“Not too long ago, pornography was a furtive profession, its products created and consumed in the shadows. But it has steadily elbowed its way into the limelight, with an impact that can be measured not just by the Internet-fed ubiquity of pornography itself but by the way aspects of the porn sensibility now inform movies, music videos, fashion, magazines, and celebrity culture.”
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Columbus Symphony Names New Conductor
The Columbus Symphony Orchestra wraps up a three-year search by naming Junichi Hirokami as its new music director…
The Klimt Attorney
Los Angeles attorney Randol Schoenberg has spent the past 7 1/2 years arguing that five Gustav Klimt paintings in Austria looted by the Nazis ought to be returned to a California woman. “For Schoenberg — kinetic, restless and intense, with the boundless snap of a Spencer Tracy character — the case is far more than a simple legal wrangle, it’s an obsession.”
Explosion Rips Finland’s National Museum
The blast happened Monday night. “The investigation indicates that the explosion happened in a storeroom next to the silverware exhibition. The storeroom contains the museum’s master electricity switchboard.”
Coming To PBS – The Great Unifier?
Why did PBS choose Paula Kerger, a top executive at New York’s Thirteen/WNET to be the network’s new president? “She’s someone who we felt would be a great unifier of the system. Because she knows the system well — knows both newcomers and seasoned participants and brings a respect for the accomplishments of all — she will have a very unifying influence, which will be very constructive.”
The End Of Democratic Information Flow On The Internet?
“The telecommunications companies’ proposals have the potential, within just a few years, to alter the flow of commerce and information — and your personal experience — on the Internet. For the first time, the companies that own the equipment that delivers the Internet to your office, cubicle, den and dorm room could, for a price, give one company priority on their networks over another.”
Clifford: Scotland Should Blow The Bank On Michelangelo
Timothy Clifford, the outgoing director of Scotland’s National Galleries says the country’s museums should raise enough money to by an Italian masterpiece. He said “there was no need for the galleries to buy more Scottish art, partly because they could rely on wills and gifts to build up their collection. However, spending £10 million on a Michelangelo drawing would break the galleries’ annual acquisitions budget of £1.25 million several times over, and would need a huge fundraising campaign.”
Another London Bronze Stolen
A large bronze sculpture has been stolen from a London campus. This follows the theft of a large Henry Moore three weeks ago. “Police said 20 art thefts had happened in London in the past six months. Officers fear thieves are targeting valuable artworks worth millions of pounds so they can melt them down and sell them on as scrap metal at a fraction of the price.”
Police: Soaring Metal Prices Are Behind London’s Big Sculpture Thefts
“Soaring scrap prices have opened up an opportunity for gangs to pocket a quick profit. The Henry Moore sculpture, taken in mid-December, was believed to be worth around £5,000 if melted down; the Chadwick may fetch as little as £1,000. Reduced to its metal content, the figures are worth only a fraction of their art market value but neither police nor art dealers believe such large objects would be stolen to order for a private collector. In many cases, the sculptures have been severely damaged.”
Spurling Wins Whitbread
Hilary Spurling’s biography of Matisse wins the top Whitbread. Spurling “spent 15 years writing and researching her two-part biography of the French Impressionist, was chosen over the four other Whitbread winners.”