“When the French Parliament threw open the auction business to competition in 2001, ending a 500-year government monopoly, it seemed certain that the big winners would be Sotheby’s and Christie’s. The two giants dominate the global market, with more than $2 billion in annual sales each, and have been eager to establish a firm foothold in France. Yet to everyone’s surprise, it’s private local dealers such as CalmelsCohen, which was founded only last year, that are grabbing the lion’s share of the spoils. And investors betting on the liberalization of the $600 million French market for fine arts are lining up to back these upstarts.”
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Where Is Mark Morris Heading?
A series of Mark Morris performances leaves Robert Gottlieb wondering which direction the choreographer is headed. Morris “seems to have reached a difficult moment in his creative life. It’s clear now that he hopes to absorb everything in the universe, but his response to his latest interests is less full and resonating than his response in his early years to the work of Handel, Bach, Vivaldi, Purcell, Monteverdi. Their music, you feel, is where he really lives. Morris is now at the age Balanchine was when New York City Ballet came into existence, with Apollo, Serenade, Concerto Barocco, Symphony in C behind him and 35 years of masterpieces to go.” Morris “throws himself at new enthusiasms, digests them, and moves on. This season suggests, at least to me, that he doesn’t yet know what he’s moving on to. He’s as fecund as ever, and as fluent, but not as focused.”
Broadway Box Office Down
Broadway box office was down in the second week of the war (is there really a connection between how many tickets Broadway sells and the war on Iraq?). Anyway…”Total box-office receipts for the 27 shows on Broadway skidded to $12.5 million, down from nearly $12.9 million the previous week.”
Can Tragedy Live In Today’s World?
There was a time when tragedy meant something. Now it describes missteps of the most trivial nature. On the other hand – have critics elevated notions of classic tragedy too high? “It is the critics who have disdained modern life’s suitability for the tragic mode, and have made an aesthetic virtue out of suffering in the past, persuading themselves that what was horrible then can be metaphysically pleasing now and that present-day suffering is undignified and uninteresting. Past pain is thus sanitised while that of the present is dismissed as beneath attention – a useful strategy for those who have lived through the bloodiest century in human history and would prefer not to look at it too closely.”
Parlor Tricks – Attention For The Wrong Reason
Aleksandr Sokurov’s one-take movie “Russian Ark” at the Hermitage Museum is getting all sorts of attention for all sorts of the wrong reason, writes Nigel Andrews. “The whole world loves useless virtuosity. Masterpieces come 10 a penny, but building the Taj Mahal with matchsticks – that’s real achievement. Without its history-making the single-take ‘Russian Ark’ would be a routine Sokurov essay in narcoleptic expressionism. Now he has accepted a challenge to make the Great Russian Movie and the result is fascinating, maddening, boring and hypnotic, in any adjectival order you want.”
Australia Ponders Arts Funding Cuts
The Australian has concluded a review of its arts spending, and will likely make funding cuts for the country’s major arts institutions. “The 15 institutions reviewed receive $75 million a year for depreciation of their buildings, equipment and collections. The institutions include the National Gallery of Australia, the National Library, the Australian Film Commission and the National Portrait Gallery, and all have been apprehensive since late last year when the Government confirmed a review of funding had started.”
Carnegie Hall’s New Hall
Carnegie is opening a new, $100 million 644-seat third concert hall, underneath its main auditorium. “The hall is preparing to open at a difficult period for the arts, when the weak economy has hurt charitable giving and advance ticket sales. Indeed, Carnegie Hall delayed Zankel Hall’s opening for a year because of the difficult economic climate after the terrorist attacks. Budgeted at $50 million, the new hall eventually cost twice that; all the money has been raised.”
Houston Symphony Musicians End Strike
Musicians of the Houston Symphony have ratified a new contract, ending their 23-day strike. “The players made significant financial concessions. They include a reduction in annual minimum salary in the first three seasons covered by the agreement, achieved via unpaid furloughs of from one to three weeks per year. The agreement expires Sept. 30, 2006. However, the two sides agreed that salaries will return to the median of all full-time United States orchestras in the following contract.”
Okay, They’re Back. Now Show Them You Love Them
In the wake of the Houston Symphony strike, a lot of bruised egos and hard feelings are going to be inevitable. But if Houstonians really want to live in a serious, cultured city, says the Chronicle’s editorial board, they need to step up their support of what is clearly a vital institution. “Increasing attendance and ticket sales will require a clever marketing campaign and enticing concert programs. More than that, it will require from Houstonians a new and lively appreciation of the symphony and the realization that no important city can be without one. “
That Shipping & Handling Charge Will Get You Every Time
“In the past 18 months, museums’ insurance rates have shot up as much as 50 percent, and in New York, where museums borrowing works from abroad have had to buy costly terrorism coverage, they’ve doubled. At the same time, the price of shipping art is rising, in part because of higher air freight costs and the increased demands of lenders reluctant to let their art travel at a time of global unrest… Those higher costs, coming at a time of budget cuts and drops in revenue, are causing some museums to scale back the number of big touring exhibitions they present and the shows they create with borrowed works.”