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Send a micro-donation of $1.50 my way (via my "Donate" button in the middle column), and I'll shoot you my latest links: Brooklyn Museum tech, new university museum guidelines, Sotheby's finances (2 links), Guggenheim radio broadcast. And here's my favorite---The Art of Blogging About Art, featuring:I'll have more to say about that bit of unsought, welcome publicity, COMING … [Read more...] about Lee’s List: What CultureGrrl is Reading Today

Sam SiftonFrom the NY Times' Culture Editor to...its RESTAURANT CRITIC?!? I had to rub my eyes and read John Koblin's NY Observer article twice. Then I checked my calendar to make sure it wasn't Apr. 1. This, apparently, is for real, art-lings. Koblin quotes the staff memo from Times executive editor Bill Keller, regarding the designation of Sam Sifton to succeed Frank Bruni as … [Read more...] about NOT a Spoof: Sam Sifton Named NY Times’ New Restaurant Critic UPDATED

A still (taken at the site of the planned Philly Barnes) from Don Argott's new documentary, "The Art of the Steal"Based on the research in John Anderson's 2003 book chronicling the battle over the fate of the Barnes Foundation, Art Held Hostage (reviewed here by Eric Gibson of the Wall Street Journal), a new documentary, "The Art of the Steal," directed by Don Argott, will be … [Read more...] about “Art of the Steal”: Documentary on the Barnes Battle at Toronto Film Festival

Send a micro-donation of $1.50 my way today (via my "Donate" button in the middle column), and I'll shoot you these links: African art market, Andy Warhol Museum, new book on blogs, Charles Gwathmey obit, Detroit Institute's restitutions.As expected, I've attracted some criticism for charging for links that other bloggers bestow for free. So let me try to explain: ---First, I'm … [Read more...] about Lee’s List: What CultureGrrl is Reading Today

Even in the dog days of summer, the Museum of Modern Art and Hines, the real estate developer, managed to assemble their heavy hitters for the City Planning Commission's public hearing on July 22 regarding architect Jean Nouvel's proposed mixed-use glass tower, which would include space for MoMA's expansion. Left to right: Glenn Lowry, MoMA's director; Michael Sillerman, … [Read more...] about Defending the MoMA Monster at City Planning: No Crowds, No Shadows

Art Buchwald, champion museum sprinterThe NY Times editors were so pleased to have one of Michael Kimmelman's sporadic contributions from abroad that they privileged with Page-One placement the peripatetic culture critic's dog-bites-man story about the short attention spans of visitors at the Louvre. This yielded an opportunity to publish an appealing photo of 16th-century … [Read more...] about Slow News Day: Kimmelman on Museum Visitors’ Attention Spans UPDATED

I know, art-lings. You're anxiously awaiting my report/photo essay on the City Planning Commission testimony by Lowry, Nouvel and other proponents of Jean's Beanstalk, the 85-story sliver that developer Hines wants to plant on a small plot adjacent to the Museum of Modern Art. But first, let's round out our airing of the opponents' views. Below is a video now posted on the new … [Read more...] about Attack of the NIMBYs: Video Shoots the MoMA Monster

I got to the hearing room early on July 22 for the 10 a.m. meeting of the City Planning Commission, claiming a ringside seat for the slugfest between high-powered proponents of the MoMA/Hines project and the neighborhood NIMBYs. As it happened, the MoMA Monster's turn for discussion came up dead last, at 12:15 p.m. Almost three hours after that, when I finally fled the scene, … [Read more...] about MoMA-Monster Smackdown: Tilting at Skyscrapers at the City Planning Hearing UPDATED

Send a micro-donation of $1.50 my way today (via my "Donate" button, in middle column), and I'll shoot you these links: De Montebello's talk in Maine Contrarian Melikian says art market is booming Flaw in the Rose overseers' case Art Capital Group Inc. v. [Annie] Leibovitz Art and Science of Getty's Conservators Criticizing the British National Portrait Gallery's copyright … [Read more...] about Lee’s List: What CultureGrrl is Reading Today

Joseph Medicine CrowPresident Obama has just send a tellingly symbolic message about the difference in priorities [please see UPDATE, below] of his administration from those of the Bush Administration---his just-announced list of 16 recipients of the 2009 Presidential Medal of Freedom, America's highest civilian honor.On Jan. 13, in the waning days of his administration, … [Read more...] about Obama’s Presidential Medals of Freedom: Diverse Game-Changers UPDATED

"These are great. Thanks!" wrote one of those who yesterday took me up on my offer to send readers links to the material that I don't have time (at least not right away) to blog about. Send $1.50 my way today, via my "Donate" button (in middle column), and see what Jonathan of White Plains, NY, was so enthusiastic about. I'll give you my tips for your tips.Today, I'll shoot you … [Read more...] about Lee’s List: What CultureGrrl is Reading Today

Abram Sachar, founding president, Brandeis University, who agreed to the Roses' stipulations regarding art-sale proceedsBuried in the 142 pages of exhibits appended to the complaint just filed by three overseers of Brandeis University's Rose Art Museum is a one-page letter from 1968 that could prove just as crucial to this court case as a 1949 letter from artist Georgia … [Read more...] about Rose Lawsuit Weapon: Signed Contract Between Founder and Brandeis on Use of Art-Sale Proceeds

This is an experiment in micro-donations.Every day, I come across several articles, books and other reading material from a wide variety of sources that interest me and that I think would interest you. But I don't have the time or the strong desire to comment about them on CultureGrrl. I want this blog to be primarily about those things on which I have a special perspective, or … [Read more...] about What I’m Reading Today (and every day)

Esther Grether, mega-collectorIt's a lot more select than the ARTnews 200.Forbes Magazine has come up with a story and slide show devoted to the world's Top Billionaire Art Collectors. It's mostly the usual cast of characters, with one surprising wild card.Keren Blankfeld, Cristina von Zeppelin and Susan Adams report:During our quest to pin down these extraordinary collections, … [Read more...] about Esther Grether?!? Forbes’ List of Collectors With $700 Million-Plus in Art

Alfred Jensen, "Opposites are Complementary: Per I," 1978, as installed in the current show at Brandeis University's Rose Art MuseumThe threat has now become reality.Three trustees of the Rose Art Museum---Jonathan Lee, the board's chairman; Meryl Rose of the eponymous Rose family, and Lois Foster, for whom a wing of the museum is named---yesterday filed suit against Brandeis … [Read more...] about Three Rose Museum Trustees Sue Brandeis and State Attorney General