“Art only flourished in the Renaissance because it was subsidised by the rich and the Church,” the collector points out. “Perhaps even in those days people were more fascinated by how much art fetched, than the art itself.”
Author: Laura Collins Hughes
‘Frida Kahlo’ Archive Emerges, And Partisans Cry Forgery
In Mexico, “a festering dispute over a little-known archive of ephemera attributed to Kahlo has erupted into open warfare. Despite the tantalizing possibility that some or maybe even all the material is authentic,” bullying assertions that it’s fake are being made by art-world figures who’ve never laid eyes on it.
Sex And Sensibility: When Jane Austen Gets Raunchy
“Fresh from a run on the Edinburgh fringe, Jane Austen’s Guide to Pornography arrived at Battersea’s Theatre 503 last week with an all-male cast and not a little innuendo. … There are some predictably nudge-nudge elements – ooh, let’s make Jane Austen say ‘enormous cock’, that’ll be hilarious – but it actually works pretty well….”
Footballer’s Shocking, Proud Confession: He Took Ballet
As a kid, Manchester United player Rio Ferdinand kept his ballet lessons hush-hush. “‘I didn’t tell anyone for years, until I was about 15 or 16 and could handle myself properly,’ revealed Ferdinand….”
Why British Artists Are Going Abroad — And Staying There
“[I]t is worth asking this: why do so many significant British artists now live and work overseas?” Are other countries more hospitable, creatively and practically, to good work?
The High Line: So Much More Fun Than Times Square
Why New Yorkers loathe the chair-strewn, tourist-friendly pedestrian plaza that is Mike Bloomberg’s Times Square (even if they’re slightly unfair about it), and why they love the High Line (hint: nudity!).
These Titles Ought To Be Man Booker Finalists
The Man Booker Prize, whose 2009 shortlist is to be announced Tuesday, “was created as an unabashed arbiter of literary excellence. The judges’ only task is to select the finest novel of the year. By that criterion, three books stand out.”
Iranian Filmmakers Get Political At Venice Fest
“While Iranian cinema was preoccupied for much of the 1980s and 1990s with symbolism and allegorically cherubic children, the Iranian pics at Venice this year deal directly with the social upheaval in the country both preceding and following June’s presidential elections.”
Animated Pixar Mascot At Center Of Lamp Firm’s Lawsuit
“Norwegian lamp maker Luxo filed a lawsuit Thursday in federal court in New York accusing Pixar and parent Walt Disney Co. of infringing its copyright by selling a limited-edition Luxo Jr. lamp packaged with a Blu-ray version of the Disney/Pixar movie ‘Up.'”
Are Dogs Smarter Than Human Babies?
“A new study shows that dogs and young human babies both make the same classic error in [Piaget’s] famous psychology experiment — while wolves raised by people do not.” The dogs, not as swift as (but perhaps more respectful than) the wolves, are brighter and more discriminating than the babies.