Category: visual

“Far from sagging, prices have held up during the recession. New auction records were set throughout the first half of 2009. So, newcomers might conclude, here is the dream area for investors. Sadly, there is a snag.”

“When the glitter of a jewel makes it hard to resist temptation, money suddenly becomes available. There might be a lesson here for those who are in charge of the broader economy.”

Sebastian Smee makes a list.

“How nutty did Beck get? As nutty as usual. He pointed to a portrait of Lenin in Mexican master Diego Rivera’s destroyed Rockefeller lobby mural, “Man at the Crossroads,” but forgot to mention that old John D. had the mural removed because of it.”

“Despite reports from the auction world that a recovery is under way, Manhattan’s gallery scene feels all pins and needles as it heads into fall. Things aren’t as bad as many expected them to be, but they could get worse.”

What’s behind some very public cancellations of contracts with star architects to design high profile projects? “It would be going too far to call these stories proof of some emerging architectural blacklist.”

“An iconic stencil by street artist Banksy once celebrated by rock band Blur has been destroyed by Hackney Council. Furious residents have accused town hall officers of vandalism after painting over the image,” made eight years ago. “Sofie Attrill, 50, the building’s owner, was devastated to see workmen painting the wall black.”

“During his stint on the plinth,” 23-year-old Alex Kearns, a recent university graduate, “revealed a giant scroll featuring his CV details. He listed his abilities in three foreign languages, his interests including ‘plinth dwelling’ and his contact details, brandishing a placard that read: ‘Give Me a Job!'” And someone did.

Fox News’ Glenn Beck plays paranoid art critic? A challenge to him, then: “Curate two exhibitions in New York,” one of “images (or actual artworks) that exist in New York City that he would like to see demolished,” the other “a show of CONTEMPORARY ART that he approves of.”

“There is nothing quite so wild as a fire that, as of Wednesday morning, had spread across 140,000 acres — an area roughly as large as the City of Chicago. … And there is nothing quite so man-made as a domed observatory sitting on a mountain — a small, human presence dwarfed by its natural surroundings. … [Daniel] Burnham and the architects are all about permanence. The Station Fire is all about eradicating permanence.”