Monday December 31 FUSS OVER WORDS: The new Memphis Central Library opened in November. Outside the library dozens of famous quotations were inscribed in stone, among them “Workers of the world, unite!” “This phrase from the Communist Manifesto caught the eye of two county commissioners and a city councilman, and in these days of heightened patriotism … Continue reading “Visual: December 2001”
Monday December 31 IRISH CONNECTION: London’s West End is full of Irish theatre at the moment. “A London theatregoer might be tempted to look for a movement, a tradition. But ‘We are likely to see connections between Irish playwrights with a kind of visitor’s logic, whereas they will see the differences’.” The Times (UK) 12/31/01 Sunday December … Continue reading “Theatre: December 2001”
Friday November 30 SOTHEBY’S CHAIRMAN WAS ABOVE CRITICISM: “A leading law firm, retained by Sotheby’s in 1997 to investigate possible collusion in the auction industry, repeatedly questioned the company’s chief executive, Diana D. Brooks, but not its chairman, A. Alfred Taubman, the lawyer who headed the inquiry acknowledged yesterday in the price- fixing trial of Mr. … Continue reading “Visual: November 2001”
Friday November 30 A PIECE OF THE LOOT: Everybody in the theatre world has been talking about the Producers producers’ nerve of charging $480 a ticket for some seats to the show. Now they’re also talking about how all that extra revenue is getting split up. How does it figure in percentages and cuts for various unions and … Continue reading “Theatre: November 2001”
Wednesday October 31 NEW MANHATTAN MUSEUM FOR GERMAN ART: New York has a new “personal” museum in a class with the Frick Collection and the Morgan Library. It’s the Neue Galerie which was conceived, funded, and overseen to the last detail by cosmetics millionaire Ronald Lauder. “The Neue Galerie [is] devoted entirely to German and Austrian … Continue reading “Visual: October 2001”
Thursday November 1BROADWAY AND THE $480 TICKET: Wasn’t it yesterday that Broadway was on its knees begging us all to ‘support’ it in its darkest hour? Who feels like supporting it now? The dishonest idea that the $480 ticket is ‘doing good’ is the last straw. This latest example of greed cleaves the already huge rift … Continue reading “Theatre: October 2001”
Sunday September 30 BRIGHT FUTURE FOR BROADWAY? One of New York’s senior theatre critics thinks that the doomsayers are overstating the crisis facing Broadway. “During World War II in London, I recall watching theater while Hitler’s doodle-bug, pilotless missiles droned and spluttered overhead. Later, von Braun’s rockets plopped down and caused indiscriminate devastation. There was nothing … Continue reading “Theatre: September 2001”
Friday August 31 THE AUCTION WARS: Amid rumors of a possible sale of Sotheby’s to Phillips, the auction house wars heat up. Competition and scandals have squeezed profits at Sotheby’s and Christie’s, while costly aggressive maneuvering by No. 3 Phillips has cost a small fortune or two. It’s possible in the not too distant future that … Continue reading “Visual: August 2001”
Wednesday May 31 “JUST CALL IT McMOMA”: Getting your museum noticed these days requires “surreal amounts of money” these days, not to mention the promotional instincts of PT Barnum. The Museum of Modern Art’s Glenn Lowry has been “resculpting” MoMA so that the museum gets its fair share (of money and attention). He has hired a … Continue reading “Visual: May 2001”
Friday March 30 AUCTION ENVY: There was heavy security at Sotheby’s in London this week for the display of one of the greatest private collections of 20th century art to ever hit the auction block. American millionaire Stanley Seeger’s collection will be sold in New York in May, is valued at up to £45 million, and … Continue reading “Visual: March 2001”
