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John Elderfield, center, chatting with visitors last September at the Museum of Modern Art's recent de Kooning retrospective, which he organized Is anyone else troubled by the revolving door between the nonprofit museum world and the commercial art market? My jaw dropped at this item (scroll down) just in from the NY Times' Carol Vogel, to appear in tomorrow's … [Read more...] about Say it ain’t so, John! Elderfield Goes Gagosian

Derek Gillman, president and executive director of the Barnes Foundation, speaking yesterday in San FranciscoIn the second time that he has spoken at an annual lawyers' conference on Legal Issues in Museum Administration organized by the American Law Institute of the American Bar Association, lawyer Derek Gillman, president and executive director of the Barnes Foundation, … [Read more...] about Attention Barnes Purists: Derek Gillman Will “Go Beyond” Dr. Barnes’ Vision

Yesterday, in my post about the latest skirmish in the cultural-property wars, I reproduced a passage from my book, The Complete Guide to Collecting Art (Knopf, 1982), which contained some revealing remarks by that late antiquities collector and benefactor of the Metropolitan Museum, Norbert Schimmel. It occurred to me that some CultureGrrl readers may be curious to see the … [Read more...] about Support CultureGrrl: Buy My Book, “The Complete Guide to Collecting Art”

James Russell, Bloomberg's architecture critic James Russell, Bloomberg's indispensable architecture critic, has done what I've yet to do---taken a roadtrip to Goshen, NY, to eyeball the endangered Paul Rudolph-designed Orange County Government Center. The question of whether Rudolph's "magnetic composition" should be knocked down is "not an easy call," he said, because … [Read more...] about Rueful about Rudolph: Bloomberg’s James Russell Goes to Goshen

Margy Waller, and arts researcher and advisor who was a senior White House advisor on domestic policy under President Clinton, responds to Mitt Snit: Romney Would Ax National Endowments for the Arts & Humanities:Saw your post about Mitt Romney on the NEA. He actually said this as early as last December, when he was caught on video. I've been using this video in my talks … [Read more...] about BlogBack: More on Romney’s Proposed Cultural Cuts (including PBS)

Today's NY Times special Museums section contained many meaty articles and eyebrow-raising ads: ---Fred Bernstein's article about the ways in which architects Tod Williams and Billie Tsien have cut themselves some slack in interpreting their mandate to "replicate" the original Barnes Foundation galleries in the foundation's new Philadelphia facility, opening May 19. Moldings … [Read more...] about Donor Intent Honored? Cleveland Museum Director Disavows Plan to Divert Acquisition Funds to Capital Project UPDATED

Mitt Romney chats with KSDK's Ann Rubin in Kirkwood, MO It's so rare that the campaigning candidates mention anything about the arts. Now culture has finally gotten some attention, but for all the wrong reasons [via]. This just in from Ann Rubin of St. Louis' KSDK NewsChannel 5, reporting on what Mitt Romney told her in Kirkwood, MO: "The test [for budget cuts] is pretty … [Read more...] about Mitt Snit: Romney Would Ax National Endowments for the Arts & Humanities

The campaign to save Orange County's endangered Paul Rudolph-designed Government Center, Goshen, NY, now has a logo (above), a website and petition. The petition (173 signatories at this writing) is for Orange County residents, but I added my name, with this full-disclosure statement: I am not an Orange County resident, but I would like to express my solidarity with this … [Read more...] about Goshen Commotion: Save-the-Rudolph Campaign’s Petition, Public Hearing

            The Sublime to the Ridiculous: Orange County's Paul Rudolph building and the "Proposed Concept Building Design" for its replacement Chris Mckenna of the the Times Herald-Record, the go-to person for news stories on the Orange County Executive's proposal to knock down the county's 1970 Paul Rudolph-designed … [Read more...] about Goshen Commotion: Local Preservationists Rally to Save Endangered Paul Rudolph Building

Now, alas, you can. [UPDATE: And now,alas, you can't.]The video below will also give you a glimpse of what the main gallery will look like in the new Barnes Foundation, which opens to the public on May 19, after it completes the move from its longtime home in Merion, PA. Tickets will cost $18, compared to $15 at the old facility. (So much for making it more accessible to the … [Read more...] about Wanna See Matisse’s “Dance” Mural Installed at the Philly Barnes? UPDATED

15th-century Fifty Excelentes, struck under the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, perhaps the most important coin in the Hispanic Society of America's trove, sold through Sotheby'sThis just in from Sotheby's, in response to my query regarding its sealed-bid auction, which ended yesterday, of 37,895 Spanish coins owned since 1949 by the Hispanic Society of America:We are very … [Read more...] about News Flash: Hispanic Society’s Collection of 37,895 Spanish Coins Finds Buyer

Paul Rudolph's Orange County Government Center, Goshen, completed in 1971 [More on this: here, here and here.] It's on the World Monuments Fund's 2012 Watch List of endangered cultural-heritage sites. But what the WMF may soon "watch" is the demolition of the building that it has called one of Brutalist American architect Paul Rudolph's "greatest achievements" … [Read more...] about Preservationist Alert: Important Paul Rudolph Building in Goshen May Be Knocked Down

The Metropolitan Museum appears to have gotten a spectacular (although unannounced) present in time for last December's holiday season. According to a Met spokesperson, you should be able to enjoy this treat in the galleries at least until August, when it may go back to its lender. As I exited through the old masters galleries after my second viewing (on Dec. 23) of the … [Read more...] about Met Displays Controversial $13.7-Million “Commander,” Sold by Princess Diana’s Brother

I finally did manage to obtain the audio for my very brief soundbite heard last Friday on New York Public Radio, WNYC, regarding Shepard Fairey's guilty plea to criminal charges involving his previously admitted destruction of documents and manufacturing of evidence. He thereby seriously compounded his legal difficulties that arose in connection with the appropriation … [Read more...] about Hear Me Now: My WNYC Commentary on the Shepard Fairey Case

Today's fluctuations, so far, in Sotheby's stock Despite boasting the second-best annual financial results in its history (only outstripped in pre-crash 2007), Sotheby's has been watching its stock price slip today (down more than 9% from yesterday's close, at this writing), after reporting late yesterday afternoon a 25.7% decline in its net income for the fourth quarter of … [Read more...] about Despite Strong 2011, Sotheby’s Stock Slides on Fourth-Quarter Decline