Abdulkhakim Ismailov, the Red Army solider who at the age of 28 was photographed unfurling a Hammer and Sickle atop the Reichstag during the climax of the Soviet siege of Berlin in 1945, died in his Russian hometown this week at the age of 93. The flag was made of tablecloths and the moment was staged, but Yevgeny Khaldei’s ... Read More »
Columbia continues to try to switch its leading industry from cocaine production to tourism, sometimes with nasty overlaps. (Matador) Martin Scorsese’s next project will have him directing a short film for superbrand Chanel. (My Fashion Life) After seven deaths, thousands homeless, and hundreds of tourists stranded, Maccu Picchu is returning to normal after disruptive mudslides damaged nearby ... Read More »
Well here’s a unique commercial real-estate offering from the London market—record-label giant EMI is putting Abbey Road Studios, the legendary studios where much of the Beatles catalog and hundreds of thousands of other songs were first committed to tape. Located in the posh St John’s Wood, Abbey Road has become as famous for its exterior, featured on the Fab ... Read More »
Porto da Pedra School of Samba is planning a tribute to fashion for this year’s Carnival in Rio with a collection of appropriately festive costumes. (JC Report) Oh, and here are some alternative Carnival destinations in case you’ve already done everything (and everyone) in Rio. (Matador) High speed arting! Get in and out of the Prado in less ... Read More »
Well wouldn’t you know it, Chinese New Year falls on Valentine’s Day 2010. Even if you’re not normally the kind of goose or gander who would tend to ring in 4707 (or 4646 depending on how you count), you’ve got a built-in theme for this year’s romantic celebrations. More than that, there are two film series here in New ... Read More »
From the perch of an auction-house seat, you might think that the world economy was flourishing, that bankers and bus drivers alike were in the black and in the chips. Last night, a Alberto Giacometti bronze statute, “Walking Man 1” (above, left) netted $104.3 million at a Sotheby’s auction in London, handily breaking the pre-recession record of $104.1 million ... Read More »
Pablo Picasso was no slouch—in his 92 years, scholars estimate he created over 50,000 works (1,885 paintings, 4,100 sculptures and ceramics, and some 12,000 drawings.) As many of his pieces appear in museums, thousands more are in the hands of wealthy and not-so-wealthy collectors. Still, the sale of his “Tête de Femme (Jacqueline)” (detail, above), a 1963 portrait of ... Read More »
As an article over at Arts21 notes, “The new Chris Ofili mid-career retrospective at Tate Britain feels like walking through a mixtape of semi-obscure black American music from the last 50 years, created by a middle-aged record shop owner with an encyclopedic knowledge of musical history and a body odor problem.” Actually, it’s not just the backward glance that ... Read More »
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