raison d'etre

This line from Tyler's post on Roberta Smith on Pixar at MoMA (whew!) makes me wonder what he thinks about the upcoming Whitney Biennial -

"How is MoMA "relatively clean" (Smith's word) for doing a show that betrays its raison d'etre?"

From the Whitney Museum of American Art mission statement -

"The Whitney Museum of American Art is dedicated to collecting, preserving, interpreting, and exhibiting American art. We exist to serve a wide variety of audiences and to celebrate the complexity, heterogeneity, and diversity of American art and culture."

How does that square with Carol Vogel's 11/30/2005 NYTimes report that states -

"the curators have scoured artists' studios in art capitals like Milan, London, Paris and Berlin."

UPDATE 12/19/2005: Good. Tyler has posted a Christmas wish list today including a wish for the Whitney - "The Whitney: An identity. Because the museum seems to be throwing away its "Museum of American Art" identity with its 2006 biennial."