Artist Katherine Sherwood was always an artist. But a debilitating stroke at the age of 44 transformed her career. “Critics see a huge change in Sherwood’s work. From the restricted, analytical style of the art professor she once was, she has been transformed into a vibrant, free-flowing painter. She has just finished a show at New York’s prestigious Whitney Museum, and her abstracts sell for $10,000. “I have sold more paintings in the past few months than in 25 years as an artist,” she says with a smile. – The Times (UK)
Author: Douglas McLennan
TANGO TROUBLE
Composer Astor Piazzolla’s distinctive tango music has become a world-wide phenomenon. But “while his music won an enthusiastic following in Europe, the United States, Brazil, and Mexico, Piazzolla was not widely appreciated in his native Argentina until a decade before he died in 1992. Instead, his tampering with a native form as sacrosanct as the tango earned an intensity of contempt from the music’s old guard that may be difficult to fathom in this country, where disagreements over style and genre exercise only a handful of artists and critics.” – The New Republic
RECONSIDERING WRITING OF THE SOUTH
“The field of southern literary studies has been dominated by a huge Faulkner industry that both overshadows and tames the terms we use for reading southern women’s fiction. If we are to see this fiction in all of its power, we need to change the categories we use to think about southern literature.” – Chronicle of Higher Education
HARRY POTTER’S LITTLE SECRET
There has been a good deal of secrecy surrounding the impending release of the next Harry Potter novel. No one can get an advance copy, no one knows what the plot is, and booksellers kept getting mixed messages on what the title would be. An elaborate marketing plan? Nothing so clever. Up until very recently, the book wasn’t finished – author J.K. Rowling was scrambling to meet her deadline. – New York Observer
CALIFORNIA ARTS COMMISSION GETS BIG INCREASE
Legislature gives arts commission $12 million increase. The additional funds raise the council’s annual budget from $20 million to $32 million and bring California’s state arts spending to 92 cents per capita. The increase propels California from 42nd place into the top 25 states in the nation. – Los Angeles Times
LOOKING FOR LEONARDO
In 1503 Leonardo da Vinci was commissioned to paint a mural in Florence’s Palazzo Vecchio. But the image disappeared and conjecture is that rather than being destroyed the mural was obscured when a wall was built in front of it. Now scientists are on the hunt. “We will look through ancient walls using the most advanced technologies.” – Discovery.com
STOLEN ART IN BRITISH MUSEUM
A 12th Century manuscript in the British Museum is shown to have been looted from Italy. “The missal, from the chapter library of Benevento, was acquired by a UK army captain during World War II and bought by the British Museum library (as it then was) at Sotheby’s in 1947.” – The Art Newspaper
LOOKING BACK FOR THE FUTURE
The latest style in Moscow is what might be called reconstructivism. Wherever a historic building once stood but was destroyed, a more or less exact replacement now seems to be called for. Although not official policy, this growing attempt to re-create pre-revolutionary, pre-Stalin Moscow is largely driven by the office of the capital’s mayor, Yuri Luzhkov. – The Guardian
TAXMAN MAKES ARTISTIC DEAL
Instead of being the only Cimabue to ever have been auctioned, the rare panel painting will be accepted by the British government to pay the estate taxes of the current owner. The painting will join the collection of the National Gallery. – The Art Newspaper
LADY DIANA IN A JEEP?
When attempts to place statuary atop Trafalgar Square’s fourth vacant plinth began last year, officials were surprised by how seriously Londoners took up the task. Suggestions ranged from a statue of Princess Di to a giant pigeon. A year of trading art on and off the pedestal has suggested a plan for the future. – The Times (UK)