In assembling this list, critic Alexandra Coghlan made it a point to avoid the names that always come up (Hildegard of Bingen, Clara Schumann, Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre), but ranged from 9th-century Byzantium to 17th-century Milan (a nun, no less) to the Depression-era U.S. (includes sound clips)
Tag: 03.08.17
The United States Government Wants Its Art Back – And Here’s How It’s Getting It
Of the hundreds of thousands of artworks created under the WPA’s programs during the Depression, a surprising number have gone missing (or at least have been lost track of). Matthew Blitz meets the Special Agent charged with tracking that art down.
Ancient Black Granite Statues Of Amenhotep III And Lion Goddess Unearthed At Luxor
The sculpture of the pharaoh is just over eight feet tall, two feet wide, almost 3½ feet deep, and very well preserved, and there are dozens of fragments of statues of the goddess Sekhmet. (in English)
Misha Mengelberg, 81, Pioneering Pianist Of Europe’s Jazz Boom
“[He] was one of the most creative jazz pianists to emerge in the first phase of Europe’s breakaway from American jazz styles in the 1960s … However, he was soon exposing those materials to creative pressures from non-jazz radicals including John Cage and the interdisciplinary experiments being pursued in the US and Europe by futurists, dadaists, and the 1950s Fluxus artists.”
Dave Valentin, 64, Leading Flutist Of Latin Jazz And World Music
“[He] was celebrated in Latin-jazz circles for more than 40 years, initially as a byproduct of his cultural foundation as a Bronx-born Puerto Rican. But he was wary of being typecast, preferring to describe himself as a ‘world artist,’ and playing … a Peruvian bamboo bass flute, a Romanian pan flute, Bolivian pan pipes, and various other kinds of flute from around the world, typically traveling with more than a dozen varieties.”
Indie Bookstore In Detroit Sees Its Facebook Page Suddenly Deleted, Evidently At Swedish Conglomerate’s Request
Simon Reichley tells the odd story of The Book Beat in Oak Park, how its Facebook page and all the content on it disappeared without warning, and how the page was restored.
American TV Shows Are Losing Their Allure In Europe
“We are seeing that American series have become more niche and thus less attractive for our big free-to-air networks. Viewers, particularly younger viewers, are more likely to watch U.S. series on a digital platform or online.”
Website Aiming To Be The Rotten Tomatoes Of Theatre Raises $2 Million
The new funds, ponied up by a group that includes Hollywood veteran Gail Berman and Gilt Groupe and Business Insider founder Kevin Ryan, will go in part toward expanding Show-Score’s activities beyond New York to markets that have expressed interest in the site, both in the U.S. and in London. The money also will help sustain exploratory efforts at what Show-Score founder Tom Melcher calls “harnessing the story of the audience’s reaction to theater,” including fan art, Instagram posts, videos and photography.
Why A Bronze Statue Of A Girl Is Standing In Front Of Wall Street’s Rampaging Bull
“The temporary statue — named “Fearless Girl” and placed overnight Monday by McCann New York advertising agency and its client, Boston-based State Street Global Advisors — may be a stunt to draw attention to the index fund giant’s campaign to get more women into board roles against the backdrop of International Women’s Day and the anniversary of the launch of an exchange-traded fund that tracks companies that have higher levels of gender diversity in its leadership.”
Art Is Getting Very Political. So Where’s The Beauty?
“At a time when humanity faces real existential threats, a lack of purely beautiful contemporary artworks may not be a foremost concern. But I wonder what future generations will think when they look back at what was made in 2016, 2017 and in the remainder of this administration. Will they be inspired and taken? Or will they simply laugh at all the gold?”