“Pablo Picasso’s Boy with a Pipe, painted in 1905 when he was 24, could become the world’s most expensive painting at an auction at Sotherby’s in New York. The painting is estimated to sell for $70m (£38m) at the auction in May, but could easily outstrip Van Gogh’s portrait of Dr Gachet, which had a before-commission price tag of $75m in 1990.”
Tag: 01.15.04
Revised WTC Memorial Unveiled
A revised design for the World Trade Center Memorial is unveiled. “They have proposed an underground space called the Memorial Center, perhaps two acres or more in extent, according to those who have seen the design. It is there that the twisted, resilient, evocative vestiges of the attack, fire trucks, steel columns, maybe even Fritz Koenig’s sculpture `Sphere for Plaza Fountain’ can finally return.”
Trading Salary For Stability In Detroit
For the third time in the last 15 years, the musicians and staff of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra have agreed to temporary furloughs and pay cuts in an effort to help the organization stabilize a precarious financial situation. The deal is somewhat complex, as negotiations to redo the musicians’ contract were focused on enabling the DSO to save money in the short term without sacrificing its position as one of the top American orchestras in the long term. Over the next two seasons, the musicians will accept several weeks of furlough and allow four open positions in the orchestra to go unfilled, but will be guaranteed a return to a competitive pay scale in the 2005-06 season.
Playing Both Sides In Harlem
The embattled Harlem Boys Choir announced yesterday that it has a plan to respond to its board’s demand that founder Walter Turnbull be dismissed in the wake of abuse allegations, but the choir’s proposal does not appear to include the full severing of Turnbull’s ties to the organization. The New York City Department of Education will review the plan, but has already called for Turnbull’s firing.
Looks Good On Paper
The revised 9/11 memorial is promising, says Benjamin Forgey, because it demonstrates a clear willingness on the part of the designers to be responsive to public concerns, and on the part of certain New York politicians to create a monument to human tragedy without making the experience of visiting it too bleak to attract visitors. But the design is still a major departure from Freedom Tower architect Daniel Libeskind’s vision for the site, and whether the actual memorial fulfills the promise of its redesign is still an open question.
Cutting, But Not Slashing
Like countless other arts organizations, the San Francisco Opera is going through some tough economic times. Unlike many other orchestras and opera companies, the company is refusing to hit the panic button, even after budgetary concerns forced it to trim the number of operas it would present in 2003-04. Berlioz’s massive “Les Troyens” was postponed several years to save the company $1 million, but “although much of the season’s repertoire is comparatively traditional, seven of the nine productions are new to the company,” including a daring (and not terribly accessible) 1978 opera by György Ligeti.
Cleveland Museum Expansion Delayed
“The Cleveland Museum of Art is delaying by four or five months a decision about whether to go ahead with a proposed $225 million expansion and renovation… The reason for the slowdown, museum officials said, is that construction documents prepared by New York architect Rafael Viñoly won’t be complete by March, when the museum had hoped to put them out for bids by contractors. The museum now expects the blueprints to be ready for bids in August, about a month after the museum decides whether it has enough money to go ahead.”
Asian American Workshop Shuts Down
“Money woes forced the [New York-based] Asian American Writers’ Workshop to close its doors last month. Public programs are canceled until at least the first week in February… Though AAWW has pulled in roughly $12,000 in individual donations since a November plea, the sum is only a fraction of what it needs. The $500,000 annual budget has been slashed nearly in half. Grants on which the group had relied, from charitable and arts foundations and from the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs, were denied for 2004.”
Talking The Talk
“Newly appointed [Canadian] Heritage Minister Hélène Chalifour Scherrer made her first official appearance in the cultural community Tuesday, sweeping into Toronto on short notice to meet with leaders of major arts organizations.” Arts officials were impressed with Scherrer’s seeming willingness to work closely with them to preserve Canada’s cultural diversity at a time when the government has said that there will be no new money available for the arts. Scherrer’s appointment had originally been met with uncertainty from arts organizations, as her background is primarily in sports, but her Toronto sweep is likely to enhance her popularity, particularly when compared with that of her predecessor, who was frequently criticized for a lack of direct engagement.
Shining The Light On Sundance’s Dark Side
The Sundance Film Festival was famously conceived to showcase independent film, and encourage aspiring young directors. But it’s been so successful that it’s now difficult to separate the world of the indies from mainstream Hollywood. A new book drives home that point by looking at the history of the festival, as well as at supposedly “independent” studio Miramax, which was actually sold to Disney more than a decade ago. Of course, “Sundance wouldn’t be Sundance without people grousing about celebrities, all while running from movies to parties featuring those same celebrities,” so it’s possible that the whole debate is missing the point.