Lee Rosenbaum's cultural commentary

Tut Staircase at the 2007 showing of "Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs" at the Franklin Institute, PhiladelphiaWho cares if the Metropolitan Museum turned down on principle the chance to take on Egypt's Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs show?So what if the Field Museum, citing financial belt-tightening, decided not to take Ethopia's Lucy's Legacy … [Read more...] about Bypassing Museums: New Blockbuster Mill in New York

A 2008 mock-up of copies (left) of the Parthenon Marbles in the New Acropolis MuseumIt's another skirmish in the Elgin Marble Wars, this coming almost a week before the June 20 opening of the New Acropolis Museum in Athens.On Wednesday, British Museum spokeswoman Hannah Boulton reiterated on Greek Skai Radio an offer previously made by the museum's director, Neil MacGregor. … [Read more...] about Latest Round in the Elgin Marbles Battle: Greeks Reject British Offer

As I recounted in my recent Wall Street Journal article, the construction of the Art Institute of Chicago's new Modern Wing was impelled by Millennium Park, the wildly successful art-filled public space situated directly across Monroe Street. That busy thoroughfare also has a second name (for a celebrated Chicago artist), on the particular block were the museum is located:The … [Read more...] about Virago in Chicago: Frank Gehry-Renzo Piano Smackdown CORRECTED

I don't tweet (though some say I should). But I do twit. As promised, here's the illustrated, cheeky version of my serious Wall Street Journal article appraising (but not always praising) the new Modern Wing designed by Renzo Piano for the Art Institute of Chicago. I was tempted to write (as Time magazine's Richard Lacayo, in fact, did) that this is one of Piano's … [Read more...] about Virago in Chicago: My Irreverent Photo Essay on the Modern Wing

David A. SmithDavid Smith, author of Money for Art: The Tangled Web of Art and Politics in American Democracy, responds to Required Reading: Jerome Weeks Responds to David Smith's Book on Federal Arts Support: I appreciate you describing me as "cautious and ambivalent," which I am. I do tend to worry about the effects that controversy has on the Arts Endowment in the eyes of … [Read more...] about BlogBack: Author David Smith on NEA Funding

Jerome Weeks, ArtsJournal's "Book Daddy"This is too good (and too long) to be a mere blog post.Inspired by David Smith's recent book, Money for Art: The Tangled Web of Art and Politics in American Democracy, ArtsJournal blogger Jerome Weeks and has posted a detailed, two-part meditation on the past and future of federal arts support that should be required reading for Rocco … [Read more...] about Required Reading: Jerome Weeks’ Analysis of David Smith’s Book on Federal Arts Support

The University of Iowa has just put my Apr. 15 lecture about desperation deaccessions  online. If you've got an hour or so to spare, you can click the arrow at the bottom of this post to hear and see my pointed commentary on past and recent perpetrators, from Hoving to Branagan, with an emphasis on college and university museums (Fisk University, Randolph College, Brandeis … [Read more...] about My Deaccession Lecture in Iowa, Now Online; Report on Sotheby’s Post-Flood Visit

Tom Campbell's PowerPoint slide of a putative Michelangelo, "Young Archer," coming to the Met on 10-year loan During the reception before the Metropolitan Museum's press lunch on Monday, I chatted with James Draper, the museum's curator of European sculpture and decorative arts (whose French bronze show I had recently admired). I asked him about his controversial 1996 … [Read more...] about He’s Baa-a-a-ck! “Michelangelo of Fifth Avenue” Moves to the Met

Architect Renzo Piano (waving) beside Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, after the dedication ceremony for Art Institute of Chicago's Modern Wing (Piano's wife, Milly, faces the camera.) Because I'm barred from blogging about a subject for which I have a pending assignment from the Wall Street Journal, I've been unable until now to comment on what has, unfortunately for the Art … [Read more...] about Recession Transgression: Chicago’s 50% Admission Fee Hike

Here's my piece---A Modern Wing Takes Flight---to be published on tomorrow's "Leisure & Arts" page of the Wall Street Journal,It gives you some sense of the challenging visiting conditions on May 16, the extremely overcrowded public opening, which was the first of seven consecutive free-admission days before the 50% fee hike for non-Chicagoan adults kicked in.Even the … [Read more...] about Tomorrow’s Piece Today: My WSJ Appraisal of Chicago’s New Modern Wing, Now Online

Opening Day at the Chicago Art Institute's Modern Wing: Ground floor lobby; second floor caféMy review of the new Modern Wing of the Art Institute of Chicago will be published on the "Leisure & Arts" page of tomorrow's Wall Street Journal. I'll post the link here on CultureGrrl when it's up, probably late tonight.I had a somewhat different perspective from those journalists … [Read more...] about Coming Tomorrow: My WSJ Appraisal of Chicago’s Renzo Piano-Designed Modern Wing

It took a while, but the May 2009 issue of UNESCO's Museum International, containing proceedings from last year's Athens International Conference on Return of Cultural Objects, is now online. Individual articles, including mine, may be accessed by non-subscribers for a fee.Here's the free abstract describing my contribution: Art History Meets Archaeology: Considering Cultural … [Read more...] about Art History Meets Archaeology: Excerpts from My Athens Comments, Now Online

You can hear me now: Can you believe that New York Public Radio has, at this writing, posted 34 written comments on this subject? Everyone wants to tell the Obamas what to hang on their walls.For my own further comments about White House art on CultureGrrl, go here. … [Read more...] about Audio’s Up: Listen Now to My WNYC Radio Podcast on White House Art

Ed Ruscha, "I Think I'll...," 1983, borrowed by the White House from the National Gallery, WashingtonOf course I have more to say on the Obamas' art choices than made it onto New York Public Radio's just concluded Brian Lehrer radio segment. That's what blogs are for:I'm impressed and a bit surprised (given Barack's barebones Senatorial office decor) that they have taken such a … [Read more...] about Casting a Wider Net: More on White House Art

I just got a call from the Brian Lehrer Show at New York Public Radio (WNYC), where I'm supposed to be speaking about art in the White House today, letting me know that the show may not be able to broadcast "due to technical difficulties." You can see here that I really AM scheduled to be on shortly. Time and technology will tell.UPDATE: So far they're presenting an old repeat … [Read more...] about Due to Technical Difficulties…I May or May Not Be on Radio Today