The Association of Art Museum Curators has just announced their annual awards for excellence, the only prizes given to curators by their peers. The awards are spread around, and some seem to be a tad politically correct, but worthy winners all — well, most. See what you think:

OUTSTANDING CATALOGUE BASED ON A PERMANENT COLLECTION –

First Place:
Modern Women: Women Artists at the Museum of Modern Art, New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 2010.

Runner-up:
Wisdom Embodied: Chinese Buddhist and Daoist Sculpture in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2010.

Honorable Mention:
Jewelry by Artists: In the Studio, 1940-2000, Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 2010.

OUTSTANDING EXHIBITION CATALOGUE –

First Place:
The Original Copy: Photography of Sculpture, 1839 to Today, New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 2010.

Honorable Mention:
Matisse: Radical Invention, 1913-1917, Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago, 2010.

OUTSTANDING ARTICLE, ESSAY or EXTENDED CATALOGUE ENTRY –

First Place:
A Favourite among the Demireps: Thomas Gainsborough and the Modern Woman in Thomas Gainsborough and the Modern Woman, Cincinnati: Cincinnati Art Museum, 2010. The essay is by Benedict Leca.

Honorable Mention:
Ties That Bind: Hiram Powers’s Greek Slave and Nineteenth-Century Marriage, American Art 24 (Spring, 2010) 41-65.

OUTSTANDING MONOGRAPHIC OR RETROSPECTIVE EXHIBITION –

Matisse: Radical Invention, 1913-1917, Curated by Stephanie D. Alessandro, The Art Institute of Chicago, and John Elderfield. Co-organized by the Art Institute of Chicago and The Museum of Modern Art.

OUTSTANDING THEMATIC EXHIBITION –

Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture, Curated by David C. Ward and Jonathon Katz. Organized by The National Portrait Gallery

OUTSTANDING EXHIBITION IN A UNIVERSITY MUSEUM –

For All the World to See: Visual Culture and the Struggle for Civil Rights, Curated by Maurice Berger. Organized by the Center for Art, Design and Visual Culture, University of Maryland, Baltimore County in partnership with the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Honorable Mention:
Lynda Benglis, Curated by Diana Franssen, Franck Gautherot, Caroline Hancock, Laura Hoptman, Seungduk Kim, and Judith Tannenbaum. Organized by the Museum of Art Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, in collaboration with the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin; Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven; Le Consortium, Dijon; and New Museum, New York.

OUTSTANDING PERMANENT COLLECTION NEW INSTALLATION (OR RE-INSTALLATION) –

The Art of the Americas Wing, Curated by Elliot Bostwick Davis; Erica E. Hirshler; Gerald W. R. Ward; Karen Quinn; Nonie Gadsden; Kelly H. L Ecuyer; Dorie Reents-Budet; Cody Hartley; Dennis Carr; Heather Hole, Art of the Americas department, in collaboration with: Darcy Kuronen, Musical Instruments; Pamela Parmal, Textiles and Fashion Arts; Karen Haas and Elizabeth Mitchell, Prints, Drawings, and Photographs. Organized by The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

OUTSTANDING SMALL EXHIBITION (no more than 2,000 square feet) –

The Mourners: Medieval Tomb Sculptures from the Court of Burgundy, Curated by Heather MacDonald and Sophie Jugie. Organized by the Dallas Museum of Art and the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dijon, in association with FRAME (French Regional American Museum Exchange)

 

 

The march of progress, even in the cultural world, is never without costs, as a new documentary called Lost Bohemia demonstrates. Made by Josef “Birdman” Astor, it tells the story of the legendary studios above Carnegie Hall, which have been occupied over the years by the likes of George Ballanchine, Mark Twain, Norman Mailer, Isadora Duncan, Barnett Newman, Elizabeth Sargent and many more.

In 2001, the Carnegie Hall Corp. began to evict these artists so that it could expand into the space. For more on that, here’s Nick Paumgarten’s New Yorker TOTT from 2007 and one of many articles in The New York Times, this one written in 2010 by Liz Robbins.

I’m writing about it now, without having seen the film, because it will be shown for a week beginning Friday at the IFC Center in New York. (It premiered last fall at the DOC NYC Festival, and so far, according to its website, the documentary has also been screened at the Sarasota Film Festival and the National Gallery of Art in Washington.) You may not want to miss it.

Astor, who lived in the studios (which at one time numbered 160), tells the darker side of the story hinted at in Bill Cunningham, the hit documentary about the NYT photographer who also lived there.

As Astor, who used a hand-held camera to chronicle the remaining residents, writes on the Lost Bohemia website:

Tragically, this documentary is the only film record of the extraordinary studios, and the last denizens of a community that has inhabited them for over a century. Conceived by philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, the studios offered affordable spaces for artists to work and live, and were specifically designed for actors, painters, singers, and musicians with north-facing skylights, sprung wood floors, and soundproof walls.

The studios’ significance to 20th Century culture cannot be overstated…

I couldn’t find any reviews (yet), but artist Pamela Talese, who has seen the film, feels strongly about it and the story it tells: “Through interviews with the last marvelous and eccentric artists-in-residence at home in these secret spaces where artists and performers have lived and worked for over 100 years, Lost Bohemia is at once humorous and heartbreaking,” she says.

“It begs the question of what kind of cultural center New York will become if it continues to cater only to those of high privilege and low imagination,” Talese adds.

I’m guessing you’ll want to see it and decide the case for yourself. As a teaser, there’s a trailer on that website, and here on YouTube Astor talks about the film.

Unlike The Art of the Steal, about the Barnes Foundation, I don’t think Astor is trying to reverse the course of history here — it’s too late for that.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Lost Bohemia

 

A short time ago, I wrote here about the exhibition at the Palazzo Strozzi called Picasso/Miro/Dali. Angry Young Men: The Birth of Modernity because it was organized like a film, shown in a series of flashbacks.

Now comes a museum that has been inspired by the film experience. And the theater experience. The rooms and interiors were designed by B-architecten of Antwerp.

The Museum aan de Stroom, which open next Tuesday, tells the story of the historical exchanges that have taken place between Antwerp and the world “using the traces of these exchanges. About the city, the river and the port. About the world in all its diversity. About Antwerp’s centuries-long connection with the world.”

And so, per the press release:

A contemporary exhibition must be an exhibition of experience, and putting one together is best compared with the creation of a theatre production. Not only does the content attract the visitor, but also the visual, auditory and tactile input. Various senses are stimulated during a visit to the museum.

Eric Sleichim from Bl!ndman was selected to compose specific music for each themed exhibition. Just like in a movie, the music supports the exhibition’s story.

Studio Tom Hautekiet was appointed to work together with B-architecten on the design of the graphics for each themed exhibition.

Granted, this is not an art museum. But I would really like to see how it’s done. It could well point toward the future of art display — either in a good way or in a bad way. The building itself, judging by the picture above, is pretty stunning.

I’ve already written opposing music in art museum galleries — at least most of the time.

All comments from people who go to the museum are welcome.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Museum aan de Stroom 

 

A story emerged from last night’s $300 million sale of contemporary art at Christie’s that every museum fundraiser and gala attendee is going to love.

Lot 21 was a 1964 drawing by Roy Lichtenstein called Drawing for Kiss V , with a presale estimate of $800,000 to $1.2 million.

It was acquired by the seller at a benefit in 1965 — for $10!

As Christie’s tells the tale,

The present owner acquired the work as part of an event organized by the Artists’ Key Club – a group formed by the artist Arman to fight against the art world’s increasing commercialization….The event invite asked participants to go to the Hotel Chelsea in New York and hand over $10 in return for a key to one of the lockers at Penn Station. Inside each of these lockers was a work that a fellow artist had donated, including Roy Lichtenstein, Arman, Christo, Niki de Saint-Phalle and Andy Warhol. No one knew which locker they would be allocated, or what it contained….

This drawing’s current owner worked as a typist at the art publisher Harry N. Abrams Inc. and was invited to attend the event with a girlfriend. She paid her $10 and duly went up to Penn Station with her key and upon opening the locker was rewarded with this exquisite drawing, which has remained in her private collection ever since.

You can read more details, including a brief play-by-play of the event by art historian Barbara Moore, here.

And now the seller is much richer: The drawing sold for $2,098,500, including fees. And everyone can cite this example at silent auctions.

I wonder, though, where that Andy Warhol is — and what it is. Two self-portraits in last night’s sale fetched a total of $66 million.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Christie’s

 

Shocker news from Seattle: Derrick Cartwright (pictured below), director there for just two years, has resigned. He leaves his post on June 30.

The press release says he feels the timing is right for a change in leadership. After just two years? Doesn’t make sense.

Here’s what he posted on the web, announcing the move.

I am eager for a break and for the chance to undertake my own projects. First, I aim to spend more time with my family and refresh my professional perspective.  My passion for art history has been on hold while I focused on the most urgent administrative and financial challenges here.  Now, I want to re-establish my personal connection with the artists, objects, and ideas that got me into museum work in the first place.  My family and I have fallen in love with Seattle and we expect to remain here, so I hope to see you often. 

Here’s what the board chair Charles Wright said in the release:

We are very appreciative of Derrick’s achievements and service to SAM. He is a great ambassador for the arts and we wish him the best in his future pursuits.Derrick will continue to make significant contributions to the art world.

In another odd move, the release said that Wright and board President, Maggie Walker will “provide executive oversight” while it searches for a new director. Why no interim director? These searches take time, often more than expected.

According to the Seattle Times, many board members, including Walker, were surprised by Cartwright’s resignation: “It was not something that everybody was wildly anticipating,” she said. “He sent us a letter of resignation over the weekend and here we are.”

UPDATE: As a friend points out, Jen Graves on the Stranger noted in reporting this story that Cartwright was asked to remain a consultant to the museum until September 2012. In reality, that likely means that he had a three-year contract, and the board had to buy him out. In other words, he didn’t really quit. He was pushed out.

So the mystery continues.

This leaves several top museums leaderless: Museum of Fine Arts-Houston, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Dallas Museum of Art, among them.