CultureGrrl Video)

Margaret Juntwait, host of the Metropolitan Opera radio broadcastWas the maestro ailing?This afternoon's start of the season's final performance of Wagner's "Die Walküre" at the Metropolitan Opera (I attended the first one on Apr. 22) was delayed for 40 minutes, with no explanation for those of us who were listening to the radio broadcast. (This performance was also to be … [Read more...] about Met’s “Die Walküre”: James Levine Sturdier Than the Glitchy Set

Renzo Piano's sketch for the planned Downtown Whitney [Part I is here. I have since learned that my commentary for WNYC on MoMA's purchase of the American Folk Art Museum's building was aired, as well as published.] Having been in retrenchment mode during the Great Recession, the Metropolitan Museum appears ready to flex its financial muscles again: It has just announced … [Read more...] about Museum Musical Chairs: Met at the Whitney; MoMA at Folk Art—Part II UPDATED

The American Folk Art Museum's sliver building on W. 53rd Street Help me! I have a lousy sense of direction and can't seem to find some of my favorite NYC museums! The Whitney Museum's building is going to be (temporarily, at least) an outpost of the Metropolitan Museum. The American Folk Art Museum building will be part of the Museum of Modern Art. And the Whitney will … [Read more...] about Museum Musical Chairs: Met at the Whitney; MoMA at Folk Art—Part I

A lot to remember: Andy Warhol, "Self-Portrait," 1963-4If you've been following the news reports on the evening Impressionist/modern and contemporary sales this week and last at Sotheby's and Christie's, you know that the "recovery" of the art market appears to have stalled, along with the rest of the economic recovery. "Tepid," "far from stellar" and "rather underwhelming" are … [Read more...] about $38.44-Million Warhol Ordeal: “The Longest Lot in History” at Christie’s

Don Bacigalupi, executive director, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, on last week's hardhat tour with journalistsI had one of those astonishing did-he-really-say-that moments in my half-hour conversation last week with Don Bacigalupi, executive director of Alice Walton's Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. We chatted during my visit to the in-construction facility in … [Read more...] about Crystal Bridges’ Director on Fisk Art-Sale Controversy: “We don’t need that collection.”