Selling To Buy In Seattle The Seattle Art Museum is "aggressively pruning its American collection in the hopes that clearing out the weeds will make way (dollars-wise, that is) for better, bigger purchases... Obviously, the museum believes it can make headway in the department of cheaper and more available American art. Is that true? And does SAM have its eyes on a particular prize? The museum isn’t saying."
The Stranger (Seattle) 11/08/06 Posted: 11/09/2006 6:14 am
Not About The Money, Obviously Teri Horton, who lives in a mobile home and gets by on Social Security, isn't exactly your typical high-end art collector. But ever since she was told that the painting she bought for $5 at a thrift store might just be an Jackson Pollock, Horton has given over her life to a tireless quest to prove the painting's authenticity. How driven is she? Well, she recently turned down a $9 million offer for the work.
The New York Times 11/09/06 Posted: 11/09/2006 6:03 am
Better Late Than Never "After an on-and-off restitution battle lasting six decades, the Austrian Culture Ministry agreed on Wednesday to return a painting by Edvard Munch, Summer Night on the Beach, to Marina Mahler. She is the granddaughter of the composer Gustav Mahler and his wife, Alma, who originally owned the oil."
The New York Times 11/09/06 Posted: 11/09/2006 6:01 am
Christie's Finally Pulls Nazi-Linked Painting, But To What End? In withdrawing a Nazi-linked Picasso from tonight's art auction, Christie's is acknowledging the difficult status of the painting's ownership history. But the auction house is hardly conceding defeat: Christie's may yet seek damages from the man who has been claiming rightful ownership of the painting in court.
The New York Times 11/09/06 Posted: 11/09/2006 5:53 am
Italy Frustrated Over Getty Talks Italian officials say talks with the Getty Museum over return of art Italians say is stolen have been disappointing. "I don’t think they understand the gravity of the situation. You have a major museum, and it is exhibiting dozens of stolen artifacts."
The New York Times 11/09/06 Posted: 11/08/2006 11:01 pm
The Half-Billion-Dollar Art Sale The evening’s total, $491.4 million, was well over $200 million more than that for any previous auction, topping its high estimate of $427.8 million. (The previous record was $269 million at Christie’s in May 1990.) Of the 84 lots up for sale last night, only 6 failed to sell. 'Not only did so much money change hands, but this sale it going to change the whole landscape when it comes to prices for postwar art'."
The New York Times 11/09/06 Posted: 11/08/2006 10:46 pm
Sotheby's Reimburses Collector For Fakes Sotheby's has been forced to reimburse the fashion designer Jasper Conran £78,000 after a pair of portraits sold as 16th-century originals were revealed as 18th-century fakes.
The Guardian (UK) 11/08/06 Posted: 11/08/2006 5:55 pm
Picasso - First It's For Sale, Then It's Not, Then It Is, Then... "A 1903 Picasso painting, which was to have been auctioned by Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber, has been withdrawn at the last minute due to its Nazi-era history."
BBC 11/08/06 Posted: 11/08/2006 5:47 pm
Quebec - Next Stop In The Louvre's Global Strategy "The Louvre will loan 276 works from its collection of artifacts, stretching from Egyptian times to the turn of the 20th century, to the Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Quebec."
CBC 11/08/06 Posted: 11/08/2006 5:46 pm
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SF Opera Reaches 5-Year Contract With Performers "A new collective bargaining agreement between the San Francisco Opera and the union representing solo singers, chorus members, dancers and the production staff promises labor peace in what has often been a tempestuous relationship." San Francisco Chronicle 11/09/06
Posted: 11/09/2006 6:44 am
Tulsa Gets Itself An Orchestra The old Tulsa Philharmonic went under four years ago. Friday night, the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra opened its first concert season ever with Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. The Collegian (Tulsa) 11/07/06
Posted: 11/08/2006 5:44 pm
San Antonio Symphony Won't Renew Music Director's Contract The San Antonio Symphony has decided not to renew music director Larry Rachleff's contract. "Rachleff lives in Houston, where he teaches at Rice University's Shepherd School of Music. He also is music director of the Rhode Island Philharmonic and the Chicago Philharmonic. The San Antonio Symphony Players Association issued a statement saying the musicians 'are deeply disappointed and disturbed' by the decision."
San Antonio News-Express 11/07/06
Posted: 11/08/2006 5:41 pm
Signs Of Intelligent Classical Life On The Net "Make no mistake: there is intelligent life in classical blogworld and it is getting smarter. It is also getting read. Classical blogs come in two streams, pro and am. One the pro side are newspaper critics who blog on their employers’ website; on the am, there are buffs and fans and wannabes." La Scena Musicale 11/08/06
Posted: 11/08/2006 5:39 pm
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Cleveland Arts Tax Passes A cotroversial ballot measure dedicating money raised by a new cigarette tax to arts and culture in the Cleveland area passed comfortably in Tuesday's election. "The measure will raise the county cigarette tax by 1.5 cents per cigarette starting in January, generating about $20 million per year for 10 years for arts and cultural organizations and individual artists." The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) 11/09/06
Posted: 11/09/2006 6:40 am
Trumping Good Taste The battle between a Chicago architecture critic and developer Donald Trump over a giant advertising kiosk promoting Trump's ostentatious new high rise is continuing, even after Trump supposedly agreed to make changes. "With help from the ever-compliant City Council, the New York developer was able to plant his kiosk a block east of his Wabash Avenue property and on Chicago's prime shopping boulevard. He then turned the kiosk from a sign that was supposed to point to the riverwalk along his tower into an advertisement masquerading as a public service." Chicago Tribune 11/09/06
Posted: 11/09/2006 6:10 am
And It's Not Like "Wang" Was Such A Great Name, Anyway "Looking to become a major player in the Boston market quickly, New York-based Citigroup has purchased the naming rights to the Wang Center for the Performing Arts for about $34 million... Citigroup will pay the Wang over 15 years, a dramatic infusion of money for the once-booming nonprofit arts presenter, which has struggled to balance its budget -- and fill seats -- in recent years." Boston Globe 11/09/06
Posted: 11/09/2006 6:06 am
Indian State To Pay Homeless To Perform Officials in the Indian state of Bihar " want to train many of the estimated 100,000 homeless in the state to put on street plays about AIDS and to sing songs about it in trains and buses and on the sides of busy roads." All Headline News 11/09/06
Posted: 11/08/2006 11:05 pm
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Think Twice, It Ain't All Right The Twyla Tharp/Bob Dylan collaboration, The Times, They Are A-Changin', which opened on Broadway to blistering reviews last month, will close November 19 after only 28 performances. "The first major casualty of the new theater season, it will lose its entire $10 million investment." New York Post 11/09/06
Posted: 11/09/2006 6:34 am
A Bit Of Inside Baseball At The Guthrie Minneapolis's Guthrie Theater, having just moved into a huge new complex on the city's riverfront, has announced a restructuring of its upper management. The job of managing director will be split in two, and longtime CEO Joe Dowling's position as top man at the Guthrie will be clearly codified. Star Tribune (Minneapolis/St. Paul) 11/09/06
Posted: 11/09/2006 6:30 am
Tim Rice: Where's The New Generation Of Musical Theatre Talent? "Musical theatre has rarely been more buoyant in London, with 25 productions on show and reports of box-office records — such as Wicked earning nearly £800,000 in its first week. But while Sir Tim praised shows such as Billy Elliot and Blood Brothers, he said that there is no evidence of a new generation of writing talent." The Times (UK) 11/06/06
Posted: 11/08/2006 7:09 pm
- Tim Rice - Root Of All Evil? So Tim Rice thinks the new generation of musicals is lacking. "Indeed, Shaftesbury Avenue is so stuffed with nostalgic revivals, Disney spectaculars and ropey rock compilation shows that one is inclined to agree with him. Except, you have to wonder if Rice isn't at least partially responsible for them all." The Guardian (UK) 11/08/06
Posted: 11/08/2006 7:08 pm
What Is It About Evil Women On The Stage? "In theatre, it sometimes seems that the only way women can escape their gender roles and the terrible burden of femininity is by plunging a knife into a male breast or taking aim with a gun and making damn sure they don't miss." The Guardian (UK) 11/08/06
Posted: 11/08/2006 7:06 pm
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IMPAC Long List Released "Fourteen books by Canadians made the long list for the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award yesterday, including works by Margaret Atwood, David Bergen, Camilla Gibb and David Gilmour. The prestigious prize is worth about $215,000. A shortlist of up to 10 novels will be revealed in April, with the winner announced in June." The Globe & Mail (CP) 11/09/06
Posted: 11/09/2006 6:26 am
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Borat May Be Banned In Russia In a presumed show of solidarity with its neighbor, Kazakhstan, Russian film officials are threatening to prevent the satirical movie, Borat, from screening in Russia. The film, in which actor Sacha Baron Cohen portrays a bumbling, anti-Semitic Kazakh "journalist," has been denounced by Kazakh politicians, who are upset at the portrayal of their little-known country as a backwards backwater. The Globe & Mail (AP) 11/09/06
Posted: 11/09/2006 6:22 am
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