“In the last 20 years of his life, Wilder (who died in 2002) managed the unlikely feat of being both revered and ignored. … There came a point after his final two movies, Fedora (1978) and Buddy Buddy (1981), when Hollywood simply stopped financing his work. … He went every day to his office in Beverly Hills to work on projects that would never be made.”
Tag: 07.28.16
Auction Houses Have Found Themselves Becoming Shadow Banks (Making Loans To Shadowy Characters)
“As prices for art skyrocketed, Sotheby’s and other firms have become shadow banks, making millions of dollars of legal loans outside the regulated financial system and raising concerns that such financing could facilitate money laundering.”
Long-Lost Dürer Engraving Turns Up At Flea Market
The graphic work dating from 1520 was thought to have been lost during the Second World War … [It] shows a majestic view of the Virgin Mary with Baby Jesus, protected by an angel, and belongs to a 15-part series of [Madonna-and-Child] depictions the artist created at different stages of his career.”
What Happened When A 17th-Century Bishop Invented A Language That Was Completely Rational, Systematic, And Taxonomically Orderly
Well, it was rational, systematic, and taxonomically orderly. If only that were the way humans actually think.
Stolen Dalí And Lempicka Paintings Recovered After Criminal Gang Contacts Art Detective
Dalí’s Adolescence (1941) and de Lempicka’s La Musicienne were stolen at gunpoint from a small private museum in the Netherlands in 2009. Art detective Arthur Brand estimates that the works changed hands about ten times before a criminal gang, realizing they were stolen and couldn’t be fenced, contacted him.
Vienna’s Belvedere Museum Fires Director For Financial Misconduct
“The contract of outgoing director Agnes Husslein-Arco will not be renewed due to violations of internal codes of conduct and compliance standards. … [She] was found to have charged inadmissible expenses to the museum, as well as hiring museum employees for private services.”
Is The Internet Really One Giant Art Project?
“The magic of the Internet — the recession of the material world in favor of a world of ideas — is not pure delight. It seems we are missing something very worthwhile and identity-forming from our predigital lives. Is it a handwritten letter? Is it an analog phone call? Is it a quality of celluloid film, a multivolume encyclopedia, or a leather-bound datebook? Is it a way of thinking or being or even falling in love?”
Report: China’s Art Auction Sales Grow To No. 1 Again
“This marks an 18% turnover growth for China, made more impressive by the fact that the market seems to have contracted in the West, with London down 30% and New York down 49%.”
This One Simple Trick Can Make Theatres Commercially Viable
“The best moments are when theatre defies all expectations. Such as a thrilling Brecht revival when you didn’t think you liked Brecht all that much, or a Chekhov production that makes you rethink a play you secretly thought was a wee bit dull. It’s particularly the case with material that has been flogged to death.”
Computers: The Worst Thing Ever For Spy Movies
“Watching somebody type on a computer is about as interesting, aesthetically and dramatically, as watching cows eat grass. Though at least grass-eating cows would be a change from routine, unlike computers, which many of us type on all day. This seems especially ridiculous when it’s Hollywood stars doing the typing.”