“Stanley Kunitz, who was one of the most acclaimed and durable American poets of the last century and who, at age 95, was named poet laureate of the United States, died on Sunday at his home in Manhattan. He was 100… Over the extraordinary span of his career — nearly 80 years — Mr. Kunitz achieved a wide range of expression, from intellectual to lyric, from intimately confessional to grandly oracular. Among other honors, he won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1959, the National Book Award in 1995, at age 90, the National Medal of the Arts in 1993 and the prestigious Bollingen Prize in poetry in 1987.”
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When Will Canadian Book Prices Fall? (They Should)
The Canadian dollare has been rising in value against the US dollar. Theoretically that means book prices ought to be coming down. “Savvy consumers have been objecting about the big price difference between the U.S. dollar price printed on the back of a book and its Canadian dollar equivalent.”
DaVinci’s Hype Machine Includes Withholding Sneak Peeks
Ordinarily, when a movie is released without critics being given an advance screening, it’s because the product is so mind-blowingly awful that the studio doesn’t want to give the press a chance to bad-mouth it before the first weekend’s receipts are in. But for the producers of The DaVinci Code, who have raised hype to an art form in the months leading up to this weekend’s premiere, the withholding of advance screenings is all about building the suspense.
Peeling Open The New Orangerie
As Paris’s Musée de l’Orangerie prepared to reopen following a 6-year, $36 million renovation, one of the biggest questions was how the Claude Monet masterpieces mounted to the walls had survived the trauma of construction. (These eight paintings cannot be removed, and an elaborate system of alarmed and reinforced boxes had to be devised to protect them from the dust and vibration.) As it turned out, the Monets are fine, and the Orangerie itself, while looking very much the same on the outside, has undergone a radical transformation inside.
Major Gift To NYU Provokes Protests
“A gift of $200m to New York University (NYU) to fund a new Institute for the Study of the Ancient World has resulted in a resignation and in criticism from archaeologists because of the source of the donation.”
Poetry’s “Surrogate Father”
Stanley Kunitz was more than just a great poet, he was a generous soul who always took the time to help and inspire the next generation, according to those who knew him. But he was also the best critic many of his devotees ever had, and the toughest, always keen to “improve a fellow poet’s work with bold, unflinching editing.”
Who’s Gagging Whom?
The Ottawa chapter of the American Federation of Musicians has been outspoken in denouncing a new confidentiality agreement proposed by the National Arts Centre for its employees, and has encouraged members of the NAC Orchestra to refuse to sign. But apparently, the union itself has rules governing what its members can and cannot say publicly. A union bylaw states that members should not speak ill of one another publicly. However, union officials note that the bylaw is part of a code of ethics, not a legally binding command, and further point out that, while the bylaw is only in effect while a musician is a member of the Ottawa local, the NAC’s new rule would require that employees stay silent for their entire lives.
Getty Might Return Artifacts To Greece
“The Greek government alleges items were originally removed from the country illegally, although it is not known when they were taken. The museum may now return some of the four disputed antiquities, following a meeting with Greek Culture Minister Giorgos Voulgarakis.”
Eventually, Everyone Will Hire Barenboim
It’s official – Daniel Barenboim has been named principal guest conductor at La Scala, and will be the highest ranking conductor there for at least the next several years (the company having declined to name a true music director for the time being.) Barenboim is also chief conductor at Germany’s most prestigious opera company, the Berlin Staatsoper, and the two companies plan to come together for several productions in future seasons.
The Getty Speaks Greek
“Once the issue is settled, [Getty Museum director Michael] Brand said, the two sides expect a “fruitful cooperation” that “could include long-term loans” of artworks. Greece is seeking the repatriation of a rare gold funerary wreath, a tombstone and a stone torso of a young woman, all acquired by the Getty in the 1990’s. It has also demanded a votive relief that J. Paul Getty, the museum’s founder, bought in 1955. Asked whether he felt pressure to cede some artifacts to shore up the Getty’s reputation, Mr. Brand responded with a terse “No.”