“The most architecturally venerated of London’s art galleries,” the 18th-century Dulwich Picture Gallery has recently undergone extensive restoration thanks to £5 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund. How did the revitalization affect Sir John Soane’s original collection? “It’s hard not to feel a twinge of regret, as Soane’s ghost has faded a little more with this new work. It feels normal, which it never was before.” – London Evening Standard
Tag: 05.24.00
ROCK ON THE BLOCK
New York’s art deco landmark Rockefeller Center is up for sale for an estimated $2-2.5 billion. The property includes 12 historic buildings and is home to Christie’s and NBC. – Times of India (Reuters)
PORTRAITS TO THE STARS
In 1969, London’s National Portrait Gallery dropped its requirement that subjects must be dead for 10 years before being portrayed on gallery walls. Ever since, celebrities have been vying for space among the canvases. “With a television star preferred any day over a worthy politician, the gallery has veered towards the voyeurist appeal of a Madame Tussaud’s.” – New York Times
LOSE, LOSE
London’s Millennium Dome has been at the center of controversy since the day it was built. The latest stir: the Dome was given an extra £29 million from the National Lottery this week on condition that its chairman resign. He did, and then MPs protested the government’s earlier promise that no further public funds would be advanced to the Dome. – The Telegraph (UK)
MARKET-MAKERS
- In 1990, the now-defunct Japanese Itoman Corp. purchase some expensive artwork, “a move that caused huge damage to the trading firm” in part because the prices for the paintings were highly inflated. Last week the paintings were sold at auction and the low prices are probably deflated. The art market in Japan see its highs and lows. – Daily Yomiuri (Japan)
DIRTY LAUNDRY
UK Arts Minster Alan Howarth has selected a panel of experts to examine ways to crack down on Britain’s growing black market for smuggled art and antiquities. An estimated £500 million is laundered every year through the sale of looted artifacts from the Middle East and Africa, all of which can then be legally bought and sold in the UK. – Ananova
LOSE, LOSE
London’s Millennium Dome has been at the center of controversy since the day it was built. The latest stir: the Dome was given an extra £29 million from the National Lottery this week on condition that its chairman resign. He did, and then MPs protested the government’s earlier promise that no further public funds would be advanced to the Dome. – The Telegraph (UK)
MISSING ART
As Boston contemplates an enormous new waterfront development, artists wonder why there has been so little discussion of how the arts might fit in to it. “We have heard very little about the arts in this process. We have not been able to sustain a dialogue about the arts in this community.” – Boston Herald
NOT RATED FOR VIOLENCE
A new study of movie violence published in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows that a “G” rating doesn’t guarantee no violence. “G”-rated movies “averaged 9.5 minutes of violence, with the 1998 King Arthur tale ‘Quest for Camelot’ topping the list with 24 minutes of violence, or almost 30% of the movie.” – Los Angeles Times
“G”-SPOT
“The amount of cinematic violence–ranging from body blows to swordplay to gunshots–so alarmed researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health that they recommended that the Motion Picture Association of America consider changing its age-based rating system to one that provides specific warnings about a movie’s content.” – Washington Post