The Pompidou Museum in Paris is doing a radical rehang of its permanent collection for the first time in 28 years. The museum will “display its permanent collection in thematic sections rather than chronological order. The new hang is entitled “Big bang: destruction and creation in 20th-century art.”
Tag: 06.01.05
Art – A Wild West Marketplace
Art is touted as the great investment now as the market soars and stocks settle. But “the art trade is the last major unregulated market. And while it always involved large sums of money, there was never the level of trading and investing that we have now.”
The Vilar Legacy
Philanthropist Alberto Vilar is not a sympathetic figure, no matter all the money he gave to opera. But “whatever the outcome of the charges against him, only a blinkered diva worshipper could deny the vast amount of good that Alberto Vilar has done. Setting aside his $45 million to the Met, which went mainly on braindead productions, and another $10 million or so to Placido Domingo enterprises, Vilar will go down in the records as the man who installed seatback surtitles in major opera houses, introduced young singers’ programmes all over the place and generally gave a hard-pressed art a chance to step back and take stock of itself. His greatest benefice, and the least acclaimed, was his saving of Covent Garden.”
Network TV Audience Stabilizes
For the first time, Fox won the network ratings race for a season. More significant though, is that the total network TV audience staying steady this season for the first year in a dozen. “The broadcast networks in general had virtually the same number of prime-time viewers this season as they had in 2003-04, which is significant because viewership had dropped every year since the 1993- 94 season.”
St. Paul Chamber Orchestra Looks For New Home
The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, tired of sharing a concert hall, are exploring the possibility of building their own hall. “The concert hall idea faces tremendous financial hurdles and long odds. The orchestra would be trying to raise money from arts benefactors whose philanthropy budgets already are stretched thin. Asking taxpayers for help would be sure to spur fervent debate.”
Minnesota Governor Vetoes Poet Laureate
Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty has vetoed a bill that would have created the post of state poet laureate. “While respectful and appreciative of the arts, I do not believe Minnesota needs an official state poet. We can benefit from the richness and the diversity of all the poets in Minnesota and recognize and embrace their work as merit and circumstances warrant.”
Sydney Symphony Finishes With Large Surplus
The Sydney Symphony Orchestra has closed out its 2004 books with a $582,000 surplus. “Also last year, Gianluigi Gelmetti replaced Edo de Waart as the SSO’s artistic director. The change had almost instant success – the concert that launched Gelmetti’s tenure, a gala performance of Verdi’s Requiem, won a Helpmann award for Best Classical Concert Presentation of 2004.”
Canadians Cash Out On Culture
Canadians are spending more and more on culture. A new government report say that “consumer spending on cultural goods and services grew 36 per cent from 1997 to 2003. Over the same period, the Consumer Price Index, which gauges all spending, increased 14 per cent. The 2003 amount, pegged at $22.8 billion, was more than Canadians spent on alcohol, tobacco and gambling ($20.8 billion) or RRSP contributions ($16.3 billion). Consumer spending on culture was more than triple government contributions to culture nationwide, which topped out at $7.4 billion.”
Viso To Direct Hirshhorn
Ned Rifkin is giving up directorship of the Hirshhorn Museum to concentrate on running the Smithsonian. Taking for the Hirshhorn is deputy director Olga Viso. “Viso, 38, a Florida native whose parents emigrated from Cuba, joined the museum’s curatorial department 10 years ago as an expert on contemporary Latin American art. She became curator of contemporary art five years later, and stepped up to the role of deputy director of the Hirshhorn in 2003. She previously worked for the High Museum of Art in Atlanta and Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, Fla., and holds a master’s degree from Emory University.”
Vilar Fails Bail, Stays In Jail
Alberto Vilar, the man who gave away millions to the arts, apparently can’t make bail to spring himself from jail. “His attorneys asked a federal judge Tuesday to delay a bail hearing that might have sprung their client from jail. That hearing has been rescheduled for Friday. Until then, a man once reputed to be among the country’s richest men — in 2004 his personal fortune was pegged at $950 million by Forbes magazine — will reside in the Metropolitan Correction Center in Manhattan.”