The new art season is not quite upon us, but the new academic season is. I was incommunicado yesterday while making my way through the flooded Mohawk Valley (and avoiding my usual route through the Susquehanna Valley, where roads were washed out) to get to my alma mater, Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. I'll be seeing some of the starchitects' additions to the campus, while my … [Read more...] about Back-to-School: Art History Department Rankings, Harvard Arts Detractors (plus my flood-challenged Cornell trip)
The 9/11 Decade: The Images, the Memorial, the Architecture UPDATED
Rendering (by Squared Design Lab) of National September 11 Memorial and Visitor Center With Sunday marking the tenth anniverary of the horrific events of Sept. 11, 2001, the news media are already barraging us with images more viscerally powerful than any work of art---the sights of the impact, the implosions and the immediate aftermath. For those of us who were uncomfortably … [Read more...] about The 9/11 Decade: The Images, the Memorial, the Architecture UPDATED
James Levine’s (new) Fall: Met’s Music Director Withdraws from 2011 Performances CORRECTED
New back injury: Metropolitan Opera Music Director James LevineCORRECTION: In a previous version of this post, I said that Levine had been stripped of his principal conductorship. Although he was for many years the Met's de facto principal conductor, Levine did not possess that official title, the Met has informed me. I had assumed (as did others) that since Fabio Luisi had … [Read more...] about James Levine’s (new) Fall: Met’s Music Director Withdraws from 2011 Performances CORRECTED
Still Chill: More on Christie’s Protest Against Sotheby’s Deal with Denver
Jan Brennan, Arts & Venues Denver's Director of Cultural Programs: Contract-awarding process was "fair and appropriate." In taking the highly unusual step of publicly taking Denver to task (scroll down) for choosing Sotheby's as its agent for the sale of four Clyfford Still paintings (to benefit his eponymous museum), Christie's may have created potential … [Read more...] about Still Chill: More on Christie’s Protest Against Sotheby’s Deal with Denver
Details (and text) of Clyfford Still Sales Agreement Between Denver, Sotheby’s
Denver's new Mayor, Michael Hancock, expected to sign Still sales agreement with Sotheby's next weekThe Denver City Council approved on Monday evening an agreement with Sotheby's for the marketing of four paintings by Clyfford Still from the estate of his widow, Patricia. The proceeds will fund an endowment for the Clyfford Still Museum, scheduled to open on Nov. 18. Were they … [Read more...] about Details (and text) of Clyfford Still Sales Agreement Between Denver, Sotheby’s
Dangerous Defiance: Ai Weiwei’s Cri de Coeur in Newsweek
The Chinese FlagI won't summarize this for you. You have to read it.In perhaps his most brazen defiance of Chinese authorities yet, Ai Weiwei has authored a piece for Newsweek that vividly describes the Kafka-esque quality of his life in Beijing under the current Chinese regime and gives his insider's perspective on the plight of arrested dissidents. In detention for 81 days, … [Read more...] about Dangerous Defiance: Ai Weiwei’s Cri de Coeur in Newsweek
How New England Museums Weathered Irene (plus an information clearinghouse)
The Bennington Museum, closed today due to area flooding[My report on NYC-area museums is here.]Irene, although downgraded to a tropical storm, still wreaked havoc while working its way up north to New England. Particularly hard hit by devastating floods was Vermont, for which this was (as described by the Burlington Free Press) "the state's worst natural disaster since the … [Read more...] about How New England Museums Weathered Irene (plus an information clearinghouse)
How NYC Museums Weathered Hurricane Irene (plus the show to calm your jitters) UPDATED
My selective survey of NYC museums suggests that most are returning today, Monday, to regular visiting hours, now that Hurricane Irene has left town. One exception, though, is the Museum of Jewish Heritage, located at the tip of Lower Manhattan---an area that had been subject to the city's evacuation order. [UPDATE: The museum's spokesperson now tells me that it did open today, … [Read more...] about How NYC Museums Weathered Hurricane Irene (plus the show to calm your jitters) UPDATED
Hurricane on the Hudson: Irene Shutters NYC’s Cultural Institutions (and CultureGrrl)
National Hurricane Service's map of what's now (on Sunday) Tropical Storm IreneNew York's cultural institutions, like the rest of us, hunkered down for Hurricane Irene this weekend. Abbie Fentress Swanson, interactive content producer of WNYC (New York's public radio station), had the most comprehensive rundown I've seen of the various cultural closures and cancelations that … [Read more...] about Hurricane on the Hudson: Irene Shutters NYC’s Cultural Institutions (and CultureGrrl)
Forever Young: Douglas Druick Gets Art Institute of Chicago’s Directorship
Douglas Druick, Art Institute of Chicago's newly named president and director Here's an appointment to a museum directorship that I think we can all agree on: It's well deserved, on all counts. After a 26-year career of distinguished service to the Art Institute of Chicago, the scholarly, articulate and always welcoming Douglas Druick has been named as the new president … [Read more...] about Forever Young: Douglas Druick Gets Art Institute of Chicago’s Directorship
BlogBacks on the Jewish Museum’s Directorship (and my own rethinking)
The Jewish Museum, New York In my Wednesday post taking issue with the naming of Claudia Gould to the directorship of the Jewish Museum, I observed: "Reasonable people can disagree with me." Now they have. (Even I am starting to disagree with me.) The responses sent by readers (some labeled, "Not for Publication") have, in fact, been so reasonable that they have made … [Read more...] about BlogBacks on the Jewish Museum’s Directorship (and my own rethinking)
Save the American Folk Art Museum! (plus former director’s planned keynote speech)
Linda Dunne, acting director, American Folk Art Museum At the end of my narrated slideshow about the last day of the American Folk Art Museum in its W. 53rd Street building, I wistfully stated: We can only hope that there is a place in New York City for a museum of folk art. With the NY Times' recent publication of two articles about the museum's dire plight---one on … [Read more...] about Save the American Folk Art Museum! (plus former director’s planned keynote speech)
Identity Crisis: Claudia Gould Gets Jewish Museum’s Top Spot
Claudia Gould, newly named director of the Jewish Museum, New York [NOTE: I've somewhat rethought my position on this, here.] Back in 1996, the Jewish Museum mounted an exhibition provocatively titled, "Too Jewish?" That New York museum has now named a new director, whom I would provocatively describe as, "Not Too Jewish." The last paragraph of Kate Taylor's NY … [Read more...] about Identity Crisis: Claudia Gould Gets Jewish Museum’s Top Spot
How Earthquake Engineer (and Smithsonian head) Wayne Clough Rode Out the “Shear Wave”
G. Wayne Clough in the Smithsonian Castle last January. How's Frederick Waugh's "Southwesterly Gale, St. Ives" doing?Few museum professionals are as qualified as Smithsonian Secretary G. Wayne Clough to evaluate today's East Coast earthquake, which CultureGrrl rode out in a Manhattan doctor's office. (My friend, the patient, was having a rocky ride for other reasons.) Unlike … [Read more...] about How Earthquake Engineer (and Smithsonian head) Wayne Clough Rode Out the “Shear Wave”
Dressed for Success: Will the Met’s “McQueen” Inspire Cheap Knockoffs?
Bummed by the "bumster": A scene from "McQueen" The Metropolitan Museum of Art has lately been boasting about the boffo box office for its recently concluded fashion retrospective, Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty. Its exultant post-show press release announced that 661,509 attendees had made "McQueen" the eighth most popular show in the museum's history. I'll leave it to … [Read more...] about Dressed for Success: Will the Met’s “McQueen” Inspire Cheap Knockoffs?