Mark Yr Calendars: Gross Clinic Viewing

Remember last year, when everyone was all so worried about that painting leaving town and being sold to that Wal*Mart woman? Yeah, I forgot, too. But then I searched the archives and noted I had written a lot about it! I know, really.

But anyway, that’s not the point. The painting is The Gross Clinic, painted by Thomas Eakins, and it’s really neat. And Wal*Mart doesn’t own it. Instead, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and the Art Museum jointly bought it. (And sold another Eakins painting to raise funds to buy The Gross Clinic.)

The painting will be installed at PAFA and will be on view starting March 14. On March 17 and 18 (Saturday + Sunday) seeing the painting will be free. And so, you will finally be able to actually see it for the first time. Huzzah!

Thomas Eakins’ The Gross Clinic goes on public view at the Academy [PAFA.org]
Archives: The Gross Clinic

Reason #26 To Love Philadelphia: The Gross Clinic

Yesterday, Mayor Street announced The Gross Clinic would be staying in Philadelphia, as donors managed to raise enough that the Art Museum and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts agreed to take on the remaining debt and purchase the painting.

The painting was sold by Jefferson Hospital to two museums: The Crystal Bridges Museum in Bentonville, Ark., which was founded by Alice “Wal*Mart” Walton, and the National Gallery of Art in D.C. But when the sale was announced last month, Philadelphia art institutions had 45 days to raise money for the funding. That’s since been extended to Jan. 31, and Wachovia will do the financing for whatever fundraising doesn’t cover for the rest of the $68 million.

So: Hooray to our city’s art leaders! They managed to save a really cool, true Philadelphia painting that nobody thought they could. Now can we put them in charge of the School District?

‘Gross Clinic’ to stay in city [Inquirer]

Breaking: Gross Clinic Stays!

Gross Clinic to stay in Philadelphia! [Inquirer]

Gross Clinic Price Still Not Rolled Back

There are only a few days left until the sale of The Gross Clinic to the National Gallery of Art and the Crystal Bridges Museum. Will the citizens of Philadelphia be able to reach the $68 million goal before Dec. 26?

Well, the Inquirer’s Stephan Salisbury reports, they’re at $30 mil so far. And people seem kinda-sorta upbeat about the whole deal, meaning the painting could actually stay in the city. (Who’dathunkit?)

The key here is the rumor that the Art Museum (and other groups, I guess) may seek financing in order to get the $68 mil that’s needed to be raised to prevent The Gross Clinic from becoming, uh, property of the Wal*Mart Corporation.

So, Godspeed, you kooky leaders of the city’s art world! Even if only, like, 500 people saw the painting last year, it’s still worth it.

Funds for ‘Clinic’ at $30 million [Inquirer]
Archives: The Gross Clinic

Leftovers: Hair Straightening Edition

• Remember Doylestown’s Justin Guarini, the guy with the ‘fro, the runner-up in Season 1 of American Idol? That’s him at right. Yeesh. [Go Fug Yourself]

• The Inquirer asks in a headline: Can city protect art treasures? (And in the subhead: “With the “Gross Clinic” affair nearing a conclusion, what other public or quasi-public works are at risk? What can - or should - be done about it?”) The answer: Uh, no. [Inquirer]

• The first casino, at Pocono Downs, is raking in the dough, about $400 per machine, almost double what was expected. Hurrah, hurrah. [Bucks County Courier Times]

• The Phillies signed Jayson Werth to a one-year deal today. Yeah, I don’t really think this means much, if anything. [Beerleaguer]

• Sara Sherr on Tower Records: “One woman came in over the weekend, and I felt sorry for her. She asked, oh so sweetly, ‘Do you have any nice music?’ And I said, ‘No, I’m sorry, we’ll never have nice music again.’” [Phawker]

Saving ‘The Gross Clinic’

With the deadline for the sale of The Gross Clinic just two weeks away, Philadelphia’s art community is attempting to save the painting from a fate worse than hell: Going to Bentonville, Arkansas.

While it seems that the sale of The Gross Clinic to Walmart heiress’ Alice Walton’s Crystal Bridges Museum and the National Gallery of Art is all but a sure thing, that hasn’t stopped the sale of $2 buttons with the message “Keep ‘Gross’ in Philadelphia.” And painter Charles Cushing is doing a full-size replica of Thomas Eakins’ masterpiece in the lobby of Two Penn Center. (Neat!) He hopes to finish by Dec. 26, the deadline of the sale.

But we all know that nothing in this town gets done without a committee, and that’s why we’ve formed a Committee to Save The Gross Clinic! Who’s on it? Well, Rocky Statue hater Moe Brooker, a few people connected to Jefferson/Eakins, all your usual local tourism/yay Philly people and actor Kevin Bacon. (Hey! They got a celebrity! Just like the casino companies did!)

Bacon even gave a quote to the Inquirer: “This masterpiece and this artist are so intertwined and connected to this city that it should and must remain where it was created, and shared with as many people as possible.”

Rock on, Gross Clinic saviors! (But mainly, a “rock on” to the star of Tremors and Hollow Man.) Here’s to hoping your seemingly futile battle isn’t so futile at all.

Six degrees of Eakins energy [Inquirer]
Sincerest form of flattery for Eakins [Inquirer]
Aug. 3: An Oop De Doo For ‘Rocky’

Leftovers: Yes Men Look To Ride Borat Wave

• Okay, this one’s a little weird, but let’s do it. On the Wharton website: “A panelist for the Wharton Africa Business Forum misrepresented himself as being affiliated with the World Trade Organization (WTO). Based on that misrepresentation, the individual was invited to speak at the Forum, which was held on November 11, 2006 in Philadelphia. As soon as the conference organizers realized the misrepresentation perpetrated by this individual, the other panelists were immediately informed. Neither the conference organizers nor The Wharton School had or has any association with the individual nor do they endorse the individual’s views.” And you know why? Because of this. Yes, the “Yes Men” — remember them? — managed to sneak in and present a slavery-as-an-economic-model thesis. And nobody stopped them from presenting their thing on slavery. Huzzah. [Jessica Gold Haralson (the last one)]

• Another pay raise for the legislators! Okay, this one’s only a two-percent cost of living increase, but you damn better well bet somebody is going to have a giant pig on the steps of the legislature next time they’re in session! [Inquirer]

• Bob Brady has a blog. Oh, goodie. [Young Philly Politics]

• Chris Webber denied asking for a trade out of Philadelphia. Uhh, Chris? Hey. How about you ask to be traded, okay? It’ll be better for both of us. [Inquirer]

Updated: A bunch of cultural groups are going to try to keep The Gross Clinic in Philadelphia. Huzzah, people. Huzzah. [Art Museum]

The Gross Fallout

Despite the fact that more people voted in Jefferson Alumni Hall this year than went into the same building to see The Gross Clinic, civic and cultural leaders are rallying to keep the painting in the city.

Philadelphians have 39 days now to match the $68 million put up for the painting by the Crystal Bridges Museum (backed by Wal-Mart heirs) and the National Gallery of Art. There’s been mention of a partnership between PAFA and the Art Museum. Meanwhile, Jefferson has faced so much criticism that it asked senior faculty and staff to come up with other ways to spend the money other than fund the expansion of the hospital.

Look, since it sold the painting to Wal-Mart heirs, here’s a suggestion to Jefferson: Just roll-back the price of The Gross Clinic to $50 million-ish, so then maybe a Philadelphia cultural institution could buy it.

Jefferson seeks input on painting’s proceeds [Inquirer]

Painting’s Sale Like The Great Flood, Only Worse

It was announced Saturday that Jefferson Hospital would sell Thomas Eakins’ famed painting The Gross Clinic for $68 million, in order to help fund the hospital’s expansion. (More awesome-looking parking garages, please!)

The painting’s sale — to the National Gallery in D.C. and to Alice “Wal-Mart” Walton’s unbuilt Crystal Bridges Museum in Arkansas — has upset many of those connected with Jefferson Hospital, the Inquirer reports today. The hospital has rejected offers for the painting, which currently sits in Alumni Hall.

The loss of the painting is, of course, saddening. It’s a fantastic piece of art and to not have Philly’s Thomas Eakins’ masterwork — one the art establishment derided when it was originally painted — in Philadelphia is a little strange. But I don’t think it quite reaches the level of Hiroshima or Nagasaki:

The news, said David Paskin, senior associate dean at the university, hit Jefferson “like a nuclear blast.”

Yesterday, students, faculty members and alumni were still reeling from the shock, which caught everyone off guard, angering not a few by its seeming stealth.

Oh, I’m sorry. It’s worse than Hiroshima and Nagasaki because we warned them we’d bomb first. But, hey, we have until Dec. 26 for a counterattack! Huzzah!

A divisive deal [Inky]