“Prosecutors at the conspiracy trial of [Marion True,] a former curator at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, presented on Wednesday photographs of a pair of ancient marble griffins — one of the glories of the Getty’s collection — lying in a car trunk, encrusted with grime and loosely wrapped in newspaper… Prosecutors said that the photographs, seized in a raid on a Swiss warehouse in 1995, show that the griffins were illegally dug up and removed from Italy.”
Blog
Yahoo Remakes Its Video Strategy
Yahoo is reprogramming its online video service so it’s more like YouTube, an internet upstart that has amassed a large audience during the past year with a free web service that encourages people to post and share homemade clips.
Tony’s No-Campaign Rule
“This year the Tony Awards Administration Committee adopted a new rule about campaigning for the awards that forbids producers of nominated shows to send any campaign or promotional materials to voters, other than a souvenir book, a script or an audio cast recording.”
Labour’s Arts Support Legacy
Britain’s Labour Party has one unequivocal success – its support of the arts. “Labour has a good enough story to tell on the arts – up 64% in cash and more in impact. Chris Smith is one of the few politicians to retire knowing he has done something brilliant – restoring free entry to museums and galleries, swelling attendances by 50%. But politics and art rub along like a fingernail on a blackboard: ministers too rarely sing its praises.”
Harrison Birtwistle Places Himself
“Yes, people attack for me being this shocking radical who writes this incomprehensible music, but really I think I’m doing the same sort of thing as Beethoven. When the Queen asked me what sort of music I write, I said, ‘Like Beethoven’s’, which sounds like a joke, or arrogant, but actually it’s true. Now I suppose everyone will say I’m a terrible reactionary.”
What Mona Lisa Sounded Like
A Japanese acoustics expert says he’s been able to recreate Mona Lisa’s voice. “Dr Matsumi Suzuki, who generally uses his skills to help with criminal investigations, measured the face and hands of Leonardo da Vinci’s famous 16th century portrait to estimate her height at 168cm and create a model of her skull. Once we have that, we can create a voice very similar to that of the person concerned.”
Major Egyptian Tomb Revealed
“Buried under 13 feet of rubble and stones just 16 feet away from King Tutankhamun’s resting place, the chamber is believed to be the 63rd tomb found since the valley was first mapped in the 18th century. It is the first chamber discovered since the boy pharaoh was uncovered in 1922.”
Thieves Stealing Statues For Scrap
Two bronze statues worth £45,000 in total have become the latest artworks to be stolen by thieves believed to be taking sculptures for their scrap value in the UK.
HMV Buys Ottakar’s
HMV has agreed to buy Uk book retailer Ottakar’s. Why was Ottakar’s for sale? “Over the past year the book market has undergone a significant change, with new levels of competition from the supermarkets and online retailers impacting all specialist booksellers and in particular those with insufficient scale to compete on equal terms.”
Orchestras – The Best Or Worst Of Times?
Allan Kozinn wrote a piece in last Sunday’s New York Times contending that rumors of the demise of classical music are greatly exaggerated. But Greg Sandow doesn’t believe it, and a vigorous debate has broken out…