It’s been only a year since Paris declined to build a new museum to house billionaire collector François Pinault’s art collection. Now the collection’s first show is in Venice. “In this astonishingly short span of time, the interior of the palace has been sensitively remodeled, again to a design by Tadao Ando. Alison Gingeras, a brilliant young curator on the staff of the Guggenheim Museum in New York, has put together a breathtaking array of works from Pinault’s collection, a selection that ranges chronologically from Mark Rothko to Jeff Koons. The result is likely to upstage the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, a museum that has long dominated the field of modern art in Venice.”
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Does deYoung Museum Have A Papua New Guinea Problem?
“There’s recent news that a handful of sculptures at [San Francisco’s] M.H. de Young Memorial Museum may be the ‘national cultural property’ of Papua New Guinea, and if so, probably were exported illegally. Whether or not that turns out to be true — an official from the Port Morseby museum who was here last month thinks three of the pieces are on the list — San Francisco museum officials say this issue shouldn’t be compared to the controversial Met and Getty situations.”
Art Against The Fuhrer
“A Leipzig performance artist has found an original way of disrupting neo-Nazi marches and demonstrations. When the skinheads come to town, the German Apple Front is there to meet them — complete with its very own Führer of fruit. The group was founded after the right-wing NPD party was voted into the Saxony state parliament.”
Lord of the Rings – Packing For London?
The mega-expensive musical Lord of the Rings has not exactly been a hit with critics. But Andrew Lloyd Webber — “the undisputed king of mega-musicals as well as one of the wealthiest men in the world — made a 24-hour flying visit to Toronto last weekend just to catch the show. The upshot: Insiders say LOTR’s next gig is likely to be at London’s Theatre Royal Drury Lane, owned by Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Group.”
Reading Canada’s Arts Budget
So what does the Canadian government’s newly announced arts budget mean for the arts? “Good news in that the 302-page document actually contains measures, albeit modest ones, with some application to the arts. Bad news in that these measures aren’t commensurate with what arts organizations say they need and, for some, indicate a worrying direction on the part of the government.”
Picasso Sells For $95 Million
A Picasso was sold for $95 million Wednesday night, the second-highest price ever paid for a painting. “The image of Maar, one of Picasso’s mistresses, was sold on the second night of the important spring auctions. “Boy With a Pipe” (1905) holds the record price for a Picasso. That painting sold for $104.2 million in May 2004.”
Police Find Truck With Stolen Art
Police in Florida recover a truck full of art that had been missing for tqo weeks. the driver, Patrick McIntosh, 36, had “been missing since April 17, when he and his 24-foot Budget rental truck pulled out of Boca Raton with millions of dollars worth of art, including seven canvasses by the Abstract Expressionist painter Milton Avery. He had been hired by David Jones Fine Art Services to deliver the art from private dealers and collectors — and at least one museum — in Boca Raton to a series of homes and galleries in New York.”
NY City Ballet – Not The Vatican Anymore?
“Of the four other major Balanchine-driven companies in the United States — along with the Miami City Ballet, serious contenders include the Boston Ballet, the Pacific Northwest Ballet and the San Francisco Ballet — dancers now have viable alternatives. When Balanchine was alive, City Ballet was the Vatican; now, with directors like Mr. Villella, a City Ballet star of the 1960’s and 70’s who cherishes the kind of coaching in depth that is not part of City Ballet’s system, the choice of whether or not to stay in New York isn’t so clear-cut.”
A New Idea In Collaborative Writing (Or Book By Committee)
A Scottish technician is auctioning off the writing of pages of a book on eBay. “So far, eight pages of the unique book, Novel Twists, have been written by eight different people from Scotland, Canada, Ireland, the US, and England. Nobody knows who is going to write the ninth page, never mind the following 241. Each author has to contribute between 250 and 450 words, making for a book of 62,000 to 112,000 words. As for the plot, it’s anybody’s guess.”
Non-Profits At A Crossroads
“Nonprofit America is serious business: There are currently over 1.3 million nonprofit corporations in America, employing 11 million people with 5.7 million more working as volunteers. One in 10 working Americans works for a nonprofit. Nonprofits account for roughly 10 percent of the GNP, with over 100 universities and colleges offering nonprofit-management degrees and certificates However, the size of the nonprofit sector is no indication of its health. In fact, nonprofits are in trouble…”