Look But Don't Touch. Or Breathe. William Morris, a 19th-century artist specializing in rich tapestries and wall coverings, is well-known even today for his designs, which often featured leafy green patterns and twisting vines. But according to a new scientific investigation, Morris used arsenic to derive the green pigments he needed for his work, and the deadly chemical sickened some of his clients, depite Morris's protestations that arsenic was not toxic. In truth, the artist knew better: he was on the board of an arsenic mining company, where he had been told all about the dangers of exposure. Wired 06/12/03
Posted: 06/12/2003 5:38 am
It's A Date - When Van Gogh Painted Experts have known that Van Gogh's painting of a field of haystacks in Provence, France, was painted "sometime in the summer of 1889, toward the end of the most productive, but troubled, period of the artist's life. However, the precise date of its creation has vexed art historians for many years. Now, Southwest Texas State University astronomers Russell Doescher and Donald Olson, along with Olson's wife, Marilyn, an English professor, have determined that Van Gogh was working on the picture at 9:08 p.m. on July 13, 1889." Wired 06/11/03
Posted: 06/11/2003 10:40 pm
The Farce Of The Iraq Museum Story Roger Kimball is amazed that journalists were so quick to denounce Americans for the looting of the Iraq Museum. "The story of nonlooting of the Iraqi museums gave us a glimpse into that heart of darkness. That tragedy has collapsed into farce." OpinionJournal.com 06/12/03
Posted: 06/11/2003 9:24 pm
500 Turners Discovered Curators at the Tate have discovered hundreds of missing Turner paintings after a search for a new catalog. "About 500 pieces were discovered when curators set about the task of documenting all of Turner's works for a dedicated website. They were traced to private owners during a 14-month detective trail overseen by curators at the Tate Gallery. Some pictures had been stored away in cupboards or attics." BBC 06/11/03
Posted: 06/11/2003 9:10 pm
U.S. Arts Cuts To Top $100 Million Budget cutting, petty politics, and a flat economy are combining to force many U.S. states out of the business of funding art, and the cuts may total $100 million or more. "In the last 12 months, 42 states have cut their funding to the arts, wiping 13% off the total amount of funds available. But organisations are bracing themselves for an even more difficult 12 months ahead." According to ArtsJournal editor Doug McLennan, the cuts are not as frightening as the message: "What the government is saying right now is that culture is not important for us to fund." BBC 06/12/03
Posted: 06/12/2003 5:25 am
- Massachusetts Cuts Spread The Pain Grant checks were sent out in Massachusetts this week to the 31 artists selected for funding by the state's Cultural Council. But the 62% cut in the council's funding means that the grants are less than half of what they were last year. Still, the council decided that it would be better to fund as many artists as possible than to keep the grants high and cut more individuals out of the process. Boston Globe 06/12/03
Posted: 06/12/2003 5:24 am
- Next On The Cutting Block: Missouri "The Missouri Arts Council could lose about 75 percent of its budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1. A bill signed by Gov. Bob Holden authorizes the council to use money from the Missouri Cultural Trust, intended as an endowment to leverage private arts funding, for the new budget year. The council will receive no money from general revenues." Kansas City Star 06/08/03
Posted: 06/12/2003 5:23 am
Can Colorado Arts Council Survive? Now that the Colorado Arts Council has seen its budget cut to $40,000 and its director fired, can it survive? "The council, a key player in the state arts community for 36 years, is barely hanging on. In order to survive, it must learn to get by with volunteers and donations from new sources. But the council also needs a commitment from [Governor Bill] Owens and other state leaders that they will support it and increase its funding when the economy turns around." The Coloradoan (Fort Collins) 06/11/03
Posted: 06/11/2003 11:06 pm
Rekindling The Art Of Cambodia "During Pol Pot's four-year reign of terror, up to 80 per cent of Cambodia's artists perished in a purge of the intelligentsia more far-reaching than anything wrought by Mao or Stalin. With them went much of the performance repertory of classical theatre and dance, as well as an enormous variety of folkloric arts. But the Khmer Rouge failed to extinguish Khmer culture." And it has struggled back... Financial Times 06/11/03
Posted: 06/11/2003 9:26 pm
Salam Pax: Blogger, Columnist, Enigma Peter Maass knows the secret identity of Iraqi blogger Salam Pax, whose writings from his home in Baghdad have captivated thousands of readers and led to a regular column in London's Guardian newspaper. Pax was apparently Maass's translator while the New York Times journalist was reporting from Iraq, although Maass didn't make the connection until he returned home. "Maass is still in touch with Pax via e-mail, and lately he has been forwarding inquiries from book publishers and magazine editors to his former employee. He has no doubt whatsoever that Pax is the real thing - just a middle-class Iraqi blogger without a specific agenda, not the tool of any political party or intelligence agency." Chicago Tribune 06/12/03
Posted: 06/12/2003 6:20 am
Pinter: "The US Is Really Beyond Reason Now" Playwright Harold Pinter condemned the United States at a gathering In London Tuesday night. "In conversation on stage with Michael Billington, the Guardian's theatre critic, Pinter said the US government was the most dangerous power that had ever existed. The American detention centre in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where al-Qaida and Taliban suspects were being held, was a concentration camp. The US population had to accept responsibility for allowing an unelected president to take power and the British were exhausted from protesting and being ignored by Tony Blair, a 'deluded idiot' Pinter hoped would resign." The Guardian (UK) 06/11/03
Posted: 06/11/2003 9:33 pm
Broadway Boheme To Close Early Baz Luhrmann's flashy La Boheme is closing after 228 performances. "The production, which cost about $8.5 million to mount at the Broadway Theater, recouped only about a quarter of that investment. Jeffrey Seller, one of the producers, said that although the production had found an audience, it was not necessarily the audience that a show needed to survive on Broadway." The New York Times 06/12/03
Posted: 06/11/2003 10:24 pm
Rod Stewart, The Musical If ABBA and Billy Joel can do it, why not Rod Stewart? Why not indeed? Write a musical based on his music, that is. A project based on Stewart tunes is in the workd. "Plot details were sketchy. It apparently chronicles the exploits of 'a shy young man' who is tempted by Satan while 'attempting to win over the love of his life by emulating his hero Rod Stewart'." The Guardian (UK) 06/11/03
Posted: 06/11/2003 9:44 pm
Mariinsky's Eccentric Design Plans Draw Protests St. Petersburg's Mariinsky Theatre unveiled architectural proposals for the theatre's expansion. They weren't received well. "Such extravagant and eccentric ideas have frayed tempers in a city celebrated for its baroque architecture. The competition caps last month's lavish 300th birthday of Russia's cultural capital. The government will pay £66m towards the project, which will link the new building - on the site of the Palace of Culture in Honour of the [Soviet] First Five Year Plan - to the old Mariinsky building (formerly known as the Kirov, and home to the ballet company) via a bridge on the Kryukov canal. The spending is criticised in a region facing poverty and unemployment." The Guardian (UK) 06/11/03
Posted: 06/11/2003 9:39 pm
Magnetic Attraction A new Canadian theatre festival called Magnetic North hopes to be a showcase for the best new Canadian plays from across the country. The festival will switch cities each year. "Magnetic North never stays put. The concept is that every other year we will be in a different Canadian city and then return to Ottawa. So 2004 will find us in Edmonton, and 2005 back in the capital again." Toronto Star 06/11/03
Posted: 06/11/2003 7:56 am
ChiTrib's Top 50 Magazines With 17,500 magazines published in the U.S. across countless genres and directed at dozens of different demographics, is it even possible to select a list of the top examples? The Chicago Tribune thinks so, and is out with a ranking of the top 50 magazines. #1 might surprise you, #2 probably won't, and #3 will probably appreciate the thought, since its editor is currently a bit distracted by some pesky legal problems. Chicago Tribune 06/12/03
Posted: 06/12/2003 6:13 am
NYer Fiction Issue Is Back The New Yorker is out with its new special fiction issue. "After a year's hiatus the 'Début Fiction' issue is back, and under Deborah Treisman's watch it's a gentler affair. Ms. Treisman has done away with the glammy author photos that were a hallmark of the buzzy Buford era..." New York Observer 06/11/03
Posted: 06/11/2003 11:54 pm
Clinton Book Sets Non-Fiction Sales Record Hillary Clinton's book has sold a record number of copies for a non-fiction book in its first day. " Barnes and Noble, one of the US's biggest book retailers, said the record was set after it sent out more than 40,000 copies to its stores and online customers in the first 24 hours. First-day sales for the memoirs, called Living History, were said to be more in keeping with best-selling fiction than a political memoir." BBC 06/11/03
Posted: 06/11/2003 9:18 pm
Are Computers Killing The Art Of Handwriting? A growing number of parents, educators and historians fear that computers are speeding the demise of a uniquely American form of expression. Handwriting experts fear that the wild popularity of e-mail, instant messages and other electronic communication, particularly among kids, could erase cursive within a few decades." CBSNews.com 06/09/03
Posted: 06/11/2003 9:06 pm
Two Roads Diverge In a Windowed Wood... Microsoft has constructed two model homes packed full of computers, sensors, digital media player/recorders, and scanners, all designed to showcase the technology of the near future. But "these two homes represent two futures. The first is what consumers want: digital media their way, in whatever form suits. The second is what Hollywood wants: media lockdown, with every use subject to permission and often then only for a fee. In the middle stands Microsoft, determined to navigate these extremes." Wired 06/12/03
Posted: 06/12/2003 5:47 am
£1 Million Boost For UK Cinema A new fund has been set up in the UK to help filmmakers promote and market their work without risking insolvency in the process. The fund, which will be administered by the Film Council, will make £1 million per year available for distribution, with no one film eligible to receive more than £300,000. The amount a film receives will be in inverse proportion to how well it does at the box office, making the fund less an incentive to succeed than a hedged bet against failure. BBC 06/12/03
Posted: 06/12/2003 5:33 am
San Jose Ballet Narrows Its Search To 7 "Ballet San Jose Silicon Valley has identified seven potential candidates for its top management slot and hopes to fill the position by September, according to Eileen Nelson, a board member in charge of the ballet's executive search committee... The top requirement for the new CEO will be to craft a viable survival strategy for the financially troubled ballet, which has wobbled in recent months because of the tough economy, slow ticket sales and a decrease in grants." San Jose Mercury News 06/12/03
Posted: 06/12/2003 7:04 am
