Museum Minutes

• The Whitney's Altria outpost on Park and 42nd is closing as Philip Morris relocates. Best to leave behind that carcinogenic chapter in the Whit's history. [NYSun]

• What's with these thieving SoCal Museums? First the Getty and now four more are being investigated for knowingly buying stolen antiquities: Bowers Museum, Pacific Asia Museum, Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Mingei International Museum. This time it's objects from Thailand and American Indians. [LATimes]

• The Film Museum of Iran plans a seminar on cinema of Weimar Germany to "examine subjects such as the reflections of the colonialist outlook with regards to culture and Eastern countries." [Tehran Times]

• Kanye West performed at the Flavor Pill party at the American Museum of Natural History and Devendra Banhart played the SF MoMA [NYTimes, SF Weekly]

• Oh, Cali, you may be crooks, but at least you're fun: John Baldessari answers phones at the Santa Monica Museum of Art. [LATimes]