A bidder paid a record $2 million for musical instrument Friday, buying the “Lady Tennant” Stradivarious. “Made when Antonio Stradivari was 55 years old, the violin earned its name from one of its former owners – the wife of Scottish industrialist Sir Charles Tennant, who was given the instrument by her husband in 1900. The earliest known owner of the violin was the French player Charles Philippe Lafont, a contemporary of Nicolo Paganini.”
Tag: 04.26.05
Scottish Opera Loses Another Official
Christopher Barron, chief executive of Scottish Opera, has become the third major executive to leave Scottish Opera. “Barron has been joint chief executive of both Scottish Opera and Scottish Ballet since 2000. However, the two boards were split last year after the opera’s escalating debts forced a restructuring deal on the company, making Barron’s dual position untenable. His departure, which had been widely speculated for some time, follows that of chairman Duncan McGhie, who stepped down in July 2004, and music director Richard Armstrong, who announced in December that he would leave in the summer.”
Mackie Wins Beck’s
Christina Mackie has won this year’s Beck’s Futures Prize for her sulpture and media installation. Mackie beat five other artists – Donald Urquhart, Luke Fowler, Ryan Gander, Lali Chetwynd and Daria Martin.
Morgan Library Works On Makeover
The Pierpont Morgan Library is undergoing an image makeover to match its $102 million building makeover. “Although the library has long had a vigorous program of exhibitions, organizing shows like “Master Drawings From the Hermitage and Pushkin Museums” that have attracted tens of thousands of visitors, its very name has long been misleading. Even some New Yorkers assume that it is a run-of-the-mill library, rather than the repository of a world-class collection of old master drawings and prints, medieval and Renaissance illuminated manuscripts, and literary, historical and music manuscripts, in addition to rare books. Many believe that it is a private institution closed to the uninvited.”