Lee Rosenbaum's cultural commentary

Chris Crosman, Crystal Bridges founding curator, who in December 2011 began the alarming exodus of top curatorial talent from the Arkansas museum that opened on Nov. 11, 2011, responds to Guggenheim’s “Aten Reign”: Turrell’s “Skyspace” Obscures the Sky. (All links below are mine, not his.): I enjoyed your conversation [on New York Public Radio] with Deborah Solomon. And I tend … [Read more...] about BlogBack: Ex-Crystal Bridges Curator Chris Crosman on Turrell’s Arkansas Skyspace vs. “Aten Reign” at Guggenheim

For weeks, I have been eagerly anticipating James Turrell's "reimagining the rotunda of Frank Lloyd Wright’s iconic building as one of Turrell’s luminous and immersive Skyspaces" (as the Guggenheim Museum's advance press release had described it). The only problem is, "Aten Reign" isn't a skyspace at all. It is, as the artist himself described it to us at yesterday's press … [Read more...] about Guggenheim’s “Aten Reign”: Turrell’s “Skyspace” Obscures the Sky

And then there were none. The alarming exodus of top curatorial officials from Alice Walton's Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art continues. In the short time since its November 2011 opening, it has lost founding curator Chris Crosman, curatorial director David Houston and deputy director Matt Dawson. Now word has reached me that Crystal Bridges' curator of American … [Read more...] about News Flash: Curator Kevin Murphy Leaves Crystal Bridges for Williams College Museum UPDATED

UPDATE: You can hear us now, here. For my more considered assessment of "Aten Reign," go here. I respect art critic Deborah Solomon and admire her writing, but I have often disagreed with her takes on art that we've both seen. Tomorrow, some time between 6 and 9 a.m. (if all goes according to plan), you'll hear us debate publicly on New York Public Radio (WNYC) about the … [Read more...] about Two Crones Droning? Hear Deborah Solomon and Me Discuss Guggenheim’s Turrell Show on WNYC UPDATED

Sree Sreenivasan, who (for better or worse) was the direct cause of my starting this blog, has just been named as the Metropolitan Museum’s first chief digital officer (effective Aug. 12). Less than a year ago, this long-time professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism (my alma mater), had been named chief digital officer for all of Columbia. His … [Read more...] about Sree Sreenivasan, My Blog’s Inspiration, Becomes Metropolitan Museum’s First Digital Officer

He shoulda been there. Ken Price, the category-crossing Los Angeles ceramicist, sculptor, painter and draftsman, had been intimately and enthusiastically involved in planning his dazzling retrospective, which opened last September at the LA County Museum of Art. He co-designed the installation in close collaboration with his long-time friend, architect Frank Gehry. But like … [Read more...] about Everyone But the Artist: Gehry, Govan, Campbell, Barron and Prather at Ken Price Retrospective (with video)

It's a hopeful sign, but not a complete reprieve. This just in from Mark Stryker of the Detroit Free Press [emphasis added]: The sale of city-owned art at the Detroit Institute of Arts was not part of the plan presented to creditors Friday morning by the city’s emergency manager Kevyn Orr. The report makes no mention of monetizing the museum or its art to raise money to … [Read more...] about Detroit’s Emergency Manager’s Proposals Spare Detroit Institute’s Art (plus DIA’s work behind scenes)

UPDATE: Here's the Attorney General's full 22-page opinion. There's a ray of hope regarding attempts to monetize the Detroit Institute of Arts' masterpieces to help solve the city's financial ills: This just in from Chad Livengood of the Detroit News: In an official opinion released Thursday [today], [Attorney General Bill] Schuette said Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr cannot … [Read more...] about Best Artworld News You’ve Had Today: Michigan AG Opposes Sales of Detroit Institute’s Art UPDATED TWICE

Serving as director of the Philadelphia Museum since 2009, Timothy Rub may well go down as the AAMD president who went where previous leaders of the nation's premier professional association for art museums feared to tread, in matters pertaining to collecting (and sometimes relinquishing) archaeological material. By his own admission, Rub, who became the Association of Art … [Read more...] about Ownership vs. Stewardship: Timothy Rub on the “New Order of the Day” for Cultural Property CORRECTED

Of the several issues that I hope Timothy Rub, the new president of the Association of Art Museum Directors, will address, few are as pressing as the development of collegial relationships with source countries regarding both repatriation requests and the disposition of "orphan objects"---those lacking complete provenances that go back at least to November 1970 (the date of the … [Read more...] about AAMD President Timothy Rub and the New Rules for Cultural-Property Engagement

When I first met Stephanie Wiles, then the recently arrived director of the Johnson Museum of Art at Cornell University (where I'm an alum), she told me about exciting new plans to address the chronic problem that many university art museums grapple with---spotty student visitation at an institution that should be appreciated widely (not just by art-history and fine-arts … [Read more...] about Seducing Non-Art Students: Cornell’s Johnson Museum Pioneers Interdisciplinary Course Offerings (with video)

Afsaneh Mirfendereski, a Chevy Chase artist and architect of Persian heritage, responds to Magic Carpet Ride: Corcoran Gallery’s “Sickle-Leaf” Persian Triples Previous Auction Record for Carpets and Rescue Miscue: Outlandish Proposal to Save the Corcoran by Dumping Its Art: Senator [William] Clark [who in 1925 bequeathed to the Corcoran Gallery the Sickle-Leaf Carpet that the … [Read more...] about BlogBack: Afsaneh Mirfendereski, Persian Artist/Architect, Blasts Corcoran’s Carpet Sale

There has not in my memory been another director of the Venice Biennale who has been as widely acclaimed for his creative vision and assured execution as Massimiliano Gioni, the New Museum's associate director and director of exhibitions. From all accounts, he has expertly navigated the challenges of a nearly impossible task---to bring some order to the chaos of the … [Read more...] about Maximum Massimiliano: What’s Next for Gioni, Acclaimed Director of 2013 Venice Biennale? (with video)

"$16,000...I mean, $16 million. Hell-o-o-o-o!!! Excuse me, I'm not used to this!" blurted Sotheby's flustered auctioneer and senior consultant for rugs and carpets, Mary Jo Otsea, as bidding on Lot 12 soared today to more than three times the previous auction record for any carpet. (It also set a new auction record for any Islamic work of art.) Sought by at least four … [Read more...] about Magic Carpet Ride: Corcoran Gallery’s “Sickle-Leaf” Persian Triples Previous Auction Record for Carpets