The unexpected death Friday of Getty Trust president and chief executive James Wood “leaves the top two positions at the institution vacant,” thereby creating what some see as “a unique opportunity to resolve a longstanding issue.” The institution’s “unusual organizational structure … has been a source of internal conflict over the years.”
Tag: 06.15.10
Appreciation: LA Philharmonic’s Ernest Fleischmann
“[N]o one can deny he was a force of nature. His regular reinventions of the orchestra extended to arts institutions in general and influenced even the arts themselves. He was an Olympian and intellectual with a common touch and a social conscience, and that is ultimately what made him great.”
States Catch On: Representation Doesn’t Equal Glorification
“Among the states that began underwriting film and television production with heavy subsidies over the past half-decade — 44 states had some sort of incentives by last year, 28 of them involving tax credits — at least a handful are giving new scrutiny to a question that was politely overlooked in the early excitement: What kind of films are taxpayers paying for?”
Restoring 5 Harvard Rothkos, Minus The Actual Restoration
Conservators “used X-rays and spectrometers to distinguish paint layers and identify the pigments in Rothko’s paints, as well as enhancements of the original Ektachrome photographs taken of the murals when they were installed.” They then created “software that will use a digital projector as a light source to augment those now missing colors on the original canvases.”
Folger Shakespeare Library Director To Retire In 2011
“In her eight years at the Folger, [Gail Kern] Paster has acquired increasingly rare documents of the Elizabethan era; raised millions of dollars, despite the recession, for the historic building and collections; and overseen the inevitable march to digitization.”
How Many Understudies Equal A Refund?
With its “leading man too ill to perform” and “his understudy and leading lady laid low by the same bug” yet game to “battle through,” the ENO went ahead with its performance — even when the ailing understudy was replaced after intermission with a chorus member. “At what point does ‘the show must go on’ tip over into ‘must the show go on’?”
As Garment District Contracts, How To Dress The Dancers?
New York City Ballet’s costume shop is “charged with rebuilding costumes made years or decades ago, sometimes with materials that have long since gone out of style or production. Meanwhile, shrinking budgets, rising costs and an imperiled garment district make it increasingly difficult to keep City Ballet’s vast repertory looking fresh.”
Poll: Dido and Aeneas Aria Is Brits’ Favorite
“It is a tragic lament, sung by Dido, Queen of Carthage, who flings herself on a funeral pyre after being abandoned by the Trojan Prince Aeneas. ‘Remember me,’ sings the heartbroken queen, to the lover who has left her. ‘But ah, forget my fate.’ She then commits suicide in despair.”
B’klyn Museum’s Pop-Culture Focus Hasn’t Added Visitors
“The Brooklyn Museum has long faced criticism that its populist tack and exhibitions on topics like the ‘Star Wars’ movies and hip-hop music have diminished its stature. And now the attendance figures raise questions about the effectiveness of those efforts to build an audience by becoming more accessible.”
Trading Commission Green-Lights Movie-Futures Plan
“The approval … came in spite of strong objections from the Hollywood lobbyists who have mounted a vigorous campaign to block the exchange.” The victory may “be short-lived: the MPAA and other opponents could still block the exchange if they can convince the US Congress to pass a measure banning the contracts.”