ArtsWatch

With no blockbuster show to explain the draw, the Philadelphia Museum of Art was packed with youngsters Sunday. Not just five-year-olds attending one of the special programs for children, but also young families, 25- and 45-year-olds and college students. It was kind of amazing to see the line out the door at the east entrance and find not a strand of white or frosted hair in sight.
It was the last day of the Antonio Mancini show, which was bustling. But crowds also gathered to see the Portrait of Professor Benjamin H. Rand, the Eakins work with one foot out the door to Arkansas. It was sold by Jefferson University and is headed for the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, in Bentonville, which is scheduled to open in 2010, but sits at the PMA through May 31. [Addendum: A PMA spokesman says: "We do expect to extend that loan for some time, until it's needed at Crystal Bridges."] It's one of those pieces whose power comes from a level of nuance that does not come across in reproduction.
Also drawing attention was Bruce Nauman's The True Artist Helps the World by Revealing Mystic Truths, a recent acquisition (shown here).
Speaking of acquisitions, the Metropolitan Museum of Art is searching for a director, and several bloggers are pointing their fingers at PMA director Anne d'Harnoncourt as a likely successor. You never know of course - bigger sandbox and all that. But Harnoncourt had this to say to me a few months ago about how busy she is in Philadelphia with the museum's expansion plans:
"I have no plans to go anywhere. I'm totally devoted to Philadelphia and the museum and realizing all this potential. There is a lot of art waiting for galleries, a lot of projects waiting for public space, and a lot of the Web site waiting for images."