Stumbling, bumbling, a guest at Manhattan’s Metropolitan Museum of Art fell into an early Picasso work on Friday, tearing a six-inch scar into one of its lower corners. It was nothing personal—the woman simply lost her footing during an adult education course at the museum—and, of course, museum staff quickly took the work, “The Actor” (1904, left), over to the ... Read More »
As we learned from Gadling, TripAdvisor, San Francisco’s Hertiage Marina Hotel has beat out the competition to land at the top of the “Dirtiest Hotel In America” list for 2010. A user-generated honor, TripAdvisor offers the review of one former guest: “This hotel is like in a horrible horror movie! The bed was a nightmare. It smelled like urine ... Read More »
Just the other day, a newly discovered painting (above left) by reclusive English modern master, Lucian Freud, was unveiled before heading to auction. Like so much of Freud’s work, the piece exalts in the rheumy yellows, reds, and purples of human flesh that most painters avoid. Unlike other Freud examples, though, this one gives a peek into the secretive ... Read More »
Ah, Sundance — that wonderful time of year when indie movie producers scuttle around in parkas trying to sell their latest products and third of Los Angeles descends on the comparatively innocent town of Park City, Utah, for 10 days of screenings, swag, and snow. Festivities kicked off last night, but for those there and those soon to arrive, there ... Read More »
Attention to our friends in the Great White North and those headed there — photographer Adad Hannah will be exhibition his work “Cuba Still (Remake)” at the Pierre-François Ouellette Contemporary Art Gallery in Montreal starting with a nice wine-and-cheese premiere tonight. In short, Hannah is a master of recreating old photographs, famous trompe l’oeil images, and chiaroscuro classics with ... Read More »
In film, a medium where commerce meets creativity like no other, there’s a yawning chasm between the hack directors who churn out the latest studio fodder on time and on budget, and the auteurs who stand by their personal visions come hell, high water, or test audiences. The decision to stick by your guns or bow to studio pressure can ... Read More »
Don’t know if you’ve been paying attention, but the global economic recession hit Iceland first and, perhaps, hardest. A nation the size of Manhattan below Duane Street, Iceland reached new economic highs as foreign money flowed into their banks and foreign tourists flowed into their bars and hotels in the mid aughts. But the cash, like many of the ... Read More »
As one of the Michaelangelo works at the Vatican that have just undergone a $4 million restoration, a critical debate is brewing over “The Crucifixion of Saint Peter” and the naughty bits of the martyred saint. You step into the Pauline Chapel at Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome, and there he is, twisting his neck and shoulders to lock ... Read More »
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