“Confidence levels in the contemporary-art market have fallen 81 percent since May 2008 and may take between three and five years to recover, according to a survey by research company ArtTactic Ltd. ArtTactic’s Western Art Market Confidence Indicator dropped to 10.5 from 56, the lowest level reached since the survey was first conducted in May 2005….”
Author: Laura Collins Hughes
Influential Graphic Designer Shigeo Fukuda Dies At 76
“Shigeo Fukuda, an influential Japanese graphic designer who was known for acerbic antiwar and environmental advocacy posters that distilled complex concepts into compelling images of logo-simplicity, died in Tokyo on Jan. 11.”
Remember When Life Was Good? Back In The Stone Age?
“Although the box-office lure of skimpy fur garments cannot be underestimated, movies like ‘10,000 B.C.’ are popular because they appeal to our sense that life used to be more in sync with the environment. … In short, we have what the anthropologist Leslie Aiello called ‘paleofantasies.'”
American Owns Posters Taken By Nazis, Court Rules
“A German court today declared a retired U.S. airline pilot to be the rightful owner of his father’s poster collection, which was seized by the Gestapo in 1938 and is currently housed in a Berlin museum.” The decision contradicts an earlier judgment.
Help Wanted: Money Manager For A Louvre Endowment
“Eighteen banks, including UBS AG and JPMorgan Chase & Co., are competing for money-management business from an elderly, refined first-time client — the Louvre. The Paris museum, which opened to the public in 1793, says it is starting a U.S.-style endowment next month with the 175 million euros ($230 million) it received to set up an Abu Dhabi offshoot.”
As Broadway Suffers, The West End Basks In Success
“With just 20 shows now running on Broadway following a slew of January closings, you don’t need to have majored in economics to see that the global recession has caused an understandable loss of nerve among New York producers. Their London counterparts, meanwhile, appear to be toughing it out.”
Canadian Book Sales: Through The Looking-Glass
“The number of books sold in Canada rose six per cent in the last quarter of 2008 compared to the same period last year, while revenues rose two per cent, according to figures released Monday. … Last year, Canadian publishers were pressured to lower book prices to more closely match the U.S. sticker price when the Canadian dollar was trading at parity with the U.S. dollar. Sales are considered to have increased as a result of those lower prices.”
Posters Seized By Nazis Are Target Of American’s Suit
“When Peter Sachs was only a year old in 1938, the Nazis seized his father’s collection of 12,500 rare posters on the orders of Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels. … Today, some 4,000 of the posters, worth at least euro4.5 million ($5.9 million), are in the possession of the German Historical Museum in Berlin, largely in storage. Peter Sachs goes to court Tuesday to try to get them back.”
Magic Theatre Surpasses Fundraising Target, Trims Season
“The Magic Theatre’s emergency fundraising drive was a success, raising $455,000 – counting a $100,000 matching grant that put the company well over its $350,000 goal…. That means not only that the next show, Oni Faida Lampley’s ‘Tough Titty,’ will begin previews as scheduled Saturday, as previously reported, but also that the Magic will be able to complete its season. The season will be one show shorter than originally planned, however.”
Fact Crowds Out Fiction, And TV Is Poorer For It
“There must be a reason that Buddha and Jesus conveyed their most profound teachings in parables, or fictional stories,” Ken Russell writes. “Stories are the narratives of life, truer than the facts. They’re where we delve deeply into the complexities of human nature.” TV’s current mania for nonfiction, then, can’t be a good thing.