Blog

Are We Now To Subject Every Major Arts Donor To A Moral Purity Test?

Mark Lawson: “What would count as an acceptable way of having become rich enough to have some spare to dish out to the arts? Sponsorship by BP and Nestlé has been questioned because of environmental or ethical concerns about the nature of the patrons’ business. Airlines, which have consistently been generous to the arts, are now on the wrong side of history, as, in a post-crash era queasy about capitalism, are most makers of money. … And if the funding of buildings and exhibitions is subject to ethical scrutiny, then why not their content as well?” – The Guardian

Stolen Picasso, Missing For 20 Years, Literally Brought To Art Detective’s Doorstep

Arthur Brand, a/k/a “the Indiana Jones of the art world,” has recovered Buste de femme (Dora Maar), a 1938 painting which was stolen from a Saudi sheikh’s yacht on the French Riviera in 1999. After Brand had spent four years following leads on the painting’s whereabouts through the Dutch criminal underworld, a pair of intermediaries brought the canvas to his Amsterdam home. – Yahoo! (AFP)

Those Kids Whose Rich Parents Bribe Their Way Into Elite Colleges? Here’s What It’s Like To Teach Them

“I know, because I teach at an elite American university – one of the oldest and best-known … In this setting, where teaching quality is at a premium and students expect faculty to give them extensive personal attention, the presence of unqualified students admitted through corrupt practices is an unmitigated disaster.” – The Guardian

This Is Why Columbus Dance Theatre’s Founding Director ‘Resigned’ Last Fall

Veach, who founded CDT in 1998, quietly stepped down in October, and he told the press in January that the reason was health-related. In fact, he was accused of “improper behavior” with two underage dance students and was formally charged by police with (and subsequently convicted of) serving alcohol to a minor. – The Columbus Dispatch

China Allows Cinemas To Screen ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, But Only With The Gay Parts Removed

“Several minutes of footage were edited out of the film, including scenes of two men kissing and the word ‘gay’. There has been significant reaction to the film’s release online. … Though some [social media] users complained of ‘half watching and half guessing’ as a result of the deleted scenes, others were pleased the film had been released at all.” – BBC

Victor Hochhauser, 95, Impresario Who Brought Great Performers From Behind The Iron Curtain To London

He was the first in Britain to stage operas for mass audiences in arenas, and his Sunday concerts at the Royal Albert Hall (though they irked critics) drew many newcomers to classical music. But he and his wife, Lilian, were best known for presenting the best musicians and artists from the Soviet Union — Oistrakh, Rostropovich, Richter, the Bolshoi and Kirov Ballets, and many more. – The Guardian

Drunken Audience Member Convicted Of Assaulting Actor In All-Female ‘Othello’

Mike Fox, a 56-year-old comedy promoter in London, was fined a total of £500 and sentenced to 50 hours of community service for shoving one of the actors in a 36-seat-theatre production of the Shakespeare tragedy. The incident began with a shouting match between Fox and the director just after Othello killed Desdemona. – The Times (UK)