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Where Are Iraqi Artifacts?

It’s been two years since the Iraq Museum was looted. “To date, 3,000 have been recovered in Baghdad, some returned by ordinary citizens, others by the police. In addition, more than 1,600 objects have been seized in neighbouring countries, some 300 in Italy and more than 600 in the United States. Most of the stolen items are unaccounted for, but some private collectors in the Middle East and Europe have admitted possessing objects bearing the initials IM (Iraq Museum inventory number).”

National Gallery of Canada Leaks

Canada’s National Gallery is in severe disrepair. “The imposing glass and steel structure, designed by architect Moshe Safdie, opened its doors in 1989. Sixteen years later, gallery director Pierre Théberge says he can’t keep up with the cost of repairs. Currently, the gallery’s annual $45-million budget allots $1 million for repair work. ‘We would need … between $4 [million] and $5 million a year … to keep up with repairs over the next five or 10 years’.”

Copyright – A Tax On Readers?

“Copyright law is a tax on readers for the benefit of writers, a tax that shouldn’t last a day longer than necessary. What do we do? We extend the copyright term repeatedly on both sides of the Atlantic. The US goes from fourteen years to the author’s life plus seventy years. We extend protection retrospectively to dead authors, perhaps in the hope they will write from their tombs. Since only about 4 per cent of copyrighted works more than 20 years old are commercially available, this locks up 96 per cent of 20th century culture to benefit 4 per cent. The harm to the public is huge, the benefit to authors, tiny. In any other field, the officials responsible would be fired. Not here.”

Do Visiting Orchestras Scuttle The Home Team?

The San Diego area is getting some visits from some high-profile orchestras next season. “With their out-of-town cachet, they have more glamour than the San Diego Symphony, the city’s hometown musical team, which is working hard to cultivate audiences and appreciation. Do visiting ensembles provide unfair competition to the San Diego Symphony? Or are they beneficial to everyone?”

Edwardo Paolozzi, 81

Of the few British artists who came to international prominence soon after the second world war, Sir Eduardo Paolozzi, who has died aged 81, was one of the most inventive, prolific and various. Chiefly a sculptor (and one of the first to react against the all-pervading influence of Henry Moore), he was also a highly original printmaker, some of whose collage-based silkscreen images are among the finest examples of pop art – the style he was instrumental in shaping.

Mailer Sells Archive To U Texas

Norman Mailer has sold his personal archives to the University of Texas for $2.5 million. Stored in nearly 500 boxes weighing more than 20,000 pounds, the trove includes all manner of Mailerabilia dating back to his childhood and especially his early years at Harvard (class of ’43), where he majored in aeronautical engineering and wrote an unpublished novel, “No Percentage.”

Dealer Massively Overcharged Sheikh For Art

Why did Oliver Hoare, a leading London art dealer, invoice the world’s biggest collector Sheikh Saud Al-Thani of Qatar for massive overcharges? “On one occasion Mr Hoare invoiced Sheikh Saud £5.5 million for a jade pendant originally made for Shah Jahan. Ten months earlier the same object had sold at Sotheby’s for £454,500. Mr Hoare’s invoices are now being examined by Qatari authorities as part of the investigation into Sheikh Saud’s spending.”