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Poster for "The Art of the Steal"The Barnes Foundation's latest E-Newletter, which recently hit my inbox, conveyed this sad message:Join and receive FREE tickets to enjoy the final year [emphasis added] of the Barnes collection in Merion as few can. You will also receive permanent status as a Founding Member of the Barnes on the Parkway.FINAL YEAR in Merion? So soon? (The new … [Read more...] about Barnes Countdown: “Art of the Steal” Premiere; “Final Year” in Merion

A retrospective of Whitney Biennial catalogues in a display case at the current BiennialI don't want to dyspeptically dismiss the many individual works that didn't speak to me at the Whitney Biennial, but, needless to say, I was astonished by Charlie Finch's rave today on Artnet, in which he brashly announces: "This is not only the greatest of Whitney Biennials, it is the … [Read more...] about Whitney Biennial (and Kentridge at MoMA): Let the Debate Begin

Solemn Duo: Francesco Bonami and Gary Carrion-Murayari, co-organizers of this year's Whitney BiennialDuring the remarks at yesterday's press preview for the 2010 Whitney Biennial, the 75th edition of what the museum describes as its "signature exhibition," there seemed to be a lack of chemistry between the two organizers of the show---guest curator Francesco Bonami, the … [Read more...] about Whit-Split: Biennial Less Than the Sum of Its Parts

Whitney Wizard: Francesco BonamiAs I gird myself to head out to today's press preview for the Whitney Biennial, I have to wonder at the museum's gutsy choice of Francesco Bonami, former senior curator of the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art, to curate the show in collaboration with Gary Carrion-Murayari, the Whitney's associate curator.Bonami received a general drubbing for … [Read more...] about Biennale to Biennial: Whitney Guest Curator Bonami Organized Venice Display Critics Loved to Hate

Michael Taylor, Philadelphia Museum's curator of modern art, hyping its "Three Musicians" at Friday's press preview for new permanent-collection exhibitionLet's get this out of the way: Its exhibition surcharge notwithstanding, the Philadelphia Museum's Picasso and the Avant-Garde in Paris, opening to the public on Wednesday, is an interesting show but not a great one. Its 56 … [Read more...] about Picasso Smackdown, Philly vs. MoMA: My “Three Musicians” Is Better than Yours!

Gaetano Armao of the Sicilian Ministry of Culture and Sicilian Identity, left, and David Bomford, acting director, Getty Museum, signing a long-term collaboration agreement on Feb. 9 Photo: Maureen McGlynn © 2010 J. Paul Getty Trust Yesterday's announcement of a new partnership agreement between the Getty Museum and Sicily, an outgrowth of the museum's agreement to return … [Read more...] about Olympian Contests with Italy: Met Loses the Silver; Getty Battles for the Bronze (but teams up with Sicily)

Artist-turned-curator Jeff Koons in his studio recently With more details having emerged about the New Museum's upcoming Jeff Koons-curated show of Dakis Joannou's collection, Mar. 3-June 6, including a list of artists (scroll down), it seemed to be time for me to re-send my question that had gone unanswered by the museum's press office, despite my repeated attempts to … [Read more...] about Dakis Fracas, Continued: The Artists, the Funders and the AAMD President’s Statement UPDATED

The 1999 Abrams catalogue for a traveling exhibition of Polaroid's photography collection Cover image: detail from Silvia Taccani's "Composite #115"The Polaroid Corporation's decades-old Artist Support Program (through which it bartered equipment for a collection of photographs by distinguished artists) has now become a Creditor Support Program.In her e-mail accompanying the … [Read more...] about Polaroid Collection Dispersal: From Museum Exhibition to Presale Exhibition

Morrison Heckscher, chairman of the Metropolitan Museum's American Wing, in the refurbished Engelhard Court last May (prior to the public opening) Following up on my President's Day post, where we tracked down the Metropolitan Museum's George Washington-in-exile, here's my very belated take on the museum's refurbished Engelhard Court and period rooms in the American … [Read more...] about Met’s American Wing: Brilliant Period Rooms, Kitschy Sculpture Court, Truth-in-Advertising Alert

During my visit to the Metropolitan Museum late last week, to catch up on some exhibitions that I'd missed (including the glorious Bronzino show---another attribution exhibition but so much more!), I encountered this reminder of "Met Holiday Mondays," beside the $20-suggested-admissions-fee cash register:"The Met is Open on Presidents Day"Wait a minute! I thought that George … [Read more...] about MeTube: Whither George Washington? President-in-Exile Racked at the Met

Picasso, "Self-Portrait with Palette," 1906, Philadelphia Museum of Art© Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New YorkIn her rundown last month of upcoming museum exhibitions of note, the Wall Street Journal's Candace Jackson highlighted the Metropolitan Museum's big spring show (which I later referred to in my own WSJ piece) of some 150 Picassos from its own … [Read more...] about Picasso Glut and the Met’s (very blue) Blue Period Lovemaking

"Victorious Youth," Greek, 300 - 100 B.C., J. Paul Getty Museum''Today marks the end of the sacking of our archaeological treasures,'' former Italian Culture Minister Francesco Rutelli exulted after today's ruling by an Italian appeals court that ordered the immediate seizure and return to Italy of the Getty Bronze.Not so fast.Here, in full, is the statement that just hit my … [Read more...] about Getty Bronze Ruling: Museum to Appeal Italian Court’s Order for Immediate Return

Christie's New YorkBear with me art-lings. It's CultureGrrl number-crunching time!Christie's has had a penchant for what we can euphemistically describe as "creative accounting" in reporting its year-end sale totals. Apparently, my past critiques of that auction house's self-serving statistical shenanigans (here and here) didn't make much of an impression. So fire up your … [Read more...] about Apples-to-Oranges: Christie’s Purported 56.4% Auction Market Share

Marc Wilson, director of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, in his office in the museum's Steven Holl-designed additionThe Nelson-Atkins Museum's recent announcement of 75 donors' gifts of 400 artworks in honor of the Kansas City museum's 75th anniversary and its soon-to-retire director, Marc Wilson, makes this a good moment for me to publish excerpts from my conversation with … [Read more...] about My Q&A with Marc Wilson of the Nelson-Atkins: “Getting Back to the Core”

University of Iowa Museum of Art's "Mural," 1943, by Jackson Pollock, as installed at the Figge Art Museum, Davenport, IAThe "Envisioning Committee," appointed last year by the University of Iowa's president, Sally Mason, to brainstorm about a new facility to replace its flood-ruined art museum, has just issued its final report, which calls for a new, bigger facility to be … [Read more...] about Flood Toll: Rebuilding the University of Iowa Museum of Art