Bronze figurine of a dog with a painted gold collar, left; lapis lazuli bracelet inlay in the form of a sphinx, above (Photos: Metropolitan Museum of Art) The Metropolitan Museum and the Egyptian government have jointly announced the Met's return to Egypt of 19 objects from King Tutankamun's tomb that had been unearthed during Howard Carter's celebrated excavations. Both … [Read more...] about Met Repatriates 19 King Tut Objects: Other Tut Holdings to Remain?
Highlights of $222.45-Million Sotheby’s Contemporary Auction: The Curatorial Effect
Auctioneer Tobias Meyer, caught between a $14.08-million Bacon and a $35.36-million WarholShould Michael Taylor get a commission?It seems likely that tonight's record at Sotheby's for a work on paper by Arshile Gorky---$3.67 million ($3.2 million hammer price, against an estimate of only $800,000 to $1.2 million) owes something to the spurt of interest in such works created by … [Read more...] about Highlights of $222.45-Million Sotheby’s Contemporary Auction: The Curatorial Effect
Shame on Italy: Marion True’s Case Ends with a Whimper
I used to worry about how long it was taking. But the more it lasts, the more will be the shame. So said Paolo Ferri, then Italy's prosecutor in the Marion True antiquities trafficking trial, during our chat in Athens two and a half years ago. Ferri was right, but not in the sense that he intended. What's shameful is making the Getty Museum's former antiquities curator … [Read more...] about Shame on Italy: Marion True’s Case Ends with a Whimper
MeTube at Children’s Palace, Shanghai: Break Dancing, Baton Twirling
Drawing class at the Children's Palace for children gifted in the arts, ShanghaiWhile we're on the subject of China, let me lighten up and bring you one of the many delights of my recent vacation there. (I really did treat it as a vacation, not my usual workation.)In Shanghai last month, I got a glimpse of the engaging goings-on at one of the several Children's Palaces … [Read more...] about MeTube at Children’s Palace, Shanghai: Break Dancing, Baton Twirling
Weiwei Fray: “Harmonious” Party Goes on Without the Host
Image of Ai Weiwei's Shanghai studio, slated for the wrecking ballChinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei successfully hosted a party in absentia at his soon-to-be-demolished studio in the Malu Town section of Shanghai. The "crab fest," attended by more than 400 supporters (according to the BBC), went off without a hitch, without incident and with the crustaceans.Tania Branigan of … [Read more...] about Weiwei Fray: “Harmonious” Party Goes on Without the Host
Ai Weiwei Under House Arrest: Chinese Police Crabby about His “Crab Fest” UPDATED TWICE
Ai WeiweiThe only surprise to this story is how Ai Weiwei managed to stay not arrested for so long.So writes Elaine Chow of the Shanghaiist blog (part of the Gothamist network), regarding the news, published by the Chinese dissident artist on his Twitter page, that Chinese police have put him under house arrest. (My above link to Ai's post is to the site of the tumblr-based … [Read more...] about Ai Weiwei Under House Arrest: Chinese Police Crabby about His “Crab Fest” UPDATED TWICE
Judge Approves Fisk/Crystal Bridges Deal, Restricts Use of Walton’s $30 Million
Davidson County Chancellor Ellen Hobbs LyleIn her latest astonishing Memorandum and Order, issued today, Davidson County Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle ruled that Fisk University can sell a half-share in its Stieglitz Collection to Alice Walton's planned Crystal Bridges Museum for $30 million. But what Lyle giveth with one hand, she taketh away with the other: The financially … [Read more...] about Judge Approves Fisk/Crystal Bridges Deal, Restricts Use of Walton’s $30 Million
AFP Reports: Ai Weiwei’s New Shanghai Studio Faces Demolition
Ai Weiwei's "Sunflower Seeds," now at the Tate ModernTate Photography, © Ai Weiwei [More on the Weiwei Fray: here and here.]Speaking of Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei, this just in from Agence France-Presse:Outspoken Chinese artist Ai Weiwei says he is offering his supporters 10,000 river crabs---an autumn delicacy---to "celebrate" the government-ordered demolition of his … [Read more...] about AFP Reports: Ai Weiwei’s New Shanghai Studio Faces Demolition
MeTube in China: Tiananmen Square’s Black Smoke Enshrouds Mao
China Journey: The Grrl at The WallI'm back, art-lings, but not exactly better than ever. I had a fabulous time in China---a particularly exciting place to visit right now, thanks to both its increasingly dominant economy and its proliferating architecture-on-steroids:Shanghai's skyline, seen from my hotel windowA tour-bus view of Rem Koolhaas' Beijing headquarters for CCTV … [Read more...] about MeTube in China: Tiananmen Square’s Black Smoke Enshrouds Mao
National Academy No Longer Ostracized: It’s About Time! UPDATED WITH PODCAST
It figures that I'd be halfway around the world (and not blogging) when the Association of Art Museum Directors announced its long overdue decision to lift the sanctions it imposed almost two years ago on the National Academy. As CultureGrrl readers know, I broke the story about the National Academy's stealth deaccessions in late 2008 of two important paintings---a Church … [Read more...] about National Academy No Longer Ostracized: It’s About Time! UPDATED WITH PODCAST
Fisk/Walton Saga: AAMD’s Admonitory Letter Sent to Wrong Recipient
Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, construction photo, July 2010 [NOTE: This will be my last CultureGrrl post for about two and a half weeks. I'll be fleeing halfway around the world to pry myself away from computers, e-mail and blogging!] Fisk University on Friday filed in Davidson County Chancery Court its 92-page revised plan for a proposed $30-million sale of a … [Read more...] about Fisk/Walton Saga: AAMD’s Admonitory Letter Sent to Wrong Recipient
“Won’t Pull Crowds”? NY Times’ Perverse Attendance Prediction for “Chaos and Classicism”
Installation shot of the Guggenheim Museum's "Chaos and Classicism" showHolland Cotter, in today's NY Times finds the Guggenheim's current exhibition, Chaos and Classicism: Art in France, Italy, and Germany, 1918-1936, to be "totally engrossing" (as did I, in my much-Twittered CultureGrrl review, published Friday). But he doesn't think that you'll react as he did.Cotter … [Read more...] about “Won’t Pull Crowds”? NY Times’ Perverse Attendance Prediction for “Chaos and Classicism”
Reactionary vs. Revolutionary: Post-World War I & II Shows at Guggenheim and MoMA
Installation shots from the big fall shows at the Guggenheim, left, and MoMA, rightThere's an electric energy in New York right now, zapping between two parallel but sharply contrasting shows that have just opened at Guggenheim Museum and the Museum of Modern Art. MoMA's show, focusing on American art after the Second World War, is beautiful but not too bright. (I've touched … [Read more...] about Reactionary vs. Revolutionary: Post-World War I & II Shows at Guggenheim and MoMA
MeTube: Meandering (at last) Through Maya Lin’s “Storm King Wavefield”
Storm King Art Center's director and curator, David Collens (left) and its chairman, president and co-founder H. Peter Stern (right) look on as president John Stern blows out the sculpture park's 50th-birthday candles.I have always wanted to walk into, rather than gaze down upon, Maya Lin's Storm King Wavefield, her four-acre commissioned earthwork at Storm King Art Center in … [Read more...] about MeTube: Meandering (at last) Through Maya Lin’s “Storm King Wavefield”
NY Times Explores Death of State’s Deaccession Regs; Ignores New Law Subverting Donor Intent
Merryl Tisch, Chancellor, NY Board of Regents Robin Pogrebin's three-weeks-after-the-fact post mortem in the NY Times about the NY Board of Regents' astonishing, inadequately explained about-face on deaccession regulations sheds some light on what went on behind the scenes. Robin includes this quote from the influential letter addressed to the Regents by Glenn Lowry, … [Read more...] about NY Times Explores Death of State’s Deaccession Regs; Ignores New Law Subverting Donor Intent