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Los Angeles Times
Christopher Knight is the art critic for the Los Angeles Times.
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Christopher Knight
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FROM Christopher Knight
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
UCLA’s Plan for a New Art Infrastructure UCLA’s School of Art and Architecture is about to get a major redesign. A major donation will allow the school to create a new building that will house state-of-the-art work spaces for its elite students. UCLA has a top-rated Master of Fine Arts program, which only admits about 20 students a year. It’s the second-highest rated MFA program in the country - after Yale. But the new investment is about more than just that handful of students.
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Rare Art Rolled Up Under the Couch Most people don’t discover rare 18th century masterpieces rolled up under their sofa, but that’s exactly what happened to Christina Jones Janssen. The masterpiece in question? Miguel Cabrera’s From Spaniard and Morisca, Albino. It shows a Spanish father and a Moorish North African mother, and between them, their albino baby. It’s a casta painting, which is a controversial Mexican genre that shows domestic scenes of interracial marriages. And the artist, Miguel Cabrera, is known as a master in this field. LACMA has acquired the painting and will have it on display later this month.
Which Way, L.A.?
MOCA, LACMA and Eli Broad The art world is all abuzz over the latest offer to help the Museum of Contemporary Art, with its world-class collection of works created since 1945. Five years ago, MOCA was bailed out by local billionaire Eli Broad, but it's still in more than one kind of trouble, and LACMA, LA County's Museum of Art has proposed a merger.
Which Way, L.A.?
Is MOCA Still in the Hole? Financial problems at LA's Museum of Contemporary Art drew the attention of the State Attorney General when trustees paid bills with endowment money earmarked for other purposes. Two years ago, LA billionaire Eli Broad promised to match funds raised by the museum up to $15 million. In the first fiscal year of the bailout, the museum raised $6.25 million, leaving $8.75 million of Broad's money for the fiscal year that just ended. How much has MOCA raised to match it? Zero. MOCA has also undergone months of staff turmoil, culminating in last week's firing — or resignation — of Chief Curator Paul Schimmel , who's credited with giving the museum a first-class international reputation.
Which Way, L.A.?
Eli Broad to the Rescue The nation's best Museum of Contemporary Art has spent down its endowment to meet operating expenses. That's led to an investigation by the California State Attorney General. The LA County Museum of Art offered a merger , but today MOCA's trustees declined. They accepted a deal from MOCA’s founding chairman, philanthropist Eli Broad . He will match the contributions of others up to $15 million and provide another $3 million a year for five years to fund exhibitions.
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