Tag: 11.22.05

Greece Says It Will Sue Getty Over Art

Greece says it will start legal proceedings to get back art from the Getty Museum. “The Greek ministry of culture said Monday it is seeking the return of four antiquities, allegedly stolen before passing into the Getty’s collection. ‘Instructions have been given for the immediate launch of the legal process to reclaim the four ancient artifacts’.”

Met, Italy To Discuss Art Compromise

Italian officials are meeting with the director of the Metropolitan Museum today to discuss possible compromises over the issue of stolen art that may be in the Met’s collection. “At today’s meeting with the Met’s director, Philippe de Montebello, Italy is willing to negotiate on the fate of the more than 30 objects in question, said Maurizio Fiorilli, the ministry lawyer who is leading the Italian delegation. ‘It depends on the willingness of the Metropolitan’.”

Authors Increasingly Get Into Business For Themselves

“With consolidation in the publishing industry, major publishing houses have become tougher to crack and self-publishing has become an increasingly popular alternative. Technology has fueled the trend toward self-publishing. Not only has the Internet made it easier to market and distribute books but digital technology has also made printing cheaper and given authors more flexibility in the number of copies they want. And that’s encouraged a growing number of new authors to drop the idea of distributing manuscripts and take matters into their own hands.”

Ronald Crichton, 92

Former Financial Times music critic Ronald Crichton, who died last week, was a force on the newspaper’s arts page in the 1960s and ’70s. “A man of broad culture and wide horizons, Crichton wrote with belle-lettriste style and elegance, which led some to assume he had an old-fashioned mind. Not so: he was decidedly modern in outlook, following the new music scene with unquenchable curiosity and showing an early appreciation of avant-garde productions. Crichton would often see the less obvious side of a performance, in a way envied by other critics. He was not a spectacular writer: you had to live with his writing before realising what an interesting, enjoyable and illuminating critic he was.”

Met Agrees To Return Antiquities To Italy

New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art is prepared to return disputed antiquities to Italy in a compromise discussed at a meeting in Rome Tuesday between the Met’s director and Italian officials, Culture Minister Rocco Buttiglione said. The items include a 2,500-year-old wine pot, or krater, by the Greek artist Euphronios that Italian prosecutors say was robbed from a tomb outside Rome, and a 15-piece set of Hellenistic silver they say was looted at Morgantina in Sicily.”

Toronto Symphony – Can This Ship Be Turned?

The Toronto Symphony “lost $2.19-million last year, boosting its accumulated deficit to a dizzying $9.47-million. That’s more than half the orchestra’s annual budget, and over $2-million more than the debt the TSO carried when it nearly went bankrupt four years ago. Last year’s results include a climb in revenue of almost $2-million, and a rise in attendance to a respectable 85 per cent of capacity. Marketing and administration costs dropped almost across the board. And yet the TSO still couldn’t balance its books. There just wasn’t enough fundraising to cover the gap between ticket revenue and the expense of putting on concerts.”

U.S. Senate Passes Artist Donation Bill

The U.S. Senate has passed a bill that would allow artists to donate their work to a museum and take a tax deduction for the full market value. “Under the bill, artists could donate their work during their lifetimes at full market value provided that it is properly appraised and handed over at least 18 months after it is created. The provision seems likely to open the way for more acquisitions by cash-strapped museums.”