Category: visual

Milwaukee Art Museum director David Gordon takes exception to a Milwuakee Journal-Sentinel story painting the museum’s financial situation: “We have conditional commitments for over $16m of the $25m target, this being the gap between the $125m cost of the Calatrava, the gardens, the refitting of the permanent collection, and the $100m so far raised. On an operating basis before interest and depreciation we made a surplus for each of the past two years since the Calatrava opened and if we miss a surplus this year it should be by a small margin.”

Three years after the Milwaukee Art Museum opened its acclaimed splashy new expansion designed by Santiago Calatrava, far fewer people than expected are passing through its doors, and that’s creating new financial challenges for the museum.

Milwaukee Art Museum director David Gordon has a tough job. “What is clear is that the very traits that made Gordon an attractive choice for director have proven to be trouble, too. He is confident and direct by many accounts but magisterial and abrasive by others. He is considered decisive by some but rash by others.”

The Louvre said Monday that the Mona Lisa is deteriorating much more quickly than previously thought. “The thin, poplar wood panel on which the artwork is painted has become deformed since conservation experts last evaluated the condition of the painting, the Louvre said. The artwork is inspected every 1-2 years. The Louvre said the condition of the Mona Lisa was causing “some worry” and that a new study has been launched, but one that will allow the painting to remain in the public eye.”

“In three months, downtown Chicago will get one of the most significant additions to its outdoor gallery of public art in decades, yet while the abstract sculpture by British artist Anish Kapoor has been in the works for five years, few people in town know much about it beyond its lighthearted nickname — ‘The Bean.'”

awrence R. Rinder, curator of contemporary art at the Whitney Museum of American Art for four years, has resigned to become dean of graduate studies at the California College of the Arts in San Francisco.” It looks like there may be further curatorial changes to come at the Whitney.

The long-awaited World War II memorial being installed on the Mall in Washington, D.C. is nearly complete, and Benjamin Forgey is impressed with its solemn design and “abiding sense of place.” The design may be a bit classically stiff, but it uses the massive space well, and “though the memorial does partially block a pedestrian’s passage on the long walk between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial, it is a pause with a big payoff: the memorial itself.”

Sales of art at auction in 2003 were down by as much as 17 percent. Of course, the figures aren’t nearly so clear cut as that…

The Museum of Modern Art could raise almost $30 million when it sells nine works of art from its collection at auction. “The museum is ostensibly raising funds for new acquisitions to display when it moves back into its expanded, midtown building next year. But the decision to sell paintings by artists whose works fit squarely within the museum’s collection will meet with some controversy.”

“The National Gallery of Art has removed its overarching signature Calder mobile from the central court of the East Building this week for a top-to-bottom refurbishment. The gallery took down the 76-foot, 920-pound artwork before the building opened on Monday. A crew of 24 people, including engineers, curators and a film crew, started work at 5 a.m. and finished six hours later.”