Critics don’t think much of painter Jack Vettriano’s work, but the public likes it. And there’s a market for it. “The Singing Butler, the Jack Vettriano painting – arguably Britain’s most popular art image but loathed by critics – last night entered the financial territory occupied by the world’s great contemporary artists when it sold at auction for £744,800.”
Blog
Not Much Grand About Florida Grand Opera?
Florida Grand Opera seems to be appealing to ticket-buyers, but artistically, there’s plenty to complain about, writes Lawrence Johnson. “It’s the logical culmination of several unsettling trends that have been apparent over the past few years, with the depths plumbed this season pointing to a company that seems to be artistically adrift.”
Bellevue Museum Delays Reopening Because Of Money
The Bellevue Art Museum, which surprised the art world when it closed suddenly last fall, has delayed its reopening from July to October. Why? “Six months later, money is still missing in action. BAM has raised $180,000 and can’t reopen until it has at least $2.8 million.” The museum says it has a plan though, and the money to reopen will follow.
Bellevue Museum Plans Artistic Departure
The Bellevue Art Museum’s revival plan “unveiled yesterday marks a significant artistic and financial departure from the museum’s earlier incarnation as an unconventional exhibitor of contemporary art. The plan also hinges on some big unknowns, including whether the museum can raise $2.8 million by the planned opening Oct. 28.”
New Reality – Tough Times For Scripts
Spring is the time TV execs plan their fall schedules, choosing new shows. But this spring is different. “The big reason is that the shows that have provided the lifeblood of the television creative community, all those sitcoms and dramas, have fallen starkly out of favor as viewers gravitate to a different kind of television show. ‘The business is being driven by reality television. It is a very challenging time for people who are proud of and continue to believe in the scripted television show’.”
Recalling A 1934 Balanchine
New York City Ballet returns to the Westchester estate where Balanchine’s “Serenade” was first performed in 1934. The story of that first performance is an oft-told tale in ballet history. “Much has changed. History did not repeat itself, but it was recalled in a startling context.”
How DVD’s Are Transforming The Movie Biz
The success of DVD’s is changing the movie industry. “Not since the advent of the videocassette in the mid-1980’s has the movie industry enjoyed such a windfall from a new product. And just as video caused a seismic shift two decades ago, the success of the DVD is altering priorities and the balance of power in the making of popular culture. And industry players, starting with the Writers Guild, are lining up to claim their share.”
Two National Groups Fold Into Americans For the Arts
“Two national arts groups, the State Arts Advocacy League of America (SAALA) and the National Community Arts Network (NCAN), have agreed to be folded into Americans for the Arts.”
UK Arts Giving Up
Giving to the arts was up in the UK last year. “Donations to the arts by companies and individuals rose last year to £376m – equivalent to more than a third of the total of £957m of taxpayers’ money spent on subsidies. But art galleries and museums remain unglamorous causes to both kinds of donor, according to figures issued today. They are in low places for largesse from business sponsorship and private giving.”
What makes Us Write?
Can the art/act of writing be explained by studying the brain? “The choice of writing as a living and a way of life is more complex than is likely to show up in a neurologist’s PET scan. Nor, unlike in other artistic fields—music, the visual arts—does literary talent make such a life any easier by appearing early. “No Mozarts in literature,” more than a well-known saying, is a fact. There are not too many Joseph Conrads, either, and Conrad published his first book when he was thirty-eight. Nor, despite all the programs and creative-writing classes, can writing really be taught.”