“Narrative,” has lately acquired an almost mystical significance in museum circles, especially those most concerned with what we used to call the history of modern art. Top directors of modern art museums gather to explain the future of the “modern” art museum. – New York Observer
Tag: 02.02.00
SOFA-SIZE ART
Weekend oil-painting sales attract big crowds. The pictures sell for as little as $12. The Garden of Eden is big. So are purple mountains’ majesty. And whales. Abstract pictures used to sell but not any more. What people are buying for their living rooms. – Washington Post
NEW AND NEWER
The Netherlands Opera closed out last year with a new opera, the premiere of Louis Andriessen’s “Writing to Vermeer.” It opens this year with another premiere, and much praise. – Financial Times
CLASSICAL CROSSOVER
Musicians from the “high” and “low” ends of the spectrum are increasingly experimenting on one another’s turf with sometimes interesting results. – Singapore Straits Times
THE TASTE OF OPERA in Berlin –
– comes in six flavors. The city’s smaller houses are distinctively different and very successful. – Die Welt
ANATOMY OF A LITERARY FEUD
Tom Wolfe versus the Three Stooges. A battle for posterity. – New York Observer
ARTFUL GENIUS
So Albert Einstein was Time Magazine’s Person of the Century. But even in debates over whether he deserved the honor, there was little scrutiny of the claims made for his influence. Hooey, writes David Greenberg. Time to do a little setting-straight of the historical record. – Slate
THE BOYS FROM ETOY
The artists who work at keeping people guessing and stood up to the suits from Etoys are victorious. – Wired 02/02/00
THE YEAR OF…
There are too many films showing in a Sundance Film Festival to really get a grasp on which way the programming is really going. The NYT’s Elvis Mitchell weighs in with a few highlights from this year’s edition. – New York Times 02/02/00
CONSUMER REPORTS
A new book finds British theater critics in a state of disarray. Some blame editors for making their jobs harder. Others report a dichotomy between older and younger critics. “The older generation instinctively sees theatre as central to our culture. Younger critics won’t talk about theatre as a serious art medium. They question it all the time.” – The Independent (UK)