Rogue's Gallery

When it comes to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, I think of a haven of well-curated exhibitions, quality art by quality artists, a place to cultivate culture - all in all, a do-gooder in the world of art. But then again, there’s the star-studded Met Gala accompanied with its notions of glamour and LOTS of money, and I have to rethink what the Met really is about.

Rogue’s Gallery by Michael Gross was especially enlightening when it comes to the capitalist aspect of the Met. Intriguing anecdotes throughout the book gives insight into the behind the scenes dirt in acquiring art and garnering publicity, thus presenting the interesting symbiosis of culture and cash.

The Gardner Heist: The True Story of the World's Largest Unsolved Art Theft

If you have not been to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, believe me, it is worth the visit. The founder, a wealthy American, Isabella Stewart Gardner, amassed an impressive collection of art from her travels all over the world, and she it her duty to share and educate the public with her treasured cultural relics. Her love of art is reflected in this museum, where each exhibition gives off an aura of intimacy, as if this were the very house that she lived in. Rather than organizing the art in a methodical fashion, relying on intuition, Mrs. Stewart "decorated" each "room" with art in a way that she found pleasing.

Visiting the museum is really a calming experience, especially sitting by the courtyard with pretty plants growing and blooming year round. Just beware of the guards surrounding the place. They keep an extremely tight eye on all visitors, making sure there is no funny business going down. The tight security is actually the result of a heist at the museum in 1990, where thieves escaped with invaluable art including three Rembrandts and one Vermeer. To this day, the robbers still have yet to be caught, and we still have no idea where the art is.

This robbery forms the plot of the book, The Gardner Heist by Ulrich Boser. A journalist turned amateur sleuth, Boser takes the reader through his investigation as he pursues leads and collects a wealth of clues. It was such an entertaining read that solving the actual mystery become secondary to the narrative.

MutualArt.com

Straying from my normal focus on art literature and films, I'd like to take a minute to write about a new website that I've just gotten into using.  It's called MutualArt.com and it is a resource for all things art.  It is full of the latest information on art venues, artists, museums, and news all around the world.  The greatest part about the website is the "preferences" component.  As world news on the arts is quite overwhelming, I was able to set my personal account so that the site will highlight and make easily accessible news that pertains to my particular interests.  The same goes for artists I like, venues I attend, and types of exhibitions and openings that I might be interested in attending.  It's a really great site and am trying to spread the word.

There is a membership fee but in all honesty, it's worth it (and cuts down my frustration in surfing google each morning to find art news that interests me).  Once again, the site is http://mutualart.com.

Have a great day!