Lee Rosenbaum's cultural commentary

Wharton Esherick cherrywood table, consigned by Museum of Arts and Design to be sold Dec. 10 at Bonhams While the Museum of Arts and Design was loudly trumpeting the opening of its new facility on Columbus Circle, it was also quietly planning the sale of objects from its collection---not at Sotheby's or Christie's, but at the more under-the-radar, British-based Bonhams. My … [Read more...] about MAD Deaccessions: Museum of Arts and Design’s Disposals at Bonhams

Fisk University's Carl Van Vechten Art GalleryI could find nothing to indicate this on Fisk University's website, which still says that the Carl Van Vechten Gallery is "currently closed to the public." But Blake Farmer of Nashville Public Radio reports [via]:The famous Stieglitz collection at Fisk University is in the public eye for the first time in nearly three years. People … [Read more...] about Fisk’s Stieglitz Collection: Back on View at Last?

Catherine Opie, "Mitch," 1994, courtesy of the artist and Regen Projects, Los AngelesAt the end of her NY Times review of the Elizabeth Peyton show that just opened at the New Museum, Roberta Smith heralded the "girly art" movement, which she described as "a strand of painting that has historically been dismissed or marginalized, and for which respect tends to come late, if at … [Read more...] about NYC’s Season of the Woman: Peyton, Opie, Dumas, Heilman

Pablo Picasso, "Le Rêve," 1932, Private CollectionThe list of commercial dealers shows to which museums have imprudently lent both their art and their prestige is growing: Picasso's Marie-Thérèse, opening Tuesday at Acquavella Galleries, New York, includes examples from the Guggenheim Museum, Museum of Modern Art, Metropolitan Museum and the Tate, in addition to collector Steve … [Read more...] about Acquavella’s Wynnsome Show: Another Museum/Commercial Gallery Nexus

This is, of course, the sequel to a previous CultureGrrl post, Desperately Seeking John McCain's Arts Policy.With two debates down and one to go, neither Presidential candidate has had anything to say on national television about the arts. This would seem to indicate that the economy, health care and foreign policy are more important issues than funding for the National … [Read more...] about Finally Finding John McCain’s Arts Policy

Jackson Pollock, "Mural," 1943, University of Iowa Museum of ArtLet's dispel the rumors and misinformed speculation that have been percolating in the blogosphere:First and most importantly: The University of Iowa will not be selling its Pollock "Mural." Let me repeat that (as Joe Biden would say): THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA IS NOT GOING TO SELL ITS POLLOCK "MURAL."This was first … [Read more...] about Iowa’s Pollock “Mural” Will NOT Be Sold; Q&A with Museum Director Pamela White

Click the image below for a video tour of the inaugural show, The Revolution Continues: New Chinese Art, at the new Saatchi Gallery, set to open in London on Thursday. Given the weak results of Sotheby's Chinese contemporary art sales last week in Hong Kong, has collector Charles Saatchi lost his uncanny talent for market timing? The London Telegraph's veteran art critic, … [Read more...] about The New Saatchi Gallery: Telegraph’s Richard Dorment Narrates a Video Preview

Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco's two-volume catalogue of the Friede CollectionCultureGrrl applies one of two adjectives to the arts writers she most admires: "estimable" for the excellent, "indispensable" for the super-excellent.Kate Taylor, ace art reporter of the now-defunct NY Sun, ascended to the latter category. Today I was delighted to see her name and reportage … [Read more...] about Another John Friede Fracas: Kate Taylor’s NY Times Story UPDATED

Thomas Cole, "Return from the Tournament," 1841, consigned by the Corcoran Gallery to Christie'sIt has now been disclosed that the 10 American paintings selected for sale by the Corcoran Gallery, Washington, will be offered at the American paintings auction at Christie's, New York, on Dec. 4, with a total presale estimate of $4-6 million. Jacqueline Trescott of the Washington … [Read more...] about Corcoran Sends 10 American Paintings to Christie’s: Who Needs “Depth in the Collection”?

Seattle Art Museum, shouldering the offices of WaMuIn his remarks at last year's press preview for the expanded Seattle Art Museum, John Walsh, former director of the Getty Museum and a long-time friend of SAM's director, Mimi Gates, declared that Washington Mutual Bank (which jointly developed the museum-owned land) was "certainly a more reliable partner" than the … [Read more...] about Washington Washout: Seattle Art Museum’s WaMu Whammy

It's too late for me to append an update to my original post on 2007's highest salaried art museum directors, as (incompletely) identified by the Chronicle of Philanthropy's survey: Those of you who get to me from the ArtsJournal home page would miss the update, since two days (during which I celebrated the Jewish New Year) and a lot of other bloggers' posts have intervened. … [Read more...] about Museum Directors’ Salary Survey: An Update

Number One: MoMA's director, Glenn LowryPatrick Cole in today's Bloomberg, citing this article in the Chronicle of Philanthropy (for which you'll need to purchase a day pass, if you don't subscribe), reports that the Museum of Modern Art's director, Glenn Lowry, was "the best-paid chief executive of a U.S. nonprofit art institution last year, with a total compensation package … [Read more...] about Who Are the Highest-Salaried Art Museum Directors?

Brad Cloepfil, architect of the Museum of Arts and Design (alias MAD)I've just learned a new tech trick. Click here to see my captioned slideshow of the Museum of Arts and Design. As you will see, both the museum and my slideshow have some foibles. I don't know why the photos look blurrier than they would if I merely posted them on the blog, and I can't eliminate the ad that … [Read more...] about Museum of Arts and Design: An Irreverent Slideshow

Nicolai OuroussoffNY Times architecture critic Nicolai Ouroussoff, in his review for tomorrow's NY Times "Arts & Leisure" section (online today), demonstrates astoundingly meanspirited wrongheadedness: He puts the brand new Museum of Arts and Design at the end of his top-seven list of New York City buildings that he believes ought to be "candidates for demolition."It's time … [Read more...] about Critical Meltdown: Ouroussoff Recommends Demolition for Cloepfil’s Just-Completed Museum of Arts and Design

Alejandro Puente, "Everything Goes," 1968-70, New AcquisitionThe Museum of Modern Art's latest installation of contemporary works from its collection, Here is Every, has fallen below the critical radar. But it's the best of the five deployments of its contemporary forces since the Taniguchi-designed museum expansion opened almost four years ago. It's also the most … [Read more...] about MoMA Conquers Curator-Devouring Second Floor, Makes Plans for Nouvel’s Mega-Tower CORRECTED