Museum Minutes

• On the repatriation front, news this week that the New Acropolis Museum in Athens will open in September -- with space reserved for the Elgin marbles, most of which are tucked away in the British Museum in London. The Greek museum is designed by Bernard Tschumi, who did those fugly Blue condos on the Lower East Side. Richard Lacayo has a long piece in Time Magazine on repatriation, taking a "farewell tour" of objects like the Euphronios krater that are leaving the U.S. for their native lands. The krater was bought by the Met in 1972 for $1 million. It's now on display in Rome in a show called "Nostoi: Recovered Masterpieces" (nostoi means homecomings). Lacayo quotes Philippe de Montebello who wonders if Italy needs a dose of its own medicine, returning bronze horses of San Marco in Venice that were looted from Constantinople in 1204. For that matter, Montebello asks "at what point is Turkey going to return the Alexander Sarcophagus to Lebanon? ... In the 19th century, it was brought from there when Lebanon was part of the Ottoman Empire. Where do you stop?" On the other side of the issue is Dimitrios Pandermalis, president of the organization behind the Acropolis Museum, who says the idea of museums like the Met serving as a "universal museum" for all is "a translation of the imperialism of the 19th century to the globalization of the 20th century."
  

• Two op-eds in the New York Times look at two other fronts in the debate over rightful ownership. Allan Gerson, an official in the State and Justice Department, takes issue with Britain for passing special legislation the gives immunity to Russia for Impressionist and Modern paintings now on display at the Royal Academy of Arts. The objects it seems were liberated from their original owners by the Soviets. According to Gerson, "the sad truth is that the British government and the Royal Academy are now complicit in the theft of private property." Gershon likes the model of a current French-Israeli exhibit up in Jerusalem titled "Looking for Owners: Custody, Research and Restitution of Art Stolen in France During World War II." And taking aim at Yale is Eliane Karp-Toledo, the former first lady of Peru, who says a recent agreement regarding the return of 350 artifacts from Machu Picchu is bunk: "[the university] continues to deny Peru the right to its cultural patrimony, something Peru has demanded since 1920. ... The agreement reflects a colonial way of thinking not expected from a modern academic institution."
  

• The Museum of the City of New York is closing the doors on its Rockefeller rooms, in the museums collection for 70 years, to make way for an ongoing modernization. The bedroom and dressing room may go the Met, which is redoing its American period rooms.
  

• Lee Rosenbaum reports that the Brooklyn Museum has not yet decided if it will include a Louis Vuitton shop as part of the Takashi Murakami show, opening April 5. The controversial shop was part of the exhibit as displayed at the L.A. MOCA.

• The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences -- the folks behind the Oscars -- want to open a museum to be "the public’s main portal to the film world."

• The MoMA gives special "touch tours" to let blind and partially sighted visitors, such as a recent visit by a group of young Tibetans, get a feel for the art.
  

• Half of the recently stolen stuff from Switzerland -- including the Monet and Van Gogh -- has been recovered from a parked car.
  

• The Brits are in a bunch about their government's decision to mandate that all children get at least five hours of high culture a week. One result of this cultural food pyramid will be an uptick in museum visits by school groups. Railing against kid-friendly interactive exhibits, Guardian's Nicholas Blincoe says he prefers his museums "Victorian, cranky and encyclopedic." D.J. Taylor notes in the Independent that, ironically, the mandate follows a round of arts cuts.
  

• What the Art Institute decides to stuff in its new modern wing (designed by Renzo Piano, natch) will move markets. According to Portfolio, look for upticks in prices for Charles Ray, Bruce Nauman, Gerhard Richter, not in Latin American contemporary art.

• The Cleveland Museum of Art is nearing the end of a three-year redo. The big reveal is set for the end of June. Up now is a visiting show of arms and armor from Imperial Austria.

• Remember Christopher Buchel, the artist whose over-budget installation was killed by the Mass MoCA last year? Now, Buchel's rep, Michele Maccarone (who I recently noted stars in a charming video now up at the ICA Boston), is urging a group of artists in a project called the LA25 -- including John Baldessari, Kris Kuramitsu, Weston Naef and Cathy Opie -- to quit since it's bankrolled by Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, the law firm of, you guessed it, Mass MoCA. Maccarone 's already send another letter telling artists and collectors not to deal with the museum. Given that it's maybe the biggest U.S. contemporary art museum, doesn't this seem a bit like tilting at windmills?