Auction House To Make Saatchi Museum Admission Free

Auction house Phillips de Pury & Co. has made a deal to pay admission fees to collector Charles Saatchi’s new London gallery in a “bid to gain access to more buyers and sellers of art.” Phillips, which sold $135 million of contemporary art in the first half, will pay an undisclosed sum to Saatchi’s museum, scheduled to open in 2008, ‘for a few years’. In return, Phillips will place its Web sites on Saatchi’s Internet gallery.”

Gelsey Kirkland – Back On Stage

“At 54, Kirkland needs mime skills for her ballet comeback, but her role as the wicked fairy Carabosse in this unorthodox ‘Sleeping Beauty’ also involves being the centerpiece of complex lifts and, for a time, even some aerial maneuvers — though those have been deleted from the production since the New York run. No, she’s never done wire work before, or been a choreographer, for that matter, but she’s also never been afraid of a new challenge — and playing someone she calls “a woman who is beautiful on the outside but evil on the inside” is definitely that.”

Hartford Atheneum’s Rocky Road

Hartford’s Wadsworth Atheneum has had some rough times. Plans to get into a new home stalled. And there has been rapid turnover in leadership. “The cumulative effect of the museum’s missteps has left some of its biggest fans worried about the future. In short, why does the museum seem to be in such a continual state of confusion with no clear direction?”