Uncategorized

You've got to see this photo on the NY Times' City Room blog.After a third climber tried yesterday to scale the Renzo Piano-designed jungle gym (scroll to bottom), composed of horizontal ceramic rods on the façade of the newspaper's new headquarters, workers (depicted in the photo) were busily prying off those stunt-tempting rungs.Sewell Chan reports in today's Times:A law … [Read more...] about NY Times Dismantles Its Piano

Sherman Lee, with two objects of his affectionThe last time I saw Sherman Lee, who died yesterday at the age of 90, was when he was in New York as curator of a section of the China: 5,000 Years show at the Guggenheim in 1998, some 15 years after he had retired from Cleveland Museum, where he had been director for 25 years.But when I was a fledgling art journalist, writing long … [Read more...] about Sherman Lee, Titan Among Museum Directors, Dies at 90

Michael Conforti, director of the Clark Art Institute, responds to Clash of Perfectionists: Ando and Conforti at the Clark: [Architect Tadao] Ando and I have great respect for one another (seriously) and there are many examples of our warm relationship. Each of us is looking forward to the work we will do together to realize the Clark's master plan. … [Read more...] about BlogBack: Michael Conforti on Tadao Ando

For those clicking here from my article, This Tadao Ando Project Is a Berkshires Rental, in today's Wall Street Journal, here's some of the quirky stuff not suitable for mainstream media, as well as some illustrations to accompany my WSJ commentary:Michael Conforti (left) and Tadao Ando (facing front) in the galleries during the press preview of the new Stone Hill CenterThe … [Read more...] about Clash of Perfectionists: Ando and Conforti at the Clark

My review of the new Tadao Ando-designed Stone Hill Center at the Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, MA, is scheduled to appear on the "Leisure & Arts" page of tomorrow's Wall Street Journal.Do I sense another irreverent photo essay coming on? You KNOW I do!I'll update this post with the WSJ link, when it becomes available---probably later tonight.UPDATE: You can read it … [Read more...] about My Clark Art Institute/Tadao Ando Article in Tomorrow’s Wall Street Journal UPDATED

NYU President John SextonAlthough NYU's planned college on Abu Dhabi's Saadiyat Island is being billed as a "comprehensive liberal arts campus," it seems to have a distinct art-and-architecture vibe: Mariët Westermann, former director of NYU's Institute of Fine Arts, is vice chancellor in charge of NYU Abu Dhabi; Hilary Ballon, former professor of art history and archaeology at … [Read more...] about More on Abu NYU and Dueling Arab MoMAs Planned for Qatar, Dubai

Metropolitan Museum's "Superheroes" catalogueIris You, faithful CultureGrrl reader, has given me an assignment: I'd love to read your take on Why We Need a Hero at Ground Zero.That's a current NY Magazine "Intelligencer" piece, which has nominated a "'traffic cop' to coordinate the snarl of public agencies, private developers, contractors, architects, and consultants on the … [Read more...] about NY Magazine on the Ground Zero Mess: Call in SuperPhilippe

David Franklin [NOTE: This story was updated in a July 17 post, here and on July 18 here.] The Ottawa Citizen called it a "mysterious disappearance." Staffers at the National Gallery of Canada learned Wednesday that David Franklin, deputy director and chief curator, had left the museum "on leave." No reasons for his sudden departure have been announced at this writing, … [Read more...] about David Franklin, Deputy Director of National Gallery of Canada, Abruptly Departs UPDATED

Black Mold Patches Above a Cow's Horns, Lascaux Photo, French Ministry of CultureThe official cover-up of the condition problems of the prehistoric cave paintings at Lascaux appears to be over.In a front-page in Tuesday's Washington Post, Molly Moore quoted the French cave's administrator, Marie-Anne Sire, confessing: Each time we try to resolve one problem, we create another. … [Read more...] about Lascaux’s Administrator Candid about Continued Condition Problems

Renzo Piano's wood model for the new Downtown Whitney, displayed at today's City Planning Commission public hearing.Whitney Museum's director, Adam Weinberg, explains the architecture.The model is wisked back into its crate before I can get a decent shot. Cross-section of proposed Downtown Whitney. Top three galleries are for permanent collection. Gallery below them (18,000 … [Read more...] about Whitney Lovefest at City Planning Commission Hearing

Edward Lifson, photographer-bloggerAs a photographer, I'm a pretty good writer. But there's one art-and-architecture blogger who really knows his way around the megapixels. That's Ed Lifson (above) of the New Modernist blog, with whom I bonded at the Clark Art Institute's press preview for the Stone Hill Center. He even granted me permission to reproduce on CultureGrrl one of … [Read more...] about Made at MASS MoCA: Ed Lifson Captures Sol LeWitts-in-Progress

Fallen Angel: Andrea della Robbia, "Saint Michael the Archangel," ca. 1475, glazed terracotta, Metropolitan MuseumThis just in, from a statement issued by the Metropolitan Museum:The Metropolitan Museum of Art is saddened to report that late last night or early this morning, a late 15th-century glazed terracotta relief sculpture of "Saint Michael the Archangel" by Andrea della … [Read more...] about More Museum Objects Falling Down: The Met’s Della Robbia UPDATED

Neil MacGregor, director of the British Museum, London© British MuseumThis headline on Bloomberg sure got my attention this morning:British Museum's MacGregor Was Asked to Run the Met, Said NoWho knew? But the much more carefully phrased article by Farah Nayeri seems to indicate that no such thing may have actually occurred. Nayeri writes:British Museum Head of Press … [Read more...] about MacGregor and the Met: Bloomberg News Joins “Shoot the Headline Writer”

Edward Sozanski (above), art critic for the Philadelphia Inquirer, has taken off the kid gloves and put on the boxing gloves, pummeling the proponents of moving the Barnes Foundation from Merion to Philadelphia. In doing so, he is battling his own newspaper's MegaBarnes-friendly news coverage, as well its editorial page's campaign in strong support of the Barnes move.Desperate … [Read more...] about Gloves Off: Sozanski Socks the Barnes Move

Not only is the Art Newspaper's recent report (scroll down) of the contents of the contract between France and Abu Dhabi a rather stale "scoop," but Didier Rykner has just sent me his link to the entire 23-page, French-language text of the contract, which he had posted on his Paris-based La Tribune de l'Art blog back on Oct. 14. So get out your Larousse and peruse the Accord … [Read more...] about Full Text of Governmental Accord for Louvre Abu Dhabi