“The art dealer Charles Saatchi spends a lot of time sitting at his desk. You might, too, if your desk were more of a table, capacious enough to occupy almost an entire wall of a parlor-floor room in your Belgravia town house; if its placement allowed you to hear snatches of birdsong and to look onto leafy Eaton Square; if its surface were laden with monographs, notebooks, a pewter platter of cookies, several bright-colored plastic cigarette lighters, and a Mrs. Potato Head toy.”
Author: Laura Collins Hughes
Invasion Of The Art Consultants: Scary Or Not?
“While there are some major European exceptions … (art) consulting and advising remains a Âdistinctly American phenomenon. ‘Americans take great pride in seeing psychoanalysts, and they likewise have no problem having someone else find their art for them,’ explains Manhattan Âgallerist Sean Kelly, an Englishman based in New York.” But are art consultants necessarily a bad thing?
Author’s Price For Privilege: A Deal With Communists
“For elderly men of a literary bent in central Europe, the past is not another country. Zygmunt Bauman, the Leeds-based social philosopher, it now transpires, was a teenage secret policeman as a young communist in his native post-war Poland. And a few months after he died, triggering innumerable paeans to his talents and insights, Ryszard Kapuscinski, it turns out, also struck a Faustian bargain with the commies…. The real moral question is, how did he deliver on the Faustian pact?”
Where Is The Waste In Literature?
“This week’s London Review of Books begins with a splendid essay by Andrew O’Hagan called The Things We Throw Away.” Splendid, that is, but incomplete, failing as it does to “consider the place of waste in our literature. … The age of compulsory recycling, plastic bag taxes, and shrinkwrapped cucumbers has not yet found its poet.”
Frank Gehry Is Sued Over Tiffany Jewelry Deal
“World-renowned architect Frank Gehry was sued by a company that claims he defrauded them in a deal for his new Tiffany jewelry collection. Circa Publishing Enterprises LLC of Culver City contends that it had a deal with Gehry for the exclusive rights to produce, distribute and sell Gehry-trademarked jewelry and gift items.”
Amo, Amas, Amat: For Amateurs, It’s All About Love
“A couple of centuries ago, to call a classical musician an amateur was to pay him or her a compliment. In present-day usage, an amateur is a dilettante who dabbles in the arts without the necessary skills or understanding. But the term dilettante has itself been demoted from its original meaning of a person who delights in the arts. How many ‘professional’ musicians truly delight in the music they are paid to produce?”
Rembrandt Etching Stolen, Frumpy Couple Suspected
“Just before 3 p.m. Sunday, (an) average-looking couple walked into the Hilligoss Galleries on the Magnificent Mile. Employees believe they walked out less than five minutes later with a $60,000 Rembrandt etching. …The etching, a 370-year-old piece called ‘Adam and Eve,’ was hanging in a preview room just off the main receptionist’s desk on the first floor of the gallery….”
Nonprofit Arts Are Growing Again, Study Says
“The nonprofit segment of the arts industry is robust economically and attracting more people to its workforce, according to a new national survey. The nonprofit arts sector generates $166 billion in total U.S. economic activity, says a study being released today. ‘Arts & Economic Prosperity III’ was conducted by Americans for the Arts with data analysis provided by economists from Georgia Tech. ‘This shows the arts have bounced back from the slide after 9/11,’ said Randy Cohen, vice president of policy and research at Americans for the Arts.”
Tate Modern Gets £5 Million Donation
“Tate Modern in London announced its largest individual donation, with a commitment of 5 million pounds ($9.55 million), from John Studzinski, of Blackstone Group LLP. The money will go toward the expansion of the Tate Modern with a new building on the south side. The London Development Agency has already committed 7 million pounds to fast track the building, so that it is ready for London’s hosting of the Summer Olympic Games in 2012.”
Smoking In Films: A Bad Habit Is An Artistic Tool
“Smoking and art — or at least artists — of all varieties have long made steamy bedfellows. That’s why, despite the widespread acceptance in this country that cigarettes are the devil’s own nostrils, the Motion Picture Assn. of America’s recent announcement that it would now ‘consider smoking as a factor’ when making its ratings decisions feels like yet another nail in the coffin of grown-up entertainment.”