A new show at London’s National Gallery is measuring the eye movements of viewers to see how we see. “The results so far are not stunning. When people look at Albert Cuyp’s The Maas at Dordrecht in a Storm (1645-50), a painting of sail boats being thrown about on a tempestuous sea off the Dutch shore, they look first and longest at the boats. When they contemplate Paul Delaroche’s sentimental 19th-century history painting The Execution of Lady Jane Grey (1833), their eyes tend to be drawn to the central white-clad figure of the kneeling woman about to have her head cut off.” – The Guardian
Tag: 10.19.00
RETURN TO MAKER
For years the Canadian government’s Art Bank bought artwork so it could be rented out, collecting some 18,000 works of art. Now the bank wants to clear out work that is rarely rented. Artists will be offered a chance to buy back their work; any remaining unwanted art will be deaccessioned. Critics “say the Art Bank’s ‘revitalization’ is going to hurt artists and the art market by transforming a government agency into a pseudo-corporation more intent on competing with the private sector than in advancing Canadian art.” – Ottawa Citizen
ONE OF THOSE THINGS THAT DEFINES A CAREER (FOR BETTER AND WORSE)
Maya Lin’s Vietnam Memorial in Washington was so controversial that “when it was over, I wanted to pretend it never happened. I went back to school and tried to forget it. I refused to talk about the memorial or do another one.” Now she’s out with a new book about her career. – Seattle Post-Intelligencer
FIRST GLIMMERS OF AMERICA
The Library of Congress is rushing to raise $14 million to try and buy a map made in 1507 that “represents the very first symbolization of America in any kind of medium. It also represents the first document that truly understands, at least from a European perspective, the way the world is constructed.” – Washington Post
A LONG WAY TO MAINSTREAM
The e-book publishing community thought it was finally going to receive some overdue recognition at the first annual International eBooks Awards ceremony last week in Frankfurt. That is, until the list of finalists was announced. “Almost all of the books on the shortlist were by acclaimed print authors from big publishing houses The controversy highlights some pressing issues for e-publishing – Will e-books offer a way for writers who’ve been snubbed by the big houses to find success marketing their books directly to readers? Or will e-publishing simply present the same books and authors currently found in bookstores, only in a different, less tangible form?” – Salon
NEW SPOLETO DIRECTOR
French conductor Emmanuel Villaume, age 36, has been named the new music director of the Spoleto Festival USA. – CNN
A LITTLE SHOW OF AFFECTION NEVER HURTS
The Pittsburgh Symphony is alarmed that its music director Mariss Jansons has been mentioned often as a possible candidate to run the New York Philharmonic. So the orchestra has contacted orchestra supporters and asked them to write to Jansons and ask him to remain. “We believe the Pittsburgh community has to show Mariss its affection to balance the only reason he’d go to New York, which is prestige. Artistically, New York is no better than the PSO.” – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
THE ART OF SELF PRESERVATION
“These days, one of the tasks with which orchestras find themselves saddled is the nearly impossible one of educating audiences. Schools aren’t doing it, and neither are most parents. Orchestra musicians themselves may resent the kind of musical spoon-feeding they are called on to do by the organization for which they work. But even many of them realize that it’s a question of self-preservation; for better or worse, you don’t have to wait for Aunt Buffy to will you her orchestra subscription to get a seat at the Academy of Music.” – Philadelphia Inquirer
THE NAKED STRING QUARTET
The women of the classical string quartet Bond (billing itself as the Spice Girls of classical music) were prevented by their recording company from using a picture of themselves posed naked on the cover of their latest album. – BBC