“Fame has come late to Cecilia Gímenez, an 80-year-old Spanish painter whose disastrous attempt at restoring a 19th-century Ecce Homo on the walls of her local church spread her name around the globe over the summer. … Now [she] has appeared as an artist in her own right, with one of her pictures currently for sale on eBay. (The bidding has now passed €610.)
Author: Matthew Westphal
St. Paul Chamber Orchestra Cancels More Concerts Due To Lockout
“The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra has canceled concerts through Feb. 8 because of the labor dispute with its musicians. … On Oct. 21, the board locked out musicians when they failed to vote on a contract proposal that would severely cut salaries.”
Corcoran Gallery Abandons Plan To Leave DC
“The Corcoran Gallery of Art will remain in its historic home near the White House after all, museum leaders said Monday, ending six months of angst and uncertainty over one of the strangest Washington real estate deals that never happened.”
Arts Council England Faces £11.6M In Further Cuts
“Arts Council England will have its budgets for 2013 to 2015 cut by £11.6 million … These are in-settlement cuts and are on top of reductions to funding already announced at the comprehensive spending review in 2010.”
In Britain, More Donors Are Giving Less Money
“The number of philanthropic donations to charitable causes worth £1 million or more reached their highest level in five years during 2010/11, although their overall value has fallen.”
Turkish Legislator Proposes Law To Ban Hit Soap Opera
The wildly popular Magnificent Century, about the court of Suleyman the Magnificent, focuses on the Sultan’s harem and domestic intrigues (as soap operas tend to do). Incensed at the less-than-reverent portrayal of a national icon, a member of parliament has submitted legislation “aimed to forbid historical figures from being humiliated and to prevent the ‘perversion’ of the facts”.
Charles Rosen, Pianist, Polymath And Author, Dead At 85
“As a renowned writer and lecturer on music who was also a concert pianist of no small reputation, Mr. Rosen was among the last exemplars of a figure more typically associated with the 19th century: the international scholar-musician. If as a writer he was known for aqueous lucidity and the vast, ecumenical sweep of his inquiry, then as a pianist he tended to rate a similar description.”
It’s Been A Gloomy Fall For New Shows On Broadway
“Of the 19 plays and musicals that opened on Broadway during the second half of 2012, only 2 have caught fire with ticket buyers, in large part thanks to a famous star in the cast (Al Pacino of Glengarry) and a famous title (the musical Annie). … Indeed, the two best-reviewed shows of the fall have emerged as two of the worst sellers on Broadway.”
But ‘Broadway-On-The-Elbe’ Is Hopping: Hamburg Becomes A Profit Center For Producers
“More than most European cities, Hamburg … has seized on American-style musicals and has turned shows into tourist attractions.” For example, the Disney spectacular Tarzan “has proved that even out-and-out flops on Broadway can go on to lucrative afterlives in this destination city for Germans.”
MoMath: New York’s New Museum Of Mathematics
“The founders of the Museum of Mathematics (MoMath) know they have a fight on their hands, given the pervasive idea that the subject is boring, hard and scary. But they are determined to give mathematics a makeover, with exhibits that express an unselfconscious, giddy joy in exploring the world of numbers and forms.”