PORTLAND, Ore.—After roughly a year of negotiations with the Italian government and the New York nonprofit Foundation for Italian Art & Culture, the Portland Art Museum announced over the weekend that it will host Raphael's masterpiece La Velata (Woman With a Veil) (1516) this fall in a one-painting exhibition beginning October 24. The show will run alongside "China Design Now," another blockbuster that the museum hopes will lure visitors.

But blockbuster exhibitions, whether comprising one artwork or many, call for blockbuster prices. Admission to see La Velata will cost visitors $17, while "China Design Now" will cost $15 — and neither ticket offers free or reduced admission to the other exhibition. This has some art-worlders up in arms, including arts journalist and blogger Judith H. Dobrzynski, who writes, "It's bad enough to have a hefty $17 charge for a one-work show... but to make visitors pay for another special show — seen at the same time — is beyond the pale." According to its Web site, however, the museum does plan to offer a $20 "premier" ticket, which will cover general admission and entry to both special exhibitions — three fees that would otherwise total $44 (adult admission is $12).

Read more at the Oregonian and the blog Real Clear Arts.