The weekly art news round-up
Orla O'Brien, Friday, 5th December 2008
Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art
In a recent ‘Times’ opinion piece Eli Broad (pictured above) announced that he would make a voluntary donation of $30m to the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art. The money, if MOCA decide to accept it, has been offered as a no-strings-attached payment which Broad believes will keep the organisation ‘a vibrant, independent Museum of the city’. Part of Broad's proposal includes a $25 million donation to replenish the endowment that has gradually diminished over the last eight years and a $5 donation to cover the museum's future operating costs. Broad is known for his generosity when it comes to the arts. He recently donated $56 million to the LA County Museum of Art to enable the 50,000 square-foot Broad Contemporary Art Museum, which opened last February. Broad will find out if his offer has been accepted after MOCA’s board meeting on 16 December.
White House faux pas
Christmas decorating in the White House took a turn for the worst this year when Seattle based artist Deborah Lawrence was asked to design a custom-made decoration. Former First Lady, Laura Bush, had asked members of congress to select artists to design the decorations that would hang on the White House tree. Lawrence, was chosen by White House officials who hadn’t really researched her work. It was therefore a surprise to many when the nine-inch bauble that Lawrence submitted was inscribed with the words ‘Impeach Bush’ and a picture of Jim Mc Dermott, of Seattle, who signed a White House resolution to consider the impeachment of Bush. Lawrence who is a pointedly political artist, was chosen by Heather Dwyer, the 4Culture Program manager. Out of the 370 decorations submitted, Lawrence’s was the only one that failed to make the selection.
Lakeside Palace Museum project
Iraqi Authorities have decided that one of Saddam Hussein’s Palaces in Basra will be turned into a museum. The project, initiated by Major-General Barney White-Spunner, will be organised by the British army who have code-named it: Operation Bell, with reference to the Archaeologist Gertrude Bell. The Museum, which will also be assisted by the British Museum, will be in Hussein’s Lakeside Palace. The Iraqi Ministry of Antiqitues and Tourism has already approved the project, so its future now lies in the hands of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. The museum is estimated at around $10 million to construct and will be open within two years of approval for construction.
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Around the galleries
Now in its 30th year, the London Park Lane Arms Fair returns with its annual array of fine arms and armoury. Elsewhere in the capital, impressive surveys of Freud, Hirst and mid-century British art can be found.
Architecture
George Gilbert Scott described the dome as ‘the noblest of all forms’, and it appears as a powerful symbol in secular and religious architecture throughout history. On the island of Malta, however, the craze for dome-building reached astonishing heights.
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