“The global economic recession has given retailers and distributors a much greater incentive to go hunting for deals. As a consequence, one of the few burgeoning areas of the book business not in the digital domain is the remainder and hurts market.”
Author: Laura Collins Hughes
Children’s Laureate: Authors Should Allow Vetting
“I feel that as writers we shouldn’t necessarily be granted an exemption,” UK children’s laureate Anthony Browne said. “If all people who work with children have to be vetted by the police then we shouldn’t be an exception. It seems a bit odd that we have to pay for it, though.” Meanwhile, the outrage among children’s authors continued.
Perusing Art At Christie’s? There’s An iPhone App For That.
“Today, Christie’s announced a new iPhone application that allows users to browse more than 450 auctions in close to 80 categories in such areas as fine arts, jewelry, photographs and wine. … The application can display real-time auction results but doesn’t yet offer the ability for users to place bids.”
Why Celebrating Wagner’s Ring Is Good For Los Angeles
A Los Angeles County supervisor’s demand that L.A. Opera “delete the focus on Wagner” from its “Ring” festival “would be a cultural public relations disaster for Los Angeles…. It would bankrupt L.A. Opera, which has been ‘Ring’ obsessed for a decade. It would harm Los Angeles’ economy: The tourism industry is banking on a ‘Ring’ windfall, and the ‘Ring Festival’ brings together 50 different arts organizations. And it’s even bad for the Jews.” There are artistic and political arguments against it, too.
Why Celebrating Wagner’s Ring Is Good For Los Angeles
A Los Angeles County supervisor’s demand that L.A. Opera “delete the focus on Wagner” from its “Ring” festival “would be a cultural public relations disaster for Los Angeles” and “would bankrupt L.A. Opera, which has been ‘Ring’ obsessed for a decade. It would harm Los Angeles’ economy: The tourism industry is banking on a ‘Ring’ windfall, and the ‘Ring Festival’ brings together 50 different arts organizations. And it’s even bad for the Jews.”
Convicted Dealer Of Looted Antiquities Loses Italian Appeal
“Giacomo Medici, who Italian authorities say was a key conduit for looted ancient art that landed in museums, such as the Getty and New York’s Met, still faces prison and a $14-million fine after his 2004 conviction was upheld today by an appeals court in Rome. His sentence, however, was reduced from 10 years to eight.”
Stripped Of Tony-Voting Privileges, Critics Are Miffed
Some critics interpreted the decision “as a slap in the face that further marginalizes their standing in the Gotham theater community” and scoffed at the notion that they had “a greater conflict of interest than the producers, presenters and promoters who have vested financial and personal interests in the shows on which they work.”
Ruling: O’Keeffe Museum Has No Standing To Stop Sale
“The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum may represent the painter’s estate but has no right to an art collection she donated to Fisk University, Tennessee’s Court of Appeals has ruled. … The financially struggling university had asked a lower court for permission to sell two of the works” and to allow “a proposed $30 million arrangement to share the collection with the Crystal Bridges Museum in Bentonville, Ark. “
LA Pol Wants Wagner Dumped From Ring Festival
Calling Richard Wagner a “Nazi composer,” Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich has demanded that Los Angeles Opera substitute works by other composers in next year’s Ring Festival LA. He’s not the only one upset about the performance of Wagner’s epic. “Holocaust survivors and their families have contacted supervisors in recent weeks to express outrage at the festival. Some have threatened to picket.”
If Celebs Are Lure For Young Audiences, That’s Okay, Too
“What is it that makes people queue overnight for a cultural event? I suspect it’s a performer rather than a production. … But I refuse to engage in tut-tutting disapproval. Sure, young people are drawn in their cohorts to see stars made famous by film or TV. But what’s wrong with that?”