In a few weeks the Guggenheim Museum will open a show of Malevich paintings with important works that have never been seen in the West. But the tale of how the paintings ended up getting out of Russia and into the show is a tangled one. “The art dealers, the Guggenheim and Russian officials all deny having done anything improper. It is through their efforts, they argue, that superb art hidden for decades is finally being seen.” But still, there are questions…
Tag: 03.31.03
Challenge To Aussie Writers: Quit “Exalting The Average”
Writer John Marr says that Australian writers have become stuck in mediocrity in their “exaltation of the average” and need to develop sharper voices. Marr says what is needed it to “start focusing on what is happening in this country, looking Australia in the face, not flinching, coming to grips with the fact that we have been on a long loop through time that has brought us back almost – but not quite – to where we were.” Marr suggested that political and business elites had “inverted that term and directed it towards mostly poor and marginal artists. In response, literary novelists had retreated from the sharp edge of public debate.”
Aussie Playwright Nick Enright, 52
“Nick Enright, one of Australia’s leading playwrights, died yesterday. He was 52. A prolific writer for stage, film and television, he was also an actor, director and teacher.”
Breaking Up Andre Breton’s Treasure
“Why are some scholars aghast at the idea of breaking up Andre Breton’s art collection? “The surrealist wizard was an outstanding art critic as well as a classic prose writer, a major poet, and a perceptive commentator on more general intellectual history. Because of his commitment to the work of leading painters and sculptors, Breton’s art collection ranged from André Derain to Man Ray and Joan Miró, from Giacometti to James Rosenquist, a Pop artist he admired. But he was also a connoisseur of the indigenous arts of the Pacific, especially New Guinea and its neighboring islands, as well as of the Hopi and other Pueblo Indians and the pre-Columbian cultures of Mexico. What’s more, his personal friendships extended from the outstanding Parisian poets and artists of his time to such figures as Sigmund Freud and Leon Trotsky–all of whom presented him with signed books and manuscripts.”