"Septimius Severus," Roman, about AD 193-200, the British MuseumFor the ultimate erudite lesson in "those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it," we take you to school with the Don herself, Mary Beard, a Cambridge classics professor and my blogging buddy at A Don's Life, who brings us news from the second century A.D.: One Lucius Septimius Severus has just … [Read more...] about Inauguration Ruminations: Mary Beard on Obama’s “Septimius Severus Problem”
Michael Dorf, Yates Protégé, Said to Be a Frontrunner for NEA Chairmanship
Michael DorfI don't know Michael Dorf, the attorney reported by Allan Jalon of the LA Times to be a frontrunner for the post of chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. But any friend of the late Congressman Sidney Yates, the best political advocate the arts ever had, is a friend of mine.Dorf's bio on the website of his law firm, includes a six-year stint as special … [Read more...] about Michael Dorf, Yates Protégé, Said to Be a Frontrunner for NEA Chairmanship
New China-U.S. Antiquities Agreement: Some Concessions to U.S. Museums and Dealers
Jay Kislak, Former Chairman of the State Department's Cultural Property Advisory Commitee Everyone wondered why it was taking so long for the U.S. State Department to act on China's request---pending since May 2004---for the United States to impose sweeping import restrictions on artifacts from that country dating from prehistoric times all the way to 1911. The State … [Read more...] about New China-U.S. Antiquities Agreement: Some Concessions to U.S. Museums and Dealers
And Now a Word for Our (wished for) Sponsors
I was encouraged earlier this month when my end-of-year post, urging you to decorate my dreary right-hand column with some attractive ads, actually brought two signs of tangible reader support of my efforts for the New Year.Now that my ad space is back to bare, I'm back to wondering how long I should keep CultureGrrl going as a labor of love and a public service (or a public … [Read more...] about And Now a Word for Our (wished for) Sponsors
More on Eric Lee, Kimbell Museum’s New Director UPDATED
Old masters gallery at the Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth[UPDATE: It turns out that the "Dutch Utopia" show I describe below was NOT conceived by the Taft, as Lee had led me to believe. It was organized by the Telfair Museum, Savannah.]If you watched the video clip that I linked to yesterday at the end of my report on Eric McCauley Lee's appointment to the directorship of the … [Read more...] about More on Eric Lee, Kimbell Museum’s New Director UPDATED
Andrew Wyeth, 91: A 19th-Century Artist in a 20th-Century World
Andrew Wyeth, "Christina's World," 1948, Museum of Modern ArtMany serious art historians have long admired the work of Andrew Wyeth, who died today at his home in Chadds Ford, PA. Most of them are experts in traditional, pre-20th century American art. He's anathema, I now think unfairly, to contemporary art enthusiasts, because his art is so stubbornly traditional, if not … [Read more...] about Andrew Wyeth, 91: A 19th-Century Artist in a 20th-Century World
Eric McCauley Lee Steps Up to the Kimbell’s Directorship
The next director of the Kimbell: Eric McCauley Lee(Photo by Tony Walsh)I promised not to break the news embargo set by the Kimbell unless someone else did. We were asked to wait until tomorrow (Friday). But another reporter (Janelle Gelfand of the Cincinnati Enquirer) has jumped the gun (or, more likely, got her news independently, from the Taft Museum's staff), so we're off … [Read more...] about Eric McCauley Lee Steps Up to the Kimbell’s Directorship
BlogBack: Nevada Museum’s Director Explains the Italian (Mis)connection
Nevada Museum of Art, RenoYesterday, in connection with my post about the whirlwind tour of American museums by Italian cultural officials, I issued a rare CultureGrrl correction. I had said that an already touring show of Leonardo drawings from the Biblioteca Reale, Turin, would be be coming to the Nevada Museum, Reno. In fact, it wasn't. I had based my erroneous report on a … [Read more...] about BlogBack: Nevada Museum’s Director Explains the Italian (Mis)connection
Deaccession Transparency: Museums’ Websites Should Post Proposed Disposals
George Grosz, "Eclipse of the Sun," 1926, Heckscher MuseumTime magazine's Richard Lacayo, on today's Looking Around blog, takes the deaccession discussion to the next level. Lacayo opines:Why is it that museums routinely do these sales---meaning sales entirely within the rules as the AAMD has devised them---without making any kind of public announcement?...Quiet selling gives … [Read more...] about Deaccession Transparency: Museums’ Websites Should Post Proposed Disposals
Mario Resca’s Whirlwind Tour of U.S. Museums: Exchanges and Exhibitions Discussed CORRECTED
Logo of the Italian Culture MinistryReading yesterday's Wall Street Journal article on Mario Resca, Italy's entrepreneurial cultural advisor (and former McDonald's executive), inspired me to surf over to the Italian Culture Ministry's website, and lo and behold, Big Mac has just been traveling all over the U.S., sitting down to Happy Meals with American museum directors and … [Read more...] about Mario Resca’s Whirlwind Tour of U.S. Museums: Exchanges and Exhibitions Discussed CORRECTED
Who Wants to Be a Museum Director? CCL Announces Curator-Mentor Match-Ups
Hitting the jackpot: Kevin Salatino gets matched with MoMA's Glenn Lowry and Tate's Nicholas SerotaI don't know about you, but I find these odd couples interesting.The second group of curatorial fellows selected for intensive training that's intended to lead to professional advancement (including directorships) has just been assigned mentors and residency hosts by the Center … [Read more...] about Who Wants to Be a Museum Director? CCL Announces Curator-Mentor Match-Ups
Mario Resca’s WSJ Profile: Visions of Rent-a-Shows Dance in His Head
Italy's Mario Resca, framed in today's Wall Street Journal(image by Zina Saunders)Having just written about how the economy might put an end to profit-driven rent-a-shows, I was disappointed by these comments, published today in a Wall Street Journal profile of Mario ("Big Mac") Resca, whose planned appointment as Italian culture's "super manager" provoked widespread … [Read more...] about Mario Resca’s WSJ Profile: Visions of Rent-a-Shows Dance in His Head
Skeletal Budget Cut: No “Lucy” Fossil Show for Chicago’s Field Museum
Lucy, the 3.2 million-year-old womanOne favorable museum development related to the current financial crisis, aside from greater emphasis on permanent collections, may be a reduced emphasis on rent-a-shows---those blockbuster exhibitions through which museums raise money from other museums by charging exorbitant fees. Andrew Herrmann and Dave Newbart of the Chicago Sun-Times … [Read more...] about Skeletal Budget Cut: No “Lucy” Fossil Show for Chicago’s Field Museum
The Tom Campbell Watch: Another Kid-in-the-Candy-Store Interview
Sir John Pope-Hennessy: Most recent Brit in a major American museum job?Will the real Tom Campbell please stand up?The London Telegraph's Jasper Rees snagged an interview with the Metropolitan Museum's new director for today's paper. I got real excited when I got to this paragraph: As the exhaustive interview process with the 12 trustees began, it became increasingly apparent … [Read more...] about The Tom Campbell Watch: Another Kid-in-the-Candy-Store Interview
Metropolitan Museum Posts Revised Collections Management Policy
Lord Colin Renfew, Met Gadfly Here's one of the first substantive changes at the Metropolitan Museum since the ascent of its new director, Thomas Campbell: On Tuesday, the Met posted on its website its revised Collections Management Policy [reported on David Gill's Looting Matters blog], which incorporates the Association of Art Museum Directors' tightened standards, … [Read more...] about Metropolitan Museum Posts Revised Collections Management Policy