Time Warner Cable has delivered a blow to Ovation, the independent arts television channel.  That's sad, even though Ovation has never lived up to the expections many had for it in the early '90s, when J. Carter Brown, the esteemed former director of the National Gallery of Art, agreed to become chairman of the fledgling network. As the New York Times told the story: "I will be Ovation's godfather," said Mr. Brown. "My role will be one of making connections and looking at the quality of the programming." Dr. Harold E. Morse, founder of … [Read more...]

Does the art world need a good hatchet job or two? That thought crossed my mind when I read A New Honor for the Hatchet Job, on The New York Times website: it outlines a prize, soon to be given by a British website called The Omnivore, which "will be presented to the author of the angriest, funniest, most trenchant book review of the past twelve months." The point, says The Omnivore, is "to raise the profile of professional critics and to promote integrity and wit in literary journalism." It didn't take me more than a few seconds to … [Read more...]

They didn't give me credit, of course, but I was amused today when, after a few days absence, I turned on WNYC to listen to today's episode of the BBC's "A History of the World in 100 Objects." When I touted the series here, on Jan. 17, I suggested that " the Museum of the City of New York’s collection [be used] to tell the history of New York in 10 objects." Instead, the Leonard Lopate show itself it doing it. Without so much as mentioning my post -- which, I suppose is retribution, as I mentioned only WNYC, not the LL show itself in my … [Read more...]