The "GuggEnron" editorial and subsequent on-list discussion is quite timely as
just yesterday I presented a colloquium entitled: "Glitz and Blitz: The Tale of
Two Toms Who Revolutionized the Museum World."  The Toms in question were, of
course, Thomas Hoving, who during his decade-long tenure at the Met generated
his own storms of controversy similar to those surrounding Krens today.

My position was that Hoving paved the way at the Met with his blockbusters and
fast dealings with New York city officials for the almost exponential expansion
of the Guggenheim today--and as John Suau points out, expansion and programming
of any type takes dollars, which may be brought in via exhibitions of
questionable merit, including the Armani show scheduled after the $15M donation
from the company, and the Art of the Motorcycle show, brilliant in its own way
and certainly attractive to a segment of the population not normally known as
museumgoers, but sponsored by BMW and featuring a number of their motorcycles.

For those interested in Krens' background, we weren't able to find out much
about his early years, just that he was born in Brooklyn, got a BA from one of
the NY state universities, and then came into his own at Williams College, alma
mater of the famous "Art Mafia," or Williams alumni who go on to directorships
of major museums.  While at Williams, he oversaw an $8M expansion of their art
gallery, hired 30 employees to take over its operation (formerly the
responsibility of the art faculty) and then went on to found MASSMoCA, a
contemporary art museum housed in a former textile mill.  This feat brought him
to the attention of the search committee for the Guggenheim directorship, but
when his appointment was announced, the response of the NYTimes (and many
within the museum world) was "Tom Who?" and that he was a farm-team player who
made it to the big leagues without paying his dues.  And you are all familiar
with the rest of the story.  It's a great teaching case study.

Christian Carr
duPont Scholar-in-Residence
Department of Arts Management
Sweet Briar College
434.381.6526-phone
434.381.6173-fax

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