Thank you again, Los Angeles Times Culture Monsters:

The dream of razing four of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s oldest buildings — or at least radically reconfiguring the dreary, closed-in quadrangle they occupy – is being resurrected at the Wilshire Boulevard institution.

The Architect’s Newspaper reports that museum leaders are working with this year’s Pritzker Prize winner, Swiss architect Peter Zumthor, to formulate a long-range plan for getting rid of the problematic buildings and plaza, and replacing them with a more open and inviting structure.

A previous plan to tear down the buildings and build something revolutionary in their place died in a 2002 bond referendum. A 60.5% majority favored the arts bond proposal that would have given LACMA $100 million toward architect Rem Koolhaas’ $300 million-plus plan to replace everything on the eastern end of the museum’s Wilshire Boulevard campus, except for the distinctive Pavilion for Japanese Art. In place of the three 1965 gallery and theater buildings, and a fourth that opened in 1986, LACMA would have become a single structure on concrete stilts, topped by a billowing, tent-like roof.

California law, however, requires a two-thirds super-majority for tax-backed bond issues. With the economy in a post-9/11, post-tech-bubble recession, LACMA leaders abandoned Koolhaas’ all-at-once plan and adopted a gradual, $450 million project that could be built in stages, on a pay-as-you-go basis.

LA Times on LA County Museum of Art:

Can a chair be a ravishingly beautiful, fascinating and revolutionary object as well as a place to sit?

That’s what art specialists at the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art say about a recent joint acquisition. The elaborately carved mahogany chair, unveiled in 1885 at the “Inventions Exhibition” in Liverpool and subsequently known as a precursor to the Art Nouveau movement, is the work of Arthur Heygate Mackmurdo, an English architect, graphic artist and craftsman.

The last of five known chairs in a set to come on the market, it will go on view in December at the Huntington in a suite of galleries devoted to the British Design Reform movement. Two years later, it will move to LACMA and join a new display of international Arts and Crafts furniture.

Great LACMA schedule for fall 2009 from Artipedia.com:

More:
Fall 2009 at Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) – Artipedia …

Steven Churchill’s annual The Art of Photography show opens tonight in downtown San Diego’s historic Lyceum Theatre. The Opening Reception Gala starts at 6pm!

From the Art of Photography Opening Gala webpage:

The Art of Photography Show is an international exhibition of photographic art taking place August 29 – November 1, 2009. This presentation of world class photography is truly exquisite. A total of 16,000 photographic entries were submitted by artists from 57 countries around the world for this juried competition. The judge for this exhibit is Charlotte Cotton, who is the Curator and Head of the Photography Department at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Ms. Cotton selected 111 images — the best of the best!

If you’re unfamiliar with this annual international San Diego art event, here is a great short description from the Art of Photography Facebook page:

This world-class photography exhibit will run August 29 to November 1, 2009 and is expected to be viewed by over 25,000 people. An elegant 80-page show catalog will be given away to everyone at the Opening Reception Gala on August 29th. An estimated 1,500 people from all over the world will be in attendance, including most of the exhibiting artists.

The Art of Photography mission is to provide a truly “artist oriented” show and to create a world-class presentation of photographic art in San Diego. This is the fifth year of this annual photographic exhibition. The Lyceum Theatre Gallery is open and free to the public seven days a week. Gallery hours are 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, and noon to 5:00 p.m. on the weekends.

For even more information about this terrific San Diego art exhibition, please visit artofphotographyshow.com.

Christopher Knight for the LA Times writes:

I do not envy the directors of major art museums the amount of business-related travel their jobs require. No, it's not exactly combat duty. But frequent, far-flung travel is necessary to cultivate relationships, seal deals, keep up with the field and such. Regular travel comes with the job.

Still, I was taken aback by the report by my colleagues Alan Zarembo and Mike Boehm in today's paper, which lays out details of the hefty compensation package provided to Michael Govan, director of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art since early 2006. In the course of reporting that Govan is on track to collect $6 million over the duration of his 5-year contract, putting his pay near the top among American art museum directors, Zarembo and Boehm take note of an unusual, travel-related perk.

Govan was paid “$1,000 a night to stay in his own New York condominium, while there on museum business.” The deal, according to the written agreement and details subsequently provided by LACMA, “paid Govan $103,000 over three years.”

Being paid to live in your own house is certainly an eyebrow-raiser…..

Related coverage:

Behind Michael Govan's almost $1-million LACMA salary

Discuss: Do you think $1 million is a fair salary for a museum director?

Read the complete article here:
L.A. museum director lived 10% of the time in N.Y.