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If You Have $30 Million, You Could Have a Botticelli
LONDON — Sandro Botticelli, who died five centuries ago, is best known for his “Spring” and “Birth of Venus” paintings, which help draw more than 2 million visitors a year to the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy. His works are not generally expected to be found outside the world’s major museums.
Want to See the Mona Lisa? Get in Line
PARIS — The Mona Lisa gets around.
Venice Biennale's Top Prize Goes to Lithuania
VENICE — An opera performance on an artificial beach, in which swimsuited performers break from sunbathing to sing warnings of ecological disaster, won Lithuania the top prize Saturday at the Venice Art Biennale, the world’s oldest and most high-profile international exhibition of contemporary art.Venice Biennale's Top Prize Goes to Lithuania
VENICE — An opera performance on an artificial beach, in which swimsuited performers break from sunbathing to sing warnings of ecological disaster, won Lithuania the top prize Saturday at the Venice Art Biennale, the world’s oldest and most high-profile international exhibition of contemporary art.Paris Is Getting a New Museum. Here's a Sneak Peek.
PARIS — Early next year, after a nearly $170 million redevelopment, Paris’ 130-year-old Bourse de Commerce will reopen as a contemporary art museum. Unlike the world-famous state-funded museums nearby against which it hopes to measure up — namely, the Louvre and the Pompidou Center — this one will be financed by one man: French billionaire François Pinault, whose collection consists of about 5,000 works by artists such as Jeff Koons, Cy Twombly and Cindy Sherman.Almodóvar and Malick Will Compete at Cannes. Tarantino? He's a Maybe.
The Cannes Film Festival on Thursday revealed a set of movies in contention for this year’s Palme d’Or. American director Terrence Malick — who won in 2011 for “The Tree of Life” — is back with “A Hidden Life,” set during World War II. Pedro Almodóvar of Spain and Ken Loach of Britain are also in the running.For a Daredevil Tenor, Opera Is a Lifelong Thrill
LONDON — Vittorio Grigolo got his first major operatic break in June 2010, when the Royal Opera House cast him at the last minute in Massenet’s “Manon.” Critics and audiences were ecstatic.For Thyssen-Bornemisza, Collecting Is in His Blood
LONDON — Lorne Thyssen-Bornemisza comes from one of Europe’s most famous art-collecting families: A museum in Madrid bears his family name. That institution, the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza opened in 1992, when Spain bought the family’s collection of works by masters including Dürer, Caravaggio, Rubens, Monet and van Gogh. The collection, said to have been rivaled in Europe by only that of the queen of England, was established by a dynasty of industrialists who made a fortune in shipbui...
We Need to Talk About Colonialism, French-Algerian Artist Says
PARIS — Late one Sunday afternoon in February, French-Algerian artist Kader Attia welcomed several dozen visitors to a talk in the skylighted foyer of La Colonie, a cultural center and cafe that he opened in 2016 in a former textile factory in Paris. Guests sitting on old sofas and folding chairs listened as Attia moderated a debate between two French philosophers on the politics of race in postcolonial times.
Tarantino passes on question about screen treatment of Margot Robbie
At a news conference for the film on Wednesday, I asked Tarantino why Robbie, an Oscar-nominated actress who starred in “I, Tonya,” didn’t get more dialogue. It must have been a deliberate choice on his part, I added.
Cannes Film Festival opens with a zombie movie
CANNES, France — The Cannes Film Festival opened Tuesday with 21 movies contending for the top trophy, the Palme d’Or. A gala premiere of “The Dead Don’t Die,” by American director Jim Jarmusch, kicked off the 12-day extravaganza.
Revisiting a British artist whose vision was shaped by war
NEW YORK — Paul Nash, the British painter famous for his depictions of World War I, is not widely recognized outside the land of his birth. So it’s something of a surprise to see an all-Nash booth this year at Frieze New York.
A playful curator takes on a tough gig at the Venice Biennale
The main exhibition at the Venice Biennale is arguably the most coveted gig in curating. It’s the centerpiece of the international art world’s highest-profile event, and gives the chosen curator instant prestige. But it’s a tricky one to get right.
A museum tackles myths about Jews and money
LONDON — Wrapped in a turban and a mink-lined robe, the old man sits in his opulent home, smiling wryly. The pouch in his hand is full to bursting. Gold coins are scattered across his desk.
