Alan Bennett Donates Archive, Takes Swipe At Oxford

“Playwright Alan Bennett has taken a sideswipe at the government and Oxford university over tuition fees as he bequeaths his literary archive to the Bodleian library in Oxford. The sort of free state education that he had enjoyed was something today’s students could only dream of, he told the Guardian, criticising his old university for demanding higher fees, and telling it off for accepting money from Rupert Murdoch.”

Challenge: Choose 300 Works That Say ‘De Montebello’

“If the Mad Hatter suddenly acquired taste and culture, he might hang a Jackson Pollock drip painting with a watercolor of a fruit bat and call the match inspired instead of weird. Such bizarre couplings rule ‘The Philippe de Montebello Years: Curators Celebrate Three Decades of Acquisitions,’ the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s effusive hats-off tribute to its retiring director of 31 years.”

Sotheby’s Lost $15 Million Paying Guarantees

“Disappointing art auctions in London and Hong Kong this month cost Sotheby’s $15 million in losses on guarantees it provided sellers. The losses occurred because the artworks either sold for less than the minimum price the auction house guaranteed to sellers, or not at all, Sotheby’s said in a filing late yesterday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.”