Lessing had written the book (The Diary of a Good Neighbour) under a pseudonym (Jane Somers), “partly because she wanted it to be appraised purely on merit, partly out of solidarity with young writers, and partly to free herself from her own literary persona.” James Lasdun, who was the slush-pile reader at Lessing’s regular publisher who recommended rejecting the Somers manuscript, fesses up.
Category: today’s top story
Cleveland Museum, Effectively Accusing Sicily Of Extortion, Cancels Antiquities Show
“The Getty and the Cleveland museum announced Wed. July 10 that Sicily had canceled the show. A day later, Sicilian authorities offered to negotiate over additional fees.” Said a statement issued today in Cleveland, “To announce all new economic terms after the exhibition has been organized, cataloged and shipped is unprecedented and negotiations over this development have to date been unsuccessful.”
Could The HBO Model Work For The Rest Of The Arts?
“Is the new wave of quality TV transferable to other forms of art and entertainment? Can a movie distributor, jazz club, theater company, book publisher or any other cultural institution produce its own Deadwood – and sustain it? Is the cable model – small audiences, subscription fees, big buzz – something that can be replicated?”
I Lied – I Didn’t Burn Any Paintings, Mother Of Accused Art Thief Now Says
“Olga Dogaru, the Romanian woman who told investigators that she had incinerated seven works of art by Matisse, Picasso and other modern masters in an effort to protect her son, denied in court on Monday that she had burned the works.”
Here’s What It Takes For A Play To Become A Hit On Broadway
“Today it’s inordinately hard for a straight play, no matter how good it is, to run on Broadway for more than a few months, since the first ingredient in the modern recipe for theatrical success is the presence in the cast of a movie or television star. As soon as the star in question returns to Hollywood to resume his or her screen career, the show closes. Things really were different in the old days.”
Nate Silver, Expert Predictor, Leaves The NY Times For Mickey Mouse (& Sports)
“The statistician who attained national fame for his accurate projections about the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections is parting ways with The New York Times and moving his FiveThirtyEight franchise to ESPN, the sports empire controlled by the Walt Disney Company.”
From The Deepest, Dimmest Vaults, ‘Storage Art’ Makes A Comeback
“There is this public assumption that museums are hoarding objects in dark rooms, and by the way that isn’t totally wrong.”
With Detroit Bankrupt, Is DIA’s Art More At Risk Of Being Sold?
Probably yes.
Report: Stolen Picassos Burned In Romania
“A Romanian museum is analysing ashes found in a stove to see if they are the remains of seven paintings by Picasso, Matisse, Monet and others that were stolen last year from the Netherlands, an official has said.”
Museum In China Closes After Almost All Of Its Collection Turns Out To Be Fake
“Wei Yingjun, a consultant to the Jibaozhai Museum in Jizhou, about 150 miles south of Beijing, insists the situation is not that bad. He is ‘quite positive’ that 80 or even more pieces out of tens of thousands in the museum are authentic. In spite of this sterling defence, regional authorities in Hebei province have closed the museum amid a national scandal.”