An exceptionally rare Guarneri violin—so fabled that it has its own name, the Baltic—sold for $9.44 million (premium included) at auction on March 16, just shy of its $10 million estimate. The final sale price smashed the $3.6 million auction record for a Guarneri instrument. - Artnet
A UK TV crew spotted the man — who was also seen wearing a long black coat and glasses — as he took phone pics soon after news emerged that the famous street artist’s latest stencil had just been destroyed in Herne Bay in Kent. - New York Post
"The artisans there — including a gold-leaf specialist, coppersmiths and wood carvers — fear that their meticulous work will be destroyed, as has happened in years past. Their frustrations have been intensified by the tighter control Israel has exerted over the compound in recent years, making repairs more difficult." - The New York Times
“In general, I don't think people recognized how much of an economic footprint the arts have in this country,” he adds. “We are for sure seeing some setbacks for major industries in the arts, but we're seeing resilience too.” - The Art Newspaper
"After a three-year search, seven finalists' concerts; and extensive surveys of musicians, audiences and board members, the Vermont Symphony Orchestra finally has a new music director: Andrew Crust, 35, a native of Kansas City. … He follows Jaime Laredo, whose tenure lasted 20 years." - Seven Days (Burlington, VT)
Scenic downsizing is all the rage in Midtown for a range of reasons — skyrocketing costs, cold concepts, quick turnarounds. As a result, storied houses are morphing into university black boxes; shows into showcases; dramas into drab-a-thons. - New York Post
"The Ford government says it will maintain its $60-million in base funding for the Ontario Arts Council in next week’s budget but will not renew about $5-million in one-time grants for the culture sector." - The Globe and Mail (Canada)
Of course, I sometimes still had to weather the churning roil of his stream of consciousness. I won’t try to replicate his frenetic, perseverating mode of expression here. But when Binstock grows focused, and whenever he writes, he sets out his arguments with precision. - The Atlantic
"It's a precarious task that needs to carefully shape the audience's experience but not smother it. A title should be just enough of a frame to hold its contents, while remaining permeable so the viewer can ascribe their own meaning." Three dancemakers discuss how they go about it. - Dance Australia
More and more scientists are realizing that animals, like people, are individuals: They have distinct tendencies, habits, and life experiences that may affect how they perform in an experiment. That means, some researchers argue, that much published research on animal behavior may be biased. - The Atlantic
The exiled Chinese artist's Water Lilies #1 is 50 feet long and incorporates 650,000 Lego bricks in 22 colors. The first public display of the work will be in Ai's exhibition at the Design Gallery in London next month. - ARTnews
"The number of titles published in Ukraine was cut almost in half last year, dropping from 17,000 in 2021 to just under 9,000. … The war has been especially difficult on the printing sector, which is centered in Kharkiv and had a significant amount of infrastructure destroyed." - Publishers Weekly
The songs "How to Handle a Woman" and "What Do the Simple Folk Do?" haven't aged well, and the book of the Lerner & Loewe musical, always a weakness, is even worse today. So the producers asked Sorkin to do what he did with To Kill a Mockingbird. - The New York Times
"Subscribers to Fresh Air+ will also get more recent exclusives, such as unaired excerpts from recent interviews and behind-the-scenes content that pulls back the curtain on how the Peabody Institutional Award-winning interview show is made." - Inside Radio
Jesse Thorn, host/producer of the public radio show Bullseye and founder/owner of Maximum Fun, which produces several other podcasts, worried about the fate of his staff if he sold the company to a larger enterprise. So he turned it into a co-op. - Yahoo! (Los Angeles Times)
