Author: Douglas McLennan

NOT JUST LOSING, BUT…

It’s tough to defeat a libel charge under British law. But a British judge threw out controversial historian David Irving’s case against the historian Deborah Lipstadt, who had written in a 1993 book that Mr. Irving was “one of the most dangerous spokesmen for Holocaust denial.” Remarkably, the judge went so far as to call Irving a racist anti-Semite who deliberately distorts historical evidence to portray Hitler “in an unwarrantedly favorable light.” – New York Times

CULTURE SWAP

Korean arts groups are hoping the much-anticipated policy summit between North and South Korea in June will give inter-Korean arts exchange some needed momentum. “The excitement is understandable, given that for more than a half century there has been almost no civilian contact.”  – Korea Times

ROSES ARE RED…

Why is it that people seem to find poetry difficult to read but easy to write? “The ‘easy to write’ view seems odd. No one believes it is easy to play a musical instrument. Why would anyone think the instrument of language is any easier to master?” – MSNBC

STATE OF THE ART – ER, SORT OF

For the first time this year, the Whitney Biennial includes internet art. But “it’s clear that if 2000 is remembered as a turning point in the history of Internet art, it may be not because of the Biennial but in spite of it. It took the Whitney until five days after the show opened to get a suite of computers operational in the lower level gallery, despite assurances at the press preview that the computers would be available to viewers as soon as the pre-show parties had ended.” – New Republic

FOLLOW THE LEADER

Given the quick success of British and German web lists of artwork of questionable provenance, American museums discover the internet as well. Yesterday the Metropolitan Museum posted a list of 393 paintings whose ownership histories have any gap between 1933 and 1945. Then the Museum of Modern Art followed suit with a list of the known provenance of 15 works acquired after 1933. – New York Times

DITTO CHICAGO’S ART INSTITUTE: 500 works listed by the museum. – Chicago Tribune

WHY NOW? And by the way, the Presidential Advisory Commission on Holocaust Assets asked the heads of four major museums yesterday, just how serious are you about this issue? And why is Boston’s Museum of Fine Art’s list so thin? – Boston Herald

THE MET, MOMA AND THE MFA —

— trooped before the Presidential Advisory Commission on Holocaust Assets Wednesday to declare their intention to resolve provenance issues. The commission acts as a national body examining what stolen war-era assets exist in the United States and oversees the research to identify them. – Newsday

FIRST CLAIMS

Boston’s MFA acknowledges that a family has made a claim for one of the European paintings in the museum’s collection that was stolen and sold in France during the Nazi occupation. The MFA responds: “We have researched the claim and found it to be completely valid and have since been discussing an amicable resolution with the claimant. The claim-ant wishes to keep the painting at the MFA and we are working toward that end.” – Boston Herald

THE NEXT BIG MOVIE

They’re making a movie of Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” and it’s being breathlessly awaited by fans of the books. When a two-minute excerpt from the project went up on the web last week it was downloaded an astonishing 1.7 million times in the first 24 hours following its release. – Wired 04/12/00

DIGITAL CHANGES EVERYTHING

Matt Brutacao was a sophomore in high school when he wrote, shot, directed and edited his first movie – a two-hour action-adventure flick with original score and more than 80 members of the cast. He filmed it over nine months in about 30 locations, including his school bus and the local jail – where his friend’s father works – and premiered it in his school’s gym. His budget for the project?  About $130. He’s already made more than 100 movies. – Los Angeles Times 04/12/00