“Determined to raise the city to the level of regional rivals like Tokyo and Hong Kong as well as Beijing, Shanghai officials have made culture a major priority. Beijing has its Forbidden City, its prestigious national schools and museums, its centuries-old neighborhoods that breathe Chinese culture, none of which Shanghai can realistically challenge. But like Tokyo, all but destroyed in World War II, this city is making a virtue of its newness.”
Tag: 07.07.04
Another Vermeer (Ho Hum)
There’s another Vermeer. “That means that, instead of there being – depending on who is doing the counting – about 35 authentic Vermeers in existence, there are now about 36. So why is there not more euphoria? Why no breathless feature articles, no documentaries on TV? And why are Sotheby’s estimating that at the auction tomorrow it will make not more than £3 million, or not much more than a rather average Roy Lichtenstein recently reached?”
1000-Year-Old Stolen Iraqi Book Recovered
A thousand-year-old Iraqi book stolen in 1995 has been recovered by police and will be returned. “The £250,000 book turned up in a London auction room last year, but auctioneers were suspicious and called police.”
Cologne Cathedral On Endangered List
“Cologne cathedral, a masterpiece of Gothic architecture, was placed on Unesco’s list of endangered World Heritage sites yesterday, its visual integrity threatened by skyscrapers being built on the opposite bank of the Rhine.”
Venezuela’s Curious Art Boom
Venezuela has had a tough few years. Now – curiously – it’s on an art-buying boom. “In a country hit hard by economically devastating antigovernment strikes, a 2002 failed coup and capital flight that has amounted to billions of dollars, a curious phenomenon is unfolding: The affluent are seeking to shelter their fast-depreciating currency, the bolívar, in art, demonstrating once again that art can flourish in times of crisis, whether in Nazi-occupied Europe 60 years ago, in Communist Cuba in the 1990’s or in this politically charged South American country.”