The report from ArtDaily.org

LOS ANGELES, CA.- Following a worldwide search, the Board of Trustees of The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA), announced today it has voted unanimously to appoint Jeffrey Deitch as the museum’s new director, effective June 1. Deitch [DIEtsch], 57, is one of New York’s leading gallerists, specializing in modern and contemporary art, and he has a 30-year career as an independent curator who has produced innovative exhibitions at museums and galleries around the world. As an art advisor to some of the world’s leading institutional and private collectors, he has helped build a number of major international contemporary art collections……

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MOCA Board of Trustees Names New York Gallerist Jeffrey Deitch as Museum Director

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Scrooge type news from Los Angeles Times Culture Monsters on Christmas Eve:

Bowing to continued financial pressure and a lack of donations, the Claremont Museum of Art said today that it would close its doors to the public on Dec. 27 and move its permanent collection to a warehouse.

Officials said its board members would weigh options as to what form the museum could take in the future.

The museum, which currently rents space in a former citrus packing plant, is scheduled to move out by Dec. 31, according to leaders.

A fledgling museum with a permanent collection estimated at about 100 items, the Claremont Museum of Art billed itself as regional institution with “international significance and breadth.” During its less than three-year history, the museum featured exhibitions by artists such as Karl Benjamin and James Hueter.

The museum's financial problems came to light in October, when leaders announced that three expected donations had failed to come through. The museum subsequently laid off its entire full-time staff of five individuals but continued to operate with volunteers.

In November, the Claremont City Council donated $18,879 to the museum to keep its doors open through the end of 2009….

NEW YORK, NY.- Through October 23rd, Acquavella Galleries is exhibiting Grands Formats (Large Scale) works by renowned twentieth-century Canadian artist, Jean Paul Riopelle (1923 – 2002). The current exhibition presents a selection of Riopelle’s large-scale paintings from the early 1950s through the 1970s in addition to four monumental works on paper from the 1960s. While many of the works have been shown in important exhibitions, such as the 1981 Riopelle retrospective that travelled from the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris to major museums throughout Canada, Mexico, and Venezuela….

Jean Paul Riopelle

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Acquavella Galleries Shows Large Scale Works by Jean Paul Riopelle

Thank you Los Angeles Times:

View “Free Museum Day, Oct. 3 and/or 4” in a larger map

Summer is officially over, but that doesn't mean family excursions are out of season, especially when it comes to local museums.

This weekend, many of the major art, history and science museums in L.A. and Orange County are participating in the annual Museums Free-for-All, which allows admission-free access to the institutions' main exhibitions.

Among the museums participating are the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Norton Simon, the Bowers Museum and the Orange County Museum of Art.

With museum ticket prices reaching as high as $12 for adults, this weekend's program represents an opportunity for affordable culture. Some museums are offering free admission on both Saturday and Sunday; others are free for only one day.

Check our map of the participating museums so you can plan your trip accordingly.

– David Ng

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Musuems open their doors for free today and Sunday

SAN FRANCISCO, CA.- Former San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) director Henry T. Hopkins passed away on September 27, 2009. During his twelve-year tenure (1974–86), Hopkins sought to establish SFMOMA as the West Coast’s premier museum of twentieth-century art through a deliberate plan of accelerated activity, determining new directions for both the exhibition program and the permanent collection and launching the museum on a course of renewed excitement and expansion. “Hopkins’s leadership at SFMOMA was distinguished by outstanding intellect and creative vision,” says Neal Benezra, SFMOMA director. “In addition to organizing important exhibitions—including Ed Ruscha’s first museum

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San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Former Director Henry T. Hopkins Dies