Lee Rosenbaum's cultural commentary

Here's my main question: If Jeffrey Spier, just named to the Getty Museum's long-vacant position of senior curator of antiquities, is a "member of the Department of Classics at the University of Arizona" (as the museum's press release states), why isn't he listed on the faculty website for the University of Arizona's Department of Classics? I called the department, whose … [Read more...] about Spier & Gasparatto: The Getty Museum’s Dark-Horse Curatorial Appointments UPDATED

A newcomer to the bench, DC Superior Court Judge Robert Okun proved to be no Judge Stanley Ott when it came to the rigor of his courtroom questioning, legal analysis and writing mastery in crafting his momentous Corcoran-dissolving decision. The Corcoran name will be perpetuated (on its dispersed artworks, its figurehead board and its university-subsumed school), but not much … [Read more...] about Do You Know the Way to Cy Près? What’s Wrong with Judge Okun’s Corcoran Opinion

My analysis of the decision is here. You can read these along with me: Here's DC Superior Court Judge Robert Okun's decision to allow the proposed merger of the Corcoran Gallery, National Gallery and George Washington University. Here's the judge's related order. The three parties to the merger have now issued this exultant press release. More on all this … [Read more...] about Read It and Weep: Judge Okun Allows Corcoran/National Gallery/George Washington U. Merger THREE UPDATES

Last week, I belatedly visited the American Folk Art Museum's engaging, rightly acclaimed Self-Taught Genius: Treasures from the American Folk Art Museum (closed Sunday), arguably its most ambitious, wide-ranging exhibition since it decamped in 2011 from its W. 53rd Street facility to what had been its satellite space on Lincoln Square. In astute wall texts and labels for some … [Read more...] about Revived American Folk Art Museum: The Ingenuity of “Self-Taught Genius”

You read it here first, art-lings. The Wall Street Journal has just chosen to anoint as Notable and Quotable (in tomorrow's paper, but online now) an excerpt from yesterday's CultureGrrl post in which I was critical of the role that the National Gallery will play if the Corcoran Gallery gets court permission to disperse its collection. Here's an excerpt from the WSJ's … [Read more...] about CultureGrrl on Corcoran is “Notable & Quotable” in Wall Street Journal; More on National Gallery’s Role

With Philip Kennicott, the Washington Post's art critic, having yesterday reemphasized his opposition to the dissolution of the Corcoran Gallery of Art and its collection, let's examine one of the arguments advanced by the Corcoran in favor of handing over its art holdings to the National Gallery of Art. The moribund museum had claimed in its initial press release that its … [Read more...] about Chris Crosman on Corcoran’s Endangered Legacy (plus: National Gallery’s Lonely Founding Fathers) UPDATED

Sotheby's press release today on recent earning results included two different figures for the key metric of profitability---"net income"---in the second quarter (ending June 30), which included the big May sales of Impressionist/modern and contemporary art. "Adjusted net income" for that quarter decreased 4% from the same quarter last year, to $87.83 million. But "net … [Read more...] about Sotheby’s Earnings Conference Call: The Cost of Activist Shareholders

My piece in today's Wall Street Journal on the possible dismantling of the Corcoran Gallery of Art got Kriston Capps of The Atlantic all a-Twitter, resulting in a somewhat contentious conversation between us on how to salvage that endangered museum. In his previous gig at the Washington City Paper, Capps was one of the most cogent commentators on the Corcoran mess, so I enjoyed … [Read more...] about My Twitter Debate with Kriston Capps on the Corcoran (plus Univ. of MD’s spurned proposal)

I spent two days last week in Judge Robert Okun's Courtroom 317 at D.C. Superior Court, hearing arguments and testimony by the Corcoran Gallery's attorneys and the three witnesses it called to help make its unconvincing case for ending the 145-year-old institution's function as a museum, scattering its collection to various nonprofit recipients (with the lion's share going to … [Read more...] about “Isn’t There a Better Way?” My WSJ Piece on the Corcoran Gallery Court Case

By now you've likely heard that Carol Vogel, the NY Times' veteran art reporter, got caught with her hand in the wiki jar. As I tweeted below, I wasn't sure which of her lame moves was more irresponsible---plagiarizing from Wikipedia or relying on that frequently inaccurate, crowd-sourced compendium for journalistic research: Which is dumber? Plagiarizing Wikipedia or using it … [Read more...] about Carol, Do You Copy? Vogel’s Sticky Wiki

Having dutifully ingested the Whitney Museum's press preview for its monumental Jeff Koons retrospective (to Oct. 19) and then gagged on the laudatory commentary from two major critics whom I greatly admire, I hesitated to publicly air my indigestion, figuring it would likely reveal more about my own limitations than that of the art. But Tuesday's contrarian (and, to my … [Read more...] about Koons, Whitney, Wynn and My “Greater Fool” Theory of Trophy Art

Now it gets interesting. This just in from Twitter feed of Washington Business Journal's Rebecca Cooper: Judge Okun granted petition to intervene to nine of the 19 potential intervenors of @savethecorcoran, incl. current students and faculty. — Top Shelf (@TopShelfWBJ) July 21, 2014 Judge Okun tells Corcoran that in upcoming hearing, he expects further justification … [Read more...] about News Flash: Standing Granted for Some Save the Corcoran Members UPDATED and CORRECTED

UPDATE:  I've now added, below, the page citation from STC's court filing regarding acceptability of selling art and possible loss of accreditation in so doing, as well as the page citation for STC's suggestion that the judge hear Reynolds' views. At Friday's D.C. Superior Court hearing on the Corcoran Gallery's proposed merger with the National Gallery and George Washington … [Read more...] about Corcoran Cliffhanger: What Will Happen in DC Superior Court Tomorrow? UPDATED

In advance of tomorrow's cy pres hearing, Washington, D.C., Attorney General Irvin Nathan has given his go-ahead to the planned merger of the Corcoran Gallery and College of Art + Design with the National Gallery of Art and George Washington University. In a 20-page brief (not counting voluminous exhibits) dated yesterday, the AG "concluded that the Corcoran’s financial … [Read more...] about News Flash: D.C. Attorney General Supports Corcoran Merger

There was a lot of self-congratulation at this morning's buoyant press conference, where the Detroit Institute of Arts and Mayor Mike Duggan announced that the museum has now raised almost 80% of the $100 million it has committed towards the $816-million Grand Bargain that is intended to prevent monetization of the museum's art to help pay Detroit's creditors. Nine new … [Read more...] about Grand Bargain vs. Tawdry Fire Sale: Detroit Institute of Arts’ Progress on the Former, Caveats on Latter