The Obama family is definitely leaning modern, with Rothko, Degas and Diebenkorn among the artists represented. They've also included a word painting by Ed Ruscha. Not wanting to deprive the public of the opportunity to view works on display, the Obamas limited their choices to artwork in museum storage.

There's now a lot of money hanging from those White House walls. "Red Band" by Rothko, "Berkeley No. 52" by Diebenkorn and "White Line" by Sam Francis together are estimated to be worth between $20 million and $30 million. Throw a piece by Jasper Johns into the mix – specifically "Numerals, 0 through 9" – and you get a sense of the collection the Obamas have assembled.

Even with access to a collection of that caliber, though, I'd still never take Obama's job. And, there aren't enough Rothkos out there to change my mind.

Steven Spielberg and George Lucas have more than great movies in common, they are also both collectors of Norman Rockwell art. The latest collaboration from the talented pair won't be a movie but the pooling of their collections of Rockwell art as part of an exhibit at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington D.C. next year. "Telling Stories: Norman Rockwell From the Collections of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg" will be on exhibit from July 2, 2010 through Jan. 2, 2011 and will include more than 50 paintings and drawings from the movie moguls' collections.

The Washington Post reports that the exhibit will explore the connections linking the art and movies. It makes a certain sense that Steven Spielberg and George Lucas are collectors of Norman Rockwell art. After all, both directors share a certain love of Americana, of heroism and storytelling things that are key features in Rockwell's work. The pair have taped interviews on their thoughts on Rockwell which will be shown as part of the exhibit.

The Hope Diamond has gone naked. The 45.5 carat blue stone has been released from its setting in order to be prepared to its temporary new outfit. Last month I mentioned that there were three potential settings being considered for the stone to mark the 50th anniversary of its donation to the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History by jeweler Harry Winston. One was chosen, the Embracing Hope setting shown above. Embracing Hope received 45,000 out of a total 110,000 votes cast. The Hope will be on display by itself for the next few months while the setting is prepared by Harry Winston's team of jewelers. The legendary sparkler will then be shown in its glamorous new attire. The diamond will return to its own setting, a platinum setting surrounded by 16 pear-shaped and cushion-cut diamonds suspended from a diamond-set chain, in late 2010.

The famous Hope Diamond which is in the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History is getting reset to mark the 50th anniversary of its donation to the museum by jeweler Harry Winston. The 45.52 carat blue diamond will be reset by the House of Harry Winston in one of three possible modern settings. You can vote on your favorite at the Smithsonian website. The voting continues through September 7 and the diamond in its new setting will be revealed in conjunction with the world premiere of the Smithsonian Channel's documentary "Mystery of the Hope Diamond" in March 2010. The setting is only temporary. The diamond will be returned to its original setting by the end of 2010 which makes me wonder why they are doing it in the first place but I suppose that this is one piece of jewelry that need never be evaluated in terms of resale value.

[via LA Times]

Some collectors wait until they have left this earth to see their treasures head to the museum. Not nuclear physicist and Subway co-founder Peter Buck. He buys things just to give them away. The Washington Post interviews Buck who in 2004 bought one of the world's most stunning rubies and donated it to the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History in memory of his late wife. The Carmen Lúcia ruby is shown at right. More recently Buck acquired a 224-year-old George Washington letter which will also go to the National Museum of American History spending $250,000 to buy the document and arrange for its care.

Carmen's longtime jeweler Frank Cappiello brokered the beginning of the relationship between the Smithsonian and Buck. The letter Buck purchased was sent in 1785 and was kept in the family of the recipient until recently when it was sold to a dealer who sold it to Cappiello who then sold it to Buck, who hasn't seen the letter in person yet. Buck's generosity inspires a certain amount of envy, many organizations and individuals would love to have access to the ear and wallet of a billionaire. For Buck's part there seems to be pleasure not in as much in acquiring the specific goods but in being able to share them with the visitors to the Smithsonian.

You can't fly in the original Spirit of St. Louis but if you've ever looked up at it in the Smithsonian and dreamed, you might want to bid on the next best thing. The Lindbergh Foundation is auctioning off rides in a replica of Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis with up to 12 possible winners. The Experimental Aircraft Association's Spirit of St. Louis replica will be part of the Lindbergh Foundation's 2009 Lindbergh Award Celebration on May 15, 16, and 17 at the EAA AirVenture Pioneer Airport. This Spirit of St. Louis replicas is the only one in the world that can take a passenger. This plane is configured so that the EAA pilot commands the aircraft from up front meaning that the passenger can experience flight in the aircraft from the actual "Lindbergh seat" position and there is a set of fully functioning dual flight controls.

The 12 flights will be awarded to the highest bidders and each bidder can buy up to four rides at his winning bid price. Each flight will last 15-20 minutes. The official start of the bidding process will be announced at a press conference on April 22 at Sun 'n Fun. Bids will start at $250.

[via General Aviation News]

Do you remember 1861? I know I do, and that little event at Fort Sumter that started a 'bit of a clash' here inside the United States. Well watchmaker Jonathon Dillon felt pretty strongly about it at the time living in Washington DC at the outset of the Civil war. On April 13th he happened to be in possession of President Lincoln's gold pocket watch (likely for servicing). It was a common practice for watchmakers to engrave markings inside of watch cases to memorialize that they are serviced the watch and when - similar to a graffiti tag. On this occasion however, knowing the owner of the watch and the ramifications of the Fort Sumter attack, Mr. Dillon was influenced to be prolific and felt it necessary to record the actions on the watch. "Fort Sumter was attacked by the rebels [the South] on the above date [April 13, 1861]...Thank god we have a government."

No one, not even President Lincoln himself had seen this inscription until just recently when the Smithsonian Museum opened up Lincoln's pocket watch on rumors of a "secret message," communicated by a descendant of watchmaker Dillon - who was not actually the person who made the pocket watch itself. The watch was purchased over a decade earlier in the 1850's while Abraham Lincoln was a successful attorney in Illinois. Other markings where included on the watch movement face by other watchmakers, but nothing quite like Dillon's words. Lincoln's pocket watch was originally given to the Smithsonian in 1958 by a descendant of Lincoln, who decided the timepiece was important enough to be included in America's greatest historical collection.

Via the National Museum of American History.

Ariel Adams publishes the watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

The Smithsonian is usually known in relation to its museum but it also offers 'The Best in Educational Travel'. Pairing behind the scenes adventures with experts and comfortable accommodations, Smithsonian Journeys are one of the up-and-coming ways to see the world...especially if you have a larger budget. Choose from such itineraries as 'In the Footsteps of Galileo' or 'Historic Cities of the Sea' and you'll treat yourself to an mind expanding vacation with top-quality offerings. In the world of the wealthy it is no longer a week at the beach that suits their needs but a deeper desire to pair unknown destinations with self-enrichment and quality dinner conversations with fellow travelers. Peruse the gallery to get a hint of the incredible destinations that await you.

[via Wall Street Journal]

The Smithsonian Associates has announced their latest commission, a limited-edition lithograph from April Gornik titled "Blue Moonlight." The Art Collectors Program offers Smithsonian members and non-members the chance to purchase Smithsonian-commissioned contemporary fine art prints and posters by acclaimed American artists. The limited-edition prints are numbered and signed and come with a Certificate of Authenticity from the Smithsonian. The collection also includes Studio Editions of glass art by Dale Chihuly.

Blue Moonlight is a quiet landscape with double reflection of the moon. Gornik is a prominent landscape painter whose paintings and prints are in major private and museum collections, including the National Gallery of Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the National Museum of American Art, the National Museum of Women in the Arts. The seven-color lithograph is a signed and numbered edition of 100, printed on Rives BFK paper and sold unframed. The price is $1200 for nonmembers and $950 for Smithsonian Associate Members.

[via Art Daily]

We first heard of W. Richard West Jr.'s spendy habits last December. The founding director of the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian was in trouble then for money spend on first-class transportation and luxury hotels. Now the Washington Post, which was on the story last time reports that according to the Smithsonian inspector general's report, West submitted $17,621 in expenses without providing sufficient explanation or evidence for the spending. The report found that while West's spending was "lavish" and "extravagant" most of his expenses followed Smithsonian rules. It seems West liked to eat well, he billed $17,331 for 82 meal vouchers submitted from 2003 to 2007 (which averages out to over $200 a meal). The museum also spend $17,293 on a dinner party to unveil a $48,500 oil portrait West, who retired last year but West's old law firm, Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP paid $15,000 of the expense for the dinner party. There's no denying West's significant contributions to the museum as its founding director, and likely given his previous occupation he simply wasn't accustomed to being held accountable for every last dollar spent. Luxury spending has been seen as part of the cost of doing business when it comes to some museums but those days may be at an end.

A luxury lifestyle has come back to haunt the former director of the National Museum of the American Indian. W. Richard West Jr. spent more than $250,000 in Smithsonian money on first-class transportation and luxury hotels in just four years according to records obtained by The Washington Post. During those four years he was away from Washington for 576 days on trips that included speaking engagements, fundraising and work for other nonprofit groups. He zipped around the globe hitting Paris, Singapore, New Zealand, Greece and Indonesia.

West, who recently retired from the director's post says his trips were approved by supervisors and were part of his job, representing the museum around the world. He has a defender in Jacqueline Johnson, executive director of the National Congress of American Indians, who praised his record of service. The Smithsonian has been facing a lot of heat lately with allegations of spending abuses by former Secretary Lawrence Small, who resigned. While West was making his travels,top Smithsonian officials were allowed unlimited leave with pay.

It is said that West traveled more than other Smithsonian museum directors. I wonder if he would have faced the same scrutiny if he flew coach. It can be hard to pin down which hotels qualify as luxury versus simply convenient or available but first class plane flights, like flying by private jet, is easily identifiable as being perhaps, a bit decadent.

The Smithsonian has become the latest museum to license its brand name to a furniture collection. The Smithsonian Collection by Bernhardt, is as you might suspect, a rather classic collection that includes dining and bedroom sets, chandeliers, sinks and fireplace accessories all based on designs in the Smithsonian Institution's museums, libraries and archives. The furniture is made by Bernhardt Furniture, the same company that makes Martha Stewart's line. The Smithsonian Collection by Bernhardt includes two furniture lines: the National Heritage Collection which is based on 19th-century Regency and Empire designs and the American Archive Collection which is based on Southern, "low country" designs in cherry wood. Prices range from about $250 to $2,400. Some purists and historians have raised questions about this and other museum licensing deals but for the museums it is a chance to earn money without having to court donors. As I mentioned previously when talking about museums which are offering their names and collections to new institutions around the world, the power of a brand is emerging as one of a museum's most powerful assets.

The huge diamond shown here is the Tiffany Diamond, the largest diamond currently on display in the U.S. It recently made its debut at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History in Washington. The 128.54 carat cushion-cut stone is on loan from Tiffany & Co. until Sept. 23. On top of hte stone is a gem-encrusted bird which was designed in the early 1960's by Jean Schlumberger. It is gold and platinum with white and yellow diamonds and a ruby eye. The priceless yellow diamond has only been worn twice, once by a Rhode Island socialite and once by actress Audrey Hepburn in a promotion for the film "Breakfast at Tiffany's." The rough stone was discovered in South Africa in 1877 and was 287 carats before cutting.