“Realising his British clientele can no longer soak up the quantity of art that he produces, Hirst is tapping the wider international market. He is putting 223 other works up for sale at Sotheby’s next month in his first sale of newly produced art at a major auction house. Hirst has opted for the auction house route partly because the commission is lower than the 40% often levied by galleries. He has also said that galleries can be “snobby” towards possible customers and “look down” on them.”
Tag: 08.27.08
A Plea To Canadian Prime Minister To Reverse Funding Cut
Karen Kain, artistic director of the National Ballet of Canada, has written to Prime Minister Stephen Harper with a plea not to stop showcasing Canadian artists abroad.
Bayreuth Succession, Chapter 8,396
With the days counting down before the board meets to decide on the succession, Nike Wagner joined forces with Mr. Mortier. She is the daughter of Wieland Wagner, whom many feel provided strong artistic leadership. Mr. Mortier, in his e-mail statement, called Nike Wagner the “favorite of the music press.”
Canadian Prime Minister Defends Funding Cuts For Arts Programs
“What this government has also done in that area, as it’s done across the government, is we’ve instituted an expenditure-management system, where over a period of five years we comprehensively review every program and we make sure that we’re spending on priorities and spending on those programs that are most effective. Some programs in arts and culture have increased in funding, others have gone down – in total it’s gone up.”
Researchers: Cattle Possess A “Sixth” Sense
“German and Czech biologists have shown that cattle, along with deer, instinctively stand in a north-south direction. They appear to possess a sixth sense of magnetism. After studying Google Earth satellite images of cattle herds, along with their own observations of roe deer, the researchers realized that the animals routinely stood along a north-south axis.”
India Gets Its First Contemporary Art Museum
“In a way, Devi is the natural next step for a country awash in new wealth, soaring art prices and a prolific crop of artists and collectors. A modern art museum is also under way in the eastern city of Calcutta. Herzog & de Meuron, the Swiss architecture firm that built the Tate Modern in London, is designing it.”
Artist Paints Old-Style Fresco In Pisa Church (Competition Ensues)
“Over the past year, Luca has chosen over 100 prominent Pisans to represent the leading figures in his fresco. There have been public castings and auditions to find the other 150 characters.”
LA’s Mark Taper Forum Gets A Makeover
Workers “gutted and updated almost everything that was not concrete. To create more lobby space without disrupting the building’s circular shape, they went underground, taking out 30 parking spaces to create a stylized lounge with gold, curved couches and mosaics of mirrored tiles that fit the era in which the building was designed. And yes, there are more bathrooms: 16 stalls for women.”
Did Someone Throw Away A Leger?
“A prized 1921 painting by the French cubist Fernand Leger has been lost – perhaps unintentionally thrown out – by Wellesley College’s Davis Museum and Cultural Center. That would be a costly mistake. Last year, the average Leger painting sold for $2.8 million.”
Edinburgh And Salzburg – A Tale Of Two Festivals
“There was no ignoring the large black cloud that hung over the international festival which, year by year, is losing its lustre. Whatever the ups and downs of one show or another, the underlying narrative of Salzburg and Edinburgh this summer was a tale of two festivals, one of which is urgently renewing itself while the other determinedly ignores the overhanging storm warning.”