Perceptions of MoMA in Europe

If you just can't get enough of the noise about the new MoMA, I think that Tyler Green at Modern Art Notes has the most thorough assortment of links to the chatter. One thing Tyler has omitted: my little translation of the review of the new Modern in Le Figaro (Le nouveau MoMA, November 16). The European newspaper coverage has been quite interesting, so here's a selection of articles:

• Fabrice Rousselot, MoMAgnifique à Manhattan (Libération, November 20), which is one of a series of articles in Saturday's edition (follow the links under "À Lire Aussi")
  
• Le Musée d'art moderne de New York rouvre ses portes métamorphosé (Agence France-Presse, November 20, in La Libre Belgique)
  
• New York's MoMA gallery re-opens (BBC News, November 21)
  
• Kirsty Wark, New York gallery reinvents itself (BBC News, Newsnight Review, November 19)
  
• Bring on the new (The Economist, November 18)
  
• Jay Merrick, Playing to the gallery (The Independent, November 17)
  
• Gaby Wood, Miracle on 54th Street (The Observer, November 21)
  
• Richard Dorment, An exhilarating temple of enlightenment (The Telegraph, November 17)
  
• Rachel Campbell-Johnston, Brit Art is strictly off the walls in New York's answer to Tate Modern (The Times (London), November 18)
  
• Waldemar Januszczak, Moma undergoes an extreme makeover (The Times (London), November 21), with the tagline "The $850m redesigned Moma is almost perfect. But greed and confusion still show through the cracks."
  
• Laura Larcan, Apriti MoMA (La Repubblica, November 19)
  
• Gabriela Walde, Der Luxus heißt hier Einfachheit (Die Welt, November 17), in which John Updike is quoted labeling the new building "eine unsichtbare Kathedrale" (an invisible cathedral)
  
• Sebastian Moll, Kühles Comeback einer Legende (Die Welt am Sonntag, November 21)
  
• Besucheransturm bei MoMa-Eröffnung (Der Spiegel, November 20)
  
• Eva Male, Moma Neu: Grande Dame, geliftet (Die Presse, November 20)
  
• Thomas Burmeister, Das MoMA hat ein neues Zuhause (Stern, November 16), with several great pictures
  
• Werner Spies, Das „MoMA” ist zurück: Im Zeichen des zerbrochenen Obelisken (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, November 19)
  
• Peter Toelkem, "Für gute Kunst braucht man Geld" [For good art you need money]: Der Direktor des MoMA über dessen deutsche Wurzeln und seine roten Socken (interview with Glenn Lowry, Die Welt, November 21)
  
• Hanno Rauterberg, In Manhattans Wunderwald (Die Zeit, November 18)

The general impression I get from reading these articles is that the MoMA story is reinforcing some of the stereotypes of the United States as a money-obsessed capitalist empire. ($800 million to build a museum! $20 to get in!) Also, European critics have been noting the absence or slighting of some European modern artists, which is hardly surprising (that the Modern would present a specialized collection or that Europeans would notice lacunae). There is a sense of competition, of course, which drew a lot of comparisons with the Beaubourg and the Tate Modern, especially. Interesting reading for we 'mericans.