A Copenhagen-area museum says a bust by French artist Paul Gauguin of one of his sons has been discovered in Denmark where a family had unwittingly been using it as a Christmas decoration.
Tag: 08.30.05
Museums – Bribing The Collectors?
A new show at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts that displays a collector’s boats has observers wondering about the ethics of romancing collectors for their collections. ‘Years ago, you got a little quiet thank-you note for supporting a museum. Today, they put your boats outside. But that is essentially killing philanthropy. Everybody is going to want the same thing. If he can have it, why can’t I’?”
Shakespeare – A Whole Lot Of Guessing Going On
There’s a big industry of “who was Shakespeare” theories and books, and most of it is just conjecture and guessing. “The traditional theory that Shakespeare was Shakespeare has the passive to active acceptance of the vast majority of English professors and scholars, but it also has had its skeptics, including major authors, independent scholars, lawyers, Supreme Court justices, academics and even prominent Shakespearean actors.”
Lascaux Cave Replica To Tour
A replica of the Lascaux cave in which prehistoric art was discovered, is scheduled for a world tour. “The cave, discovered by teenagers 65 years ago, has been closed to general view since 1963 to protect its rock paintings of bison and other animals, some depicting successive stages of a hunt. The 17,000-year-old images are considered among the finest surviving examples of palaeolithic art and have been described as the Sistine Chapel of the prehistoric age.”
Noted: Concert Success Isn’t Driving Album Sales
Pop stars who sell lots of high-priced concert tickets on the road are finding that their recordings aren’t selling in stores. “Scenarios abound when it comes to the disparity between chart and box office numbers — figures that rarely tell the whole story. In some cases, like with the old guys, it’s that millions and millions of records have already been sold over decades, and fans feel that they have what they need. But sometimes, as with many of the big jam bands, it’s simply the live work that truly drives the train.”
Money To Rescue “Eyes on the Prize” From Copyright
The classic civil rights documentary Eyes on the Prize has been out of circulation because copyright licensing of clips in the movie had expired. “The 14-part series, which chronicles the history of the civil rights movement in America, has been blocked from television rebroadcast and DVD release by a thicket of copyright restrictions on the hundreds of photos, music tracks and video clips used in its making. But thanks to a $600,000 grant from the Ford Foundation and a philanthropist’s $250,000 donation, the process of re-licensing that material has begun.”
Women Artists Still have a Long Way To Go
Despite great progress for women artists, the going has been slow. And how about that list of Britain’s greatest art that didn’t include work by a single woman? “It seems that women’s art that doesn’t conform to preconceived notions of feminine loveliness still has a hard time gaining acceptance. That means we can’t be complacent about where women’s art will stand for posterity, and how a list of favourite paintings will look in 50 years’ time.”
Aussie Aboriginal Painting Fails To Sell
Aboriginal art now accounts for more than 50% of all art sales in Australia, and there were big expectations that a work by the late Rover Thomas, would become the first indigenous painting to sell for more than $1 million (Aus). Instead, the painting has failed to sell at auction.
The Angel Who Saved Detroit’s Jazz Festival
When Gretchen Valade heard that Ford had pulled out as major sponsor of the 25-year-old Detroit Jazz festival, she stepped in to save the day. “The angel who saved the jazz festival has the bank account of a blue blood but the soul of an artist. She wrote short stories in her youth and standard-ballad pop songs as she got older, and when no one seemed interested in her music, she started her own record company. Valade’s fortune is homegrown — she’s the granddaughter of the founder of Carhartt Inc., the $400-million Dearborn company that makes rugged work clothes that have also become hip urban fashion.”