Author: Matthew Westphal

Copy Of Columbus’s First Letter From The New World, Stolen In Venice, Is Recovered In Delaware

Sometime between 1985 and 1988, a thief took a five-century-old Latin copy of Christopher Columbus’s first letter to King Ferdinand from Venice’s Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana and replaced it with a forgery. Art detectives in Delaware tracked it down; authorities won’t reveal where it was found or how it was seized. – The Philadelphia Inquirer

Smithsonian’s Hoped-For London Outpost Cut Back To A Two-Year V&A Show

The original plan, announced in 2015, was for a Smithsonian museum in the planned Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park; by the next year, it had been reduced to a partnership with London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, and in 2018 an agreement was signed for a permanent presence at the V&A East in the QEOP. Now the Smithsonian’s new chief, Lonnie Bunch, has decided downgraded that permanence to a two-year co-curated exhibition when the V&A East opens in 2023. – The Washington Post

For First Time, Graphic Novel Wins Newbery Medal; Caldecott Medal Goes To Picture Book About Great African-Americans

The Newbery, for best children’s book, went to Jerry Kraft’s New Kid, the story of a 12-year-old who’s one of the few nonwhite students at a fancy private school. Taking the Caldecott, for best picture book for children, was The Undefeated, with illustrations by Kadir Nelson and text by Kwame Alexander. – The New York Times

Joyce DiDonato, Nicola Benedetti, Jennifer Higdon, Caroline Shaw: Classical Grammy Awards 2020

The Dudamel/L.A. Phil recording of Andrew Norman’s Sustain took Best Orchestral Performance, with Caroline Shaw’s Orange by the Attacca Quartet winning Best Chamber/Small Ensemble Performance and the Houston Chamber Choir’s all-Duruflé disc receiving Best Choral Performance honors. Best Opera Recording was the Boston Modern Orchestra Project’s release of Tobias Picker’s Fantastic Mr. Fox, Joyce DiDonato’s Songplay took Best Classical Solo Vocal Album, Nicola Benedetti’s rendition of Wynton Marsalis’s Violin Concerto with the Philadelphia Orchestra won Best Classical Instrumental Solo, and the Best Contemporary Classical Composition was Jennifer Higdon’s Harp Concerto. – Classical Music (UK)

Fort Worth Opera’s General Director Walks Out

Tuomas Hiltunen, the former top administrator at the Barenboim-Said Foundation who came to Fort Worth Opera after Darren Woods was fired in 2017, resigned last week, saying only that he and the company’s Board of Trustees had “different visions of the direction and goals of the company.” The Board’s announcement cited Hiltunen’s reduction in expenditures and said, “As we move forward, our top priority is, and always has been, ensuring that the financial health of the company is secure for decades to come.” – KERA (Dallas)

There’s A Wave Of Forgeries Coming To The Print Market, Warn Art Experts

“Since the dawn of the internet, the problem of phony art being sold has only grown, experts say, and the primary coin of the forgery realm has long been the fake print, which is relatively easy to create, often difficult to detect and typically priced low enough to attract undiscriminating novice buyers. But now the problem seems to be escalating, according to law enforcement officials in the United States and Europe.” – The New York Times

What’s The Most Physically Demanding Job In America? According To Insurers, It’s Dancer

“Researchers at InsuranceProviders.com analyzed data from the Occupational Information Network, a national organization developed through support from the U.S. Department of Labor …, to determine the 20 most physically demanding jobs in the country. They analyzed the level of strength, stamina, flexibility and coordination required for a host of jobs, and each category was assigned.” Dancer tops the list with 97 points out of 100. (Athlete came in third.) – Dance Magazine

Saying That Conditions Had Become ‘Impossible’, China’s Last Independent Film Festival Shuts Down

“The China Independent Film Festival has held 14 editions and shown some 1,000 films since it was established in 2003 in Nanjing, the capital of coastal Jiangsu province. Many of the titles it highlighted touched on topics like homosexuality or political history deemed sensitive or inappropriate by the ruling Communist Party. Other films were effectively underground titles as they lacked the government ‘dragon seal’ of censorship approval required for public screening.” A statement by festival organizers said that “it has already become impossible to organize a film festival that truly has a purely independent spirit and is also effective.” – Variety