Musical prodigies face a range of issues beyond music. No one pays attention only to how they play – you have to look and act the part. – Sonicnet
Author: Douglas McLennan
THE REAL STRAVINSKY
For a good part of the 20th Century Igor Stravinsky was considered the greatest composer of the era. But “by the time of his death in 1971 the plaudits of the mass media were out of sync with the opinions of musical tastemakers in Europe and America; these dismissed him as a diehard reactionary who had waited too long to acknowledge the historical inevitability of atonality. But the tastemakers were wrong, and with the restoration of tonality and the demise of the atonal avant-garde, Stravinsky’s music has once again returned to the limelight.” – Commentary
PROD TO GREATNESS
London’s theatre press is ganging up on Trevor Nunn for his three-year-old stewardship of the Royal National Theater. “In general, critics have taken Mr. Nunn to task for what they call cautious programming that they say leans too heavily on crowd-pleasing musicals and not enough on new work and younger playwrights.” – New York Times
A SIDE OF BACON
Vanity Fair is said to be publishing a story claiming that painter Francis Bacon, who died in 1992 aged 82, was a tax dodger. The magazine alleges that Bacon avoided paying tax in Britain by failing to declare payments made by his dealers Marlborough Fine Art to a Swiss bank account. – London Evening Standard
COME IN FROM THE LIGHT
The art world loathes Thomas Kinkade’s precious paintings. But America’s mall-goers can’t buy them fast enough and have made Kinkade a wealthy man. Reviled by the critics and scorned by galleries and agents, his work has been described as everything from ‘pseudo’ to ‘a damning indictment of our society’. Some question whether what he does is art at all.” Now Kinkade’s taking his show to England. – The Telegraph (UK
THE PARIS OF THE MIDWEST?
Chicago’s Mayor Richard Daly has been traveling to Europe. And thinking that what his city needs is a little bit of Europe. He’s proposed a London-style theatre district downtown, borrowed the downtown art cow idea from the Swiss, and proposed Venetian gondolas for the city’s waterways. What’s next? – Chicago Tribune
MERMAIDS IN NORFOLK, GIANT CORN IN BLOOMINGTON
Some three dozen US cities have deployed art on their downtown streets after Chicago reported a hit with its art cows last year. Now Chicago is talking about putting a twist on the idea next summer. “If Chicago can reinvent itself and come up with something even more inventive, I’d say we’re up for a decade of things on parade.” – CNN (AP)
COME IN FROM THE LIGHT
The art world loathes Thomas Kinkade’s precious paintings. But America’s mall-goers can’t buy them fast enough and have made Kinkade a wealthy man. Reviled by the critics and scorned by galleries and agents, his work has been described as everything from ‘pseudo’ to ‘a damning indictment of our society’. Some question whether what he does is art at all.” Now Kinkade’s taking his show to England. – The Telegraph (UK)
A SIDE OF BACON
Vanity Fair is said to be publishing a story claiming that painter Francis Bacon, who died in 1992 aged 82, was a tax dodger. The magazine alleges that Bacon avoided paying tax in Britain by failing to declare payments made by his dealers Marlborough Fine Art to a Swiss bank account. – London Evening Standard
DOT-COM CRASH IMPACTS ART SALES
With much of Seattle’s new wealth built on the dotcom boom, the recent downturn in the market has affected gallery art sales. “Everybody’s afraid to bring it up, because everybody wonders at first if it’s just us, if our business is down and everybody else is doing fine.” – Seattle Post-Intelligencer