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Does this look like me? (my new Google persona)The Internet does weird things.If you now Google Lee Rosenbaum (without putting quotes around the name), you'll see five "Image Results for Lee Rosenbaum." They include three images of the real me, one of another who bears my name (and happens to be a veteran magazine publisher) and...Philippe de Montebello!Image results for Lee … [Read more...] about Department of Google Bloopers: I Am NOT Philippe de Montebello! UPDATED

Site of the Barnes Foundation's future foundationAfter I attended the Philadelphia Art Commission's meeting where the plans for the new facility for the Barnes Foundation were approved, I headed over to the active construction site, just a few blocks away. On the video at the end of this post, in which I'll show you the construction action, I comment:It's not your mother's … [Read more...] about Fin-ny in Philly: Barnes’ On-Site Prototype Puts on the Glitz

I guess that the Palace of Versailles hasn't yet had its fill of controversy. Having mounted a 2008 show of Jeff Koons' works in the royal preserve, it's tapped Takashi Murakami for a retrospective exhibition, Sept. 12-Dec. 12. The plan (but not the dates) was announced last September.Agence France-Presse reports:Since controversy provoked by the Jeff Koons exhibition, the … [Read more...] about Murakami Show (G-rated) at Versailles in September

An earlier rendering of the new Philadelphia facility for the Barnes Foundation, now slightly revised [More on the Philly Barnes, including my photos and video of on-site prototype, here.]The Art & Architecture Committee of the Philadelphia Art Commission met this morning and unanimously approved the plans submitted by the Barnes Foundation for its new Philadelphia … [Read more...] about News Flash: Barnes Plans Get Philadelphia Art Commission’s Final Approval

Readers weigh in on whether museums' art sale proceeds should sometimes be used for purposes other than acquisitions. The question was analyzed in this CultureGrrl post, which took issue with Judith Dobrzynski's NY Times Op-Ed piece. Judy called for a slight relaxation of the strictures against selling art to pay bills or reduce debt. Dewey Blanton, head of media relations for … [Read more...] about Responses to “Deaccession” Op-Ed Smackdown

Developer Richard Tucker at a one of Fort Lee's public meetings where rival proposals for mixed-use construction projects were presentedMy "think global, act local" campaign continues, as I seek the selection of architect Bernardo Fort-Brescia, partnering with Tucker Development Corp., to design a high-profile mixed-use project at the base of the George Washington Bridge in … [Read more...] about Forceful in Fort Lee: My Architecture-Driven Community Activism, Continued UPDATED

Where did our art go? (illustration by Sophia Martineck for my 2005 NY Times deaccession Op-Ed)Back in November 2005, I published a NY Times Op-Ed piece, For Sale: Our Permanent Collection, which ended this way:When museums cross too many lines [which I argued had already happened], the public's elected representatives must step in. Otherwise, it won't be long before … [Read more...] about “Deaccession” Op-Ed Smackdown: Mine and Judy’s, Four Years Apart

CultureGrrl in a Glass House (Philip Johnson's) shouldn't throw stones.Before I give you my fourth CultureGrrl Countdown of the year's most important posts (previous editions: here, here and here), I want to warmly thank my most loyal followers---the 103 CultureGrrl Donors for 2009, who have helped me to believe that my work does have value to a select group of artworld … [Read more...] about The Year in CultureGrrl, 2009 Edition

Urs Fischer's 2006 self portrait---the cover illustration for his show's catalogue[PART I, on MoMA's Orozco retrospective, is here.]New York-based Swiss artist Urs Fischer has previously been known for blowing holes in walls. With his show at the New Museum (to Feb. 7), he blew a hole in my mind. There's currently no other place in New York (maybe, eventually, the Downtown … [Read more...] about Gabriel Orozco and Urs Fischer: My Blind Spot and My Sweet Spot—PART II

Take heart all ye downtrodden, downsized museum professionals! U.S. News & World Report has just designated "curator" as one of 2010's 50 Best Careers. If your sense of sardonic humor is still intact after this year's financial drubbing, you may find yourself wondering if some of the magazine's published job description is straightforward or parody:Whether it's ancient … [Read more...] about U.S. News’ “Top Careers”: Curatorial Work is a Growth Industry?

Bernardo Fort-Brescia, founding principal of ArquitectonicaIt's not Las Vegas' City Center. It's not Novartis' corporate campus in Basel. But in my own home town of Fort Lee, NJ, we've got a high-profile, fallow site of almost 16 acres, chockablock with the George Washington Bridge (which empties into our borough). Four developers are now vying to build a mixed-use project … [Read more...] about Think Global, Act Local: Arquitectonica in Fort Lee, NJ? UPDATED

The Derivative and the Inventive: Left, Gabriel Orozco at the press preview for his MoMA retrospective with his "Four Bicycles," 1994, Carlos and Rosa de la Cruz Collection; Right, Urs Fischer, "Untitled," (piano), 2009, photograph by Benoit PailleyAll critics have blind spots---works that they just don't "get" but must, nevertheless, review if they are art writers at major … [Read more...] about Gabriel Orozco and Urs Fischer: My Blind Spot and My Sweet Spot—PART I

With my CultureGrrl Donor total standing at a robust 98 last Friday, I blithely expressed optimism about achieving my goal of 100 contributions by the end of 2009. To clinch it, I threw in the resistible offer of an autographed copy of my Knopf-published book on art collecting, as a bonus for Number 100.Who wants that out-of-date, out-of-print book, anyway?Not you. After an … [Read more...] about 99 Donors and Not Counting: Where’s CultureGrrl’s Corporate Sponsor?

Swiffer meets Chihuly at the Children's Museum of IndianapolisAttention Museum Development Officers:In these economically troubled times, when coming up with new naming opportunities for elevators and restrooms just isn't enough, here's an income-generator that you may never have considered (with good reason)---the official sponsored product!The Children's Museum of … [Read more...] about New Frontiers in Corporate Sponsorship: A Museum’s “Official Cleaner”

Not monetized yet: Left, Georgia O'Keeffe, "Radiator Building at Night," Fisk University; Right, George Bellows, "Men of the Docks," Randolph CollegeIn his Sunday column for the Tennessean, editorial page editor Dwight Lewis asks a question about Fisk University's plan to do a $30-million deal with Alice Walton. Unlike CultureGrrl, who had asked the same question, Lewis got an … [Read more...] about Lower Education: Fisk, Randolph College Still Pursuing Art-for-Cash Gambit