“The oldest copy of Shakespeare’s Hamlet remaining in private hands (published in 1611) was put on show in London yesterday before going to auction in New York next month for an expected £1 million to £2 million.”
Blog
The Art Of Art Damage
Flies, mold, pets – artwork gets damaged in many mysterious (or mundane) ways. “Fine-art insurers say that most damage to art occurs during transport. But art is also damaged in other, more unusual ways—by destructive pets, careless storage, and improper cleaning methods.”
Are Competitions Taking Advantage Of Composers?
Composers are anxious to get their music performed. And competitions can provide exposure for young composers. But some competitions charge large entry fees and “sometimes you get the feeling the money involved in these application fees is going to be the prize money, and what that’s doing is creating a prize off the back of the losing composers.”
Doubts Increase About Missing “Cezanne”
Cezanne experts are voicing more skepticism that a painting stolen last weekend in New South Wales was an authentic Cezanne. “Claiming the work appeared to have been painted in England in the 1920s,” one expert says owner John Opit was “suffering from a case of ‘mythomania’. ‘I think it’s just a case of the myth getting bigger than the man’.”
Canadian Painter Onley Killed In Float Plane Accident
Canadian painter Toni Onley was killed in a plane crash on the Fraser River in British Columbia over the weekend. He was 76.
Debating The Visual Culture
“A disturbing though little publicized movement is afoot in American education to transform the study of art into what is termed Visual Culture Studies. It seeks to broaden the proper sphere of art education–the visual arts–to include every kind of visible artifact. In their rush to embrace Visual Culture Studies, art teachers who have been immersed in postmodern culture, and in the postmodernist work that now passes for art, have lost sight of the salient qualities of works of visual art. As a result, their interpretations are prone to error, blurring major differences not only between painting, sculpture, and other types of imagery but also between works of visual art and artifacts that are not images at all.”
Campaign To Give More For The Arts
A campaign to try to convince wealthy people in Britain to give more money for the arts is about to launch. “Britain lags behind other countries. In the US 5.7% of philanthropic giving went to the arts, against 3.4% in Britain.”
A Matter Of (Broadcast) Decency (Or Politics)
The call for new laws governing “indecency” in the media is gathering heat, and last week Howard Stern was dropped from six radio stations. “One central question is whether the heat generated by these issues will subside without producing lasting change, as it has before, or if a new era of government regulation and media restraint has begun. Despite the current political momentum, nightly programming on the major networks continues to include numerous flash points involving language, sexuality and violence.”
America’s Deaf Ear To The Rest Of The World
America sells more and more to the rest of the world. And more and more of its good are manufactured abroad. But increasingly the country is closing its eyes and ears to foreign culture – movies, books, music… all are having a more difficult time getting into the country and being seen/heard/read.
“Passion” Takes In $117 Million
Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ has taken in as much as $117 million in its first five days. “The Passion,” which debuted on Ash Wednesday, rocketed to the No. 1 box-office slot for the weekend with $76.2 million from Friday to Sunday. It was the seventh-best three-day opening ever, behind “Spider-Man” at $114.8 million and such Hollywood franchises as “The Matrix Reloaded” and the first two “Harry Potter” movies.”