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Marble head of Zeus Ammon, Roman Imperial, c. 120-160 A.D., bought yesterday at Sotheby's by Metropolitan Museum for $3.55 million (presale estimate: $800,000-$1.2 million)Through prior display in its own galleries, the Metropolitan Museum may have increased the price it had to pay last night at Sotheby's for the Roman Imperial head (above) from the collection of Dodie … [Read more...] about Met Stretches to Buy Roman Head It Once Exhibited (plus Sotheby’s Big Oops!)

Dan Monroe, President of the Association of Art Museum Directors At the end of my recent report on the Tennessee Court of Appeals' regrettable approval of Fisk University's proposed $30-million sale of a half-share of its Stieglitz Collection to Alice Walton's Crystal Bridges Museum, I called upon the Association of Art Museum Directors to "strongly exert its influence" on … [Read more...] about AAMD Issues New Statement Deploring Fisk’s $30-Million Crystal Bridges Deal

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's signature on the Memorandum of Understanding with GreeceThe wheels of diplomacy grind very slowly. The U.S.State Department has finally gotten around to releasing the full details of its Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Greece, which for the next five years (renewable) will restrict imports into the U.S. of Greece's … [Read more...] about Slow Diplomacy: Greek Cultural-Property Agreement, Belatedly Released, Now in Effect

Wall text about Moshe Safdie at the inaugural installation of Crystal Bridges As I mentioned in my previous post, Moshe Safdie, the Haifa-born, Montreal-bred architect (now based in Boston and Jerusalem) is on a roll in this country, having recently completed not only the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, AR, but also the widely admired Kauffman Center … [Read more...] about Crystal Bridges Challenge: Molding Moshe Safdie’s Arki-tecture into Art-chitecture

The friendly driver who took me to Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport.Do major national art and architecture critics know the way to XNA?In a form of reverse snobbery, some commentators (including the author of the BlogBack below) from the region surrounding the new Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Arkansas have periodically charged big-city art critics with … [Read more...] about BlogBack: Why Do Big-City Critics Scorn (or ignore) Crystal Bridges?

Sixth Annual Art Basel Miami Sour Grapes SouffléI failed this year to reprise my annual cynical Art Basel Miami Sour Grapes Soufflé, reserving my curdled commentary for the serious art-market mess back home.But critic Lance Esplund, who actually did make it to last week's fair, today more than made up for my delinquency with his pungent report for Bloomberg that could not be … [Read more...] about Lanced by Lance: Art Basel Miami’s Belated Sixth Annual Sour Grapes Soufflé

Patricia Cohen I was more than a little surprised by Patricia Cohen's NY Times scoop in Thursday's paper (online Wednesday) about the precipitous, unceremonious shuttering of the venerable Knoedler & Co. gallery, New York, which terminated its 165-year run with this terse notice. On Saturday, we learned how Cohen most likely got her scoop: She was working on a … [Read more...] about Knoedler Curdler: Lessons to be Gleaned from the Authenticity Allegations

Gary Tinterow, incoming director, Houston Museum of Fine Arts The center of gravity for consummate U.S. art museum professionals is shifting towards Texas: Max Anderson to to the directorship of the Dallas Museum of Art; George Shackelford to the senior deputy directorship of the Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth; and now the just announced appointment of Gary Tinterow, 58, to … [Read more...] about Texas Tinterow: Met’s Loss is Houston’s Gain (with valedictory video)

Among the many works promised to Crystal Bridges by Alice Walton, but not yet given: John Singer Sargent, "Under the Willows," 1887 In my previous post about the megabucks finances of Alice Walton's Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art---gleaned from the information provided in the 990-PF tax returns of 2005-2010, (the last of which is not yet online)---I mentioned that … [Read more...] about Crystal Bridges Accounting: How Much Did the Art Cost?

Mega-donor (and donor-intent violator) Alice Walton, speaking at the opening-day ceremony for her Crystal Bridges Museum of American ArtThe Tennessee Court of Appeals, Nashville, yesterday handed Fisk University (and, by extension, Alice Walton's Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art) a victory in the four-year quest for court approval of a $30-million deal whereby Crystal … [Read more...] about Court of Appeals Approves Fisk/Crystal Bridges Collection-Sharing Arrangement, Gives University Free Rein with Proceeds

The first lines of Crystal Bridges' 2009 tax return[For how much the art cost, go here. For my review of the architecture, go here. Additional CultureGrrl commentary and videos on Crystal Bridges are here, here and here.]Many press reports about the new Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR, have mentioned the more than $1.2 billion in 2010 contributions … [Read more...] about Crystal Bridges Accounting: How Much Did Alice’s Palace Cost?

Here's something to chew on before you roast your Thanksgiving turkey---the continuation of my narrated ramble through the galleries of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR. (Part I of the video is here. My videoed gallery conversation with curator Kevin Murphy is here.) … [Read more...] about Crystal Bridges Gazing: Video Tour of Alice Walton’s New Museum–Part II

The Crystal Bridges curatorial team, outside the museum's library Left to right: David Houston, curatorial director, Matt Dawson, deputy director for art and education, Kevin Murphy, American art curator... ...and Chris Crosman, founding curator (poised to peruse a Sotheby's American art catalogue over lunch in the museum's restaurant) Before we go careening around Crystal … [Read more...] about Crystal Bridges Gazing: Curator Kevin Murphy on a Mysterious Civil War Acquisition

Work in Progress: Crystal Bridges' Upper Pond Completed: Crystal Bridges' Lower Pond As CultureGrrl readers may remember, I skipped last month's press preview for Alice Walton's new Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. I decided to wait until after its Nov. 11 public opening, expecting that by then it would be entirely finished. Close, but not quite. Aside from the upper … [Read more...] about Crystal Bridges Gazing: Video Tour of Alice Walton’s New Museum–Part I

They're so friendly in Arkansas that it's getting a little weird for this Bronx native who grew up leery about talking to strangers.I've received yet another offer of a place to stay during my Bender in Bentonville from Ted Talley, a regional sales manager for a storage shed company that does business with Wal-Mart, He lives close to Crystal Bridges, but has two dogs in his … [Read more...] about Bentonville BlogBack: A Hospitable Welcome to “Wally World”