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View of the Acropolis and Parthenon (top, above the white building), from within the New Acropolis MuseumMichael Kimmelman, in his cautiously worded, evenhanded article in today's NY Times on the the Elgin Marbles controversy (pegged to the opening of the New Acropolis Museum), appears to rue the fact that the British and Greeks can't manage to find a way to put the Parthenon … [Read more...] about Reuniting the Parthenon Marbles: The Only Argument You’ll Ever Need

Maxwell Anderson, director of Indianapolis Museum of Art"What does the current version of NY State Assemblyman Richard Brodsky's deaccession bill actually SAY?" readers of Robin Pogrebin's embargo-busting article are asking themselves plaintively.CultureGrrl is here to tell you. First, you should know that it's no longer the same bill that we encountered back in March.When … [Read more...] about Channeling Max Anderson: NY State’s Deaccession Bill Rewritten

Earlier today I made nice to NY Times art writer Robin Pogrebin.That was so seven hours ago.In a piece now posted on the Times' website, Pogrebin broke a firm embargo established by NY State Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, whose recently rewritten bill to regulate deaccessioning is pending in the state legislature.Brodsky dispatched some 80 pages of his correspondence with museums … [Read more...] about NY Times’ Robin Pogrebin Breaks an Embargo in Error-Marred Deaccession Article UPDATED

As previewed by CultureGrrl last week, the Met has now issued its official statement on its recession-driven staff cuts, which have reduced its full- and part-time work force by 14% since Jan. 1.You can read the Met's statement in full, here.Voluntary retirements accounted for 95 positions and "the Museum has further reduced its work force by 74 union and non-union employees," … [Read more...] about 357 Metropolitan Museum Positions Cut Since Jan. 1: The Official Tally UPDATED

Robin Pogrebin, NY Times culture writerUPDATE: Robin Pogrebin scoops me...by breaking an embargo.I'll get to the subject of this headline in a moment, but first I wanted to call your attention to the announcement buried at end of my previous post, in which I introduced a new perk for CultureGrrl's Premier Donors. That select group received an advance heads-up about the topic of … [Read more...] about Robin Pogrebin-David Smith Smackdown on the Future of NEA

Rendering of Jean Nouvel's design for 53 W. 53rd Street, NYCUnanimously approved last month's by New York City's Landmarks Preservation Commission (despite community opposition), Jean Nouvel's design for a soaring glass tower, contiguous with the Museum of Modern Art, hit a snag last week when Manhattan Community Board 5 voted against the project, 30 to 9 (with one abstaining … [Read more...] about Attacking the MoMA Monster: Community Board 5 Nixes Nouvel Tower

Jack Rasmussen, director, American University Museum What do I know about visual arts journalism? Someone thinks I know something, because tomorrow I'll be addressing the American and foreign journalists who were selected to be the inaugural fellows in the NEA International Arts Journalism Institute in Visual Arts, sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts and the … [Read more...] about CultureGrrl Curriculum: The Blog Slogger Talks to NEA Visual Arts Journalism Fellows

Image from the New Acropolis MuseumIf, like mine, your invitation to the opening of the New Acropolis Museum tomorrow in Athens somehow got lost in the mail, you can view it live tomorrow, Saturday, on the museum's website, here. In the meantime, here's a view of the installation of the Parthenon marbles.There's just one problem, though: The museum's website, only partly … [Read more...] about Live Broadcast Tomorrow of New Acropolis Museum’s Opening

Metropolitan Museum president Emily Rafferty at Monday's press preview for its "Afghanistan" exhibitionThe Guggenheim announced it late yesterday. The Metropolitan Museum will announce it this week: Both museums are significantly reducing their staffs in light of recent financial pressures.The Guggenheim is cutting 25 positions, across all departments. In response to my … [Read more...] about Recession Obsession: Metropolitan Museum and Guggenheim Cut Staffs UPDATED

Granville Redmond, "Silver and Gold," sold in March by the Orange County MuseumMike Boehm and Christopher Knight of the LA Times own this story, so there's no need for me to rehash all the details of the Orange County Museum's secret sale to an unidentified private collector of 18 of its 20 early 20th century California plein-air paintings for $963,000, which many have said is … [Read more...] about Orange County Disposals: Another Forceful Argument for Deaccession Legislation

Tut Staircase at the 2007 showing of "Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs" at the Franklin Institute, PhiladelphiaWho cares if the Metropolitan Museum turned down on principle the chance to take on Egypt's Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs show?So what if the Field Museum, citing financial belt-tightening, decided not to take Ethopia's Lucy's Legacy … [Read more...] about Bypassing Museums: New Blockbuster Mill in New York

A 2008 mock-up of copies (left) of the Parthenon Marbles in the New Acropolis MuseumIt's another skirmish in the Elgin Marble Wars, this coming almost a week before the June 20 opening of the New Acropolis Museum in Athens.On Wednesday, British Museum spokeswoman Hannah Boulton reiterated on Greek Skai Radio an offer previously made by the museum's director, Neil MacGregor. … [Read more...] about Latest Round in the Elgin Marbles Battle: Greeks Reject British Offer

As I recounted in my recent Wall Street Journal article, the construction of the Art Institute of Chicago's new Modern Wing was impelled by Millennium Park, the wildly successful art-filled public space situated directly across Monroe Street. That busy thoroughfare also has a second name (for a celebrated Chicago artist), on the particular block were the museum is located:The … [Read more...] about Virago in Chicago: Frank Gehry-Renzo Piano Smackdown CORRECTED

I don't tweet (though some say I should). But I do twit. As promised, here's the illustrated, cheeky version of my serious Wall Street Journal article appraising (but not always praising) the new Modern Wing designed by Renzo Piano for the Art Institute of Chicago. I was tempted to write (as Time magazine's Richard Lacayo, in fact, did) that this is one of Piano's … [Read more...] about Virago in Chicago: My Irreverent Photo Essay on the Modern Wing

David A. SmithDavid Smith, author of Money for Art: The Tangled Web of Art and Politics in American Democracy, responds to Required Reading: Jerome Weeks Responds to David Smith's Book on Federal Arts Support: I appreciate you describing me as "cautious and ambivalent," which I am. I do tend to worry about the effects that controversy has on the Arts Endowment in the eyes of … [Read more...] about BlogBack: Author David Smith on NEA Funding