The paintings were stolen Aug. 5 by gunmen as a handful of visitors milled about the museum in Nice. The stolen paintings were Monet’s 1897 “Cliffs near Dieppe,” the 1890 “Lane of Poplars near Moret” by fellow Impressionist Alfred Sisley and Flemish master Jan Brueghel the Elder’s 17th century “Allegory of Earth” and “Allegory of Water.” Together, they are worth about $1.55 million.
Tag: 06.05.08
No-Brainer: Computers Make Kids Smarter, Right? (uh…)
For many kids, computers are indeed more of a distraction than a learning opportunity.
Hockney – The Angry Artist
“David Hockney is over 70 years old, and very angry. With the passing of the years, the Sixties working-class wonder boy has metamorphosed into a very cross pensioner.”
Spanish Are Reading More Than Ever
“Spain is experiencing an unprecedented boom in books. Once the nation that read fewer books than any other in Europe, Spaniards have become voracious readers, devouring more books than ever before.”
Arts Festivals – It Ain’t Easy Being Green
“From the massive amounts of energy needed to move people to and from festival sites to the mammoth stage lights and speaker towers to the mountains of concert programs and water bottles that get tossed in the trash — the only “green” connected with the festival experience may be the grass audiences sit on. Some festivals are attempting to minimize the damage.”
Movie Ads That Get Around The Rules To Get To Kids
“In courting young fans, some studios — and their licensing partners in particular — are becoming so aggressive in their marketing of PG-13 titles to children of all ages that the Federal Trade Commission, as well as an advertising watchdog concern and one children’s advocacy organization, have all taken notice.”
Another Top Publishing Exec Steps Down
“Jane Friedman, the president and chief executive of HarperCollins Publishers Worldwide, is stepping down from her post, becoming the second high-profile publishing executive to leave the top slot in the last month.”
Dickens Desk Sale Exceeds All Expectations
“The desk where Charles Dickens wrote Great Expectations and his final correspondence hours before his death fetched £433,250 [over $845,000] at auction on Wednesday, around seven times its pre-sale estimate.”
The Outsourcing Of British Film
“Trace the whereabouts of Britain’s most celebrated film-makers and it is striking how few of them have been working at home. Of course, producers don’t just look for the perfect locations for their movies. They want tax breaks, easy funding, affordable labour and the best studio facilities. But is Britain providing them with the conditions they need to make their movies?”
Seeing Art In All The Faces
“Portraiture is all around us, at every stage in our lives… And yet in spite of its ubiquity, many take it for granted, or even treat it as the poor relation of other forms of painting.” How many of us can even say that we really know how to look at, and judge, a portrait?