Film had scarcely been invented by 1890 when Van Gogh committed suicide. But some Dutch filmmakers claim to have a snippet of film of the artist. “The Van Gogh film will be shown in his native village of Zundert next Saturday as part of celebrations marking the 150th year of his birth, even though the record of Van Gogh’s work and the lack of other evidence appeared to cast doubt on the claim that a grainy passer-by in the film was the brilliant but troubled painter.”
Month: August 2003
Questions About Van Gogh Film
“The Van Gogh film will be shown in his native village of Zundert next Saturday as part of celebrations marking the 150th year of his birth, even though the record of Van Gogh’s work and the lack of other evidence cast doubt on the claim that a grainy passer-by in the film was the painter.”
Experts: Van Gogh Movie A Fake
A film purported to be footage of artist Vincent Van Gogh is a fake, says experts. After investigations, the festival organisation in the Netherlands that planned to show the movie – Autour de Vincent, “confirmed the footage was a hoax designed to gain publicity for the weekend event. The Brabant provincial government was aware of the stunt and had partially funded it.”
Why Andy Matters
Andy Warhol wasn’t an artist, writes Terry Teachout. He was “a preternaturally shrewd operator who transformed Marcel Duchamp’s anti-art into glossy gewgaws suitable for mail-order merchandising. He silk-screened money. Why should those who do care about art bother to take note of the 75th birthday of an anti-artist whose works were purposefully forgettable? Because Warhol did as much as anyone to shape the culture of pure, accomplishment-free celebrity in which we now live. He envisioned it far more clearly than most of his contemporaries, and this clarity helped make him the best-known artist of the postwar era.”
Movies Grosses Up, Admissions Down
The movies took in more money in July than they did last July. But the increase was due to ticket price increases. “Estimated admissions for the month of July were 194.1 million, down 4% from the 202.5 million tallied during the comparable period in 2002. In a historical context, it was only the 10th highest admission count for the month of July in the past 11 years.”
Edinburgh – A Festival Of Individual Passions
“Should festivals be educational? Directors of Edinburgh’s mighty assemblages of acts have often been drawn to communicate their own ideas and enthusiasms.” These passions have often resulted in artistic experiences not to be duplicated anywhere else (and sometimes the big fat floperoo).
Balanchine Comes Home
New York City Ballet travels to St. Petersburg to perform Balanchine at the Maryinsky. Th company is a hit. “The Maryinsky has been dancing Balanchine since the beginning of the 1990’s and never once could one have suspected that it can be like this.”
Real Unreal “Virtual” Situations (And What We Can Learn From Them)
“Blast Theory” is an amalgam of theatre performers and scientists creating interactive “performances” that mix reality with virtual situations. “The laboratory provides the technical and theoretical underpinning for their fascination with computer and communications technology, and its ability to create ‘virtual’ situations that blur distinctions between the real and the imaginary. Verbal and visual ambiguity is very much the stuff of artistic endeavour. But with the development of three- dimensional imaging and ‘intelligent’ and ubiquitous computing devices, a number of scientific laboratories worldwide are attempting to understand how humans will interact with all this smart machinery.”
The New Adult Cartoons
Animation isn’t just for kids anymore. “A host of new, cutting-edge animated shows is set to debut this year and next. Many of them feature brash characters and dysfunctional families, as well as story lines that poke fun at societal and cultural taboos. The new shows, also on such cable channels as Showtime and the Sci Fi Channel, along with the earlier success of “The Simpsons,” “South Park” and Adult Swim’s “Space Ghost Coast to Coast,” prove that TV animation – once dismissed as kids’ stuff – is finally being taken seriously.”
Boston Curator Named Director Of Frick
Anne Little Poulet has been named the new director of the Frick Museum. “Although she has never run a museum, Ms. Poulet, 61, comes to the job with 30 years’ experience in the art world. For two decades she ran the department of European decorative arts and sculpture at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. During that time she was responsible for a number of acquisitions.”