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An orchestra offers a novel view of music history
NEW YORK, NY.- Pity the 19th-century American composer, toiling away in the shadow of Beethoven in search of a homegrown sound, only to be overshadowed by yet another European: Antonin Dvorak, whose New World Symphony is played far more often than anything from the New World that preceded it. Visiting the United States in the 1890s, Dvorak prophesied a future of American classical music founded on Black and Indigenous melodies. To an extent, that came true in the 20th century, but orchestras tended to overlook composers of color in favor of white, male ones some of whom would come to be seen as national heroes, while their lesser-known compatriots would rely (and continue to rely) on passionate champions. And Europeans still haunted concert programming a product, historian Joseph Horowitz has asserted, of a cultural shift ... More

Japan's hit 'One Piece' anime marks 1,000th episode
PARIS.- Two decades after "One Piece" introduced the world to a swashbuckling pirate in a straw hat, fans of the Japanese cartoon series are giddily awaiting this weekend's release of the 1,000th episode. "One Piece" first appeared in manga (comic book) form in Japan in 1997, with an anime (animated TV series) version following two years later. Since then the franchise has become a global cultural phenomenon, smashing records and winning fans around the globe. Nonetheless, it wasn't an immediate hit. "It's a miracle," Ryuji Kochi of Toei Animation, the Japanese company behind the anime series, said of the 1,000-episode landmark. "From the beginning, it was a tough title. It was not easy to place on the TV," he told AFP, adding that growing a fanbase for the show was not easy either. Kochi said it had taken 13 long years for the anime, ... More

Minerals collection of southern gentleman brings global shimmer to Heritage Auctions
DALLAS, TX.- There is something to be said for being in the right place at the right time even in the auction world. Nowhere is that more evident than in Heritage Auctions Dec. 8 Nature & Science auction. The event is stocked with incredibly stunning items see the 52 dazzling lots of Gold that will shimmer throughout and also boasts the Collection of a Southern Gentleman, a trove of 224 lots of minerals offered at no reserve. This is an extraordinary opportunity for collectors of all levels, Heritage Auctions Nature & Science Director Craig Kissick said. The minerals in this Collection of a Southern Gentleman are offered without reserve, so there are selections to collectors of all levels, but make no mistake: there are some extraordinary examples in this collection. Many are high-value, museum-worthy minerals. The collection includes beautiful specimens ... More

New exhibitions open at the Asheville Art Museum
ASHEVILLE, NC.- The Asheville Art Museum announced two new companion exhibitions highlighting artworks from the Collection. Gestures: Mid-Century Abstraction from the Collection explores works in a variety of media that speak to the vibrant abstract experiments in American art making during the middle of the 20th century. Modernist Design at Black Mountain College features the Museum's collection of groundbreaking designs from Black Mountain College (BMC)including architecture, furniture, ceramics, textiles, and moreand situates them in the context for BMC's influences and surroundings. Artists featured in the two exhibitions include Anni Albers, Josef Albers, Ruth Asawa, Jorge Fick, Buckminster Fuller, Mary Molly Gregory, Karen Karnes, A. Lawrence Kocher, Albert Lanier, Jo Sandman, Mim Sihvonen, Robert Turner, Gerald ... More

Dallas Museum of Art names Brad Pritchett Chief Marketing and Communications Officer
DALLAS, TX.- The Dallas Museum of Art today announced the appointment of Brad Pritchett as Chief Marketing and Communications Officer. A high-energy, results-oriented professional, he has 20 years of marketing and communications experience, the last 15 of which he has spent in leadership roles at prominent nonprofit organizations. Pritchett will officially join the DMA on January 3, 2022, but he will begin work this month as a part-time independent contractor. An exceptional strategist with a proven ability to develop and execute multifaceted campaigns, Pritchett has an award-winning record of defining and directing integrated internal and external marketing and communications. A top communicator, he is an acknowledged expert in the development and implementation of compelling initiatives for sustainable growth. ... More

A hot rod before its time: Ford's Model A, with a boost
NEW YORK, NY.- Dominic Palazzolo occasionally shows up at car shows and cruise-ins, but hes far from a typical enthusiast. The hopped-up 1930 Ford Model A he drives is a gow job, a hot rod from before the term hot rod was coined: a car built almost exclusively with 1930s mechanical components, yet capable of besting a lot of modern automobiles at a stoplight. Gow was once a term for opium, which was used to improve the performance of racehorses in the early 20th century. Thus, in 1930 long before hot rodding went mainstream after World War II a hopped-up car was a gow job. Roughly 20 years later, automotive enthusiasts would coin the word hot rod. But the seeds of Americas high-performance hobby were planted on the dry lake beds of California in the late 1920s. What made our grandfathers want to soup up their cars? History ... More

Bidders strike gold in Heritage Auctions' $1.2 million Fine Silver sale
DALLAS, TX.- Heritage Auctions continued its sterling record of exceptional silver sales on Tuesday when its Nov. 16 Fine Silver & Objects of Vertu SignatureÂ® Auction soared to nearly $1.2 million. Leading the sale was a 12-piece Gorham Mfg. Japonesque fruit knife set that fetched a world-record $45,000. The circa 1880 silver and mixed metal set came from the collection of Dr. Charles Venable, a former museum curator who amassed an enviable assemblage of American-made silver from the late 19th and early 20th century. Several American museums have sets of these knives, and I have always loved them, Venable says, especially the fact that the handles were patterned on imported Japanese examples. Another big seller from Venables venerable collection included a large William Gale & Son tray that sold for $20,000 and was purchased ... More

Jazz at Lincoln Center reopens, with four young players in the spotlight
NEW YORK, NY.- The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra was amused as four trumpet players, all but one under the age of 30, took their position in the rehearsal room late Tuesday morning. Its the Young Lions! called out baritone saxophone player Paul Nedzela, referring to the coterie of sharp-dressed, tradition-minded bop up-and-comers who rose during the Reagan and Clinton administrations while edging jazz toward a concert art with a classical music-style repertoire. That got a laugh. We tried that in the 90s, said bassist Carlos Henriquez. Another laugh. Soon, Wynton Marsalis, once the pride of those young lions, called the band to order from his perch in the trumpet section and the orchestra lit into Windjammers, a Marsalis cooker arranged to showcase the quartet of guest trumpeters, some of them students. The four swapped bars, breaks ... More

Betty Cuningham Gallery opens an exhibition of Philip Pearlstein's recent watercolors
NEW YORK, NY.- Betty Cuningham Gallery opened I Love Mud, an exhibition of Philip Pearlsteins recent watercolors. Philip Pearlstein, whose name is synonymous with figure painting, was forced to turn to other subjects for his art when the pandemic forced him into lockdown. Surrounded by his vast collection of art, antiquities, Americana, souvenirs and toys, all housed in his home studio, Pearlstein looked to these objects with new respect and interest. Pearlsteins regular conversations with his friend, Patterson Sims, were highlights of his months of isolation. Philip would share images of his watercolors from start to finish and the two would discuss each work at length. In the fully illustrated catalogue which accompanies the exhibition, Sims gives an overview of his thoughts on Pearlstein as he enters a new chapter of his career: Undaunted ... More

Cryptocurrency group loses bid for copy of U.S. Constitution
NEW YORK, NY.- A group of cryptocurrency fans lost a much-anticipated bid for a rare first printing of the U.S. Constitution at a Sothebys auction Thursday. The group, ConstitutionDAO, conducted a frenzied, weeklong online crowdfunding campaign to place a bid on the artifact, one of only 13 copies known to exist. It had raised more than $40 million in less than a week for the bid. The final sale price was $43.2 million, according to a Sothebys spokesman. The winners identity was not immediately known. Minutes after the gavel, ConstitutionDAO confirmed the loss on Twitter. While this wasnt the outcome we hoped for, we still made history tonight with ConstitutionDAO, it said, adding that contributors would have their donations refunded, minus fees. ConstitutionDAO is whats known as a decentralized autonomous organization, a new type of group ... More

Franco-Cameroon artist Fred Ebami explores African icons in pop-art
LAGOS.- Inspired by Andy Warhol's pop-art movement, Franco-Cameroonianartist Fred Ebami is exploring African and African-American icons with colourful, digitally drawn portraits. Whether it is singer Nina Simone, boxing legend Muhammad Ali, Nigerian afrobeats star Fela Kuti or Nobel winner Wole Soyinka, his works cut across the worlds of music, sports and literature. Even his hommage to Warhol's famed 1962 "Campbell's Soup Cans" painting brings the taste closer to home with his own "Pepper Soup", a spicy dish popular in Nigeria and Cameroon. "African versions though... a bit more spicy!" he says jokingly, in an interview with AFP. For the first time, the 45-year-old artist is showcasing his work in Lagos, the commercial and cultural capital of Africa's most populous nation. Ebami was influenced by the biggest names in pop art, a movement ... More