The Royal Shakespeare Company records an operating surplus of £1.7 million for 2004/5. “The company has now more than eliminated the £2.8 million deficit inherited by Michael Boyd when he took over as artistic director in 2003.”
Tag: 11.25.05
The Long And Purple Road
It’s taken eight years for “The Color Purple” to get to Broadway. “Along the way, lead producer Scott Sanders had to replace the original playwright and choreographer, recast a pair of major roles, raise $10 million in capital, and revamp the adaptation in time for its Dec. 1 opening.”
The Marketing Of Frida
“The Frida Kahlo Corporation, created by Isolda Kahlo, is busy exploiting the artist’s name with a series of products. “The family has marketed Frida Kahlo jewellery and clothing after her niece won the rights to register the name as a brand. But the commercialisation of the painter, who died in 1954 at the age of 47, has provoked a row between her friends, family and critics.”
Switzerland – Art Of The ordinary
“In the rest of the world, cities clamour for iconic buildings, blockbuster museums and galleries, which they desperately hope will put them on the map. Our everyday surroundings, however, new houses and out-of-town shopping malls, streetscapes and utilities, are virtually untouched by architects, a saddening, immature blend of Noddy-houses and big sheds, anonymous boxes and ominous CCTV poles. In Switzerland there are few icons. Instead, the average is executed with thought and skill, and the whole is consequently raised to a sublime where even the signal boxes are designed by world-class architects.”
Our Politics Onstage
Britain, more than any other country, is fictionalising its public and political life for the entertainment of the cultural elite.
Detroit Orchestra: Video As A Tool
Large video screens at the Detroit Symphony this week were intended not to be distracting. “We’re not making a TV show. Our mission is to reveal things to the audience that they can’t see, not broadcast the music. This is the society we’ve become. We want to teach people that it’s OK to take the time to listen to music, but we have to be willing to meet people where they are.”
Financier Accuses Gallery Of Auction Price Fixing
Christie’s is holding back the sale of some paintings sold at auction because it suspects a gallery of orchestrating a price fixing scheme. “We permitted certain bidding…because we were led to believe that the owners…were a divorcing couple. We now have reason to believe that this was not the case.”
Warhol Foundation Revamps Authentication Committee
The Warhol Foundation has appointed two former curators to join its authentication committee to judge the authenticity of works said to be by the late artist. “Since 2003, the board has been under fire from owners of rejected works and members of the artist’s circle who claim their knowledge of Warhol’s practice is ignored. The board has routinely denied the authenticity of silkscreens made without Warhol’s direct supervision, but his former associates argue that to reject such works contradicts Warhol’s practice of having works of art printed without his direct oversight.”
Collector Sues Van Gogh Museum Over Painting
A collector is suing the Van Gogh Museum because the museum has declared a painting the man owns as a fake. “The owner intended to sell the painting two years ago as the star of an auction in the Gironde. But a news agency report quoting the museum’s belief that it was a fake forced its withdrawal. His belief in the painting’s authenticity has been supported by other analysts, including an Italian art laboratory and a Dutch-based French expert, Bernard Landais, who declared himself in no doubt that the painting was in Van Gogh’s hand.”