For some reason I cannot fathom, I've been receiving many press releases lately about museum acquisitions, by gift or purchase, and in one case, about a wonderful gift to make acquisitions. I hope they keep coming! Let's look at them in reverse chronological order: This morning came news that the Art Institute of Chicago received more than $35 million designated to the … [Read more...] about Acquisitions In the Air–and In Reality
Archives for January 2016
Hunger For Art: Time To Spread It Around?
It's no secret that the museums in major cities that grew up in the late 19th and early 20th centuries--New York, Detroit, Cleveland, Boston, Philadelpia, etc.--generally have great collections, not all of which are ever on view. Then there are cities, large but newer and never rich, that lack a basic art museum of note. Fresno, whose Fresno Metropolitan Museum of Art and … [Read more...] about Hunger For Art: Time To Spread It Around?
Contemporary Art and the Met–Digging for Nuggets
In this week's New Yorker magazine, Calvin Tomkins has his crack at explaining the fraught past relationship between the Metropolitan Museum of Art* and contemporary art and plans for the future in an article headlined The Met and the Now. It is a feel-good article, all but a puff piece. Think of it as an antidote to the article in The New York Times several weeks back, … [Read more...] about Contemporary Art and the Met–Digging for Nuggets
A Boomerang at the Metropolitan Museum
Stay tuned this afternoon for a strange and perhaps (a little) juicy announcement from the Metropolitan Museum of Art*. When trustees meet late this afternoon, one item on the agenda will be formal approval of a new trustee designated by the city's controller, Scott Stringer (below). It will be none other than Harold Holzer, who until last summer was Senior Vice President, … [Read more...] about A Boomerang at the Metropolitan Museum
Antiquities and ISIS: Something Doesn’t Add Up
I care deeply about cultural heritage, and have spent much time over the last year agonizing about the destruction caused by ISIS in the Middle East. The last thing I want is for ISIS to make money on stolen antiquities or, worse in my opinion (though not of others), blow them up completely. The ultimate goals of these despicable fanatics, who want to destroy everything that … [Read more...] about Antiquities and ISIS: Something Doesn’t Add Up