A well-loved bronze sculpture in downtown Cleveland has been getting some restoration work from a local nonprofit firm. But midway through the work, a competing restoration firm has publicly complained that the sculpture is being treated improperly, and colored in a way that the artist never intended.
Author: sbergman
Soderbergh’s Epic “Che” Premieres At Cannes
“After Steven Soderbergh’s 4-hour-and-28-minute epic film about the grueling guerrilla campaigns of the revolutionary hero and international male model Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara paused for an intermission, bedraggled columns of cinephiles stumbled from their seats into the lobby of Grand Theatre Lumiere, rubbing feeling back into their eyeballs. Ushers, acting as emergency medical corps, quickly administered fresh water and rations of Kit Kat candy bars.”
Now That’s Art Appreciation
A major (and massive) Jeff Koons sculpture that was sold for $1.1m less than a decade ago is going up for auction again, and could fetch more than $25m. The piece, owned by Howard and Cindy Rachofsky of Dallas, will hit the block at Christie’s in London at the end of June.
Wilfrid Mellers, 94
“Wilfrid Mellers, an English musicologist, composer, critic and teacher who published more than 20 books on subjects ranging from 17th-century English and French composers to the music of the Beatles and Bob Dylan, died on May 16 in Scrayingham, North Yorkshire. He was 94.”
Now Available: Your Lifetime Syllabus
“An odd book fell into my hands recently, a doorstopper with the irresistible title 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. That sounds like a challenge, with a subtle insult embedded in the premise. It suggests that you, the supposedly educated reader, might have read half the list at best… The book is British. Of course.”
Yeah, Because We Need More Of Those
Columnist Joel Stein is on a quest to become the world’s most insufferable old man, so it’s only natural that he would seek to learn how to become a proper classical music snob. To achieve his goal, he seeks out a bass player in the LA Phil, and gets a few tips on how to morph into the sort of jerk who glares at people applauding between movements.
California Shakespeare’s Chinn Moving East
Baltimore-based Center Stage has tapped California Shakespeare Theater managing director Debbie Chinn for its own directorship. “She will be running a company roughly double the size of her current organization.” Chinn will take over in Baltimore in September.
The Illusion Of Andre
Violinist Andre Rieu has made millions from his televised concerts featuring him smiling and swaying and sawing through Strauss waltzes with panache. But is he actually a good musician? “He rarely plays anything that is technically beyond the reach of a talented 10-year-old, so it’s hard to say exactly how good a violinist he is… But you don’t have to be in the music business for long to realise that talent and success don’t always go together.”
The Instrument You Play Just By Being There
The theremin might be the world’s oddest musical instrument, generating spooky sounds from an electromagnetic field into which the performer inserts him/herself. “Whatever you do in that field with your body affects the sound, so in order to be precise you must try to move just, say, your hand, nothing else. Even the swelling of your chest as you breathe can make the notes glide up and down.”
Boston Paper Signs Well-Traveled Art Critic
“Sebastian Smee, formerly the national art critic at The Australian, will be the [Boston] Globe’s visual-arts critic, beginning Tuesday. Smee, 35, served as The Australian’s critic, based in Sydney, from 2004 until last month. Before that he worked in London, where he was art critic at the Daily Telegraph.”