“Though still in its infancy, the appetite for contemporary Chinese art is booming in Europe and Asia. Betting that the trend is fast moving West, Sotheby’s has put together a sale that includes some of China’s hottest names. The auction house has timed it to coincide with Asia Week, the annual round of sales and exhibitions that draw dealers and collectors from across the globe to New York each spring.”
Month: March 2006
McBain Revamps Arts Magazines
Louise McBain has been building a $600 million publishing empire af arts magazines. Now she’s restructuring. “In five years, MacBain bought Art + Auction, Modern Painters and Museums Magazines and Gallery Guides, which publish guides for eight or more cities each. She added a data service, Art Sales Index, and a French publisher, Somogy. She launched a Web site, Artinfo.com, in 2005, and Truman will help start a new magazine, Culture & Travel, in September.”
Cardiff “Ring” Sells Out In Four Hours
Tickets for the Kirov Opera’s production of Wagner’s Ring in Cardiff, Wales, went fast. “Cardiff Fans from across the world have bought seats costing as much as £750 for the performance by Russia’s Mariinsky Theatre – formerly the Kirov Opera. The shows in December will be their only planned UK performance. Tickets have gone to fans as far away as Russia itself, as well as the USA, the Middle East and France.”
Where Are Opera’s Black Leading Men?
One sight that remains exceedingly rare in opera?: a black tenor in a leading role from the standard repertoire. That could be changing, though. Black tenors are becoming more and more visible…
Gehry On A Broach
Architect Frank Gehry unveils a new line of jewelry for Tiffany. “The 76-year-old architect, who reached a whole new level of fame on the silvery sails of Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Guggenheim Bilbao, is the first new artist to be introduced by Tiffany since Paloma Picasso in 1980. The collection is comprised of six series named after recurring motifs in Gehry’s work: Fish, Torque, Axis, Fold, Equus and Orchid.”
Vigilante Broadway Audience Takes On… The Rude Audience
No question audience members are getting ruder and ruder in the theatre. On Broadway recently there has been a rash of vigilante actions against the transgressions of annoying audience members. One psychologist describes the situation as “an epidemic breakdown of boundaries. People have completely lost sight of what personal boundaries are.”
87-Year Run Almost Comes To End Over Unpaid Bills
For 87 years, Veronica’s Veil Players have annually staged “America’s Passion Play.” “That long run was nearly broken this weekend, with the gas supply to the group’s ancient furnace cut off because of nearly $40,000 in unpaid bills. Friday’s performance went on using space heaters, but about two dozen audience members left early. The Players’ board decided to cancel the remaining four performances, through next weekend, and to re-mount June 2-11, when any remaining cold in the building will function, Szemanski joked, “like free air conditioning.”
Washington Ballet – Smaller, But Back In Business
It’s labor contract resolved and its budget reduced, Washington Ballet announces a new pared-down season. “A long-running labor dispute forced the cancellation of nearly half of December’s run of ‘The Nutcracker,’ which the ballet company said resulted in a substantial loss of ticket revenue that in turn led to the scrapping of other scheduled performances and the laying off of the dancers. A tentative agreement on a first-ever employment contract with the American Guild of Musical Artists, the dancers’ union, was reached this month. With the ballet back in business, we’ve made a decision to invest in the artistic product.”
Key To Success? Technology Is Your Friend
This is not the first time the movie business has been threatened by technology. “In the 1950s, as today, theaters were under siege, their audience being lured away by a dazzling new technology. Today’s competition comes from the Internet, computer games and home entertainment centers. Then the enemy was television. “How do you compete with free?” theater owners moaned, the same mantra we’ve heard from record executives complaining about unauthorized file sharing. My response has always been the same: You’ve got to embrace the future.”
The Woman With The Perfect Memory
A woman named AJ remembers everything that ever happened to her. Everything. “Give her any date, she said, and she could recall the day of the week, usually what the weather was like on that day, personal details of her life at that time, and major news events that occurred on that date.”