The UK publisher of Yann Martel’s Booker Prize-winning novel, The Life of Pi, has capitalized on the author’s success to the tune of a “£1.1m pre-tax profit for 2003”, enough to place the once-struggling Canongate Books firmly back in the black. Canongate, which had twice been in receivership before its current run of good luck, is also the publisher for Booker winner DBC Pierre.
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London’s Booming Art Market
“London is one of the dominant forces in the world’s contemporary art market, second only to New York. At least that’s the conclusion suggested by the success of the Frieze art fair, which opened in the capital yesterday. At last year’s inaugural event, dealers sold art works worth up to £20m, according to the organiser, Matthew Slotover. The number of exhibitors this year has risen from 125 to 150, and hopes are that business will be better still.”
And Next Season, The Worst Orchestra Has To Burn Its Violins
A new reality TV show in the UK will ask viewers to help determine which hideous example of architecture gone awry is the country’s “worst building.” Viewer nominations will be accepted, and then a panel of experts will decide on the winning – or is that losing? – structure. The building will then be demolished on live TV. Somewhat surprisingly, the program is supported by the Royal Institute of British Architects.
Legacy Of A (Gay) Composer
Benjamin Britten’s homosexuality was either the most important factor in his life, or completely irrelevant to his career as a composer, depending on which historian is doing the talking. A new collection of Britten’s letters purports to say the latter, and to “rescue” Britten’s legacy from the clutches of historians bent on making him “the gay composer.” But when scholarship starts with an agenda, it usually winds up leaving out a fact or two…
Liz Taylor Sued Over Nazi-Looted Art
Actress Elizabeth Taylor is the defendant in a new lawsuit over the ownership of a Van Gogh painting seized by Nazis in World War II. “The South African and Canadian descendants of a Jewish woman who fled Germany in the late 1930s say the actress should have known when she bought the painting for $US257,600 in 1963 that it had been stolen by the Nazis.”
Overpainted Raphael Discovered In Italy
A previously unknown painting by Raphael has been discovered in a church in Umbria, where it had been hidden behind another work. The work’s authenticity has been verified beyond doubt, and London’s National Gallery is considering making a request to display it alongside a similar work it currently has on view. The painting “was only re-examined in the course of a survey of diocesan art works ordered by the present bishop of Gubbio, Pietro Bottaccioli. Restorers discovered the banner had been painted over, and decided to remove the later work, millimetre by millimetre, with scalpels.”
Libeskind, Architect Of America’s Healing?
Daniel Libeskind, master planner for the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site, “has been baptized, metaphorically, in the hellfire of New York politics and architecture and emerged, well, slightly singed. But he’s still ebullient, burbling about the strength of democracy and the value of compromise.”
And What Happened To Broadcasters Serving The Public Interest?
When Congress gave broadcasters a new digital spectrum, it did so with the expectation of getting the old spectrum back. Now broadcasters don’t seem to have any intention of holding up their end of what was for them an excellent bargain. “Last month, the Senate Commerce Committee killed a bill that would set a reasonable but firm deadline of 2009 for the return of the analog channels. In its place, the committee adopted a bill — backed by the broadcasters, naturally — that could enable them to hold on to most of their spectrum indefinitely.”
Sort Of Like The Auto Writer Who Won The Pulitzer
Baseball stadium designer Joseph E. Spear is a National Design Awards architecture nominee. “The other nominees are Rick Joy, Polshek Partnership and Rafael Viñoly. While Mr. Spear’s buildings are no doubt seen by more people than those of his rivals, his stadiums are far less celebrated in the architectural world, a fact that may change, given the exposure and respect generated by the nomination.”
Ashcroft Vows To Fight Intellectual Property Crime
“While the entertainment industry has had some recent setbacks in its fight against piracy in the courts and in Congress, it has a new ally in John Ashcroft, who recently pledged to make cracking down on copyright violators a top priority. On Tuesday, the attorney general released a report from the Department of Justice’s Intellectual Property Task Force that outlines plans to beef up enforcement of copyright violations.”