Toronto

No Picassos or Garfunkels
On Friday, Kevin Hearn walked into the oak-panelled corridors of the AGO Members’ Lounge and whispered, “Sorry I’m late.” It was 12:26 p.m. Less than 10 hours before, he had been in Milton, Ont., filming a music video with the Barenaked Ladies.  National Post, June 15, 2010

A new level of art criticism
“In the 1960s, in the Cultural Revolution that shattered Chinese life, Mao Zedong gave his last great display of malign genius: By edict he turned the moral instincts of the people upside down. He made bad good and good bad.”  Robert Fulford in the National Post, June 15, 2010

Public spaces a new imperative in private places
Take a stroll through the soaring Allen Lambert Galleria – tucked into the multi-tower Brookfield Place office complex in Toronto’s financial district – and it’s soon clear that the cathedral-like space is more than just an atrium.  Globe and Mailo. June 15, 2010

Los Angeles

Getty's Sudden Leadership Void May Be An Opportunity

The unexpected death Friday of Getty Trust president and chief executive James Wood "leaves the top two positions at the institution vacant," thereby creating what some see as "a unique opportunity to resolve a longstanding issue." The institution's "unusual organizational structure ... has been a source of internal conflict over the years." Los Angeles Times, June 15, 2010

Cambridge, Massachusetts

Restoring 5 Harvard Rothkos, Minus The Actual Restoration
Conservators "used X-rays and spectrometers to distinguish paint layers and identify the pigments in Rothko's paints, as well as enhancements of the original Ektachrome photographs taken of the murals when they were installed." They then created "software that will use a digital projector as a light source to augment those now missing colors on the original canvases." Wall Street Journal, June 15, 2010

New York

B'klyn Museum's Pop-Culture Focus Hasn't Added Visitors

"The Brooklyn Museum has long faced criticism that its populist tack and exhibitions on topics like the 'Star Wars' movies and hip-hop music have diminished its stature. And now the attendance figures raise questions about the effectiveness of those efforts to build an audience by becoming more accessible." The New York Times, June 15, 2010

Washington, D.C.

Never a dull moment at the Smithsonian
In any tour book, “ travelling with family” means children. Thus, when my dad announced we would be taking a family vacation to Washington, D. C., we were welcomed into tour-book limbo: a place where atypical adults travel with teens.  Vancouver Sun, June 15, 2010

London

In Birthday Honors, Queen Doesn't Forget The Arts

Among those who got the nod: "Paula Rego, the Portuguese-born painter famous for the often fantastical feel to her art, has been made a dame. 'I was totally surprised by it,' she said. 'What is it for? I don't do anything but paint pictures.'" The Guardian (UK), June 12, 2010

Paris

MODIGLIANI PRICE RECORD SET AT PARIS AUCTION

A stone sculpture of a woman’s head sold for $54.5 Million in a Christie’s auction on Monday.  Globe and Mail, June 15, 2010

Rome

Caravaggio exhibit open non-stop on last weekend

A retrospective of works by baroque master Caravaggio at a downtown Rome venue has drawn so many people that officials decided to keep doors open non-stop over the weekend.  CBC, June 15, 2010

Yarra, Australia

Unique Keith Haring mural deteriorating

Officials in Australia are debating how to preserve what they say is the last surviving mural painted entirely by hand by the late U.S. pop artist Keith Haring.  CBC, June 15, 2010

Cheryl Siegel | Librarian | Vancouver Art Gallery | 750 Hornby St. | Vancouver, BC | V6Z 2H7 | 604-662-4709  | fax 604-682-1086 | www.vanartgallery.bc.ca