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A Caravaggio In Hiding?

“A painting sold at auction for £75,000 three years ago could be worth millions after experts authenticated it as a work by Italian master Caravaggio. It had been sold at Sotheby’s in New York in 2001, where the catalogue listed it as the possible work of 17th Century artist Carlo Magnone. But Sotheby’s remains “adamant” that the painting is not by Caravaggio.”

Flamboyant SF Arts Czar Resigns Arts Commission

Stanlee Gatti, the “irrepressible arts advocate and event designer to the rich and famous” has resigned as president of the San Francisco Arts Commission. “He steered the agency during the boom years of the 1990s, when an unprecedented number of public artworks, paid for by the 2 percent cut public art gets from the budget of every new civic project, appeared around the city: 57 permanent pieces, including installations at the airport by noted artists such as Vito Acconci and Ned Kahn, Robert Arneson heads along the Embarcadero and a score of temporary installations by big names like Bill Viola and the late Keith Haring.”

What Happened To The Summer Concert Business

It died, that’s what. “A midyear business analysis just released by the trade publication Pollstar concludes that “For reasons that are still unclear, the bottom seemed to fall out of the concert market in mid-April. All three major concert promotion companies and several prominent independents reported a sudden drop in sales of anywhere from 15 percent to 50 percent.”

Fear Factor – Record Companies Play It Safe

Where’s the innovative recorded music these days? “You would think, in the age of Outkast, that there would be a lot of crazy types of innovation going on. Instead, there’s a huge vacancy in left field. Declining revenue, allegedly due to file-sharing, has record execs more risk-averse than ever, particularly where a cash cow like urban music is concerned.”

Making Room For Fiction

An NEA study on how much Americans read “confirms the predilection for fiction but doesn’t explain it. We say that, even though media coverage is not the only factor, it’s a big one. That which receives media attention is more likely to be read. Any book publicist will tell you that it’s easier to get press or broadcast coverage for non-fiction books because they come with pictures and flesh-and-blood characters. Even C-SPAN’s “Book TV” steers clear of fiction. Which leaves us with the question: Do the media have some responsibility to help keep fiction and poetry alive?”

A Plan To Fix Boston’s Strand

What’s to become of Boston’s troubled Strand Theatre? Financially strapped and managed for two years by novice theater operators, the Strand was booked and programmed erratically. Youth programs were canceled for lack of funds, and producers were reluctant to mount shows at the theater, which garnered a reputation for inept, if not unethical, booking, marketing, and management practices.” Boston Mayor Thomas Menino sommissioned a study and has some recommendations for how to fix things.

If You’re 20, London Is The Place To Be

London is draining the twentysomethings out of the rest of Britain. “In the City of London, Camden and Tower Hamlets, the proportion of twentysomethings has risen to 13 per cent, while it has fallen by 1.7 per cent to 6.6 per cent across Britain as a whole. In Wandsworth, 16 per cent of residents are aged 25 to 29. The influx of young people in some parts of London is up by 4.8 per cent in ten years.”