Uncategorized

If you missed Morley Safer's friendly profile on tonight's "60 Minutes" of LA mega-philanthropist (and museum builder) Eli Broad, you can watch it now (below). LA Times art critic Christopher Knight puts in a couple of cameo appearances, asserting that people are "scared to death of the guy," because "he is the biggest game in town."Wait a minute! Did we just hear Eli tell … [Read more...] about “60 Minutes” Revelation: Billionaire Eli Broad’s Billion-Dollar LA Museum UPDATED

Deborah Voigt and Bryn Terfel in the Metropolitan Opera's new production of "Die Walküre"All photos and video courtesy of Metropolitan OperaIn some ways, the Metropolitan Opera's first performance Friday night of the new Robert Lepage production of Wagner's "Die Walküre," valiantly conducted by a pain-constrained James Levine, was exciting for the wrong reasons. Topping the … [Read more...] about The Met’s Glorious, Worrisome “Walküre”: Disabled Levine Prevails; Brünnhilde Flops (literally)

Where's Hillary?This is what we've all been fearing. RTHK [Radio Television Hong Kong] reports:The Human Rights in China Biweekly Journal [here, in Chinese] says artist and political activist Ai Weiwei has pleaded guilty to charges related to tax. An article, written by a reporter claiming to work for Xinhua [the Chinese news agency], says Ai had reluctantly admitted to the … [Read more...] about Weiwei Watch: Ai Reportedly “Confessed” After Torture; U.S. in Belated Human Rights Talks

Got an hour and 40 minutes? Then you can watch the video, below, of our entire panel discussion earlier this month at Rutgers University---Hide/Seek: Museums, Ethics and the Press---which may prove to have been more deeply informative, more freewheeling and certainly more relaxed than the Smithsonian's "Hide/Seek" marathon will be next week, when panels consisting largely of … [Read more...] about Martin Sullivan and Me: Our “Hide/Seek” Panel Discussion, Now Online

Philip Kennicott, Blake Gopnik's successor as Washington Post art criticNo sooner did I post my CultureGrrl Video capturing Blake Gopnik's lament on the state of art criticism---its growing focus on art issues and controversies, rather than just plain art---than the Washington Post, where Blake had served with distinction until recently, named Gopnik's successor as art … [Read more...] about Kennicott’s Ken: The Washington Post’s New/Old Art Critic Does Egypt

Ai WeiweiI'm all in favor of petitions and protests calling attention to China's deplorable detention of dissident artist Ai Weiwei. But international pressure by concerned citizens isn't going to win his release. As with jailed Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo, the Chinese government strongly decries foreign intervention on behalf of those who are officially regarded as … [Read more...] about Weiwei Watch: Rushdie’s Op-Ed, Germany’s Actions, Hacked Petition; Lawyer’s Release

Sebastian Smee, Pulitzer-winning Boston Globe art critic Yesterday was Pulitzer Prize Day, or, as it's known in my house, Passover (to riff on Bob Hope's famous quip regarding Oscars Award Night). Actually, I wasn't "passed over" this year, because I didn't apply (as I had for the previous two years). Wait a minute! Last night actually WAS Passover. In fact, I'm still in … [Read more...] about Pulitzers and Passover: Smee’s Glee, Gopnik’s Gripe

[NOTE: I have a call in to ADAA for a photo of Stephen Hahn. If anyone can e-mail me an image, I'll post it here.]I always have a soft spot for renowned experts who graciously shared their time and insights with me early in my career as an arts journalist. One such was the late Stephen Hahn, the distinguished Hungarian-born New York dealer of Impressionist and modern European … [Read more...] about Stephen Hahn, Creighton Gilbert: Remembering the Late Dealer, Scholar

Saturday's "Hide/Seek" panel at Rutgers University, left to right: Moderator Daniel Okrent, author, journalist, former chairman of National Portrait Gallery's board; Martin Sullivan, director, National Portrait Gallery; W. King Mott, associate professor of political science (specializing in queer theory), Seton Hall University; Lee Rosenbaum, CultureGrrl; Abe Zakhem, associate … [Read more...] about Director’s “Hide/Seek” Revelations: What REALLY Happened; What Won’t Happen Again

Eric Gibson, editor, Wall Street Journal "Leisure & Arts" page, one of tonight's panelistsChristie's this evening will host its second panel discussion on The Future of Arts Journalism. Who can ever forget the first, two years ago, where Sam Sifton, then the NY Times' cultural news editor, said this about his newspaper's arts reporters and critics, occasioning inward … [Read more...] about LIve or Online Tonight: Panel on “The Future of Arts Journalism” (Is there one?)

Left: Damaged statue of King Tutankhamun, recovered after having been missing from the Egyptian Museum since JanuaryRight: Photo of the same statue, intact, from the catalogue of the Metropolitan Museum's "Treasures of Tutankhamun" exhibitionPhoto: Rania Galal In the various reports of recoveries of objects stolen from the Egyptian Museum, we have learned little (and what we … [Read more...] about Damaged King Tut, Three Other Missing Objects, Recovered by Egyptian Museum

The Smithsonian had planned to release tomorrow the names of the panelists for its two-day "Hide/Seek"-related conference. Now they've put it off till next Monday, as spokesperson Linda St. Thomas told me. Either they're having trouble organizing the panels, or they don't want to invite controversy over their choices until the last minute.One reason why the planners may be … [Read more...] about Panelist “Hide/Seek”: Smithsonian Tags In-House Participants (only) for Two-Day Conference

I had really wanted you to see the video below (from ChinaForbiddenNews' YouTube channel), which highlights the disconnect between the humanistic message of works in Beijing's current Art of Enlightenment exhibition (which recently opened at the National Museum of China) and the deplorable detention of dissident artist Ai Weiwei by Chinese authorities. NTD-TV has now helped me … [Read more...] about “ChinaForbiddenNews” Video: Beijing’s “Art of Enlightenment” vs. Benighted Treatment of Ai Weiwei

Bonnie Pitman, outgoing director of the Dallas Museum of ArtFirst the unexpected death in December of Peter Marzio, the veteran director of the Houston Museum of Fine Arts.Now the unexpected announcement by the Dallas Museum of Art that Bonnie Pitman will step down from its directorship next month "for health reasons." Scott Cantrell of the Dallas Morning News reports that … [Read more...] about Dallas Joins Houston: Texas Now Has Two Big Directorships to Fill

The new message on the Tate Modern, London (image from its website and Twitter page)[More on Ai Weiwei---here, here, here and here.]The Guggenheim Foundation has launched an online petition in which the international art community calls upon China to release artist Ai Weiwei from custody. I have signed it; so should you. At this writing there are 4,361 signatories. (In the time … [Read more...] about Weiwei Watch: International Art Community Rallies for Ai’s Release; Clinton’s Comments