Impressionist paintings are frequently characterized by the hazy, cloudy look of their landscapes, and in the case of Monet, by the fog that seems to hang eternally over the London that he so loved to paint. It’s all very pretty on the canvas, but a new exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ontario makes the case that what Monet and others were really showing us was the horrific environmental effects of the Industrial Revolution on the great cities of Europe. That’s not fog hanging over London, it’s smog. And those pretty pink clouds? Coal gas and industrial waste.
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High-Tech Auction House Opens In Philly
“Kamelot, believed to be the first auction house to open in Philadelphia in two decades, will have its inaugural sales today and tomorrow at its quarters in a onetime mill in Manayunk. Backing the new gallery is Susanin’s Auctions, a Chicago gallery known for its sophisticated auction technology.” Auctions at the new house will include online bidders, live remote video for gallery patrons, and absentee bids.
Not Just A Victim, Not Just A Symbol
This weekend marks a particularly harrowing literary anniversary: Anne Frank would have been 75 years old on June 12. Frank, of course, died at the age of 16 in the Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp shortly after her family was captured in a friend’s attic. To this day, Frank is the most recognizable face of the Holocaust, and the story she told in the pages of her diary continues to resonate around the world. But Frank was more than a symbol of the brutal era that Nazi oppression and violence inflicted upon a continent: she was a writer, and a very good one, which only makes her untimely death all the more tragic.
Scottish Opera Hits Back
“Sir Richard Armstrong, the artistic director of Scottish Opera, launched a scathing attack yesterday on Frank McAveety, culture minister, over what he described as brutal and shameful behaviour and an agenda to reduce the size of the company. Speaking at length for the first time about the new deal which will lead to more than 80 job losses and a “dark” season in 2005/6 with no major performances, he said the Scottish Executive had deliberately targeted the opera’s mainscale work because it believed it was watched only by a select and elitist audience.”
Sounds Like The Next Michael Moore Film, Doesn’t It?
Steven Kurtz is a widowed art professor who uses agricultural products in his work to create protest art aimed at the genetically modified food industry. But to the government of the United States, he is a dangerous potential terrorist hoarding controlled agricultural chemicals in his home with unknown intent. It all started when a paramedic, called to Kurtz’s home when the artist’s wife had a fatal heart attack, spotted some of his chemicals, and called the feds. Now, “several of Mr Kurtz’s colleagues and artistic collaborators have been subpoenaed and a date for a federal grand jury hearing set for Tuesday. Both artist and his art are set to go on trial for their alleged links with terrorism.”
Lost In Translation
Italian sculptor Eleonora Aguiari had no idea, when she wrapped a 19th-century sculpture in red tape as part of an exhibition of her work, that “red tape” has a political meaning in English and American society. So she was a bit confused when a British ad agency contacted her, asking if she could wrap, for instance, an ambulance in red tape as part of an ad campaign for the UK’s Conservative Party. Aguiari was further confused by the fact that the ad agency is called “Saatchi,” and was initially under the impression that her work had caught the eye of the famous collector Charles Saatchi. Once the confusion was sorted out, however, the sculptor turned the spin doctors down, saying that “my ideas are not for sale.”
In Search Of Ludwig’s Immortal Beloved
There is no doubt that Ludwig van Beethoven was deeply in love several times in his life. However, being the emotional basketcase that he was, nearly all of his objects of desire “women whose social or marital status – often both – placed them safely beyond reach.” The most famous of Beethoven’s women is, of course, the anonymous muse known as “Immortal Beloved.” To this day, no one knows who she was, “but she left the composer in a creative crisis that lasted for years.”
Festival In A Tent
“Art Chicago, the annual international art exposition that has taken place in spring at Navy Pier for decades, will move to a tent in downtown Chicago for its 2005 edition.” The location is yet to be announced, but as the tent will reportedly cover 125,000 square feet, there may be a limit to the number of potential locations in the downtown area.
Many Voices To Be Heard In Chicago MD Search
Daniel Barenboim’s successor at the helm of the Chicago Symphony will be chosen by a panel of 17 musicians, managers, and board members, according to the orchestra. In addition, the CSO is promising to give the public a serious voice in the process, soliciting comments by e-mail, and offering several open forums for concertgoers to voice their opinions on what qualities are most important in a music director.
Hepburn Sculpture Exceeds Auction Expectations
“A bronze bust of Spencer Tracy sculpted by Katharine Hepburn sold for $316,000 yesterday on the second day of an auction of the late actress’s effects. The sculpture had been estimated to sell for $3,000 to $5,000. Hepburn made the bust of her longtime love and frequent costar in the 1960s. She considered it one of her prized possessions. It sat on a bedside table in her New York City townhouse and often went with her when she traveled.”