The French pavilion, with its installation by Annette Messager, received the Golden Lion for best national pavilion. The award for young Italian art 2004-05 went to video artist Lara Favaretto. And a special Golden Lion was posthumously given to Harald Szeemann, who organized the visual arts exhibitions at Venice in 1998 and 2001. As was previously announced, Barbara Kruger won the Golden Lion for lifetime achievement. The jury for the national pavilions included Dan Cameron, Udo Kittelmann, Llilian Llanes and Fumio Nanjo. Both juries were overseen by biennale president Ida Gianelli.

And as if that weren't enough, last week the Los Angeles Times published a lengthy investigative report that paints Munitz as a spendthrift of "grand appetites." Written by Jason Felch, Robin Fields and Louise Roug and published on June 10, the story is a remarkably rare and penetrating look into the ordinarily hush-hush inner circles of the art-world's upper stratosphere. Not only does Munitz pull down a salary of $1.2 million (including benefits), more than double the pay of top museum directors, the paper reports, but he also received from the Getty a brand new $72,000 Porsche Cayenne SUV during a period that the organization was otherwise cutting staff.

Other apparent financial indiscretions include $1 million in payments to "senior advisors," a group of Munitz cronies who reported directly to him; a $10-million "President's Opportunity Fund" controlled by Munitz's office; and an $18,000 grant to furnish a former Getty Center executive's new office -- at another organization. Munitz and his wife, Anne T. Munitz, are portrayed as exceptionally fond of first-class travel at Getty expense. One eight-day trip to Tuscany cost the Getty over $35,000, according to the paper, including $466 for wine. For a six-day trip to Hawaii in 2001, the trust paid for Munitz and his wife's airfare, and picked up half of their hotel costs, which totaled around $1,000 per night.

Most disturbing of all, the report indicates that Munitz's controversial style has transformed the once-indomitable institution into "a bitter, divided place that has hemorrhaged talent." Stay tuned.

After many years of quixotic management (to say the least), the Barnes is now moving to transform itself into a major player on the Philadelphia culture scene. Lincoln University, the historically black school that had overseen the Barnes for so long, has been pushed aside, and the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Annenberg Foundation and cable billionaire Gerry Lenfest's Lenfest Foundation are joining together to move the Barnes to a new site on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

Flanked by the Rodin Museum and the Free Library (under renovation by Moshe Safdie), the Barnes site is near the Philadelphia Museum and the planned Calder Museum. According to the Architectural Record, Renzo Piano is rumored to be the favorite to design the new facility.

Norten has previously worked with the Guggenheim -- he came up with the ingenious installation of the museum's recent "Aztec Empire" exhibition. The new Gugg satellite isn't a sure thing, of course; a feasibility study determining costs and potential revenues is due in August.

Highlights include "Young Masters," an exhibition curated by Flora Fairbairn and Catriona Warren, bringing together a group of contemporary artists who employ Old Master iconography in their work, and 9 Drawings for projection, a compilation of films by William Kentridge that are to be transformed into a live performance by composer Philip Miller and the Sontonga Quartet. To find out more, visit www.artfortnightlondon.com.