France is preparing to announce the site of a new branch of the Louvre, to open in 2009. The outpost would display 500 pieces from the museum’s permanent collection on a rotating basis. “The project is part of a drive towards decentralisation that will bring culture and business to some of the country’s more impoverished provinces. Estimated to cost €105 million ($127 million), the new building will be 60% funded by regional government, with the remainder from the French State, European Union and municipal governments.” The short list of cities in contention for the new Louvre are all in the economically depressed northern part of the country.
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British Museum In Another Artifact Dispute
A controversy is brewing over the ownership of eleven wooden tablets believed by the Orthodox Christian church of Ethiopia to be remnants of the Ark of the Covenant. The tablets are in the possession of the British Museum, which admits that it came by them under fairly shady ethical circustances and which, in deference to church beliefs that the artifacts can only be viewed by senior clergy, has locked them away in a basement. “It is, of course, somewhat pointless for a museum to hold objects that can never be seen by scholars, let alone by the general public. Delicate discussions are therefore underway for a long-term solution.”
New Goya Unearthed In Spain
A previously unknown painting by Francisco de Goya has been discovered by an art restorer in Managa, Spain. The painting, which is massive, shows a virgin resting on a cloud, and was previously thought to have been painted by a little-known contemporary of Goya. During a restoration, hidden figures that were Goya’s trademarks emerged in the work, and a lab analysis has confirmed the work’s authenticity.
It Always Happens So Fast
Boston has a thriving new alternative gallery scene in the city’s South End, with new galleries opening weekly and loft-style condos suddenly infesting a previously downscale neighborhood. “But while gallery owners wonder if the burgeoning South End neighborhood will mean business, residents wonder whether the neighborhood is going upscale too rapidly.”
Quietly, Competently, The Phil Gets A Deal Done
In a year when orchestra negotiations in many American cities have turned quite publicly ugly, the New York Philharmonic’s new deal was inked with a minimum of acrimony. The contract is also a departure from the recent trend of major cutbacks and artistic compromises that have plagued some ensembles, and though the NY Phil musicians will lose their place as the highest-paid ensemble in the country, they will take no wage or benefit cuts, and are hopeful that their deal will set a precedent for other groups.
Who’s Minding The Architectural Store?
The UK’s Commission for Architecture needs a new director to oversee the country’s heritage and wrangle with sticky questions of future development. So why are the short-listed candidates all individuals with little to no knowledge of architecture? “This loss of nerve, which threatens to turn [the commission] from an organisation set up to nurture Britain’s architectural culture into a band of all-purpose do-gooders comes when [its] income from the government has trebled to £11 million a year. Of that, it spends nearly 25 per cent on salaries for its staff of 65.”
Snarling At The Snipers
The “reader reviews” on Amazon.com have become a genre unto themselves, with some amateur critics posting thousands of the things. But authors tend to hate the self-styled literary judges, who think nothing of savaging an author’s character as well as her work, and this month, Anne Rice had had enough. The popular author has seen her two latest books trashed extensively on Amazon, and in response, has posted a 1,200-word defense of her latest effort, and given the critics a taste of their own medicine, accusing them of “[using] the site as if it were a public urinal to publish falsehood and lies.”
The Conundrum Of The Modern Composer
Talk with a composer these days, and you likely won’t have to dig very deep to find some serious bitterness over the direction of the classical music industry. Orchestras are deathly afraid of driving away audiences with difficult contemporary works, record labels are only interested in pop-crossover junk, and the spectre of serialism still makes most listeners wary of anything new. Still, with obscurity comes freedom, and “a lot of the dross around composing and what it means has been cut away and people are certainly expressing their hearts more.”
Axelrod Extradition Set
“Herbert Axelrod, the fugitive philanthropist who sold suspect violins to the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and fled the country to avoid tax fraud charges, will soon land back in New Jersey to stand trial. Federal authorities are completing extradition proceedings against Axelrod, 77, who has been jailed in Germany since his arrest June 16 at a Berlin airport on a U.S. warrant.”
Selling The KC Arts Tax
“People may not always agree on what art is, but Kansas City area voters will be asked Nov. 2 to pay for lots of it. Residents of five counties will consider a quarter-cent sales tax to raise $500 million to $600 million for arts projects over the next 12 to 15 years, including $50 million for a downtown performing arts center… Arts supporters say the issue is quality of life. Does Kansas City want more and better theater, art galleries, museums, concerts and other entertainment?” But opponents are saying that the arts are no more culturally relevant than a tractor pull (seriously, someone said that,) and that tax money should stay out of the mix.