Picasso and Warhol were the most actively traded artists last year. “Picasso collectors raised $153.2 million last year from 1,409 works sold at auction, Artprice said. Owners of Warhols realized $86.7 million from 660 images, while 22 Monets took $61.5 million and 18 Canalettos $55.5 million, it said. Auction volumes are a guide to which works are becoming more liquid or expensive and which may be harder to buy and sell over time.”
Blog
A New Generation Of Three Tenors Scores Top Ten
For the first time, three places in the UK Top Ten music charts are taken up by tenors. “Newcomer Vittorio Grigolo and BBC One’s Just the Two of Us winner Russell Watson are set for new entries in the top 10, according to mid-week figures. Andrea Bocelli’s album Amore, out last week, could stay in the chart.”
Today’s Museums – All About The Numbers
“With the rise and rise of the blockbuster exhibition, curatorial history seems to be marked less by new discovery, re-evaluation and changing interpretation, than by visitor numbers. History is being made, on these grounds at least, in Japan, where last autumn’s Hokusai exhibition in Tokyo has broken all records for visitor attendance.”
Spano Joins The Conductors’ Sick List
The list of prominent conductors on the sick list is getting longer. Latest to join is Robert Spano, who’s canceled out of a performance with the Pittsburgh Symphony because of bronchitis. Spano joins a who’s who of big-name conductors who have canceled for various reasons this month: James Levine, Kurt Masur and Christoph von Dohnanyi.
Saying Goodbye To Wendy Wasserstein
More than 1000 friends and admirers of playwright Wendy Wasserstein attended a memorial for her. “The memorial, which was also broadcast via closed circuit to an audience assembled nearby at the Juilliard School, drew scores of Broadway’s biggest stars and backstage players, many of whom counted Ms. Wasserstein — whose social calendar might include everything from nights at the opera to days at the mall — as an old, and close, friend.”
TV Where Anything Can Happen (Even Death)
“As audiences are opting to stay out of movie theaters and spend more time on the sofa, shows such as “24,” “Lost,” “The Shield” and “The Sopranos” are fulfilling the appetite for drama. This renaissance in television also attracts A-list actors, directors and writers who are willing to experiment with genres and storytelling that leaves viewers with their jaws dropped.”
NY’s Film Tax Credit Might Be Working Too Well
Four years ago New York started offering tax breaks to film and TV projects filming in the city in an attempt to lure more of them. “Since 2002, the number of production shooting days in the city has more than doubled and the number of television pilots rose to 14 in 2005 from one the year before, according to the city. Now New York even occasionally stands in for other cities. But the good news for the city’s film industry is a mixed blessing for the city’s treasury.”
A History Of Conductor Injuries
They’re worth thinking about as America’s star conductors go down for the count. Let’s see, there was Lully who jammed a stick down on his foot and died a few weeks later from gangrene…
Aussie Wins Commonwealth Prize
Australian writer Kate Grenville has won this year’s Commonwealth Writers’ Prize. “Grenville’s winning book is a historical novel looking at the competing claims of Aborigines and settlers in 19th Century Australia. The award comes five years after Grenville won the Orange Prize for Fiction for The Idea of Perfection.”
The Cure For Bad Handwriting?
“We have a national affliction, and it’s called cacography – that means illegible handwriting. That’s why we’re a ‘Please print’ nation. Nobody says, ‘Please write in your lovely cursive handwriting’. At a time when the computer is king and toddlers type, some educators believe it’s even more imperative to teach a speedy handwriting technique that others can read.’