Another Selfie-Greedy Tourist Breaks Another Artwork

“This time, the victim was a historic plaster model by the Italian artist Antonio Canova (1757–1822). On July 31, a misguided Austrian tourist snapped the toes off the Neoclassical sculpture Pauline Bonaparte as Venus Victrix, housed at [the town of] Possagno’s Museo Antonio Canova in northeast Italy, while attempting to sit on its lap for … Continue reading “Another Selfie-Greedy Tourist Breaks Another Artwork”

Tourist Fesses Up To Breaking Toes Off Canova Sculpture

The tourist, on a trip to celebrate his 50th birthday, was visiting an art museum in northern Italy last week when he posed with the statue of a reclining Pauline Bonaparte. Her husband had commissioned the seminude sculpture by the Italian artist Antonio Canova in the early 19th century. It is known as Pauline Bonaparte … Continue reading “Tourist Fesses Up To Breaking Toes Off Canova Sculpture”

Italy To Tourists: Please Come Back — Just Don’t Climb All Over The Old Stuff, Okay?

A German couple going swimming in the Grand Canal. An Austrian breaking the toe off a statue when he climbed on it for a selfie. A French woman writing her name in felt-tip pen on the Ponte Vecchio. A woman posing for a selfie on top of 2,000-year-old thermal baths in Pompeii. Italians badly want … Continue reading “Italy To Tourists: Please Come Back — Just Don’t Climb All Over The Old Stuff, Okay?”

“Hamilton” Breaks Broadway Box Office Records Over Thanksgiving

With many tourists in the city, schools on break and star power lifting the tide, audiences turned out en masse. “Hamilton” grossed a whopping $3.4 million in a regular eight-performance week, breaking its own record set this January. With the show sold out nonstop, the average ticket price hit $321.13, reflecting a premium pricing model … Continue reading ““Hamilton” Breaks Broadway Box Office Records Over Thanksgiving”

Will Broadway Lure The Tourists This Summer?

“Broadway doesn’t have summer sales in the bag just yet. … [I]t’s out-of-towners who fuel summer sales — and with recessionary worries and the recent outbreak of swine flu prompting predictions of a decline in tourism, it’s not yet certain that the usual B.O. boom will ring in as robustly as it has in the … Continue reading “Will Broadway Lure The Tourists This Summer?”

Corcoran Sees Mild Success, But No Breakout

“The [Washington, D.C.-based] Corcoran Gallery of Art, testing new ways to regain its foothold as a high-profile Washington exhibition space, drew modest crowds to its recent sprawling exhibition on modernism. [But] the Corcoran increased its admission from $8 [to $14] for the show. The numbers… suggest that local residents and tourists are accustomed to free … Continue reading “Corcoran Sees Mild Success, But No Breakout”

Art To Help You Break The Law

“Travelling Guide is written in the style of a guide-book, but is not intended for affluent Western tourists. It is a piece of controversial art which aims to ‘subvert the language and purpose of the format’, speaking directly to Romanian travellers and illegal immigrant workers, helping them through border controls, ports and stations into Western … Continue reading “Art To Help You Break The Law”

Making Sense of The Complicated Havana Bienal

The Cuban government, which regularly arrests artists and journalists, also expected to welcome a record-breaking 5.1 million tourists this year. Cuba’s leaders are well aware that cultural capital is one of their nation’s major assets. Rage, pain, and dissent were not only openly on view in this Bienal but were featured and promoted with hashtags … Continue reading “Making Sense of The Complicated Havana Bienal”