Forty-five major impressionist paintings from Paris’ Musee d’Orsay have been loaned to the National Gallery in Melbourne, Australia for the summer. It’s rare for the d’Orsay to loan the stars of its collection during the busy summer tourist season. “The Musee d’Orsay has put a warning on its internet site, telling people that if they want to see certain pictures they have to travel to Australia for the next three months.”
Blog
Singer Celebration (And A Little Dissent)
July marks the 100th anniversary of Isaac Bashevis Singer’s birth. The novelist and short-story writer was the only Yiddish author to win a Nobel Prize in Literature (in 1978). “Throughout the summer and fall, media and cultural centers all over the country will devote time and energy to celebrating Singer, one of the most famous Jewish writers of all time.” But not everyone is applauding…
Newt Gingrich, Super-Reviewer
Former Speaker of the House of Representatives Newt Gingrich has been “leading a secret life. Night after night for years he’s been slipping out of the headquarters of the vast right-wing conspiracy, wolfing down spy novels and then reviewing them for Amazon.com. So prolific and proficient has he been at this pursuit that he has attained the coveted title Amazon Top 500 Reviewer. Newt is number 488.”
Risking Art On What You Believe (Not!)
“Where is the artistic engagement with the huge, threatening issues that hang over us? One would have expected an intense blast of production if artists wanted to live up to the role in which they have been cast for over a century – as exponents of humane and liberal values, as revolutionaries, gadflies, the ones who see further than ordinary mortals.”
Actors Authorize Strike
Members of the Actors’ Equity union have voted 98 percent to authorize a strike if negotiations on a new contract are stalled.
Debate Begins On New NEA Budget
Debate on a new budget for the National Endowment for the Arts is beginning in the US House of Representatives. Initial consideration will be on a bill to keep NEA funding at the same level as this year.
Canadian Artists: Where’s Our Culture Policy?
Canadian artists are increasingly perturbed that the country’s political parties aren’t articulating any serious positions on culture in the current national election. “A constellation of Canadian stars came out Wednesday to warn that the country faces cultural integration with the United States and that the nation’s political leaders are not being clear enough during the current election campaign on where they stand on the issues.”
Understanding Ulysses (Sort Of)
The Ulysses anniversary brings up some conflicted feelings about the James book, often considered the greatest book ever written. “There are still those in Dublin who neither like nor understand James Joyce. And there are others who are offended by the way a city which once rejected Joyce now uses him and his work to attract tourist dollars.”
NJ Arts Philanthropist Arrested In Germany On Tax Fraud
Herbert Axelrod, the disgraced New Jersey philanthropist who sold the New Jersey Symphony a raft of rare Stradivarius violins and then “fled the country ahead of a federal tax fraud indictment two months ago, has been arrested in Germany on a U.S. fugitive warrant, authorities said yesterday.”
Public Steps Up To Support Scottish Opera
Public nsupport for Scottish Opera is rolling in. “Regular opera-goers will not be surprised by the support Scottish Opera has received from the public, because regular opera-goers have always been aware of the widespread appeal of opera. It is only those who don’t care for the art form, or have failed to grasp the affection in which a proud national institution is held, who may be a little stunned.”