“The idea of debonair, highly intelligent, well-connected art thieves” is alluring and makes for good movies, but the reality is far different, experts say. “Most art thieves fall into four categories: political activists who steal to make a point; ransom specialists who say they will destroy a work unless they are paid; small-time crooks who do not realise how hard it is to sell an easily identifiable painting; and – statistically the most likely – the mentally disturbed.”
Author: sbergman
Burgled Sydney Gallery Lacked Alarm System
The theft of a million-dollar portrait by Frans van Mieris from Sydney’s Art Gallery of New South Wales has pointed up the lack of modern security at the museum. “The absence of electronic surveillance such as alarms or movement detectors means any of the estimated 6000 people there that day could have walked out with the work – insured for $1.4 million – hidden in clothing or in a bag.”
Will LoTR Find Better Luck In London?
“With a budget of around £25m, The Lord of the Rings is the most expensive musical ever produced in the West End… The production sports some 500 pieces of armour, 150 weapons and a mind-boggling topiary of hair extensions.” But it isn’t the logistics that make Rings such a daunting production. It’s the reduction of a thousand pages of literature that everyone’s read to a credible few hours in an auditorium.
Russia Orders British Council Out
“Russia has renewed its campaign of harassment against the British Council by demanding that the cultural organisation move out of one of its offices in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg.” The move is being seen as a strong-arm move by the Russian government, in response to the UK’s ongoing demands that former spy Andrei Lugovoi – charged with the murder of Alexander Litvinenko – be extradited to Britain.
More Art Records Set To Fall
“Three shimmering paintings by Monet and a portrait by Lucian Freud expected to set a world record for the artist are among the stars of sales predicted to smash European auction records next week. More than £200m-worth of art is for sale over three days at Christie’s, and a further £250m at its rival Sotheby’s.”
This Fly Tower Isn’t Big Enough For The Both Of Us
Sculptor Anthony Gormley “recently erected 30 nude sculptures around London to promote his current show at the Hayward Gallery. One such work was placed on the fly tower over at the National Theatre. This has caused problems. The fly tower is currently adorned in grass as part of an installation by the celebrated artists Heather Ackroyd and Dan Harvey.” The pair are reportedly quite displeased, but the theatre says that nothing could be done to avoid the double-booking.
Norwegian Wins IMPAC Dublin Prize
“Norwegian author Per Petterson was awarded the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award on Thursday, in competition with writers like Cormac McCarthy, Jonathan Safran Foer and Salman Rushdie… The prize for 100,000 euros ($133,000), the largest and most international prize of its kind for a single work of fiction published in English, was awarded by an international jury.”
Is The Art Market Due For A Correction?
This spring’s art auction boom has been an undeniably wild ride, with records being set seemingly every time an auctioneer’s gavel falls. But “privately, many are saying of the current auction boom that price is not always a reflection of quality. With records being set so frequently, people are also beginning to wonder whether the bubble will burst — as it did in the early ’90s — and whether the current market is sustainable.”
Biting The Hand That Feeds (Or Doesn’t)
An art exhibit in Melbourne is taking direct aim at what the artist sees as the underhanded and duplicitous world of art dealers. “It is a hard-hitting show that raises many bogeys the art establishment would have hoped had been laid to rest.”
Everybody Eventually Wants Their Piece Of The Pie
Much has been made of the Metropolitan Opera’s highly successful forays into electronic distribution this past year, with the debut of live high-definition simulcasts being made possible by a new agreement with the musicians’ union which scrapped the hefty upfront payments which would otherwise have been due. But Ivan Katz points out that all the new activity generated $3 million for the Met, and the company “has bet the farm on the continued cooperation of the unions, and on their reasonableness going forward… Continued union cooperation is by no means a safe bet.”