“A Francis Bacon painting, which had been expected to fetch a price of up to £6m, has failed to sell at an auction in London. The 1954 artwork, called Man in Blue VI, was one of a series of seven paintings completed by the artist. Bidders at Christie’s auction house failed to reach the asking price and the piece has gone back to the vendor.”
Author: Laura Collins Hughes
Rod Blagojevich, The Musical (It’s A One-Act)
“‘Rod Blagojevich Superstar!’ is Second City’s ripped-from-the-headlines, rushed-to-the-stage, ready-for-potential-touring parody. Combining the disgraced governor’s grandiosity with the musical flavors of ’70s rock operas like Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ‘Jesus Christ Superstar,’ the show probably has a limited audience of political junkies and a pretty short shelf life.” Or, given the prospect of a trial, maybe not so short.
It’s The Anonymous Arts Workers Whose Jobs Are At Risk
“Why are so many blind to the simple reality that arts workers are real workers? I chalk it up to our celebrity culture. Funding for theater? Tim Robbins doesn’t need money! Funding for art museums? Jeff Koons is rich! Funding for concert halls? Yo-Yo Ma is a superstar! The glare of the celebrity spotlight obscures our view of the ticket-taker at Robbins’ play trying to make ends meet….”
Ford’s Theatre Reopens, Celebrating Lincoln And Obama
The Obamas were in the audience and the stage was packed with stars as the newly refurbished Ford’s Theatre celebrated Lincoln’s bicentennial, but “the appearance that drew the night’s biggest round of ‘oohs’ was that by an inanimate object. After violinist Joshua Bell performed early in the program, it was revealed to the crowd that the instrument he used during ‘My Lord, What a Morning’ was last played at Ford’s on April 14, 1865 — the night of Lincoln’s assassination.”
Going Down: Muzak Files For Bankruptcy Protection
“Muzak Holdings, the maker of background music heard in elevators, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Tuesday. The company had a heavy debt load, and it filed to try to refinance some of its debt. In a court filing, the company listed its total debt at $100 million to $500 million.”
Sweeping The Globe, A Millennium’s Worth Of Hebrew Texts
“Is bibliophilia a religious impulse? You can’t walk into Sotheby’s exhibition space in Manhattan right now and not sense the devotion or be swept up in its passions and particularities. The 2,400-square-foot opening gallery is lined with shelves — 10 high — reaching to the ceiling, not packed tight, but with occasional books open to view.” All of them are written in Hebrew.
The New Radical Chic: Fairey’s Establishment Defenders
Shepard “Fairey’s arrest has spawned a debate on the concept of public art, at least art that is imposed on the public by self-important phonies who regard property rights the way some pols and rich folks do taxes: rules that should apply to everybody but them. … [T]he people who defend taggers as ‘artists’ have the same mindset as the Manhattan socialites who defended self-described revolutionaries in the 1960s. Tom Wolfe coined a term for these fools: Radical Chic.”
Need A Sonnet For Your Beloved? Online Cyranos For Hire!
The Internet has helped a surprising number of poets to peddle their tailor-made verse, even if the income isn’t lucrative. “This is probably one of the easiest ways to make money from poetry, and you still can’t survive on it.”
Beijing, Taiwan May Collaborate On Imperial Art Collection
“Divided for 60 years by war and political turbulence, the imperial art collection of China is now the focus of negotiations that could lead to at least a few of the works being exhibited together again. The director of the National Palace Museum [in Taipei, Taiwan], the repository of the cream of the 1,000-year collection, plans to travel on Saturday to Beijing, the first official visit by a director of that museum to the mainland since the Nationalists lost China’s civil war to the Communists in 1949 and retreated to Taiwan.”
Met Casts New Stars In Chic Revivals, And The Seams Show
“At the Metropolitan Opera in recent seasons, great emphasis has been placed on the recruitment of new stage directors and on showcasing particular singers. So what happens when the special new productions with cutting-edge directors are revived with different stars? Recently, the Met … demonstrated the pitfalls of this mix-and-match approach.”