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Read it and cheer!First, Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad stated in a news conference that he believed that selling the University of Iowa's great Pollock "Mural" would chill donations.Then the state legislator who had been the prime mover for the sale, Rep. Scott Raecker, decided to back off, in light of the strong controversy his proposal had engendered.Are we going to have to … [Read more...] about News Flash: Iowa Legislators Drop Quest to Sell University’s Pollock

Now you can! They reopened yesterday.Lindsey Parietti of Reuters reports: For a written account from Reuters, go here. … [Read more...] about Adventure Tourists: Wanna Visit the Very Uncrowded Egyptian Museum and Pyramids?

Iowa Attorney General Tom MillerIt doesn't get more forceful than this:The American Association of Museums has just announced that it will rescind its accreditation of the University of Iowa Museum of Art if certain state legislators succeed in their attempt to compel the sale of the museum's important Pollock "Mural" to fund student scholarships. Below is AAM's letter in full. … [Read more...] about University of Iowa Museum Will Lose AAM Accreditation If Pollock Sold

It's not just the likely Fiscal 2012 budget reductions for the arts that we have to worry about. Because a budget for the current fiscal year was never adopted by Congress, the Federal Government has been operating under a continuing resolution this year (based on appropriations for Fiscal 2010). But a Fiscal 2011 budget for the remainder of this fiscal year (to Sept. 30) is … [Read more...] about Congress Watch: Federal Arts Funding for the Current Fiscal Year Threatened

Mummy Mask of the Lady Ka-nefer-nefer, Egyptian, Dynasty 19 (1295-1186 BC), St. Louis Art MuseumThe St. Louis Art Museum filed a complaint on Tuesday in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri at St. Louis, in which it asks the court to declare that there is no proof that the museum's Ka-nefer-nefer mummy mask---long sought by Egypt's antiquities chief, Zahi … [Read more...] about St. Louis Art Museum Takes Legal Action to Keep Its Egyptian Mummy Mask

The limestone statue of Akhenaten that Egyptian Minister of Antiquities Zahi Hawass has first reported as damaged and then reported as stolen has been found---reportedly discovered by a 16-year-old boy next to a trash can. Ahram Online has the story.Ahram also reports today that there were indeed thefts at the Saqqara and Abusir archaeological sites. Hawass had unequivocally … [Read more...] about Akhenaten Statue Found; Saqqara and Abusir Looting Detailed

The Ghost Behind the Pollock: Donor/Collector Peggy GuggenheimPhoto (detail): Roloff Beny I can't believe we're again rehashing the arguments over the monetization of the Univerisity of Iowa's Pollock masterpiece, "Mural." It's 2008-2009 all over again, except that the idea of ditching art to diminish deficits may be gaining new traction in the current economic and political … [Read more...] about Deaccession Debate: Iowa’s Pollock Battle Heats Up

On his website today, Egyptian Minister of Antiquities Zahi Hawass gave his explanations for some of the many obvious contradictions between his previous reports on the security of the Egyptian Museum and the country's archaeological sites, and the actual facts as they have unfolded. He also announced:Fragments belonging to the statue of Tutankhamun being carried by the … [Read more...] about Hawass Watch: Egyptian Minister’s Corrections and Concessions

Jasper Johns, one of 15 honorees receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom yesterday. (Former President George H.W. Bush, seated at the right, fiddles with his newly conferred medal.)To see Pop artist Jasper Johns get medaled, go to the White House video and scroll to the 27-minute mark (right after the awarding of a medal to frail-looking former President George H.W. … [Read more...] about Wanna See Jasper Johns Getting the Presidential Medal of Freedom?

A day after a large group of angry demonstrators gathered outside the headquarters of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, there's still, at this writing, no update on Antiquities Minister Zahi Hawass' website about the situation at the Egyptian Museum and the country's archaeological sites, not even to say that three of the objects that he reported on Sunday as stolen from … [Read more...] about Hawass Watch: Interviewed by CBS; Reportedly Hangs Up on Al Jazeera

President Obama has announced the Fiscal 2012 budget that he will present to Congress, and, as expected, it includes some cultural cuts among the terminations and reductions. According to the Office of Management and Budget's introduction of the large list of proposed economies throughout the federal government: There have been more than 120 terminations, reductions, and other … [Read more...] about Obama’s FY 2012 Budget: NEA, NEH Reduced; Save America’s Treasure and Preserve America Axed UPDATED

Egyptian protesters today at headquarters of Supreme Council of AntiquitiesPhoto on Twitter by Gigi IbrahimBy the end of the day, we may know more about how much of the following information on Twitter is fact and how much is rumor and speculation. There has been no further posting today, at this writing, on the website of Zahi Hawass, Egypt's Minister of Antiquities, who was … [Read more...] about From Twitter: Egyptian Demonstrators and Army Tank at Hawass Headquarters UPDATED

LEFT: Gilded wood statue of Tutankhamun harpooning, Egyptian Museum---torso and upper limbs of the king now missing (Photo from "Treasures of Tutankhamun" exhibition catalogue, 1976)RIGHT: Gilded wood statue of Tutankhamun being carried by a goddess, Egyptian Museum---now missing (Photo: Paul Lombardo [via])The sad and shocking results of the complete inventory that Zahi … [Read more...] about Stolen Heritage: Two Gilded Tut Statues Among 18 Objects Purloined from Egyptian Museum

BEFORE THE EGYPTIAN MUSEUM BREAK-IN:Statue of of Tutankhamun standing on a panther, Egyptian Museum, CairoAFTER THE BREAK-IN:Restorer working on the statue (Tut's left arm is severed.)Photo: Stephanie Sakoutis (published on Antiquities Minister Zahi Hawass' website)On a momentous day when Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has reportedly ceded all power to the country's military … [Read more...] about One-Armed Tut: Hawass Issues Detailed Report on Damage at Egyptian Museum CLARIFIED

Jackson Pollock, "Mural," 1943, University of Iowa Museum of ArtReacting quickly and forcefully, the country's two leading professional associations for museums have combined their clout to issue this joint statement on the new attempt by Iowa state legislators to monetize the University of Iowa's great Pollock "Mural':The Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD) and the … [Read more...] about Saving Iowa’s Pollock: AAMD and AAM Jointly Blast Possible Sale