A billionaire art collector has offered to pay for the restoration of a Henry Moore marble arch. “The six-metre tall work, given by Moore in 1980 to the people of London, was removed from Kensington Gardens and dismantled in 1996 on safety grounds. The sculpture is unevenly weighted, and soon after it was installed it began to twist. In addition, travertine, the stone of which it is made, is susceptible to damaging cycles of freeze-thaw in cold weather. The Royal Parks, which manage Kensington Gardens, have estimated that to repair it – by inserting a steel “spine” – would cost around £300,000, which they say they cannot afford.”
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The CSI Effect: Juries Want More
Are crime shows influencing real-life juries? US prosecutors are seeing “an increasing desire on the part of juries for the kind of certainty shown on television programs such as “Crime Scene Investigation,” in which crimes are solved conclusively in less than an hour. Across the country, prosecutors say, juries are demanding more from them.”
Cartoonist Faces Greek Jail
Cartoonist Gerhard Haderer finds himself facing jail time in Greece over his “depiction of Christ as a binge-drinking friend of Jimi Hendrix and naked surfer high on cannabis.” “Haderer did not even know that his book, The Life of Jesus, had been published in Greece until he received a summons to appear in court in Athens in January charged with blasphemy. He was given a six-month suspended sentence in absentia, but if he loses his appeal next month his sentence could be increased to two years.”
Axelrod To Jail
New Jersey philanthropist Herbert Axelrod has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for tax evasion. “Once called the Medici of the Meadowlands for his patronage of the arts, he was praised just a year earlier for his sale of 30 Stradivarius, Amati and Guaneri violins, violas and cellos to the orchestra. He and some experts had valued the collection at $50 million, but the symphony was able to buy the collection for $18 million.”
Who Writers Write For…
“A sign of the times; it is now quite common for an ambitious writer to announce that they will prepare their new proposal and/or sample chapter in time for Frankfurt or London. Nothing here about the inspiration of the jealous muse, but everything about the expectation of a quick sale in the feverish atmosphere of the literary marketplace. In the past, one of the perils facing the success ful novelist was the risk that he or she would make the mistake of writing to satisfy the public, ‘dishing things up like short-order cooks’, as Graham Greene observed towards the end of his life. In today’s marketplace, there is more pressure than ever to come up with the literary equivalent of the Big Mac.”
Musicologist Stanley Sadie, 75
“Sadie’s greatest achievement was the 20-volume The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, which he edited from 1970 onwards, along with a number of companion titles including The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. He also worked on its successor, published in 2001, having been made emeritus editor in 1999.”
World Recording Sales Down, US Up
“Worldwide sales of recorded music declined 1.3 percent to $33.6 billion last year as the U.S. market grew for the first time since 1999 and consumers bought more concert and video DVDs. The figures released on Tuesday, which reveal the fifth straight year of falling sales for the record industry, do not include digital downloads or mobile phone ringtones, which music companies say would have made 2004 sales flat against 2003.”
French Canadian Sweep At Genie Awards
French Canadian movies dominated the prizes at this year’s Genie Awards. “The bitter irony of the night is that English Canada’s most ardent film buffs have likely never heard — let alone seen — many of the francophone winners, which are hugely popular in Quebec but virtually ignored in the rest of Canada. Ma vie en cinemascope and Mémoires affectives, for instance, don’t even have release dates yet in English Canada.”
Brits Top Music Consumers
Brits buy more music than anyone else, according to new sales figures. “The UK music industry recorded an overall 3% increase in volume sales, mostly due to its robust albums market. However, world music sales declined by 1.3% to $33.6 billion (£17.7 billion). The UK CD albums market grew by 4.5% in 2004 with a record 174.6 million units sold. On average every Briton buys 3.2 CDs per person per year.”
Arts To The People (In The Villages)
One place of great growth in the arts? In the UK, in 2002/03, the country’s 40 rural touring schemes staged more than 3,000 professional shows to a quarter of a million people. Since the creation in 1997 of umbrella body the National Rural Touring Forum (NRTF), performances have doubled. “Village halls are places where, far from the nearest focus group fretting about access or elitism, real life takes place. Gigs are packed with people, because whole communities – farmers, retired people, young families – turn out to what is a major event in their social calendar.”