Oddly, so soon after I wrote here about “Mr. Turner,” the British film about J.W.M. Turner, I just learned about a British documentary called “National Gallery” about that august London institution. It, too, was shown at last spring’s Cannes Film Festival and it’s on view in New York City from today through Nov. 18. It’s […]
Chicago Has Some Fun Marketing Magritte
August 3, 2014 by
We all know that it’s hard for museums to get attention sometimes; there’s so much competition for everyone’s attention. The Art Institute of Chicago has mounted a major marketing campaign for Magritte: The Mystery of the Ordinary, 1926-1938 that’s a bit unusual and may be working. It started back in June, but for whatever reason the […]
The BSO And Arts Journalism: Don’t Let This Spread
April 24, 2014 by
Heaven knows that arts journalism is not as robust as it once was, or needs to be. But the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra is trying something that is, simply, a bad idea. The BSO is offering a journalism “fellowship,” through which an early to mid-career reporter will be “embedded” with the symphony for a year beginning in […]
Who Would You Pick To Play Picasso? Plus, Best And Worst Artists’ Films
April 22, 2014 by
Most movies about art and artists leave a lot to be desired. We shall see how Picasso is treated in a movie about the making of Guernica, with Antonio Banderas starring as the artist. Banderas, who like Picasso is a Malaga native, said that he “turned down the chance at one point of playing Mr. […]
Another Director’s Job Is Now Open
April 20, 2014 by
The Cleveland Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Barnes Foundation, the Cincinnati Art Museum, the Memorial Art Gallery in Rochester — those museums all need directors. And now, so does the Phoenix Art Museum. Last Thursday, on Apr. 17, Jim Ballinger — director there since 1982 — announced that he was […]
Art At The Movies: Next Up, Vermeer And Music
October 9, 2013 by
If you missed the Vermeer & Music: The Art of Love and Leisure at the National Gallery in London this summer — it closed on Sept. 8 — you’ll have something of a chance to view it from afar tomorrow. That’s when the latest effort by Exhibition: Great Art On Screen, which I wrote about here, goes up on […]
“Artist to Artist” – New Short Film Series
October 7, 2013 by
I’ve mentioned Art21 here before; it’s the nonprofit that makes videos about artists. Its television series, “Art in the Twenty-First Century” won a Peabody Award, and it has other offerings, too. This week Art21 introduces something new: A series of short-format documentaries highlights leading contemporary visual artists in conversation with their peers, discussing the inspirations and ideas that […]
Herb And Dorothy, The Sequel
September 11, 2013 by
Remember Herb and Dorothy Vogel? Of course you do. They are the New York couple, the postal clerk and the school librarian, who collected art using only his salary for years — and eventually gave most of it away to the National Gallery in Washington and then to 50 museums, one each in every state. […]
Just Three More Days! MFA Lets You Listen And Learn Free
July 28, 2013 by
I’m writing just a quickie on this, because there’s a time limit. About six weeks ago, I received an interesting press release from the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, headlined MFA PUBLICATIONS DEBUTS ITS FIRST HIGHLIGHTS SERIES E-BOOKS, MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS AND ARTS OF KOREA. They were “full-color, multimedia-enhanced digital books,” for $9.99 each. The musical instrument one […]
A New Attempt Toward “Understanding Art” On Video
July 15, 2013 by
Making a great video about visual art is a challenge, so I’m glad producers keep doing it. In recent days, I’ve had an opportunity to sample a new DVD series called Understanding Art: Hidden Lives of Masterpieces that takes a new tack. Made by Juliette Garcia and Stan Neumann, it has five episodes, each focusing on one […]
