I'm off to the press preview of the Whitney Biennial, but I leave you with the introductory wall text, below, which will take you the rest of the day to decipher. To whom exactly is this jargon addressed? Surely not the general museum-going public. This show doesn't actually open to the public until Thursday. There's still time for a rewrite! Otherwise, abandon all hope, ye who … [Read more...] about WhitneySpeak, Biennial Edition: What Are They Thinking?
Albright-Knox: We’ve Sold Our Art; Now Let’s Expand Our Building!
"Artemis and the Stag," sold from the collection of the Albright-Knox Gallery, now on loan (as "Artemis and the Deer") at the Metropolitan Museum (above)We thought that the Albright-Knox Gallery, Buffalo, was in pretty dire economic straits. After all, it had claimed that it needed to sell major artworks, long proudly displayed and admired by the public, because local … [Read more...] about Albright-Knox: We’ve Sold Our Art; Now Let’s Expand Our Building!
Folk Art Museum Addresses the Esmerian Mess (UPDATED)
Susan Flamm, PR director of the American Folk Art Museum, today responded to my questions about how reversals and lawsuits involving the museum's major benefactor, Ralph Esmerian, may affect the museum and its collection. Flamm wrote: Ralph Esmerian has been a generous benefactor of the American Folk Art Museum for more than 30 years. Through the museum's exhibitions, … [Read more...] about Folk Art Museum Addresses the Esmerian Mess (UPDATED)
Munch’s Recovered “Scream” and “Madonna” Soon Back on View
Conservator Gry Landro, studying damaged corner of "The Scream" through a microscope. Munch Museum, Oslo The Munch Museum, Olso, announced today that the stolen, damaged and returned "Scream" and "Madonna" will go back on view this summer. Restoration is nearly complete. They were seized by armed robbers in August 2004 and returned two years later.According to the press … [Read more...] about Munch’s Recovered “Scream” and “Madonna” Soon Back on View
New Format, Same Old Grrl
CultureGrrl has just switched over to a new, improved format (as will the rest of the ArtsJournal blogs). ATTENTION: Do all of you notice that new third column on the right? That's where you can (finally) PLACE YOUR ADS on the blog that has become required daily reading for the most important museum directors and curators, art dealers and auctioneers, collectors, art scholars, … [Read more...] about New Format, Same Old Grrl
The CultureGrrl Curriculum: Help! I Need a Law Degree!
People who can't stand CultureGrrl and want to enjoy some schadenfreude should come see me get pummeled at a Columbia University Law School panel discussion in New York about museum deaccessioning. The scene of the bout, scheduled for Mar. 11 at 6 p.m., is the school's Kernochan Center for Law, Media and the Arts, Jerome Greene Hall (corner of 116th Street and Amsterdam … [Read more...] about The CultureGrrl Curriculum: Help! I Need a Law Degree!
Starting Over, Krens-Style
What did Tom Krens do the day after he announced his imminent departure from the directorship of the Guggenheim Foundation? He lectured at the TED2008 conference in Monterey, CA., about his vision of what museums should be. The annual conference gathers thinkers in a wide variety of fields and bills itself as "a chance to mentally recharge. A chance to step back and consider … [Read more...] about Starting Over, Krens-Style
Quick Takes: Dia Departure, Büchel Debacle UPDATED, Un-Gifted Folk Art Museum
In haste, some important links:---Jeffrey Weiss calls it a day at Dia, discovering that he's a curator, not an administrator. Carol Vogel of the NY Times has the story. The board chairwoman, astonishingly, tells Vogel that they're in no hurry to find a replacement. This boat seems to be drifting further out to sea. The "win-win" scenario that I posited here seems ever more … [Read more...] about Quick Takes: Dia Departure, Büchel Debacle UPDATED, Un-Gifted Folk Art Museum
More on Tom Krens from James Russell (and me) UPDATED
An early model of Frank Gehry's planned Guggenheim Abu Dhabi A kinder, gentler assessment of Tom Krens' reign at the Guggenheim is provided today by James Russell of Bloomberg. Russell has approving words for the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi (and the rest of the proposed development in the Saadiyat Island Cultural District) and also praises what Krens did in New York: Before Krens, the … [Read more...] about More on Tom Krens from James Russell (and me) UPDATED
More on Eli Broad from Martin Filler (and me)
Broad-ly Speaking at LACMA More Eli Broad criticism occurs in Martin Filler's brilliantly titled piece for the latest New York Review of Books (Mar. 20), Broad-Minded Museum. (Why didn't my editors think of that?) A key passage: The Los Angeles County Museum of Art receives substantial public funds and many of its staff members are civil service employees of Los Angeles County. … [Read more...] about More on Eli Broad from Martin Filler (and me)
D’Offay Offs Broad: Parading a Different “Paradigm”
Look familiar? Here are two works from Anthony d'Offay's collection, which have twins in Eli Broad's collection: Damien Hirst, "Away from the Flock," 1995 © Damien Hirst Robert Therrien, "No Title (Table and Four Chairs)," 2003 © Robert Therrien / ARS, NY and DACS, London 2008 Their collections may have similarities, but you can't have much more of a contrast between art … [Read more...] about D’Offay Offs Broad: Parading a Different “Paradigm”
My WNYC Krens Commentary and Where the Guggenheim Should Go From Here
Thomas Krens Here's what I said today on WNYC, as well as a few additional comments: I have no idea if he wants it, but, as I said on the radio, I think Michael Govan of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art would be the ideal next director of the Guggenheim. True, he's been at his current post for less than two years, but job-hopping is not unheard of in the museum world. My … [Read more...] about My WNYC Krens Commentary and Where the Guggenheim Should Go From Here
UPDATED: CultureGrrl on Krens Today on New York Public Radio
UPDATE: Why did they make me get up SO EARLY? Now I'm scheduled to be on at about 8:35 a.m....subject, of course, to change. By then I should be completely caffeinated. Late notice to you, because it was late notice to me: If all goes according to plan, I'll be on New York Public Radio (WNYC) today (Thursday) after 7 a.m., commenting on the imminent departure of Thomas Krens … [Read more...] about UPDATED: CultureGrrl on Krens Today on New York Public Radio
Tom Krens, Global Impresario, to Leave the Guggenheim
I'll have more to say on the announcement of Tom Krens' imminent departure from the Guggenheim later. For the details, see Carol Vogel's piece for tomorrow's NY Times, online now. For now, just this: You might think Krens was a bit of a con artist, who tried to realize his improbable schemes by latching on to a succession of moguls and foreign government officials with more … [Read more...] about Tom Krens, Global Impresario, to Leave the Guggenheim
Sotheby’s Contemporary Success and More on Guarantees
Francis Bacon, "Study of a Nude with Figure in a Mirror," 1969 Sotheby's had a lot riding on today's London evening sale of contemporary art, which its president and CEO, Bill Ruprecht, said yesterday would be an important art-market indicator. I don't yet have all the official press-released information, but it seems clear that the "indicator" is upbeat. Estimated to fetch a … [Read more...] about Sotheby’s Contemporary Success and More on Guarantees