Highlight of Thursday’s Sotheby auction was the sale of a Gauguin for $39 million, a record for the artist. “Sotheby’s also was offering Impressionist and modern works on Thursday, including the painting from Gauguin’s second Tahitian period. The painting, the property of a private collector, was estimated to sell for $40-million to $50-million.”
Tag: 11.04.04
Why Doesn’t Poetry Make The List?
Why is it that so many who never miss the latest Pinter or David Hare or Alan Bennett in the theatre, who like to drown in Mozart or Mahler, cannot connect with poetry, particularly serious contemporary poetry?
The Great Book Rescue
In September, a catastrophic fire destroyed a historic library in Weimar. “Around 50,000 books, most of them from the 17th and 18th centuries, along with 35 paintings and the Duchess Anna Amalia’s sheet music collection were destroyed by the flames. Some 62,000 volumes that were damaged by fire and extinguishing water, each wrapped individually in cling film, were transported to Leipzig for “first aid“ – more than 40 metric tons of librarian-style emergency cases.”
Found: Italy’s Largest Ancient City?
An archaeologist believes he has found what would have once been Italy’s largest city. It’s the ancient Etruscan city of Clusium, which was at its peak in 500 BC, and for which generations of treasure hunters have been searching.
Testing America’s Iran Ban
An Iranian human rights activist is suing the U.S. government for the right to work with an American literary agent in the publication of her memoirs. “[U.S.] Treasury Department regulations… impose penalties on anybody who transacts business with Iran,” but Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi says that she doesn’t want to have to submit her manuscript to Iran’s repressive mullahs for approval. U.S. law does permit “American publishers to reproduce, translate and edit ‘informational materials’ from countries subject to U.S. sanctions. But even advising an author how to structure a book ‘would be a problem.'”
Taking Some Early Shots At SF’s New Museum
The M.H. de Young Memorial Museum currently under construction in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park is inspiring some hostile talk before the museum even opens its doors. The Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron-designed building has been described as “hideous,” “totally out of place,” and “antiseptic and soulless” by denizens of the city, but John King points out the obvious: the building isn’t done yet, and given the intricate nature of the design, as well as the plan for it to be partially covered in greenery, the amateur critics are passing judgment far too early.
Cleveland Arts Center Keeps Raking In The Cash
Cleveland’s $42 million “Idea Center”, which will house dance studios, a small theater, and broadcast facilities for local public radio and TV stations when it is completed, got another major gift this week when the Reinberger Foundation pledged a cool million to the project. “This is the third major gift for the project this year. The George Gund Foundation contributed $1.6 million in July. Key Bank donated $1 million in March. The two nonprofit partners have raised about $10 million. They hope to raise an additional $17 million, with the rest of the money coming from historic tax credits and the state.”
Monkey See, Monkey Sue
“Taking a cue from recording companies, Hollywood movie studios are preparing to file copyright infringement lawsuits against computer users they say are illegally distributing movies online… The lawsuits will target movie fans who share digitized versions of films over peer-to-peer networks, with the first wave of litigation planned for as early as Thursday.”
Is Iceland The New Canada?
Taking a page from Canada’s book, the nation of Iceland is attempting to lure American filmmakers to its shores. But unlike Canada, the reasoning behind the come-on is more than just financial: Icelanders go to more movies than residents of any other nation, and locally made films often get lost in the Hollywood shuffle. “The hope is that these filmmakers will bring revenue into a country that has struggled to diversify beyond fishing, and that the American and European crews will bring their expertise. The theory is that these skills will be passed along to local filmmakers, [and] the production values of Icelandic films will be raised.”
A Serious Look At Designer Art
This year’s Carnegie International art exhibition in Pittsburgh is focusing on “designer art,” displaying work by 38 artists from across the world. It’s an interesting attempt to show how pop culture trends can intersect with the world of serious art, but “the problem with designer art is that it can be difficult to distinguish from everyday commercial art… The brainier designer-directors tend to produce work that is more interesting to philosophize about than to experience.”