Uncategorized

I don't know about you, but I think I'm going to pre-order these.This Thursday, the Albright-Knox Gallery, Buffalo, will host the first-day-of-issue ceremony for the U.S. Postal Service's new commemorative stamps---Abstract Expressionists (above).Here's the USPS description of action postage:In celebration of the Abstract Expressionist artists of the 20th Century, [USPS] art … [Read more...] about Abstract Expressionism, The Postage Stamp

Jean Metzinger, "Tea Time," 1911In the course of my posts on the Whitney Museum's current survey of new, I promised to take you to the Philadelphia Museum of Art's evocation of a past exhibition of the new---the 1912 Salon d'Automne in Paris. That installation is the centerpiece of the museum's current permanent-collection show, Picasso and the Avant-Garde in Paris (to Apr. … [Read more...] about Back to the Future: From 2010 Whitney Biennial to 1912 Salon d’Automne

© Michael Crichton, photographed by Jonathan ExleyAfter I put CultureGrrl to bed for the weekend, I received the answers to questions that I had sent to Christie's regarding its upcoming sales of works from the estate of the late author Michael Crichton (discussed here: Christie's Beats Sotheby's in the Market-Share Game for 2009). I had speculated in Friday's post about … [Read more...] about Update on Crichton Cache at Christie’s: No Guarantees

Julián Zugazagoitia, current director of El Museo del Barrio, New York Repeat after me: "HOO-lian SZU-ga-sa-GOY-tee-ah." Julián Zugazagoitia, 46, will succeed Marc Wilson (much easier to pronounce), the venerable veteran director of the Nelson-Atkins Museum, Kansas City, on Sept. 1. That leaves a three-month interregnum: Marc announced June 1 as his retirement … [Read more...] about Julián Zugazagoitia Named Nelson-Atkins Museum’s New Director UPDATED

Sotheby's two-year stock chart (stock price on top; trading volume on bottom)For those who like to keep score in the epic battle between the Big Two auction houses, the results are now in.With publicly traded Sotheby's having issued its 2009 annual report on Monday, we can at last do an apples-to-apples comparison with privately held Christie's to determine market share for … [Read more...] about Hammer Time: Christie’s Beats Sotheby’s in the Market-Share Game for 2009

LEFT PHOTO: Lisa Phillips, the New Museum's director, at Joannou press preview. (In background, a rear view of Andro Wekua, "Wait to Wait," 2006)RIGHT PHOTO: Massimiliano Gioni, right, director of special exhibitions, discussing the showGuest curator Jeff Koons and featured collector Dakis Joannou were, as expected, notably absent from Tuesday's press preview for the New … [Read more...] about Dakis Fracas: Lisa Phillips and Massimiliano Gioni on Doing the Right Thing

Portrait of the mega-collector: Robert Cuoghi, "Megas Dakis," 2007"There's a darkness in our zeitgeist today," a theatrical producer is quoted saying on the front page of today's NY Times "Arts" section, in an article that surveys the dour landscape of today's new musicals.That's as good a description as any for the mood of the New Museum's Skin Fruit (to June 6)---a disturbing … [Read more...] about Dakis Fracas: Aftertaste from a Creepy, Worthy Show

Jay Raymond, a former teacher and student at the Barnes Foundation, who is featured in "The Art of the Steal," wields the megaphone at the movie's Philadelphia premiere.I didn't make it to the Philadelphia premiere of the anti-move movie about the Barnes Foundation, "The Art of the Steal" (which I've reviewed here and here). But I did the next-best thing: I got Lita … [Read more...] about “Art of the Steal’s” Philly Premiere: Lita Solis-Cohen, Guest Blogger

Andro Wekua, "Sneakers 1," 2008, Dakis Joannou Collection (at the New Museum)The New Museum isn't merely pushing the envelope by mounting its Dakis Joannou exhibition, drawn from the private collection of its trustee and curated by the collector/trustee's friend, artist Jeff Koons (who told me that Joannou owns more of his works than any other collector). It is now also trying … [Read more...] about New Museum’s Collector Controversy (continued): “Skin Fruit,” the Symposium

Montgomery County Courthouse, Norristown, PA In Part I of my review of "The Art of the Steal," the new anti-move movie about the Barnes Foundation, I detailed some of the unfortunate gaffes and omissions that compromised the film's credibility. But I left out the most important thing that Don Argott's film left out. The documentary placed undue emphasis on a late and … [Read more...] about Ott Blot: Flawed “Art of the Steal” Misses the Fatal Moment

Last night at the Metropolitan Opera, I witnessed something that I've never seen in some 40 years of regularly attending performances there. I usually perch in the more-bang-for-the-buck Dress Circle boxes, which sometimes gives me back strain from twisting sideways but also gives me a birds-eye view of the orchestra. At the curtain call for Verdi's rarity, Attila, the members … [Read more...] about NY Phil, Met Opera: Where’s a Great Conductor When We Really Need One?

Image from the Barnes Foundation's webcam at Philadelphia construction siteNancy Herman, a neighbor of the Barnes Foundation in Merion, informs me that author John Anderson will not be speaking at tonight's Philadelphia movie premiere of "The Art of the Steal," as previously expected. She said he'll be at the Ritz 5 theater tomorrow night. (But will everyone make it in this … [Read more...] about BlogBack: Nancy Herman on the Neighbors’ Views About the Barnes

Philippe de Montebello, former director of the Metropolitan Museum, added another medal to his trophy case yesterday when he became only the fourth person ever to have received both the National Medal of the Arts and the National Humanities Medal. The other double-medalists were philanthropist Paul Mellon and authors Eudora Welty and John Updike. Yesterday, he picked up the … [Read more...] about Awards Ceremony: Philippe de Montebello Gets Gold Medal in the Humanities Olympics

Director Don Argott, left, and executive producer Lenny Feinberg, right, discussing "The Art of the Steal" after its screening at the New York Film Festival With today's commercial opening of Don Argott's much anticipated documentary examining the upcoming relocation of the Barnes Foundation from Merion to Philadelphia, it's time for CultureGrrl's two-part movie review. … [Read more...] about “The Art of the Steal”: Barnes Documentary’s Gaffes and Gaps

How does one describe the agglomeration of new art that has just opened at the Whitney?Is it the "tweak-intensive" Biennial (Holland Cotter of the NY Times), the "Obama Biennial" (Jerry Saltz in NY Magazine) or "the shy Biennial" (Linda Yablonsky for Bloomberg)? Why do critics feel the need to come up with a catch-phrase?I think it's hard to come up with a pithy epithet for … [Read more...] about Whit Crit: The Reviewers Weigh In