“A Manhattan district court has ruled in favour of the Equinox Gallery of Vancouver, Canada in its civil suit against the New York art dealer Fred Dorfman, who was implicated in a scheme to sell stolen work by the US artist Jasper Johns, but who has never faced criminal charges.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Ceramic Artist Dora De Larios, 84
“Throughout her career, De Larios’ work took singular forms – as small, sprightly sculptures of animals and towering goddesses – inspired by her interest in pre-Columbian craft and ancient Japanese design.”
Daniel Harding Will Step Down As Music Director Of Orchestre De Paris
The 42-year-old conductor succeeded Paavo Järvi at the French capital’s leading symphony orchestra in 2016. He decided, for “artistic reasons,” not to renew his initial three-year contract.
Radio France Chairman Fired For Corruption, Though Ugly Gossip About Him And Macron Is Swirling
“Mathieu Gallet, 41, was this week fired as chairman of Radio France by the Higher Audiovisual Council (CSA), the French broadcasting authority. Officially, he was dismissed after being convicted of corruption and fined €20,000 for giving a €400,000 contract to a consultancy owned by one of his friends.” But rumors – pushed by former president Sarkozy’s culture minister – claim that President Macron had Gallet fired to quash rumors that the two had had an affair.
Truck Driver Plows Over 2,000-Year-Old Geoglyphs In Peru
“A truck driver in Peru damaged the 2,000-year-old Nazca Lines, after officials said he ignored warning signs and drove over a portion of the UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Nazca Lines are large designs that were scratched into the ground’s surface between 500 B.C. and A.D. 500 on a coastal plain south of Lima. UNESCO calls the site one of the ‘greatest enigmas’ of the archaeological world.”
Poland’s Rightist Government Makes It A Crime To Suggest Any Poles Cooperated With Nazis
“On Thursday, Poland’s Senate pushed through a measure that would make it illegal to accuse Poles of complicity in the Holocaust or any other crimes associated with the Nazi era. Offenders could find themselves imprisoned for three years once the law, which is awaiting the signature of the Polish president, comes into effect.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 02.01.18
Cole’s Roles at Metropolitan Museum: Hudson River School Progenitor, Environmentalist Precursor
The Metropolitan Museum’s just opened Thomas Cole’s Journey: Atlantic Crossings (to May 13) is easy on the eyes and a balm to the spirit. But it also sounds a warning that gained new resonance with … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2018-02-01
Artist Dora De Larios, RIP
Undersung but widely respected, the sculptor Dora De Larios has been working in around Los Angeles for six decades now. … read more
AJBlog: CultureCrash Published 2018-02-01
Do We Code-Switch When We Laugh The Way We Do When We Speak?
Of course we do – think of how you’d laugh in an office meeting versus how you’d do it at a bar or a theater. But how much of the switching is based in the situation at hand, and how much in the personal identity of the laugher?
The Fall Of Kings: Henceforth, Only Queens Shall Reign At ‘Medieval Times’
“For the 34 years Medieval Times has been in business, [its] monarch has been a man. But the show, which draws an estimated 2.5 million customers each year, is replacing all of its kings with queens. And its peculiar brand of dinner theater – a sort of G-rated Game of Thrones – is taking on an unlikely resonance amid the national jousting over gender equality provoked by the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements.”
Michael Haneke Is Making An English-Language Miniseries (Yikes!)
The Oscar- and Palme d’Or-winning filmmaker (The Piano Teacher, Amour) is working on a ten-part miniseries titled Kelvin’s Book, “a dystopian story set in the near future.”