Contractors exploding ordinance at an ammo dump in Iraq are causing damage to an important ancient site that is on Unesco’s World Heritage list. “Since May, controlled explosions of recovered munitions and mines are conducted at a nearby US military base. These are believed to take place twice daily. This constant seismic activity is damaging the stone arches of the main temple and the outer wall of the ancient city, which could lead to collapses.”
Tag: 10.25.04
Artists Give To Tate
The Tate Museum is huge. But it’s struggling with a collections budget that is undersized. So, some 20 artists have agreed to give pieces of their work to the Tate Britain gallery. “There are huge gaps in the Tate’s collections, which in many ways inform all of us, working artists and the growing public. Sir Nicholas Serota, director of the Tate, said: ‘We have to take this initiative to sustain our public collections in the face of declining public resources’.”
80 Percent Fake, 20 Percent Return… Welcome To The Russian Art Market
The value of artwork in Russia appreciates at 15-20 percent per year, making it a good investment. BUT. By some estimates, 80 percent of the artwork for sale in Russia is forged, and until now it has not been possible to get insurance. But that may be changing…
Degas’s 40-Year Painting
X-rays show that Degas worked and reworked a painting over the course of 40 years as his ideas changed. “The x-ray shows flurries of reworking, as figures become more and less distinct, the teenagers turn towards one another and then look away, the detailed background landscape is softened into a blur. At one point, Degas scrubbed out their classically handsome faces, and replaced them with Parisian urchins.”
When The Bad Stuff Endures
“Pop music has often been described as a disposable commodity, yet the music industry’s relentless repackaging of the past tends to ensure that pop songs are for life and not just for three minutes. But what happens when the artists themselves cannot but cringe at the enduring success of their more pathetic efforts?”
Davis: What’s Up With The Levine Hype?
Peter G. Davis marvels at the James Levine phenomenon: “Not since the days of Arturo Toscanini has a conductor been so extolled in the local press as a musician without flaw.” But Davis wonders why: “Despite his ubiquity, Levine’s musical personality remains, for some of us at least, just as mysterious as his private nature. I’ve read the raves over the years, but I can’t recall one that attempted to describe, let alone analyze, the specific nature of his interpretive aims and how they change our perception of the music.”