“An inmate serving a life sentence for murder asserts that just before his friend died 18 years ago, he confided that he was involved in the 1990 theft of more than $300 million worth of artwork from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and had stashed the masterpieces at an undisclosed ‘safe house’ in Maine, according to his lawyer.” But so far, the FBI and the museum say, the tip has led nowhere.
Author: Laura Collins Hughes
Do You Know Your Literary Lent — And Mardi Gras?
A quiz.
Washington Ballet Shaken By Dancer’s Death
“The Washington Ballet was reeling yesterday from the death of one of its Studio Company members,” Mary Saludares, 20, “who was hit by a car on Friday after a performance at Harford Community College in Bel Air, Md. … Less than two weeks ago, local audiences had seen Saludares dance in the corps of the Washington Ballet’s performances of ‘La Sylphide’ at the Kennedy Center.”
High-End Pawnshops Turn Artworks Into Sources Of Cash
“At a time when stock portfolios are plunging and many homes, even grand ones, have no equity left to borrow against, an increasing number of art owners are realizing that an Old Master or a prime photograph, when used as collateral, can bring in much-needed cash. … This little-known corner of the art business is lightly regulated and highly litigious. But this has not dissuaded clients who have included rich collectors like Veronica Hearst, art galleries and prominent artists themselves, including [Annie] Leibovitz and Julian Schnabel.”
Minus Many Treasures, Iraq’s National Museum Reopens
“Well over half the exhibition halls in Iraq’s National Museum are closed, darkened and in disrepair. And yet the museum, whose looting in 2003 became a symbol of the chaos that followed the American invasion, officially reopened on Monday. Thousands of works from its collection of antiquities and art — some of civilization’s earliest objects — remain lost.”
Brain Study: Men & Women Respond Differently To Beauty
“Beauty is famously in the eye of the beholder; but it’s also in the beholder’s brain, and may work differently in the brains of men and women. In men, images they consider to be beautiful appear to activate brain regions responsible for locating objects in absolute terms — x- and y-coordinates on a grid. Images considered beautiful by women … also activate regions associated with relative location: above and behind, over and under.”
For Classical Fans, An iTunes Primer (And Cheat Sheet)
“When I recently converted my largely orchestral CD collection to MP3s, several readers warned me that I would regret it. When it comes to classical music, iTunes misses a beat, they said. … But with just a few tweaks and some tips, you can turn your iPod and iTunes into classical companions. Here’s how you can better organize your classical collection, find high-quality downloads online, and get music cheaply or even for free.”
Battling Piracy With Free Streaming Audio
“The days of paying for music over the internet — or illegally downloading free tracks — are numbered, according to artists, music companies and leading industry insiders. The reason given for this is the rapidly growing popularity of Spotify, a music service that ‘streams’ tracks to your computer. All the major record labels have signed up to allow users to access millions of tracks — from Michael Jackson to Lily Allen, U2 or Shostakovich — free of charge at the touch of a button.”
Gerald Myers, Dance Advocate And Philosopher, Dies At 85
“Gerald E. Myers, a scholarly expert on the philosopher William James who expressed his missionary zeal for modern dance through the highly unusual position of philosopher in residence of the American Dance Festival, died Feb. 11 at his home in New London, Conn.”
At YSL Auction, Lots Smash Records As In Days Of, Um, ’08
“The market for high art defied the global economic slump last night when bidders in Paris spent more than €210 million (£184 million) at the start of the sale of the sumptuous collection of the late couturier Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé, his partner. In the first night of a three-day auction half a dozen records were broken in the sale of Impressionist and Modern works that was a test of the health of art when most other investments have collapsed.”