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We Will Buy No More Art For LACMA, Says Foundation That Funded Acquisitions For 60 Years

“The Ahmanson’s gift program, which has paid for 114 paintings and 15 sculptures, is the backbone of the museum’s widely admired European art collection.” And why is that program being ended? Because director Michael Govan’s plans (including the new building) mean that “Ahmanson gifts acquired over decades at LACMA curators’ specific request will end up in storage for unknown periods of time — even though they were bought for permanent display.” – Los Angeles Times

AGMA Was Going To Keep Its Report On Plácido Domingo Quiet, And Domingo Was Going To Pay AGMA $500K. Now The Deal’s Off

“The deal they were working on — which called for the union, the American Guild of Musical Artists, to limit its public statements about the inquiry and for Mr. Domingo to pay the union $500,000 — fell apart on Tuesday after details of the investigation were leaked overnight.” – The New York Times

Blake Gopnik’s New Bio Of Warhol: A Case For His Enduring Influence

It is hard now to recapture the shock of 1962 when the iterations of Campbell’s soup went on display at the Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles (New York wasn’t interested). But the cumulative effect of their pristine forms, their tromp l’oeil construction, their obsessive reiteration (there were 32 prints, one for each flavour), luminous banality and, above all, their thereness, was to blast apart everything that we thought – and think – we know about art. – The Guardian

So Far California’s New Gig Economy Law Is A Disaster For Theatres And Actors

No one is arguing that theatre artists don’t deserve to be paid or shouldn’t be treated well. As Susie Medak, managing director at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, pointed out, there’s simply a fundamental disconnect between the law and the creative process of theatre. “What concerns me the most is that this law doesn’t take into consideration at all the way creative artists work. It has a desire to codify everyone’s work. The impulse behind AB 5, in making everyone an employee, is that everyone will work according to standard work conditions.” – American Theatre

Some Advice From The Ancients On Dealing With “Alternative” Facts

From teaching Greek texts I have become increasingly convinced that the Theogony’s narrator quotes the Muses not merely to evade responsibility for telling an unknown story nor to praise the wisdom of the gods. Instead, he is giving us advice for how to interpret myth and storytelling in general: Don’t worry about what it is true or not. Just try to make sense of the story as you encounter it, based on the details it provides. – The Conversation

Finally: A Serious Attempt To Cut Down Money Laundering In Art?

“There has long been concern over the ease with which suspect funds can be laundered through the buying and selling of art. Now, at last, we are seeing a concerted attempt to get to grips with the issue, which — even if welcomed by most — has sparked resentment and wariness. This almost unregulated sector doesn’t take easily or kindly to attempts to legislate it.” – Financial Times

Langston Hughes, Spanish Civil War Correspondent

“The Baltimore Afro-American newspaper sent him abroad to write ‘trench-coat prose’ about black Americans volunteering in the International Brigades. … Hughes’s 22 articles covered an angle no one else in the world was focused on as companies such as the Abraham Lincoln and Washington Brigades were not only integrated but featured Negro commanders leading white troops.” – Literary Hub