“The antiquities market appears to be thriving in spite of adverse publicity from the trial in Rome of Marion True, the former curator for antiquities at the Getty Museum in California… At Christie’s £8.2 million antiquities auction this month, its second highest total ever, a 4,000-year-old, 14in statue of a family group made a record for any Egyptian antiquity, selling for £1.6 million to the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas… Looking ahead, another local market worth watching could be Greek art of the 19th and 20th centuries. Proceeds from the Greek art sales at Bonhams and Sotheby’s in London have nearly doubled in the past four years, rising to more than £8 million this year.”
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Dublin Throws Struggling Theatre A Lifeline
Ireland’s beleagured Abbey Theatre is to receive a €4 million ($4.77 million) aid package from the federal government which will wipe out its €3.4 million debt and allow it to begin to dig out from several years of “catastrophic box office returns.”
UK’s National Portrait Gallery: 150 Years Of Art Crossed With Celebrity
“It is not always easy to grasp what Britain’s National Portrait Gallery is for. Is it about fame or the art of portraiture? And, if the former, how to differentiate it from Madame Tussaud’s or a historical [celebrity magazine]? … It was on a different wave of self-confidence that Lords Stanhope, Ellesmere and the others floated the idea of a National Portrait Gallery 150 years ago. They wanted a gallery that would reflect the Whig view of history, a parade of personalities who could fairly be seen as the cultural and political ancestors of what had only recently become an administratively centralised world empire. What they got, and we have still got, is rather different: a gallery that shows art in the service of human individuality.”
The Long Journey Back
Pianist Alexei Sultanov’s motor skills may have been destroyed by a crippling series of strokes, but the part of his brain that allowed music to reach him survived, and he fought to regain his ability to play the piano, even as more basic tasks such as walking or speaking eluded him. “On a cellular level, the musical brain remains virtually uncharted territory. The calamity of Sultanov’s strokes, though, showed how quickly a virtuoso’s brain can be robbed of its gifts–and how slowly and painstakingly they can be reclaimed.”
The Real Greatest Generation (Just Ask Them)
The first wave of the massive generation known as the Baby Boomers is about to turn 60, and Alex Beam can think of nothing worse than continuing to live in a world where the culture is dominated by his fellow self-absorbed children of the ’60s. “The continuing cultural hegemony of the boomers means that, for the rest of my life, every time I turn on a radio, I run the risk of hearing the song A Horse With No Name. Now there’s a reason to move to Canada. How does one loathe the boomers? Let me count the ways.”
Are We Too Hung Up On Acoustics?
“Music lovers, critics and writers worry too much about acoustics. Truly bad acoustics – whether you hear too little or too much – cannot be ignored, but the imperfect world that lingers between the two extremes just has to be dealt with. The hall is too bright (Walt Disney in Los Angeles); the hall is dead (Royal Festival Hall in London). There are devils everywhere intent on spoiling your listening pleasure. Go to concerts, and hear people cough and cellphones ring. Stay at home, and your CD player skips or an ambulance goes by the door. Relax. Rise above it.”
Seeing The Book Business From Both Sides
“Laurence J. Kirshbaum, who spent 30 years in the book business, nearly all of it at Time Warner and its corporate forebears, made his mark in the staid publishing world by signing up celebrity authors like Madonna and offering million-dollar advances to franchise writers like James Patterson and Nelson DeMille. Now he has become part of a steady stream of editors and publishers who, over the last two decades, have jumped to the agenting side of the business.”
Neue Deutsche Bücher Sind Ganz Plötlich Wunderbar!
“Having eschewed the traditional model of heavy, politics-laden prose in favor of light, even lively storytelling, German authors are in the midst of a breakthrough that is propelling their work to hitherto unfound success abroad.” The factors leading to the increased popularity of German literature abroad appear to be myriad, but there is little question that the influence of the Frankfurt Book Fair has played a role, as has Oprah Winfrey’s famous book club.
Golden Globe Press Organization Roiled By Suicide
The small and ultra-secretive cadre of foreign entertainment journalists behind Hollywood’s second-biggest awards ceremony has been shaken by the suicide of one of its own. “The events surrounding the suicide, which occurred four days before this year’s [Golden Globe] nominations were announced in Beverly Hills, offer a rare glimpse at the inner workings of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which has used disciplinary procedures to protect a lucrative show that has become an important part of the Hollywood awards game.”
Boston Opera Company Scraps Plans For Free Aida
“Three years after Boston Lyric Opera staged a free production of Carmen that drew a stunning 140,000 people to the Common, the company has reluctantly shelved plans for a follow-up event, concluding that it couldn’t find enough local corporate support to underwrite the show. After wrestling with funding for months, the opera company announced yesterday that it has scrapped a free production of Aida set for September 2006. The abrupt cancellation is a sign that local arts groups are starting to feel the impact of recent corporate mergers and acquisitions, which have diminished the number of companies with home bases — and loyalty — in the region.”