Maurice Sendak has had a rough year, and at 80, seems to be considering what could be called the Norman Rockwell legacy question: “was he a great artist or a mere illustrator? …That Mr. Sendak fears that his work is inadequate, that he is racked with insecurity and anxiety, is no surprise. For more than 50 years that has been the hallmark of his art.”
Author: sbergman
New Met Chief Popular In The Ranks
“The name Thomas P. Campbell probably won’t ring many bells with the public. Inside the Metropolitan Museum, though, the news of his ascension to director is likely to be greeted by many colleagues with pleasure and relief.”
Morton Blasts Laureate Gig
The UK’s poet laureate says he wouldn’t wish the job on anyone, and that writing poetry for the royal family gave him a case of writer’s block. “I dried up completely about five years ago and can’t write anything except to commission.”
Brazen Daytime Art Theft In L.A.
“Police detectives have issued an international alert for a dozen paintings by Marc Chagall, Diego Rivera and other masters that were stolen from the suburban [L.A.] home of an elderly couple during a daring daytime break-in. The paintings were worth millions of dollars and include rare works by early 20th century artists Emil Nolde and Kees van Dongen. A $200,000 reward was offered Tuesday for help in recovering the artwork.”
Texas Ballet To Open On Schedule
“With only one day remaining until its self-imposed deadline, Texas Ballet Theater has raised the $500,000 in cash that officials had said was needed to open the 2008-09 season and remain fully operational at least through mid-October.”
The Trouble With Messaien
Norman Lebrecht acknowledges that everyone else seems to get something out of Messaien’s music that eludes him. “I listen without prejudice to music by misogynists, racialists, one wife-murderer and at least two paedophiles. But with Messiaen, for all his ingenuity, my gorge rises and my tolerance fails.”
Schools Looking To Dazzle Their Students
“It’s no longer enough just to keep students on campus. Now, university planners are strategizing about ways to offer big-city pleasures wrapped up in welcoming, occasionally daring architecture… If you build, they will come – or so the current planning dictate goes.”
It’s A Man’s World
“Perhaps by way of competing for attention during a historic presidential campaign, Broadway is also shining a bright spotlight on the male psyche this autumn. A handful of productions, probably converging by coincidence, will provide a season-long seminar on the subject of the male animal under pressure.”
“Serious” Architecture Still Out There To Be Seen
“Some of us are overfond of complaining about the big money that drives new architecture today. The theoretical designs that once served as a critical commentary on the professional mainstream have all but dried up. Architects who once flaunted their radical credentials now work almost exclusively for giant corporations and nouveau-riche clients. But take heart. There is evidence that serious architecture is still being made, some of it even in New York.”
Golden Lion Goes To Mickey Rourke Comeback Flick
“The Wrestler has won the coveted Golden Lion for best picture at the Venice film festival. The film stars Mickey Rourke as a has-been professional wrestler pitifully loath to throw in the towel… The Silver Lion for best director was won by Russia’s Alexei German Jr for Paper Soldier.”