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SPECIAL INTEREST
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"The Arts" - A Meaningless Banal Phrase The etymology of the phrase "the arts" is fascinating. " 'The arts' has also become one of those irritating modern pieties, like 'community', 'compassion' or ' excellence', which have people crossing themselves. All too often, 'supporting the arts' is little more than a badge of gentility. It doesn't imply a real discriminating passion for music, painting or the theatre, let alone any sense of how they might inform your life or change society. It doesn't even imply paying a fair price for the work of an artist. It is simply part of the cement in the thin wall that separates the respectable from the barbaric." The Telegraph (UK) 12/04/02
Escape From... Looking back over this year's offerings in arts and entertainment, there's one trend that's easy to spot - a low reading on the substance meter. "Maybe this year we needed an extra dose of escapism. But if the entertainment industry wants to stay connected with us in the long run, it needs to make more works that matter." Boston Herald 12/08/02
Kennedy Center Gets $100 Million Philanthropist Catherine B. Reynolds has given $100 million to the Kennedy Center in Washington DC. It's the Center's largest gift ever, and "the first donation to the center's plan for a major expansion over the next decade. One of the new buildings will be dedicated to educational programs and exhibitions on the performing arts; the other, to rehearsal space. Together they will be the focal point of a new plaza." Washington Post 12/07/02
$86 Million In The Service Of Art Largely overlooked when Ruth Lilly gave $100 million to Poetry magazine a few weeks ago was another one of her gifts - $86 million to the arts advocacy group Americans for the Arts. There's been much speculation about what Poetry might or might not do with the money. But how about Americans for the Arts? Backstage 12/05/02
The ABC's Of Critical Writing Judges who don't read the books they're pronouncing on, movie critics who don't see the films they're writing about... it's the new form of criticism, writes Alex Beam. "I am partaking in a hot new reviewing trend: Abstinence-Based Criticism (A-BC). At the key moment of critical engagement, just say no. Resist the temptation! Why read the book, see the movie, or, for that matter, eat the food? I can do it from here!" Boston Globe 12/05/02
Festival Of Brains "Coming soon: A big-brained summit featuring some of the world's foremost scientists, artists, businesspeople, media figures, writers and all-around cultural visionaries... It's the Toronto International Marshall McLuhan Festival of the Future," and it's being launched by the man behind the very successful Toronto International Film Festival. A skeptic might point out that Toronto already has an "ideas" festival, a 4-year-old gathering known as ideaCity, but McLuhan organizers say their event will be broader in scope. Toronto Star 12/04/02
Study Say Arts Better Students Canadian researchers studying the effect of arts education on overall learning in students, discover that "the 10- to 12-year-olds who spent three years in the Learning Through the Arts program scored as many as 11 percentile points higher on standardized math tests than their peers in the study’s control schools. 'It certainly makes us wonder why there isn’t more arts in the classroom. Many people assume that the arts somehow detract from the learning of other subjects, but this study shows that that isn’t the case'.” Kingston Whig-Standard (Canada) 12/03/02
The Spires Of Singapore Singapore has a new $343 million performing arts complex. But more than just theatres, The Esplanade — Theaters on the Bay is an architectural statement the city hopes will define it architecturally in the manner of the Eiffel Tower or the Sydney Opera House in their respective cities. "Along with an 2,000-seat theater, the Esplanade boasts what is perhaps one of the world's most acoustically meticulous concert halls. Besides, who could forget a building that is so, well, prickly?" The New York Times 12/03/02
SF Ballet - A Comer... "Long regarded as a solid regional institution, San Francisco Ballet has vaulted forward in the past decade. Versatility and aplomb, distinctive stars from around the globe, depth in the corps, a clean and confident style and a broadly built repertoire now place San Francisco well ahead of the regional pack and into the first tier of major companies." San Francisco Chronicle 12/08/02
The Life & Times Of A Dance Company... Director Robert Altman wanted to direct a dance movie, and chose Chicago's Joffrey Company to tell the story. "Artists steeped in the work of Vaslav Nijinsky, Antony Tudor and Frederick Ashton meet, or, rather, met Robert Altman, Neve Campbell and Malcolm McDowell during the three-month shoot took place all over Chicago as it focused on a story inside the life and times of the Joffrey." Chicago Tribune 12/08/02
NY Dance Builds Up New York dance companies are in a building boom. Alvin Ailey and Trisha Brown are both building new homes, and Mark Morris built one last year. "It speaks to their ability to reach an audience that they are stable enough to afford their own homes. There's a moment in the development of nonprofits where they institutionalize. It's wonderful to know where your next rehearsal space is and what kind of amenities—showers and lockers—you're going to have." Village Voice 12/03/02
How To Build A Company From Scratch Want to start a dance company? Former Martha Graham company principal dancer Jeanne Ruddy is doing it in Philadelphia. She's building a company, a home and a school. All for $3.5 million. And an aggressive entrepreneurial business plan... Philadelphia Inquirer 12/05/02
Kennedy Center Looks To Dance Patrons To Help The Kennedy Center has been looking for ways to shore up its dance offerings ever since Michael Kaiser took over as director, and now, even as fundraising by arts organizations nationwide is suffering the effects of the stagnant economy, the Kennedy hopes that its patrons will help foot the bill. "In a letter this week, the center is asking patrons to join the Kennedy Center Ballet Circle by making contributions of $1,000 to $250,000. The money will support the annual season of ballet, and donors will receive ticket privileges as well as invitations to special receptions, rehearsals and discussions." Washington Post 12/04/02
Why Fantasy Rules Fantasy movies are the engine that drives the movie business these days. Why? Westerns have lost their appeal, war movies are too violent, and stories from ancient times look dated. Besides, the teenage boy market... The Telegraph (UK) 12/07/02
Looking For Extra Respect "Extras, those people behind the stars, who - despite appearing out of focus, without speaking and for all of a nanosecond - play as important a role in a film as the props or costumes or even musical score. In fact, extras are so necessary that they've opted for the far less marginal-sounding term of 'background performer' in hopes of getting a little more respect." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 12/07/02
On Behalf Of All Directors... Martin Scorcese's Gangs of New York could be the most important movie released this year. Here's why: Time was (back in the 70s) that directors were the main push behind what movies got made. Nowadays, a small number of A-list actors seems to call the shots. Scorcese's $100-million Gangs is a director-driven project, and despite its long messy birth, if it sells, directors may get back some of the influence over what gets made... The Telegraph (UK) 12/06/02
The Miracle-Of-Technology Problem "As moviemaking becomes increasingly high-tech, Hollywood film crews are finding themselves at odds with the technology that permeates everyday life. They sit on the cutting edge of a global laboratory in which millions of computer chips, hordes of wireless devices and even ordinary contraptions can wreak havoc on their productions." But it's not like the old days when if a mechanical camera broke, you got inside and fixed it... Nando Times (LAT) 12/04/02
Stories No One Wants To See Now How did a movie adaptation of a 1955 Graham Greene story go from being touted as Oscar-worthy before its planned September 2001 release to being all-but unreleaseable? September 11. "What freaked me out after the 10th was the 11th. I showed the film to some people and staff, and they said: 'Are you out of your mind? You can't release this now; it's unpatriotic. America has to be cohesive, and band together.' We were worried that nobody had the stomach for a movie about bad Americans anymore." The Age (Melbourne) 12/04/02
Harry In Trouble? Is the Harry Potter franchise running out of steam? "The third movie will be late, the fourth book is proving unadaptable, the director is burned out and the boy wizard is facing a greater enemy than Voldemort - the march of time." The Telegraph (UK) 12/03/02
SF Opera - Best Of The Rest? Of course the Metropolitan Opera is America's best - and biggest. But San Francisco is surely second (or third?) best? San Francisco Chronicle 12/08/02
Celebrating Boheme Baz Luhrmann's "La Boheme" opens in a flash of color on Broadway. "The show is far more respectful of its sentimental operatic essence than many of the lugubrious, experimental productions of old war horses at the Met. (Think 'Lucia di Lammermoor' or 'Il Trovatore.') What Mr. Luhrmann and his extraordinary production designer (and wife), Catherine Martin, have done is find the visual equivalent of the sensual beauty and vigor of the score." The New York Times 12/09/02
The Increasingly Blurry Lines Between Opera And Broadway Opera companies producing Broadway musicals. Broadway taking on opera classics. What's going on? "There are two main reasons for this sudden fusion, neither of which originate in artistic concerns." Chicago Tribune 12/08/02
Isn't Payola Illegal? Er, yes...but if you're a Latin music artist and want to get airplay on the radio, you've got to pay. "Because payola adds so much to the cost of promoting a recording - between 20 percent and 30 percent, according to former major-label employees - it cuts out most smaller, independent labels, typical sources for new genres and artists." Miami Herald 12/08/02
Ticket Prices On The Way Down In recent years concert ticket prices have spiraled up. But in the past six months the concert industry has discovered consumer resistance to the high cost, and finally, prices are staring to decline. One promoter predicts ticket prices will be down 15 percent from last year. Rocky Mountain News 12/08/02
La Scala Opens In An Away Game For the first time in 224 years, La Scala opened its season outside of its own theatre. "The newly built, 2,400-seat Arcimboldi, in a former industrial area, will host La Scala's full program of operas, ballets and concerts through December 2004 while La Scala Theater, the company's venerable temple of bel canto, undergoes a $56 million renovation." Nando Times (AP) 12/09/02
After The Rain The damage is being toted up after the sprinklers went off during a Philadelphia Orchestra rehearsall. "A second Steinway grand piano was damaged in Tuesday morning's deluge at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, some warping has begun to appear in the floor of Verizon Hall, and 11 orchestra musicians are reporting damaged instruments." Philadelphia Inquirer 12/06/02
Orchestra Shutdowns Come To The Holyland The increased violence and tension in the Middle East may now have killed off a beloved local institution: the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra has announced that it will shut down this weekend as a result of nonpayment of promised funds from the city and the Israel Broadcast Authority. JSO officials also accuse the IBA and municipal authorities of wanting to turn the orchestra into a political pawn. Jerusalem Post 11/5/02
No Shortage Of Cash In Boston Chicago may be struggling, St. Louis and Toronto may have had near-death experiences, and Houston may be on the verge of an all-out labor war, but things are just dandy at the Boston Symphony Orchestra. As the BSO prepares to kick off its holiday pops season, it is pulling in the kind of ticket revenue which would be enough to fund some orchestras for a year without a single dollar donated. Never an organization to underestimate its own importance, the BSO's managing director brags, "There are (smaller) orchestras that for the entire 52-week year will have not even $10 million of sales, We do almost half of that in basically three weeks. We are the biggest orchestra operation in the world by a big margin." Boston Herald 12/06/02
Celestial Sounds (As Music) When the Voyager space probes shot past Saturn, Uranus and Neptune on their 25-year journey into deep space, machines in the probe captured the whistles and chirrups the probes encountered, and transmitted them back to earth. Now composer Terry Riley has written a piece incorporating the sounds into a piece for the Kronos String Quartet and a 60-voice choir. "The string quartet was NASA's idea, the product of an arts programme that, over the past 30 years, has commissioned work from artists including Andy Warhol and Robert Rauschenberg." The Guardian (UK) 12/06/02
How To Stand Out In A Crowd (Maybe): "I have heard estimates that there are over 10,000 living composers in the United States today, which is ironically a number larger than most audiences for the majority of new music concerts and recordings. So, how to stand out from the crowd and be noticed? A good start is to be included in a book." The question is - which book, and where does it count? NewMusicBox 12/02
And The Survey Says... We Like Music Britons are big music consumers, says a new poll of more than 10,000 people by the digital music channel Music Choice. The average respondant in the poll spends "three hours 11 minutes and 55 seconds a day - or 48 days a year - listening to our music collections." The poll also indicates sizeable investments in music. "The average Briton owns 100 CDs, 51 records, 50 cassettes, 28 MP3 files and eight minidiscs worth more than £3,000." The Guardian (UK) 12/04/02
Classical Critical List From the Bay Area to Boston, America's opera companies orchestras and classical music presenters are facing a downturn that has many worried for their survival. Here's a scorecard of who's at risk... CBSNews.com (AP) 12/02/02
Calgary Cancels Christmas Something short of a massive, wailing public outcry greeted September's news that the Calgary Philharmonic was suspending operations, and efforts since the shutdown to revive the troubled orchestra have achieved mixed results. Now, the CPO is being forced to cancel four of its five holiday concerts, traditionally some of the ensemble's biggest money-makers of the year. On the plus side, officials expect to unveil a full scale restructuring plan tomorrow. Calgary Herald 12/01/02
Troupe Forced To Resign Quincy Troupe, who was forced out of his appointment as California's first Poet Laureate this fall after it was discovered he had misrepresented his credentials on his resume, has had to resign his teaching post at the University of California, San Diego. "I very much regret my lapse in judgment and the problems it has created for my department and the broader UCSD community," Troupe said. SFGate.com 12/03/02
- Troupe Faces Reporters Troupe told a colleague last week that "he decided to step down after the university decided to suspend him for a year without pay or benefits." Troupe told reporters that he is a person who faces up to his mistakes, but while some of Troupe's supporters were angry that the university didn't stick up for the poet, others seemed relieved that the affair is over. "I am relieved he chose to do the honorable thing by resigning. He's a great poet, but he needs to be a great poet somewhere else." San Diego Union-Tribune 12/04/02
Michelangelo The Miser "Michelangelo, who painted the ceiling of the Vatican's Sistine Chapel and designed the dome of St. Peter's Basilica, passed himself off as poor but was actually too miserly to show his huge wealth... [An art historian] has unearthed two of Michelangelo's bank accounts and numerous deeds of purchase that show the prolific painter, sculptor and architect was worth about 50,000 gold ducats when he died in 1564, more than many princes and dukes of his time." Los Angeles Times (Reuters) 12/03/02
The Iron Lady Of Russian Museums Irina Antonova has been director of the State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow for 41 years. "Such longevity would be remarkable anywhere — even in the United States Senate — but Russia is a particular case. Mrs. Antonova's career at the Pushkin, which began one month before the end of World War II, has survived Stalinism, democracy and everything in between, including unresolved disputes over looted and lost art." The New York Times 12/03/02
Finding A Way Through Music Matt Savage is 10 years old, and he plays the piano well enough that he turns heads in New Orleans, where he lives. He's playing jazz in concerts around the world. But he isn't just a prodigy, he's also autistic, and "when he was younger, had great difficulty communicating, did not like to be touched and - most incredibly for a musician - couldn’t stand the sound of music or of household noises like a blender or a vacuum cleaner" Jerusalem Report 11/02
Power To The Pub Lady Sandra Esquilant's East End London pub has been a gathering place for a generation of BritArt conceptual artists. Now, "for her role as a homely mother confessor to the angry generation of British conceptual artists, has won the improbable reward of 80th place in a list of the 100 most powerful figures in contemporary art." The Telegraph (UK) 12/02/02
Style Over Substance? Was Michael Kinsley unethical as a judge for not reading all the nominees for this year's National Book Awards? "The job of a book-awards judge starts with bookicide. Once you've decided a nonfiction book could not possibly win - because, say, its first 50 pages stink - you're free to toss it. There's no further reporting obligation. Kinsley appears to have leaped way over the line if he didn't read even the opening pages of many nominated books... Philadelphia Inquirer 12/03/02
Lesson For The Day - Stealing's Okay If It's Educational JK Rowling and Warner Bros. have lost an expensive lawsuit in Germany. A publisher of textbooks had used the Harry Potter character in printed homework assignments, so Rowling sued. "The judge in the case agreed with the publishing house’s argument that they did not need to obtain copyright for school books because they were for educational purposes. The practice of using images on German schoolbooks is apparently commonplace. According to the publishing house, authors are happy to be targeted because it gives them free publicity and even boosts sales of the original book as it means children have to buy them so they can complete the homework." The Scotsman 12/06/02
I Just Called To Write I Luv U A love poem has been declared the winner of this year's Guardian "Text Message" Poetry Contest. The poetry is composed for mobile phones and "the text message format puts a limit of 160 characters on each poem, which tests the ingenuity and creativity of the poets. Combining poetry, one of the oldest literary forms, with texting demonstrates just how creative text messaging can be." The Guardian (UK) 12/06/02
Why Do Books Cost So Much? "Consumers are often baffled at the price tag attached to what appears to be little more than a mass of paper, cardboard and ink. A whole host of factors, including the size of the book, the quality of paper, the quantity of books printed, whether it contains illustrations, what sort of deal the publisher can make with the printer and the cost of warehouse space, all affect the production costs of a book. But, roughly speaking, only about 20 percent of a publisher's budget for each book pays for paper, printing and binding, the trinity that determines the physical cost." Salon 12/03/02
Big Publisher Settles With Upstart Internet Publisher Publishing giant Random House and online publisher RosettaBooks have settled RH's lawsuit against the upstart internet publisher. Rosetta has been selling electronic versions of books that predate the internet by authors such as Kurt Vonnegut and William Styron. Rosetta claimed its editions as new publications and made deals with the authors and not the original publishers. "But the settlement announced Wednesday leaves the issue unresolved. The two sides essentially agreed it was better to work together than to fight." Nando Times (AP) 12/04/02
Ooh Baby Baby... Wendy Perriam has won "one of the least coveted prizes in literature" - the Bad Sex in Fiction Award, awarded by the Literary Review. The prize is for the worst literary description of sex in a novel, and some of the literary world's best-known authors have been nominated. "Robert Posner of the Literary Review said Perriam's book stood out from the rest because 'they had never before heard of pin-striped genitalia', although he admitted the committee of judges were confused as to what it actually meant." BBC 12.05.02
Have Muppets, Will Sell The Muppet empire has been chopped into pieces since Muppet creator Jim Henson died in 1990. The company was sold soon after Henson's death, and some of the characters were resold off to Sesame Street last year. The rest of the troupe has been on the market for the past year. Is Miss Piggy enough of an enduring character to endure? The Guardian (UK) 12/09/02
The Long And Short Of London Theatre "The ever-busy world of London theater this season has produced two important premieres by two singular playwrights, Tom Stoppard and Caryl Churchill. Their vastly different new works -- Stoppard's running a little over nine hours and Churchill's clocking in at a mere 55 minutes -- are certain to have United States productions, and when they get to America, they are sure to cause a stir." Chicago Tribune 12/06/02
White Like Me British theatre is an overwhelmingly white experience. "The facts are scandalous. Of 2,009 permanent staff in regional theatres, only 80 are from black and Asian communities; of 463 board members, only 20 are from what we term "ethnic minorities". And Leicester Haymarket is the only producing theatre with a black artistic director, Kully Thiarai." The Arts Council is working on some initiatives to help, but "the key question is whether these initiatives are enough to combat the racism - more, I suspect, a result of indifference than malice - that has become an entrenched part of British theatre." The Guardian (UK) 12/05/02
Different? You Did Wanted Different, Didn't You? Wasn't it just yesterday the press was beating up on Trevor Nunn and his choices running London's National Theatre? Well, his successor hasn't wasted any time signaling his split from the past. Jerry Springer - The Opera, a cheeky, irreverent, and joyously filthy musical theatre satire on the TV chat show no one likes to admit to watching, will be Nicholas Hytner's first big production when his reign begins in April. As a first choice it sends an unmistakable message that the years ahead are likely not only to be risky and exciting but revolutionary in a way that Sir Trevor Nunn's were not." The Guardian (UK) 12/05/02
The Royal Shakespeare Company's Dire Straits The Royal Shakespeare Company reports that it lost £1 million last year, "bringing its cumulative loses to £2.4 million. The company's experimental season at London's Roundhouse was "a financial disaster even though artistically it had its moments." And this is the company with ambitious reorganization plans. "for the first time the staggering costs of the company's reorganisation have become clear. Its administrators are budgeting on spending at least £9.2 million." The Guardian (UK) 12/04/02
My Fair Box Office London's National Theatre began the year with a £626,000 debt, which it hoped to eliminate by next March. But thanks to the commercial box office success of My Fair Lady, the theatre popped into the black last March, about a year early. But, the theatre warns, financial prospects for the next season look less certain than usual. BBC 12/02/02
Exit Smiling Trevor Nunn leaves the National with a record of success As director, he introduced many new plays, generated lots of buzzand even...gasp.. made some money with high-profile commercial prouctions...Still, there were those pesky critics who refused to leave him alone. The Guardian (UK) 12/02/02
For The Good Of The World - We're Keeping The Art Directors of 18 major museums from around the world have signed a declaration that their institutions act as "universal museums" for the good of the world, and therefore they will not hand back ancient artifacts to their countries of origin. "The universal admiration for ancient civilisations would not be so deeply established today were it not for the influence exercised by the artefacts of these cultures, widely available to an international public in major museums." BBC 12/09/02
"Mad Professor" Wins Turner Prize Keith Tyson has won this year's Turner Prize. "The 33-year-old former Cumbrian shipyard worker, dubbed the 'mad professor' for his fondness for exploring ideas from the outer limits of cod science and his outlandish proposals for giant neon dinosaurs and the like, had been the bookies' favourite. As the artist with the best jokes, he was also the public's first choice." The Guardian (UK) 12/09/02
Building As Picture Frame The new Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth is a signature art building like most new museum buildings. But curators say the building ought to be a supporting player to the art. "My job is to represent the artist. If an artist makes a big painting, they want it to look big. What I want is small spaces where I can make small paintings look big and big paintings look big, without compromise." Houston Chronicle 12/06/02
Thieves Steal Van Goghs Thieves broke into Amsterdam's Van Gogh Museum overnight and stole two of the artist's drawings. "Police were studying video tapes recorded by security cameras, while curators rearranged the paintings to cover the blank spaces on the walls before opening the museum to the public." Yahoo! (AP) 12/07/02
The Ruin Of Angkor Wat "It was a year ago that a high-ranking Cambodian official said the time had come to rev up the old ruin with things like sound-and-light shows, zigzag escalators and hot-air balloons. 'Angkor is asleep. We will wake it up'. Since a rough-edged peace came to this battered country in 1997, tourist visits to the Angkor temples have risen from almost zero toward a projected one million in 2005. The temples are already swarming." The New York Times 12/07/02
Hi, I'm Phil From Devon...I Carved The Parthenon... The Belgian newspaper De Morgen printed a blockbuster scoop last week - the Parthenon Marbles weren't really made by a Greek but by a "wandering stonemason from Devon called Phil Davies who changed his name to Pheidias to ingratiate himself with his ancient Athenian patrons." That means that the English would have a stronger claim to retaining the Marbles in the British Museum. The story included denials from the Greeks and quotes from the gloating Brits. Of course the story was a hoax, and the newspaper later printed a sheepish retraction. "It was a stupid mistake. It all happened on a Sunday when we had a skeletal staff. We noticed it ourselves the next day and ran a correction. What can you say." The Guardian (UK) 12/07/02
Dead Woman Mistaken For Art Visitors to a Berlin art space mistook a dead woman for a performance art piece. "Authorities said the 24-year-old woman, who apparently leapt from a window, discussed suicide in a videotaped interview with a group of artists the day before." Yahoo! (Reuters) 12/05/02
From Obscurity To Greatness When the new $60 million Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth opens this weekend, it will be the second-largest modern art museum in the US. "This museum has changed identities, names and directors more times than most people can count. Its meteoric rise of late is all the more remarkable given its checkered history and inauspicious beginnings. A museum that started as an adjunct to the public library, with volunteers footing the bills and guiding its fate, now stands poised to be one of the most influential institutions of its type." Dallas Morning News 12/07/02
Basel In Miami For the first time, Art Basel, which is one of the world's top contemporary art fairs, is putting on a show outside its hometown. Where? Miami. And it's being called America's hottest art fair of the season. "While the most cutting-edge art raised some eyebrows, connoisseurs were keenly eyeing the more mainstream offerings, which include some of the best-known artists from the 20th and 21st centuries, including Keith Haring, Fernand Leger, René Magritte, Joan Miro, Pablo Picasso and Andy Warhol." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 12/07/02
The Rise And Fall Of The Guggenheim Thomas Krens cut the figure of museum director as all big ideas and fearlessness - redefining the modern museum in an age of global branding. But he's also a polarizing figure, an easy target for those who lament his big-business approach to art. With a pursestrings-attached gift to Krens's Guggenheim Museum, the era of the Guggenheim as lavish spender and worldwide art brand seems to be at an end. "Global culture sounded inevitable a few years ago — all those plane-hopping travelers and multinational collaborations. But Sept. 11 put an end to that. The world became more divided, people less willing to travel, the American public poorer, more attuned to protecting itself and what it has." The New York Times 12/06/02
Auction Houses Or Discount Bins? As the American economy continues to tank mightily, art auction houses are finding themselves in the uncomfortable position of putting masterpieces on the block for far less than they are worth, at least according to the inflated price scales of the 1990s. Case in point: a mature Rubens painting set to be auctioned soon for $4-$6 million, down from its original asking price of $25 million. In other tough news for the industry, Sotheby's New York is facing another round of layoffs, less than a year after the company let go 375 employees. The New York Times 12/06/02
It's Our Award And We're Going Home The American Institute of Architects has chosen not to award it's annual Gold Medal for the 36th time in the 95-year history of the prize. The decision doesn't necessarily mean that no new building was deserving of the honor, merely that 3/4 of the judges could not agree on a single winner. And since the list of nominees is kept confidential, we can all do our own speculation on whether 2001 architecture was a disappointment, or whether two or more worthy finalists managed to split the vote. Washington Post 12/06/02
Visual Art - In Need Of Reinvention? A visit to this year's exhibition of Turner Prize finalists shows that visitors aren't much interested in the art there. "Is it just that this year's shortlist is lacklustre? Or is this year just part of a larger problem? The answer is the latter. If there is a big message in the Turner prize exhibition, it is that there is a huge public demand for the arts, but it is not being met by the artists. Admittedly, this is a charge which has often been made in all the arts in the past, and has been made in many different societies, and by some very unsavoury figures. But it continues to be made, and it seems to be a particular problem for the visual arts." The Guardian (UK) 12/06/02
Finding Out What's In The Hermitage The Hermitage Museum "reportedly has three-million paintings, sculptures, drawings and decorative objects on its six-block site. But it's not entirely sure of that number or precisely where among its 400-plus rooms all that stuff is located, since it's never done a complete inventory in its 250-year history." Now a consortium of foundations is helping the museum to audit its holdings and bring the Hermitage into the modern age, more or less, and on a footing equal, more or less, to that of the Louvre, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the British Museum." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 12/05/02
Trying To Save What's Left of the Bamiyan Buddhas Efforts are underway to preserve what's left of the giant Bamiyan Buddhas, destroyed by the Taliban last year in Afghanistan. "Scaffolding will be erected to prevent the final collapse of the caves in which the giant statues stood for centuries. Local guards are on duty to combat further looting. And several countries are offering money and assistance to the international venture." According to UNESCO, "damage extends beyond the statues and artwork in the niches that housed them. In about 25 of 700 nearby caves, are remnants of Buddhist murals - but only an estimated 15 percent to 20 percent of what existed in the 1970s." Atlanta Journal-Constitution 11/29/02
Most Powerful List Short On Artists Who are the most powerful people in the artworld? ArtReview Magazine names them, but there are very few artists on the list. So who makes it? Mostly "collectors, businessmen, a pub landlady... The top 10 "list includes just one artist, German painter Gerhard Richter, with the rest mainly coming from the business sector. Advertising tycoon Charles Saatchi heads the list, which is chosen by critics, dealers and other experts, for his contribution to the British art scene." BBC 12/02/02
Italy On Sale? So the Italian government wants to 'lease or even sell off some of the national treasures"' in its care. Will the private sector do any better at managing them? The government "strongly denies that Italy’s world-famous culture is under threat," while critics fear that is. "At issue is a law passed in June, setting up an agency to make an inventory of state-owned monuments and 'artistic and cultural assets', with a view to selling them, leasing them or using them as security for loans. The measure was hotly contested by the centre left opposition." The Times (UK) 12/03/02
