Art Business Magazine http://www.culturenet.ca/artbusiness

 

Art Business News

 
*Museum's prize painting 'fake' (Aug. 11)
*Proclamation of Canadian Copyright Reform Bill C-32 (Aug. 11)
*"Save the NEA" an appeal from Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (Aug. 11)
*French firefighters douse Paris museum blaze (Aug.4)
*Greek students in Britain begin campaign for Parthenon Marbles return (Aug. 4)
*Misfortune surrounds alleged van Gogh painting set for auction (Aug. 4)
*Trade body ruling erodes Canadian cultural protections (July 21)
*British sculptor charged with stealing body parts (July 21)
*House rejects block grant funding for the arts (July 14)
*New liquid barcoding product helps in art registration, may reduce art theft (July 14)
*Japanese owner of Sunflowers says it is not a fake (July 14)
*Francis Bacon bio-pic controversy (July 14)
*Cyberspace art trafficking "ring" broken by Italian police (July 6)
*US art dealer charged with defrauding celebrities (July 6)
*British art market fears collapse under EU tax burden (July 6)
*University of Calgary archaeologist swims Guatemalan river to escape death (July 6)
*Greeks keep up with demand for Elgin marbles (July 6)
*Clouds gather on the Canadian culture and trade front (June 30)
*Summer's here and the living is easy? art grads on the loose (June 30)
*Market for fossils on the rise (June 23)
*David Hockney is Nation's if not critics' favourite (June 23)
*U.S. House vote nearly kills NEA (June 23)
 
Museums seek to protect art images on Internet. by GEANNE ROSENBERG (Aug./18)
Georgia O'Keeffe's red hills, bleached bones and poppies populate countless sites on the Web. But nary a landscape, skull or flower can be found on the cyberspot belonging to the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe, N.M. This simple irony illustrates the quandary in which museums find themselves as they assess the opportunities and threats presented by the Internet.
 
O'Keeffe, whose work is ubiquitous on the Web sites of scholars, poster sellers and art overs, is not alone. The works of legendary figures of 20th-century art, from Kandinsky to Chagall to Klee, pepper the Web. With everyone else feeling free to
publish these images in cyberspace, what holds back art museums? First, uncertainty about the legality of posting images which often do not belong to them -- even though the artworks themselves do. Second, fear that the Web's raw power as a copying machine will hurt the quality of the art and the commercial rights of the artists and their heirs, who usually own the images. The rise of the Internet has forced museum directors to grapple with an old problem in a new and confusing universe. In cyberspace, it is unclear how best to balance their twin missions of making art available to the public and protecting the value and integrity of the art.
 
"We regard the Internet as an opportunity to educate a new generation of potential museumgoers about what awaits them," said Harold Holzer, vice president for communications at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. "It's another tool for reaching a wider audience."
 
Some legal experts do not take such a sanguine view. When museums carelessly publish art on the Net, "they may be committing what I like to call 'cybercide,"' said William Borchard, a partner at the law firm of Cowan, Liebowitz
& Latman and a member of the art law committee of the Bar Association of the City of New York. "They may be either killing some of their own ability to make money or subjecting themselves to liability" -- such as that arising from infringement of the original artist's copyright. But in an era that has seen fine-art images migrate to posters, and from posters to T-shirts, and from T-shirts to canvas bags, the concern may seem misplaced. In the case of 19th-century artists and their predecessors, back to the cave painters, no protection is needed: Their art is already in the public domain. But in the case of someone like the modern master Henri Matisse, things are less clear.
 
Generally, works published more than 75 years ago are in the public domain in the United States and can be freely reproduced, according to Jane Ginsburg, a professor at the Columbia University School of Law. Works published since then may or may not retain copyright protection, she said, depending on factors including whether the work is foreign or domestic; when and where the work was published, and the date of the artist's death. To add to the complexity, an image that can be legally posted in the United States may remain under copyright protection in another country -- an important detail given the Internet's global reach. In the case of Matisse, other factors come into play. Under current laws and treaties, the copyrights to some of Matisse's work, owned by his heirs, will not expire until at least 50 years after his death. (Matisse died in 1954.) Other Matisse works may already be in the public domain. So until the potential risks and rewards become clearer to museums, some are choosing to wait.
 
The Whitney Museum of American Art's permanent-collection Web page is now almost completely devoid of images, partly because "we are taking the time to do image clearance," according to text on the museum's Web site. At the Museum of Modern Art, Mikki Carpenter, the director of the department of photographic services and permissions, said, "We check with our legal counsel before we post anything." Similarly, at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, whose collection includes few paintings created after 1900, any questions about copyrights for digital images are directed to Christine Steiner, the secretary and general counsel.
 
Copyrights to most of Georgia O'Keeffe's work are held by the Georgia O'Keeffe Foundation, which has refused to allow Internet reproduction of the images it controls. "I think we're like most institutions," said Judy Lopez, an assistant director at the foundation. "We want a clear picture before we start working with it." But other museums have moved ahead to publish art on the Web. Howard Besser, an adjunct associate professor at the University of California at Berkeley and an expert on digital art, said that many museum sites were assembled by "some young, gung-ho volunteer" unfamiliar with intellectual-property issues. Even for those who are aware of the issues, the distinctions making some images eligible for publication are unclear. For instance, the Georgia O'Keeffe Foundation says it owns the copyright to O'Keeffe's "Cebolla Church," painted in 1945. Its executives say it has never given anyone permission to reproduce an image of the oil painting on the Internet. Yet a reproduction is posted on the Web site of the North Carolina Museum of Art, which owns the painting. According to Joseph Covington, director of education of the North Carolina museum, the site was constructed with the understanding that the museum did not need permission for images of works created before 1978, when revised copyright laws became effective. However, some museum law experts maintain that an O'Keeffe work created less than 75 years ago retains copyright protection.
 
The Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art in Norman, Okla., published a low-resolution image of O'Keeffe's "Cos Cob," a 1926 work, on its Web site without first obtaining permission from the Georgia O'Keeffe Foundation. Gail Kana Anderson, assistant director and curator of collections, said this was a "fair use" of the image. One solution to infringement worries is watermarking or branding art images so they can be traced to the source. Copyright holders are increasingly requiring watermarking before they grant permission for digital reproductions, said Janice Sorkow, director of rights and licensing at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. To do otherwise, she said, is like sending "your dog out on the street without a collar." The
unnamed publisher of the Georgia O'Keeffe Online Gallery writes on the gallery's Web page, "If any of you wonderful people want me to add something to the site, let me know. I'll be happy to steal images from other sites!!"
 
But widespread copyright infringement on the Internet will not last forever, predicted Steve Davis, president of Corbis Corp., a company founded by Microsoft's founder, Bill Gates, whose digital archive of images was gathered in part through nonexclusive licenses with museums. "Once there is more revenue coming from publishing on the Web, there is going to be a higher level of scrutiny from intellectual-property holders," he said.
 
San Francisco broker charged with art theft (Aug. 18)
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- An art broker who allegedly swindled two wealthy friends out of tens of thousands of dollars has turned herself in to police.
 
Nancy Chaffin, 39, used her connections to befriend and then rip off wealthy connoisseurs including the granddaughter of brokerage founder Dean Witter to finance a high-society lifestyle, police said. Chaffin, who lives with her parents in San Rafael, was charged with 40 counts of grand theft and two each of embezzlement and taking money under false pretenses. She did not enter a plea at Friday's arraignment. Jack Wong, an engineer, and Jane Witter, a San Francisco heiress, told police that Chaffin got them to invest in art and antiques but did not deliver the goods. Chaffin, who based her art brokerage in San Francisco, turned herself in to police Thursday and was released without bail.
 
Inspector Phil Dito of the Fraud Detail said a six-month study of bank records, canceled checks and credit card bills indicated she received $555,457 from Wong and $32,500 from Witter, a San Francisco resident. Chaffin's attorney, Frank Leidman, said the charges are based on untrue allegations that have not been fully investigated. Chaffin was ordered to return to court Sept. 4.
New UK money magazine (Aug. 18)
London - The new Labour government in Britain has indicated that lottery money previously dedicated to cultural institutions will be diverted to health and education. And publishers are picking up on this trend. WealthWatch, by Sunrise Publishers, is a new magazine listing 100,000 UK millionaires -- contact +44 (0) 117 977 5135. Also The Directory of Grant Making Trusts has come out with a series on museums. Biblios +44 (0) 1403 710 851.
 
Future of the DIA in jeopardy (Aug. 18)
Detroit - The Detroit Institute of Art has entered a period of instability which may result in its permanent closure.
 
In June, the DIA lost its director of 12 years, Sam Sachs, who took up directorship of the Frick Collection in NYC. Sachs leaves behind the fifth largest art museum in the U.S. which is on unstable financial and managerial ground.
 
The museum depends on the State of Michigan for one third or $7.7-million of its $23-million annual operating budget. In 1991, the State cut $7-million from this budget resulting in lay offs of 140 employees and reduction in hours of operation. Director Sachs managed to raise 35 percent of the lost funds, about $2.5-million. But in 1996, the state cut another $1.4 million.
 
The management of the museum is in some confusion. The City of Detroit owns the DIA's land, building and collection. The City also controls daily operations including acquisition and conservation decisions. Many feel that City involvement at this level is an inefficient use of taxpayer money when a 55 member museum staff and a powerful volunteer group, the Founders Society, also manage the institution. The Founders Society includes wealthy arts patrons who raise 70 percent of the museum's annual budget. They also raised, over 5 years, 90 percent of a $27-million bridge fund which has made up for State funding cuts. This effort saved the museum from permanent closure.
 
There is continuing conflict between the Founders and the City over who should manage the institution. Last March, the Founders proposed that they would manage the DIA. City Council rejected the idea preferring to retain the current structure. In the meantime, management has allowed the museum's budget and costs to fluctuate in unusual ways. Last year the City gave the DIA $400,000. then charged it $705,000. for City police services.
 
In response to such City decisions, the Founders have publicly questioned their continued support of the museum.
 
Founder president, Richard Manoogian, told the Detroit Free Press, "Anybody with an important collection of art would have to question leaving it to the DIA, given the uncertainty hanging over the museum."
 
Mr. Sachs also reported to the Art Newspaper (June/97) that "Museum directors from other cities are actively seeking some of the area's most important works of art now held in local private collections."
 
The future of the DIA is in jeopardy. According to Mr. Sachs: "We have two choices. Either go out to extend the bridge fund, which in the current climate is nearly impossible because patrons are not impressed with giving money in such a politicised situation. Or, we reduce the hours, cancel exhibitions, lay off staff -- all of the draconian things that are all-too-familiar in Detroit."
Museum's prize painting 'fake'. By David Sapsted in New York (Aug. 11)
New York - The priceless centrepiece of the most valuable and comprehensive collection of Chinese art outside Asia has been branded a fake by an eminent art historian.
 
The Riverbank, a 10th-century scroll described by the New York Times as one "of the three rarest and most important early monumental landscape paintings in the world", is the first big picture visitors see at the newly-refurbished Chinese galleries at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
 
Yet, despite being compared to the Mona Lisa in quality and despite a conviction at the Met that it is genuine, New Yorker magazine maintains that the7ft silk landscape by Dong Yuan is not all it is cracked up to be.
 
This week's issue suggests that the painting could be "a modern forgery, possibly executed by the notorious painter, forger and collector Chang Ta-chien" who sold it to it C C Wang shortly after the 90-year-old painter, who indirectly sold it to the Met, fled from Communist China in the 1950s.
 
This contention is backed by Dr James Cahill, an art historian at the University of California. He said: "I can't accept that this is a 10th-century painting. It's simply not plausible in terms of the fuzzy brushwork, the structural incoherence, and the unreadability. There are all kinds of inconsistencies."
 
Mike Hearn, curator of the Met, said yesterday that this was nonsense. He said an analysis of the style and structure of the painting point to it being a genuine Dong painted during the Tang dynasty that ended in 906. "I am utterly convinced of its authenticity," he said.
 
That view is not universal, however. "I don't think you'd find everybody would agree on it," said Roderick Whitfield, one of the world's foremost authorities on Chinese art and Professor of Chinese and East Asian Art at the University of London.
 
"I have known the painting for a long time. I have taken slides of it but have never used it in teaching because it would be very hard to prove it was an authentic Dong. I think it's a very old painting, though - I don't think it could be a modern forgery."
 
The New York museum, upset that a prize exhibit should be questioned, plans to publish a detailed defence of its contention that The Riverbank is genuine.
 
Proclamation of Canadian Copyright Reform Bill C-32 (Aug. 11) Courtesy the Law Office of Lesley Ellen Harris, Copyright & New Media Lawyer, T: 416.226.6768, E: copylaw@interlog.com, W: http://copyrightlaws.com
 
A substantial part of An Act to amend the Copyright Act, S.C. 1997, c. 24 (formerly Bill C-32) was proclaimed on July 25, 1997, by Order-in-Council. On September 1, 1997, the proclaimed sections will come into force.
 
The sections which were proclaimed are for neighbouring rights, most of the exceptions for educational institutions, exceptions for persons with perceptual disabilities, and provisions of a general and technical nature that modernize the Canadian Copyright Act.
 
The government anticipates that the remainder of Bill C-32 will be proclaimed in the near future.
 
Subject: Save the NEA! (Aug. 11)
 
------- An appeal from Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro -------
 
Dear Friend,
 
Thank you for your commitment to preserving a federal investment in the arts. The arts contribute priceless benefits to our culture, our communities, and our economy. I'm sure you share my disappointment at the sad outcomeof the vote at the House of Representatives on July 15th, when the Republican leadership fulfilled its pledge to kill the National Endowment for the Arts.
 
My colleagues ignored the fact that the small investment the government makes in the NEA -- its budget is only .0001 of our national budget -- serves as a catalyst for local, state and private investment in the arts, and bolsters an industry that provided 1.3 million of jobs across the nation in 1996. In fact, last year the non-profit arts contributed $37 billion to our nation's economy.
 
We see the results of this investment in my home state of Connecticut's thriving arts community. Connecticut's non-profit arts industry contributed an estimated $1.3 billion to the state's economy in 1996, and provided jobs for roughly 30,500 people.
 
NEA grants serve as seed money for organizations in Connecticut and across the nation. NEA grants bring more than mere dollars -- they bring credibility that gives recipients a leg up in raising private funds. In fact, some NEA grants have been matched by private funds at a rate of 11 to 1 -- which means a grant of $100,000 can turn into $1.1 million!
 
The NEA plays a role critical in making the arts available to all Americans. Whether a child lives in the inner city or a rural town, is middle class or very poor, the NEA makes sure all Americans are exposed to our artistic treasures.
 
The arts build our economy, enrich our culture and feed the minds of adults and children alike. I'm glad to tell you that although we lost the battle in the House, the war is not over. The coming weeks are critical -- we need to work together to make our voices heard to make sure this funding is restored when The House and Senate meet to work out the differences between the their bills.
 
Sincerely,
Rosa L. DeLauro
Member of Congress
 
You can contact your senator online on the Eli Whitney Museum's web page at http://nea.eliwhitney.org/
French firefighters douse Paris museum blaze. By Christian Curtenelle (Aug. 4/97)
PARIS (Reuter) - More than 100 firefighters battled half the night to put out a blaze in a Paris architecture museum near the Eiffel Tower on Wednesday. Two firefighters were injured working to contain the flames in a wing of the Palais de Chaillot, containing the Museum of French Monuments as well as a film library in one of the capital's most famed tourist attractions.
 
At least two explosions, apparently of windows shattering from the intense heat, were heard when the fire broke out. Initially, firefighters incorrectly said the blaze was in another wing of the colonnaded palace containing the Musee de l'Homme (Museum of Man) that traces human history with statues, frescoes and costumes. ``It's still very hard to assess the extent of the damage,'' a spokesman for the firefighters said after a battle of more than three hours to bring the flames under control. The fire was smouldering in parts of the building at the Trocadero square overlooking the Seine river towards the Eiffel Tower. Thick smoke was still complicating the task. But commander Philippe Lavoil, of the Paris firefighters, said earlier in the night that the "national heritage in terms of art works, does not seem affected.''
 
The Museum of French Monuments includes copies or models of some of France's most famous buildings, including the great cathedrals of Notre-Dame and Chartres, in a history of the nation's monumental architecture. Films were taken out of the film library. The building also contains a cinema museum with props including the skeletal frame of Mrs. Bates from the horror movie Psycho.
 
About 120 fire fighters were called in from all over Paris and brought the blaze under control shortly before 1 a.m. (1100 GMT Tuesday), a spokesman said. Two firefighters were slightly injured and one was taken to hospital for treatment. Police were ordered to carry out an investigation into the causes of the fire, a police spokesman said. Initial evidence pointed to an accidental blaze. The fire broke out in an area of the roof that was being renovated. Culture Minister Catherine Trautmann visited the scene while the fire was raging. The Trocadero, choked by thick smoke, was sealed off to traffic. The director of the Palais de Chaillot said: "The frame of the roof window caught fire and that made the glass explode. The frame fell on the museum collections...mouldings, plasterwork.
 
"The museum has never known such a catastrophe,'' he told Europe 1 radio.
 
NOTE: this fire and the ones at the Hofburg in Vienna, Windsor Castle, and the Royal Academy (May 4, 1997) all began while the buildings were under construction. This is the third museum fire within three months: Royal Academy (May), Tate Gallery (June). In this case, the fire broke out in an area of the roof that was being renovated.
Greek students in Britain begin campaign for Parthenon Marbles' return (Aug. 4)
ATHENS (ANA) - Greek student societies in Britain will stage protests outside the British Museum, the Ministry of Heritage and British embassies around the world on November 14 to campaign for the return of the Parthenon Marbles to Greece. In a statement by the Union of Hellenic Student Societies in the United Kingdom released yesterday, the union said that they had designated November 14 as "Parthenon Day". The campaign will include mass mailings to British officials calling for negotiations on a timetable for the return, debates, and Parthenon Day Web Sites at the Internet addresses of: http://www.greece.org/eefkmed and http://www.uk.digiserve. com/mentor /marbles.
 
Websites dedicated to the return of the Elgin Marbles:
GREECE:
http://rethymno.forthnet.gr/marmara/http://rethymno.forthnet.gr/marmara/
http://www.hol.gr/mirrors/hec/marbles/http://www.hol.gr/mirrorw/hec/marbles/ http://www.damon.gr/marbles/http://www.damon.gr/marbles/
USA:
http://ares.math.utk.edu/marbles/http://ares.math.utk.edu/marbles/index.htm http://www.greece.org/marbles/http://www.greece.org/marbles/
http://www.diaspora-net.org/marbles/http://www.diaspora-net.org/marbles/
BRITAIN:
http://www.uk.digiserve.com/mentor/marbles/
http://www.uk.digiserve.com/mentor/marbles/
FRANCE:
http://www.mygale.org/05/acropole/http://www.mygale.org/05/acropole/
GERMANY:
http://www.griechenland.de/kultur/parthenon/index.htm
http://www.griechenland.de/kultur/parthenon/index.htm
 
Misfortune surrounds alleged van Gogh painting set for auction. By Deb Kollars and Steve Wiegand (Scripps-Mcclatchy News Service) Aug. 4.
 
SACRAMENTO -- It wasn't supposed to turn out like this. The painting of sunflowers and oleanders, bursting with color, was to be the find of the century, a treasure worth millions, a genuine creation of Vincent van Gogh. Today, however, the grandiose quest may turn into a last-minute fire sale. If a federal judge gives his blessing, the picture will be auctioned to the highest bidder in a Sacramento courtroom -- and so far there is only one firm bidder, offering the relatively humble sum of $125,000. Even if the sale takes place, as those involved expect, it won't end this twisted tale of an elderly widow and her haunted picture. For one thing, there's the trial next month in Stockton in which one investor in the painting is accused of plotting to kill another investor. Then there are the almost-certain lawsuits that will follow any sale. And of course there's that pesky business about proving the work was really created by the brilliant-but-tormented Dutch master. Which, as far as Mary Rudolph is concerned, makes little difference.
 
The 86-year-old owner of the painting lives in a nursing home in Sacramento. Suffering from Alzheimer's disease, Rudolph is blithely unaware of the legal maelstrom surrounding the painting she inherited from her husband after he spent 40 years trying unsuccessfully to prove its pedigree. Still, she has not entirely escaped the paranoia this painting produces: According to her conservator, Jim Moore, she keeps a framed poster reproduction of it hidden behind her nightstand because she fears someone will steal it. Outside Mary Rudolph's world, the next act in the melodrama will unfold in the federal bankruptcy courtroom of Judge David Russell.
 
Russell is being asked by bankruptcy trustee Larry Taylor, and Taylor's attorney, Helga White, to approve an in-court, cash-only auction of the painting today. One offer of $125,000 has already been received from a bidder whose identity is being kept secret. The mysterious bidder is being represented by Sacramento attorney Gerald B. Glazer, who did not return telephone calls. Another potential bidder from Santa Barbara said he is trying to put enough cash together to make an offer. Under terms of the proposed auction, the first additional bid would have to be at least $150,000, and other bids would have to be in increments of $10,000.
 
"I definitely want to bid on it," said artist-writer-inventor Tom Bright. "I just hope I can get the resources to do it."
 
The still life is part of a bankruptcy case involving a Sacramento auctioneer who, while trying to sell the painting for Rudolph, became involved with three amateur art speculators from Stockton. The trio put up $40,000 for the painting. But the auctioneer changed his mind about selling it to them, then filed for bankruptcy. A two-year legal battle was on. But in the art world, whether a van Gogh is the real McCoy comes down to the opinion of an elite group of experts. And the experts said the
painting was not from the palette of the 19th century genius, who gave the world dazzling starry nights and striking portraits before killing himself at age 37.
 
With the clock ticking down on the Aug. 8 truce deadline, White decided to take what she could get. Glazer, the attorney for the anonymous bidder, had approached bankruptcy trustee Taylor with an offer to buy the painting without a guarantee it's a van Gogh. The auction, White said, is standard procedure in bankruptcyproceedings to ensure creditors -- and in this case Rudolph -- get all the money they can.
 
"I was aware we were running out of time," White said. "And I'm aware something is better than nothing." Not everyone
involved agrees. Albert Pellandini, one of the trio of Stockton residents who paid $40,000 for the painting two years ago, has vowed to fight any sale. In a hostile declaration filed with the court, Pellandini said he only agreed to the truce last August "because I would receive a substantial return if the painting sold for a sum in the millions of dollars. ... I never intended, and neither did the other signatories to the agreement, that the painting would be sold only days before the expiration of the agreement for a fraction of the original amount ($5 million) stated in the agreement."
 
In fact, Pellandini argued in the declaration, "the actions of the trustee's attorney, Helga White, have so enraged my partner Frank Raviscioni that he is currently under indictment for hiring someone to kill me and my family."
 
Whether Raviscioni is guilty or not may be up to a Stockton jury to decide. A Stockton real estate broker, he is charged with trying to hire one of his tenants to kill Pellandini and his wife and child last April. The tenant turned police informant and wore a hidden microphone to record conversations with Raviscioni. Police say the recordings show he wanted Pellandini killed so he and his sister Inez, the third investor, could get Pellandini's share of profits from the painting. The trial for Raviscioni, who pleaded not guilty and is
free on bail, is set to begin Aug. 18. His attorney, Tod Corren, said he expects the trial to last about two weeks. Corren also contends the informant made up most of his information. For her part, Inez Raviscioni said she and her brother have no problem with efforts so far to authenticate and sell the painting, and would be glad to be rid of it.
 
"We don't care what they get for it," she said, "we want it out of our hair."
 
British sculptor charged with stealing body parts  (July 21)
LONDON (Reuter) - An aristocratic butcher-turned-sculptor with connections to Britain's royal family has been charged with stealing human body parts and using them in his art, police said Tuesday.
 
Anthony-Noel Kelly, a cousin of the Duke of Norfolk and a part-time teacher at Prince Charles's Institute of Architecture, and another man who is a former employee of the Royal College of Surgeons, were charged with theft.
 
"They are due to appear in court on Aug. 15 charged with theft of various anatomical parts belonging to the Royal College of
Surgeons between June 1991 and November 1994,'' a police spokesman told Reuters.
 
Kelly, 41, was arrested in April after police discovered 30 human body parts in raids on his London studio and country home. Police launched the investigation following a request from the government's inspector of anatomy, Dr. Lawrence Martin. Kelly, who has said he found beauty in death, won recognition for his molds of heads, feet and torsos, which he said was his way of immortalizing the dead. Some of his works, which were gilded in gold and silver, sold for thousands of dollars.
Trade body ruling erodes Canadian cultural protections (July 21)
Ottawa - The World Trade Organisation has upheld its previous ruling against Canadian excise tax on American split-run magazines.
 
In its appeal, Canada had hoped to maintain its policy of 80 percent tax on revenues generated by split-run magazines. The split-runs, such as Sports Illustrated Canada, compete for Canadian advertising dollars. The competition is unfair, say Canadian magazine publishers, because most of the content of the "second" run of the American magazines has already been paid for by the "first" run distributed in the U.S. Canada introduced the tax in 1995, after Sports Illustrated began using satellite technology to print a low-cost Canadian edition.
 
The WTO, however, disagrees with Canada's position holding that all magazines are "like goods". In other words, Maclean's magazine is the same as Time magazine in fair trade. Canada has been distorting the playing field in favour of Canadian trade and this contravenes GATT regulations. The Trade body is also supporting a U.S. appeal to eliminate Canada's postal rate subsidy for its magazines through Canada Post.
 
Some observers fear that the Canadian magazine industry will collapse if more of its protections are challenged. Canada's magazine industry has had to struggle. The Canadian population is too small, the geographical distances too great, and the advertising base too small to make most magazines financially viable. Profits have always been extremely small, even with the subsidies and protections. And competition is fierce. Four-fifths of newsstand titles are American.
 
More positive observers find that with the lowering of trade barriers on both sides, Canadian periodicals can move beyond their borders into new and larger markets. This hopeful idea is threatened, however, by Heritage Minister Sheila Copps who has said she will introduce new magazine-protections this fall. One such measure would involve altering investment policies to stop Canadian advertising revenues from going to foreign-owned companies.
 
House Rejects Block Grant Funding For Arts. By Vicki Allen. (July 14)
Washington (Reuter) - The House Friday rejected a plan to continue federal funding for the arts through grants to states and school districts, one day after lawmakers moved to abolish the National Endowment for the Arts.
 
The House voted 271-155 against a compromise offered by House Republicans that would have replaced the NEA with a system of $80-million in block grants administered mostly by the Education Department. The deal was foiled by Democrats and a number of moderate Republicans who refused to vote for a scheme that would involve shutting down the NEA, and by many conservative Republicans who balked at continuing any federal arts funding. Despite House moves to close the NEA -- which distributes grants to community orchestras, theater groups, filmmakers, sculptors, and other artists -- advocates of the agency said they expected it would be saved by the Senate and the White House.
 
"On the Senate side, we're a lot more optimistic that the NEA will be retained,'' Elliot Mincberg, vice president of the People for the American Way Action Fund, said.
 
On a cliffhanger vote of 217-216 Thursday, the House cleared the way for Friday's action on the block grant proposal. Funding for the NEA is contained in a $13-billion spending bill for the Interior Department and related agencies. By
defeating the block grant plan, the House left intact provisions in the original bill that would slash NEA's funding to $10-million, just enough to close the agency, with no alternative arts support. NEA Chairwoman Jane Alexander told Reuters there might be another effort to revive the NEA before the House votes next week on the overall spending bill.
 
"I think it would be extremely regrettable if this House of Representatives were to go down in history as zeroing out the NEA. I think it would be a dark stain on an otherwise fine body,'' she said.
 
But several House sources said the NEA issue was unlikely to resurface on the House floor before then. Still, because Thursday's vote was so close and because of expected support in the Senate, Mincberg and several House Democrats said they were optimistic the final bill to emerge from Congress would preserve the agency.
 
The Clinton administration has threatened to veto the overall spending bill if the final version sent to the White House shuts off funding for the NEA.
 
"The Senate no doubt has stronger support for the arts than the House does,'' an aide to a Democratic senator said, but she said it may be a struggle to keep next year's NEA funding at the current $100 million.
 
House Democrats urged defeat of the GOP block grant plan to better position themselves to carry their fight to the Senate to keep the NEA. Wisconsin Democrat David Obey called the block grant plan ''nothing but a device by which you accomplish the assassination of the National Endowment for the Arts.'' But Rep. Vernon Ehlers, a Michigan Republican who sponsored the block grants plan, said continuing money for arts was more important than maintaining the NEA.
 
"The NEA has proved to be a lightning rod. It has attracted all types of criticism because they have on occasion given money for art which is profane or obscene or sacrilegious,'' Ehlers said.
 
California Republican Sonny Bono, who launched his public career singing with his then-wife Cher, said: ``I have been in the arts for 30 years. That has been my occupation. I know of no one in 30 years in the arts who has been assisted by the NEA. So I don't see where the NEA is this amazing contribution to mankind and has brought all these artists forward.''
 
House Speaker Newt Gingrich also made an unusual floor statement to support the block grants, saying they were a way ''to take most of the argument, most of the controversy, most of the irritation out of the system, and allow us to focus instead on how do we help the local symphony, how do we help the local ballet, how do we help the local art museum...''
 
New liquid barcoding product helps in art registration, may reduce art theft. By Helena Jaeschke, Archaeological Conservator. Courtesy Museum Security Network (July 14)
London - Following the debate on barcoding objects, a recent product from security firms may provide a new approach worth developing. Alpha-Dot is a lacquer containing microdots with a unique PIN number which can be painted onto a concealed area of an object.
 
The dots are described as barely visible and only a tiny amount of varnish containing one or two dots is required for the object to be identifiable. The dots are decoded by an electronic reader. At present the kit costs 24.95 pounds sterling in the UK and the telephone number for the Alphadot company is +44 345 573329. The idea was developed for home security. The owner purchases a kit, paints a small splash of varnish on each valuable item and registers a splash of their varnish (with the PIN number) with the company.
 
Obviously this is not entirely suited to museum use (though it would be very useful in the case of the theft) but could be developed to provide a museum with a series of PIN numbers for individual object identification. In the cases of repatriation it is worth remembering that an item may be stolen from its new home and an irreversible means of identification could be vital to prevent its subsequent sale on the art market. This peril has been clearly demonstrated in Mali and Nigeria where returned items have hardly been placed in the museum case of their new home before they have been stolen and vanished via auction into private collections. Whilst reverence is due to an item of a religious nature or human remains, the museum labelling may help to protect it in future. If the labelling is not offensively conspicuous then I would strongly urge that it be retained. If it is too obvious (as sometimes happens with items numbered at the turn of the century) then it should be resited in a more discreet area.  
 
Japanese owner of "Sunflowers" says it is not a fake (July 14)
Tokyo (Reuter) - The Japanese owner of Vincent van Gogh's "Sunflowers'' broke its silence about claims that it might be a fake, declaring there was no possibility that the famed painting was done by anyone except the Dutch artist.
 
Yasuda Fire & Marine Insurance Co. Ltd. spokesman Yoshimi Takada said the painting of bright yellow sunflowers in a vase, which the company bought for £24.75-million ($41.46-million) in 1987 at London's Christie's auction house, was undoubtedly authentic.
 
"We are absolutely convinced thatthe picture is an original. We have no doubts on that and trust the
authority of Christie's,'' Takada told Reuters.
 
On July 4, a leading art publication, The Art Newspaper, said at least 45 paintings and drawings by van Gogh may be fakes. The review quoted leading van Gogh specialist Jan Hulsker as saying he had strong doubts about the authenticity of the works, including "Sunflowers.'' The costly acquisition of the painting, one of van Gogh's best-known works, earned a rebuke at the time from Japan's Finance Ministry, which described the purchase as "an excessive demonstration of wealth.'' The painting is on public display at Yasuda's art gallery in its headquarters in central Tokyo.
 
A spokesman for Tokyo's National Museum of Western Art said there was nothing to substantiate the counterfeit claim. "There have been several reports of van Gogh fakes but so far there has been no concrete proof, such as the use of unusual materials,'' the spokesman told Reuters. ``The majority of experts believe in the authenticity of 'Sunflowers','' he added.
 
Francis Bacon bio-pic controversy. by David Whittaker. (July 14)
London (ABM) - Saint or sinner? The best British painter since Turner, or an untrained hack who ended-up tied to a hackneyed formula, a parody of his early self? The career, and perhaps more notoriously, the life, of Francis Bacon has always been headline news, and the furore that brewed over competition to write his biography, after his death in 1992, is now being stirred over by an imminent bio-pic that promises not to shy away from portraying the vicious, quite seedy, side of the artist's day in Soho, London.
 
Now Bacon and Van Gogh might not seem closely related at first glance, but the more one considers aspects of their life and work, the more parallels start to emerge, making recent events all the more ironic. It's no coincidence that big budget, big name films have been made about these men, falling perfectly as they do into the mould of turbulent bohemian personality, driven by internal demons and external experience to portray their thoughts and emotions unguardedly on canvas, and hence make an ideal star to which the movie camera is magnetically drawn. Basquiat is only the most recent addition to this lineage. Their fervent, impassioned outbursts of energy in paint are at once shocking and beguilingly seductive; and their work now commands the sort of prices only a minority can but consider.
 
The precarious nature of their lifestyles has since been mirrored by the volatile nature of sale prices, a feature of the business recently thrown into sharp clarity by the ups and downs of the auction room, and the heady combination of authorship and attribution.
 
When Pembroke College at Oxford University purchased their Bacon painting in the early part of his career, it cost a mere
£150. His progression from middle class Irish background, via London and European lowlife, to the heights of English painting and an international reputation, was just starting its ascendency. When the College had to sell the picture earlier this year, the price was around half a million. Not a bad investment on the advice of a few friends in the know.
 
The impeccable provenance in this case ensured a smooth disposal, regardless of the opinions of some College staff, who felt it to be "a horrible picture," one of his characteristically gruesome dislocations of the human form. That this piece of canvas, and this arrangement of oils is both the same as, yet enigmatically different from, just any old canvas and paints, was spectacularly demonstrated by contrasting the Bacon's startling price rise with the equally startling plummet of a Van Gogh whose authenticity was called into question last week.
 
Such are the astronomic gains to be made by the owners of such pictures that unscrupulous attempts to influence, second-guess, and even mislead, the market are entirely in-keeping with human nature. Such is the frequency, however, that these schemes come unstuck, merely reinforces those old truisms: only to buy art because you love it, not because you believe its investment potential; not to pay more attention to the signature than the rest of the painting; and not to make a movie about an artist who was happily married with children.
 
Cyberspace art trafficking "ring" broken by Italian police (July 6)
TURIN - Italian authorities have arrested a 60 year old painter in connection with an Internet site offering stolen art.
 
Franco Zannetti, also known as Buddha, is being detained for his involvement in an art-trafficking ring. An additional 26 people are being investigated for their part in illegal transactions of art over the Internet. 400 objects in Zannetti's possession were confiscated by police. The objects include three paintings by Pablo Picasso and 40 Etruscan bowls.
 
While Zannetti, who lives with his mother in Turin, has no previous criminal record, he was accused this past January of exporting protected goods. It is believed that he has been trafficking stolen objects since 1980. Making his work that much easier was the Internet which he began to use in 1995.
 
From his homepage reportedly called "elderly painter", he showed photos of objects to clients from the Untied States, Germany, France, and the UK.

US art dealer charged with defrauding celebrities (July 6). By Gail Appleson, Reuter Law Correspondent
NEW YORK (Reuter) - A fine art dealer was arrested on Monday on charges of defrauding celebrity clients including the founders of Steven Spielberg's production company, the lead singer of Kiss and actor Jack Nicholson.
 
Todd Volpe, 48, of Waterville Vally, New Hampshire, was charged with cheating clients, art galleries and and auction houses including Christies out of more than $2.5 million before he filed for bankruptcy in May 1995. Federal prosecutors alleged he used much of the proceeds to support an extravagant lifestyle.
 
He was charged with allegedly running 13 different schemes involving works by famous artists ranging from Salvador Dali to Andrew Wyeth. If convicted of all 38 counts of mail and wire fraud, Volpe faced a possible maximum sentence of 190 years in prison.
 
Volpe was arrested in New Hampshire on an indictment issued by a New York federal grand jury. He appeared in federal court in Concord and was released on a $100,000 personal recognisance bond. Volpe was scheduled to be arraigned in Manhattan on July 10, federal prosecutors said.
 
Prosecutors alleged Volpe, a dealer in New York and Los Angeles, fraudulently obtained millions of dollars by selling and leveraging art work belonging to his clients and using the proceeds for his own personal use. Volpe was formerly affiliated with the Jordan-Volpe Gallery in Manhattan.
 
The indictment charged Volpe's schemes involved paintings by well-known artists including Salvador Dali, William Merrit Chase, Tamara de Lempicka, Maxwell Parrish and Andrew Wyeth, as well as sculptures and Tiffany lamps and vases.
 
The victims included Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall producers and co-founders of Spielberg's production company, Amblin Entertainment; Paul Stanley, lead singer and co-founder of the rock group Kiss; Nicholson, and lyricist Carole Bayer Sager, wife of Warner Brothers Chairman Robert Daly.
 
In some of the schemes, Volpe allegedly sold art belonging to his clients and kept the proceeds for himself. In other schemes he allegedly sold paintings he knew or had reason to believe were counterfeit.
 
The indictment also alleged he obtained personal advances from various auction houses, including Christies, by using his clients' artwork as collateral. After receiving the advances, he auctioned that artwork to repay the advances.
 
In one scheme, Volpe allegedly obtained $700,000 using a painting by Dali entitled ``The Eye,'' which had been created for the Alfred Hitchcock movie ``Spellbound.''
 
The indictment alleged he agreed to buy ``The Eye'' from Francis and Barbara Weber for $540,000. in March 1994.
 
To induce the Webers to sell ``The Eye'' without any money in advance, Volpe gave them a sculpture by Thomas Hart Benton and a painting by Albert Herter as collateral, claiming that he owned the works.
 
However the two works were actually owned by other clients and Volpe did not have the authority to use them as collateral. Volpe then sold a 7/8ths interest in ``The Eye'' for $700,000 and kept the money, the indictment alleged.
 
British Art Market Fears Collapse Under EU Tax Burden (July 6). By Helen Smith, Reuter
LONDON (Reuter) - Vincent Van Gogh's watercolor "Harvest in Provence" fetched a price of £8.8-million ($14.7-million) at a London auction last week, making it the most expensive modern painting sold in Europe for seven years. A few days later at Christie's auction house, Rembrandt's "Abraham Entertaining the Angels" sold for 210,500 pounds, five times its estimated sales price. Big sales like these have underscored the fact that the London art market is booming again after languishing in the early 1990s. But dealers fear the recovery will be short-lived because the European Union is planning to impose new taxes that could send buyers and sellers rushing off to New York and Geneva.
 
"Take a British industry worth £2.5-billion pounds a year, threaten it with new Euro-taxes, pack in some propellant material to do with the Social Chapter, soak thoroughly in two conflicting views of European culture and its relation to the wider world. Light fuse and stand well back. Miles back," the Independent newspaper editorialized.
 
"Who would be stupid enough to concoct this explosive brew? Ah yes, the European Union." London has a 30 percent share of the $10-billion (annual sales) international art market, though it has been steadily losing share to New York for several years.
 
LONDON TO FOLLOW PARIS INTO DECLINE?
Dealers fear that thanks to the EU, London's fate will follow that of Paris, which was home to the world's biggest art market in the years after World War Two, but which now has only a share of about 6 percent. Paris's decline has been widely blamed on heavy taxes and too much red tape.
 
Brussels' proposed taxes would bring London into line with other European countries. That would mean raising Value Added Tax (VAT) on arts sales from 2.5 percent to 5 percent and introducing a "droit de suite," which gives an artist's family 2 to 4 percent of the sale price each time a contemporary work of art is resold. Anthony Browne, chairman of the British Art Market Federation, says the EU should recognize that London is a special case.
 
"What singles out London as being unique in Europe and makes it second only to New York is its global standing ... if there's a major auction sale in London, people will come from all over the world," Brown said. "But if vendors look at the cost and if you have levies here which you don't have in New York, they are going to go there," Browne continued.
 
So convinced are some of London's art dealers that the market is about to collapse that they are shifting their business to New York and Geneva. Earlier this year, the British capital's biggest arts dealer, Wildenstein & Co., said it was leaving its Bond Street gallery and expanding its businesses in New York and Asia. Auctioneer Phillips also is hedging its bets by opening offices in New York and Geneva, and Christie's is expanding in America.
 
FEAR OF LOSING EXPERTISE
What this means is that much of the expertise that has kept London at the forefront of the global art market will be lost overseas, dealers said.
 
"I suppose if I were a younger man, I'd be packing up and going to New York too," said Christopher Wood, author of "The Great Art Boom 1970-1997" and a dealer in old masters. Not all of London's dealers are quite so gloomy.
 
"The new taxes won't help the market, and I think they should be resisted," said Phillip Hook, director of Impressionist paintings at Sotheby's. "But I don't think we are going to see the end of the European art market."
 
Hook says the increase in VAT, which applies to works of art imported for sale, will not have too much of an impact on the market because buyers from outside the EU don't have to pay it. Most of the world's biggest buyers of art these days are Americans -- a fact that has helped New York build up its 40 percent share of the world market.
 
Browne disagreed. Art buyers would still have to provide costly bank guarantees that the tax would be paid and would suffer from even more bureaucracy, he said.
 
'DROIT DE SUITE' THE BIGGEST WORRY
The biggest worry for dealers in contemporary art is the droit de suite on paintings for up to 70 years after the artist's death. The idea of the tax, first introduced in France, was to encourage struggling artists. Dealers say it doesn't work.
 
"It's not the Matisse family and the Picasso family that need more money," Hook said.
 
The American market is unburdened by such levies. Although the New York market has an 8.25 percent sales tax, this doesn't apply to any goods delivered outside the city. New York was the biggest beneficiary of the 1980s art boom, which Hook says was triggered by speculators. Now, he says, buyers are more discriminating, and the recovery is more sustainable unless buyers are frightened away by prohibitive taxes.
 
The British government says it will resist the EU's plans, although it has made little public fuss so far.
 
"We will defend our existing arrangements," said a spokesman for the Treasury. "If Brussels is suggesting any changes we will expect them to look at the economic effects of those changes."
 
If the government fails and the taxes go ahead, "this particular golden goose isn't about to become foie gras. It's just going to flap its wings and fly away," said Howard Banks of Forbes Magazine.

University of Calgary archaeologist swims Guatemalan river to escape death (July 6)
Chiapas, Mexico - A Canadian archaeologist has survived an attack by locals in the rainforest of southern Mexico.
 
Dr. Peter Mathews an Australian who is a professor at the University of Calgary, and his team were removing a 7th century Mayan altar near El Cayo, 80 miles southeast of Palenque, in the state of Chiapas when they were attacked. Dr. Mathews, an expert on Mayan hieroglyphic writing, had his nose broken by a rifle butt. He and his team of three Mexican archaeologists and six local Cholo Indian labourers, were stripped of their clothing and beaten. It is believed that the group of locals were intent on selling the altar on the black market. The Mexican government, which had given Dr. Mathews permission to remove the altarpiece, wanted it preserved in a nearby museum.
 
The bandits, waving guns and machetes, attacked the team as they were moving the artefact to a truck. The thieves demanded all their valuables before severely beating the archaeologists. They did, however, manage to escape what was certain death by running through the jungle and swimming across the nearby Usumacinta river where they reached Guatemala. The men, naked and without footwear, spent two nights in the rainforest before being found by friendly Guatemalans. "
Greeks keep up with demand for Elgin marbles (July 6)
Luxembourg - Greek Minister of Culture Evangelos Venizelos and his British counterpart Mark Fisher once again discussed the return of the Elgin or Parthenon marbles to Greece.
 
Mr.Venizelos announced that his country is preparing to launch a campaign to win back the Acropolis sculptures which were removed from the Parthenon by Lord Elgin in the last century.
 
While the meeting was civilised, Mr. Fisher maintained that Britain will not return the marbles at this time.

 
Clouds gather on Canadian culture and trade front. by Keith Kelly, Canadian Conference of the Arts (June 30)
 
Ottawa - It is widely expected that the tensions regarding Canadian culture and trade will escalate in the coming weeks. This is unwelcome news for the cultural sector which has wearied of the lack of security and clarity on the role of the state as our primary partners in cultural development. Among the anticipated developments are:
 
* a decision on the Canadian appeal to the World Trade Organization decision striking down most of the Canadian magazine industry policy as contrary to the rules of this international trade body to which Canada subscribes. The decision is the result of an appeal by the United States contesting not only our split-run legislation but other components of our magazine policy as well. It is widely expected that Canada will lose the appeal.
 
* the United States is expected to challenge the recently passed Bill C-32, revisions to the Copyright Act, at the World Trade Organization. Their complaint is that the legislation confers benefits in the area of neighbouring rights and the blank tape royalty on the basis of reciprocity rather than national treatment. Essentially, the Americans want a share of the benefits without the capacity or desire to extend the same benefits to creators, artists and producers from other countries.
 
* PolyGram Filmed Entertainment is trying to persuade the European Union to challenge our domestic film distribution policy at the World Trade Organization on the basis that it violates our obligations under that agreement.
 
* Canada will continue to work with the Organization on Economic Cooperation and Development to negotiate the Multilateral Agreement on Investment. This agreement, if passed without extensive and substantial revisions, has the potential to seriously compromise the political and cultural sovereignty of signatory states, and if no cultural exemption is obtained will jettison most of Canada's cultural policies. If, for example, Canada signs the MAI and Premier Harris of Ontario decides to privatize TVOntario, investors from around the world would be able to bid on it. Ontario could not impose any restrictions limiting potential buyers to Canadians. Under this agreement domestic content rules would not be allowed, so that the CRTC could not impose Canadian content or ownership requirements on broadcasters; further funding from Telefilm Canada and similar bodies would have make these funds equally available to nationals from all signatory states. This same rule applies to regional economic and industrial development programmes. The CCA is most concerned with the impact of the MAI on Canadian political and cultural sovereignty and will be working with like-minded Canadian and international organizations on this issue over the coming weeks and months.
 
Those of us in the cultural sector can expect any or all of these developments to renew a lively public debate about the role of government in the cultural life of our nation and the shape and nature of our political sovereignty in a globalized economy.
 
Contact the CCA for more information: Keith Kelly, National Director (613) 238 3561; Fax (613) 238 4849 cca@mail.culturenet.ca
Summer's here, and the living is easy? London art grads on the loose. by David Whittaker (June 30)
London - Another year, another posse of art college graduates are sprung into the unfamiliar territory of the Market.
 
Glancing through the press, it may seem that with the increasing coverage of art in general, and the increasing flow of money being sucked into the sector, from private and especially public sources, that degree should be the passport to a promising career and healthy rewards. Such, however, is the result of taking the iceberg effect at face value, for that minority of high profile artists who keep the daily papers in shock and scandal are but the visible contingent, perhaps sometimes too visible, of a much larger whole, the greater part of which stays firmly and frustratingly out of sight.
 
Those lucky enough to be in the clique at the very top of that iceberg, the now infamous YBA's (Young British Artists) who've put the U.K. squarely at the vanguard of contemporary art, are seeing single works fetch many more times than the average artists earns in a whole year. It's not that the latest graduates are lacking a certain amount of entrepreneurialism, or business know-how; the number of artist-organised, ad hoc exhibitions in unusual spaces, co-operatively managed studios, and 'alternative market' events, are testimony to the determination of many who realise how competitive their chosen career
is, and are more than willing to give it a good shot. A survey for the National Artists Association illustrated clearly the relatively meagre returns on all this effort, with more than a third of those involved earning less than £5000 (approx. Can$10,000) a year, and the average hitting just under £8000. Hence the double-life of lots of would-be Koons, supplementing their artistic income with other methods, sometimes more art-related than others.
 
Advertising has always provided a home for creative types, even if the corporate culture is anathema to actual or aspirant bohemians. The music business has also been a traditional haven for those with a good eye as well as a good ear, and for every professional artist that makes an album cover, from the Beatles to the Beautiful South, there's probably a hundred album cover designers that would love to swap the graphics department for a gallery.
 
The lottery of public funding, now supported in this country by the National Lottery, is also creating new positions in arts administration, not just in galleries and museums, but also theatres, and with opera and ballet companies. The capricious nature of this new style state support, where largesse comes to the fortunate applicants in sometimes substantial, but infrequent and unguaranteed, chunks, means that the majority of these roles are short-term contracts, rather than permanent posts: so even those that try to manage, as opposed to create, can find the income from administration as ephemeral as the Muse itself.
 
Like almost all other areas of modern life, a primary effect in the arts of free market capitalism seems not to be the organic,
self-organistion of supply and demand, the 'dynamic equilibrium,' to paraphrase Mondrian, of 'perfect competition;' but a widening discrepency between two sides of what should be the same coin. Perhaps in the end this will mean, perhaps it already does mean, a redefinition, or a division, in what we regard as the role of the artist: on the one hand will be those leaders of the pack, the most successful few who make a respectable, even enviable, living from their work alone; on the other will be those double-lifers who like many combine more than one part-time job. Though instead of programming computers for two different firms in the week, they'll program half the time, and paint or sculpt the rest.
 
Van Gogh, god bless him, may have called it selling-out. Today it's called pragmatism, and even a relatively successful artist, to take a specific example, with a London dealer and prizes under his belt, still looks at TV animation work with a practical, level-headed view, if only to pay for a few months painting.
 
There's just one final point which has a bearing on this topic, and it can arguably explain, simply and directly, that discrepency
identified between the two parts of the iceberg. For all the extra business skill, and marketing savvy, possessed by an artist, and despite the triumph of those whose qualifications seem to be wholly in this field, there's stilll a place for real artistic talent that can't be replaced by any amount of smart sales strategy. That's why, in these days of burgeoning demand, supply, at least high quality supply, can't keep pace... more about which next week.
 
Market for fossils on the rise (June 23)
New York -- A growing interest in natural history has sparked activity at Phillips and Sotheby's.
 
The public's deepening concern for the environment, and its never ending fascination with outer space and dinosaurs have made collecting fossils, moon rocks and other bits of our natural past "cool". The blockbuster sequel to "Jurassic Park" hasn't hurt the market either.
 
``There's an increased public awareness of the Earth's history. The more people become aware of something, the more they want to be part of it,'' said David Herskowitz, a consultant for Phillips Fine Art Auctioneers in New York. On June 21, Phillips held its bi-annual auction of natural history objects.
 
Since 1995, fossil prices have increased depending on the specimin's rarity and how intact it is. A 5-foot-long Triceratops skull fetched $74,000. at Phillips last December. In an upcoming fall sale at Sotheby's, a 45 foot Tyrannosaurus fossil, the largest ever found, should sell for over $1-million. For those with smaller homes, however, a stingray fossil may cost $1,200., a prehistoric herring $1,000. to $4,000. and fossil sycamore leaves about $200.
 
David Hockney is the Nation's if not critics' favourite (June 23) by David Whittaker, London.
London - The lot of an artist is not always a happy one. Especially if you've been lumbered with the title of 'Nation's Most Famous Living Painter,' sometimes even the 'Nation's Favourite.' Depending on which way you look just now, you'd be forgiven for thinking that David Hockney is the best known, most successful, and popular artist of his generation. Or that he's an old man who's lost his touch, and the tiny bit of paint in the corner used to sign his name is more important than all the rest. Or both of these.
 
Recently, he's been rewarded by the Queen in her birthday honours list; invited to show with his old friend R. B. Kitaj at the Royal Academy summer exhibition, alongside the other big names in British painting, namely Freud, Kossof, Auerbach; and had a big turnout to his first show of new work in London for 20 years. These latest pictures are flower still lives and portraits, and despite, or perhaps because of, their six-figure price tags, they've been roundly condemned in the press. Some have said they're so bright you need sunglasses. Others took exception to the 'childish' handling, or 'facile' subject matter. Maybe he's even forgotten how to paint? Or maybe, just maybe, they're being judged by the wrong criteria.
 
The hostility of critics, and the defencelessness of their artist targets, has returned to the news again this month, stimulated by the latest instalment of Kitaj's revenge on those hacks he accuses of 'murdering' his late wife by way of their unjustifiably bitter attacks on his retrospective at the Tate three years ago. This may help to explain Hockney's recent drubbing, notwithstanding any purely aesthetic failings of course, and signal what younger artists might look forward to in their own maturity. After all, Hockney doesn't make it easy on himself: painters who do more than just paint have rarely been critically popular, so Hockney's designs for the theatre and opera are immediately black marks against him. Repetition is a definite sin, but so too is eclecticism, and Hockney's worked through so many styles over the years, accusations of shallowness are common. His public and commercial success are obvious bait, and emigrating to the States is variously interpreted as a dereliction of duty or a moral sell-out. No wonder he gave up reading, or at least taking much notice of, his reviews long ago.
 
Unfortunately, not all artists find an inspired late manner, a surge of momentum in their autumn years, like Rembrandt, Cezanne, Goya, or Turner. Some settle into, or can't get out of, a deep stylistic furrow, and others certainly do tail off, sometimes disastrously, though of course I wouldn't mention any names. Particularly ones beginning with 'R.' It's still too early to tell which way Hockney might go, and for now, like much of his, and other artist's lives, the ebbs of bad news are matched by flows of good.
 
A less noticed trend perhaps, in which imitation is a sincere form of flattery, is the appropriation of Hockney's art by advertisers, notably a widespread use of the photocollage technique he started in the 70's, a sort of Cubism for the age of cheap cameras, now used to promote anything from cars to computers to clothes. Another example of wilful diversity, and possibly a good way of not getting boxed into a corner.
 
So these new pictures are too vivid, too simple, without gravitas? Didn't Matisse envelop himself in colour as he grew older? Might not Hockney's sensitivity to the hues around him grow more intense as his hearing disappears? Anyway, who decides which way's forward in the anything-goes supermarket of contemporary high culture? He says he painted these canvases to "cheer himself up," and there seems to be a lot who agree if art can do that, then that's enough.
 
House vote nearly kills NEA (June 23)
Washington - U.S. House Republicans voted last week in favour of reducing the budget of the National Endowment for the Arts from $99.5-million to $10-million, almost 90 percent.
 
Republicans have been working for some time to eliminate the NEA which it views as a waste of government spending. The House is prepared to give the agency only $10-million in 1998, an amount which House leadership intended to assist in closing the 32 year old agency. However, House Republicans did not have the votes to support this idea. As a compromise, the language used to describe the grant was changed from "for orderly closure" to for "future activities of the NEA". In contrast to the House, the Senate wants to renew the entire NEA budget of $99.5-million. Senator Sidney Yates (Ill.) proposed raising the amount to the current NEA budget but was defeated in a 6 to 5 vote.
 
The future of the NEA will likely be decided this fall when a "conference committee" irons out the Senate and House differences in specific legislation. This legislation will affect the funding of all national museums and cultural agencies.
 
The House bill also recommends ending the $5.8-million a year grant to the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. It would be given $1-million to shut down. The reasons for this decision were based on a review by the National Academy of Public Administration. Rep. Ralph Regula (R-Ohio) explained:
 
"It [the review] does not indicate there is a mission statement, or has a focus on Woodrow Wilson or that other government agencies use it."
 
However, Regula did recommend that a commission take a close look at the center's activities to see if it can be saved.
 
The bill also recommends maintaining funds to all federal cultural agencies and museums. Many will see increases for repairs due to high traffic each is experiencing: $388-million to the Smithsonian Institution, a $17 million increase; $62-million to the National Gallery of Art, an increase of $1.9-million; $32-million to the Holocaust Museum, a $1-million increase; $20-million for the Kennedy Center, up $500,000; and $23-million to the Institute of Museum and Library Services, an increase of $1.4-million. The National Endowment for the Humanities would get $110-million, the same as this year.