Thomas HovingTom Hoving has a journalistic conflict-of-interest problem. As a newly minted columnist for Artnet Magazine, he's got a not-so-hidden personal agenda---to rehabilitate his reputation as an authority who knows what's best for museums in general and for the Metropolitan Museum in particular. Marginalized long ago by the institution he used to run, he seems to be … [Read more...] about Hoving’s Ravings: Been to the Met Lately?
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Andy Warhol Chocolates? Licensing Goes Gooey
Cash Cow: Warhol limited edition key ringDoes anyone worry any more about cheapening an artist's image by indiscriminate commercial licensing of images?The Andy Warhol Foundation has been in the forefront of exploiting art as a licensing cash cow, an activity regarded by some as consistent with Warhol's own values, because "early on he saw himself as a brand, as a vehicle to … [Read more...] about Andy Warhol Chocolates? Licensing Goes Gooey
PA Attorney General Candidate Joins the Battle of the Barnes
John Morganelli, Candidate for PA Attorney GeneralIn a press release posted Friday (go here, click "Press Releases" and then on the Aug. 13 release), John Morganelli, Democratic candidate for attorney general of Pennsylvania, blasted Republican incumbent Tom Corbett for his "failure [in the Barnes case]...to fulfill his responsibilities to represent the public interest when it … [Read more...] about PA Attorney General Candidate Joins the Battle of the Barnes
Fisk Files Appeals Brief for Collection-Sharing Deal with Alice Walton
Fisk just won't give up.In a case of unfortunate timing, the Nashville university last week filed in Tennessee Court of Appeals a brief arguing for reversal of a lower court decision that prevents Fisk from selling for $30 million a half-share in its Stieglitz Collection to Alice Walton's Crystal Bridges Museum. Just a few days later, the Association of Art Museum Directors … [Read more...] about Fisk Files Appeals Brief for Collection-Sharing Deal with Alice Walton
The Whitney’s Downtown Dilemma: In Irreverent Street-Art Photo Essay
Little mentioned in all the excitement about the new Whitney ocean liner (as I described it Tuesday on WNYC), which is expected to be launched in late 2012 in New York's Meatpacking District, is that several buildings will be have to be demolished and businesses relocated to make way for it. (The museum will also construct a new meat refrigeration facility as part of the deal. … [Read more...] about The Whitney’s Downtown Dilemma: In Irreverent Street-Art Photo Essay
You Can Hear It Now (finally!): My WNYC Commentary on the Whitney’s Expansion
Okay, so WNYC has relaunched its entire website in a new format, and somehow my Whitney expansion commentary, which some of you may have heard live yesterday afternoon, has (at this writing) vanished, except for this audio-challenged link.But fear not, art-lings: My New York Public Radio editor has forwarded to me the segment's mp3, which I have managed to post in playable form … [Read more...] about You Can Hear It Now (finally!): My WNYC Commentary on the Whitney’s Expansion
Repose for Iowa’s Pollock? Museum’s Director Is Optimistic UPDATED WITH AAMD STATEMENT
Pam White, interim director of the University of Iowa Museum of Art, leading a media tour through the flood-damaged facility (Photo from the museum's blog, Art Matters)[UPDATE AT THE END: AAMD's just-released statement.]The blogosphere (including my blog) has been getting bent out of shape about the request by one of the University of Iowa's board members, Michael Gartner, for … [Read more...] about Repose for Iowa’s Pollock? Museum’s Director Is Optimistic UPDATED WITH AAMD STATEMENT
Audio Glitch: My Not-Yet-Online Radio Commentary on the Whitney Museum Expansion
If you missed it live, you CAN'T hear me now, commenting on the Whitney Museum expansion on WNYC. That's because they're revamping their website tonight and relaunching it tomorrow. The culture editor said she MIGHT get it up tonight. There is an audio bar for my commentary here, but so far it doesn't work. We can all try it again later.For now, let's just say that I offered … [Read more...] about Audio Glitch: My Not-Yet-Online Radio Commentary on the Whitney Museum Expansion
AAM’s New Antiquities Acquisition Standards: More Sweeping than AAMD’s
What's an antiquities-collecting American museum to do?In one important respect, the American Association of Museums' Standards Regarding Archaeological Material and Ancient Art, issued yesterday, substantially differences from the standards announced on June 4 by the Association of Art Museum Directors. This may confuse the issue for U.S. institutions trying to do the right … [Read more...] about AAM’s New Antiquities Acquisition Standards: More Sweeping than AAMD’s
Downtown Whitney Lovefest, Continued: City Commission’s Vote, CultureGrrl’s Radio Commentary UPDATED
Members of New York's City Planning Commission (Amanda Burden, chair, in white), minutes before today's Whitney voteEmbraced on all sides by glowing adjectives, the Downtown Whitney expansion project was unanimously approved this afternoon by New York's City Planning Commission, which had heard nothing but accolades in testimony by community denizens and government staffers at … [Read more...] about Downtown Whitney Lovefest, Continued: City Commission’s Vote, CultureGrrl’s Radio Commentary UPDATED
Vamping in the Hamptons: Pollock-Krasner House Gives Lee Her Due
Installation shot of "Lee Krasner: Little Image Paintings" at the Pollock-Krasner HouseI finally made the pilgrimage to the Pollock-Krasner House and Studio in The Springs, NY, just a week after the opening of a great focus exhibition at the house: "Lee Krasner: Little Image Paintings, 1946-1950" (to Oct. 31), organized by Helen Harrison (seated above), director of the Abstract … [Read more...] about Vamping in the Hamptons: Pollock-Krasner House Gives Lee Her Due
More on Iowa Pollock: University Museum Official Was My Tipster
I couldn't say this until I got my correspondent's permission this morning: The person who tipped me off late yesterday afternoon to the possibility that the University of Iowa might be thinking about selling its Pollock was none other than the marketing and media manager of the museum itself, Maggie Anderson......which bespeaks a real concern among museum staffers about the … [Read more...] about More on Iowa Pollock: University Museum Official Was My Tipster
University of Iowa’s Pollock: Possible Source of Flood-Recovery Cash?
Jackson Pollock, "Mural," 1943, University of Iowa Art MuseumIt's down-the-slippery-slope time again. Only this time that slope has been slicked by the Iowa floods. Brian Morelli of the Iowa City Press-Citizen reports:The Iowa state Board of Regents will conduct a study to determine the value of one of University of Iowa's most prized and expensive possessions.Regent Michael … [Read more...] about University of Iowa’s Pollock: Possible Source of Flood-Recovery Cash?
Tales from the 10Q: Details on Sotheby’s Guarantees
Sotheby's stock chart, as of 12:57 p.m. todayInvestors seem not to have loved what they heard in Sotheby's Tuesday announcement of its first-half results and its much more detailed elucidation of its finances in the Form 10-Q, filed yesterday. The auction house's publicly traded stock yesterday slid nearly 8% on a day when the Dow rose 40 points. Yesterday's filings provided … [Read more...] about Tales from the 10Q: Details on Sotheby’s Guarantees
“Spiral Jetta”: Chicago Museum Spokeswoman’s Literary Coup
What do art museum PR people do in their spare time?It isn't every art museum press officer who writes a book good enough to get favorable notice in the NY Times and the New Yorker. (Okay, maybe Lincoln expert Harold Holzer of the Met.)But Erin Hogan, director of public affairs at the Art Institute of Chicago, scored that coup with her Spiral Jetta (so called because it … [Read more...] about “Spiral Jetta”: Chicago Museum Spokeswoman’s Literary Coup