America’s Asia Connection

Asian art is everywhere in the US these days. “This week 10 or more sizable exhibitions devoted to Asian art are under way or about to open in American museums. The Puritans, who saw the devil’s hand in almost anything foreign, would have run for their torches. But if they saw the U.S. museum calendar these days, they would not have known where to run next. Immigration has produced larger Asian-American communities all over the U.S., which have not only heightened the demand for their cultural patrimony but also produced the prosperous donors and collectors who slap the money down for the shows.”

Looking at What Matters In Art

Art magazines are full of stories about how communication between artists, the art establishment and the public have broken down. That leads to lots of bristling opinions, often without much thought. The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel invited a group of “artists, curators, critics, a museum director and his visiting farmer friend, art students and art teachers – one Saturday morning to tackle some tough but fundamental questions about contemporary art. Why does art even matter? What’s ‘good’ or ‘relevant’ anyway? Who gets to say so? Should art be beautiful, expressive, dense with ideas, easily understood, a perfect match for the sofa?”

Is “Guys & Dolls” The Next “Chicago”?

So what’s the next “Chicago”? How about “Guys and Dolls. “Chicago” studio Miramax has settled on G&D for its next musical project. “Nearly half a century after Marlon Brando, Frank Sinatra and Jean Simmons starred in the original screen version, Nicole Kidman and Vin Diesel are being mentioned as possible contenders. Rumours are sweeping Hollywood that A-list actors are clamouring for parts even before the new script and score surface. ‘Actors are emerging who we never knew had good voices or who were capable of dancing. They are saying to their agents, ‘Hey, put me in a musical’.”

Brit Galleries Take To New York

The theory is that more Americans will be staying at home for awhile instead of travelling out of country. Reluctant to give Americans up as customers, “a growing number of British dealers are establishing a more formal presence by opening galleries in New York. The logic is simply that if the customers are not coming to you, then you must go to them.”

Art For Smart Investors

There are some signs that art is currently a better investment than stocks and bonds. “Since London shares were last at present levels, seven years ago, the painting segment of the art market, as measured by Artprice.com, has provided an annual return of 6.8 per cent. A painting pays no dividend, is expensive to insure, and will cost you fat commissions to buy and sell. But if you put your 1996 nest-egg into a well-chosen work of art, rather than a selection of FTSE 100 blue-chips, you could afford to be pretty smug.”