Oct 30, 2020 • View in browser

Good morning. 🌧 Today, a law professor looks at Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s record on the arts, the haunted dolls of Olmsted County, and Mexico Asks the Vatican for some pre-colonial manuscripts.

In other news, can our collective anxiety over next week’s election be any worse? Please vote.

– Hrag Vartanian, editor-in-chief

Sotheby’s Hides Sale Price of Giacometti Sculpture

Installation view of Alberto Giacometti’s “Grande femme I” (courtesy Sotheby’s)

Last week, Sotheby’s announced that it would sell Alberto Giacometti’s iconic “Grande femme I” through the unusual format of a “sealed bid” private sale, with a starting minimum bid of $90 million.

On Tuesday, the bidding for the sculpture came to a close, but Sotheby’s confirmed to us that it will not release any information about the bids, including the final sales price or the buyer’s identity.

In Other News

Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador has requested several manuscripts in the Vatican’s library ahead of the 500-year anniversary of the Spanish conquest of the Aztec empire

Though not as scary as the election, the History Center of Olmsted County’s Creepy Doll Contest is sure to give you a fright.

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Embodying a Queer, Pan-Africanist Approach to Spirituality

With Hybrid Spirit, Adejoke Tugbiyele proposes a visual language that explores the intimate connections between queerness, Indigenous African spirituality, and feminism.

Alexandra M. Thomas

How a City Government Works, According to Frederick Wiseman

The venerable documentarian’s latest, City Hall, is an epic look at the workings of local civics in Boston, Massachusetts.

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A Cinematic Montage of Natural Disasters Questions Humanity’s Chances of Survival

La Nature is Armenian director Artavazd Pelechian’s first film in nearly three decades.

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The Cambodian Refugee Who Founded a Donut Empire

The Donut King follows the multiple rises and falls of entrepreneur Ted Ngoy.

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How Will Amy Coney Barrett Affect the Arts?

What Is Justice Amy Coney Barrett's Record on Arts Funding?

Coney Barrett’s goal to build a “Kingdom of God” as a Supreme Court justice has threatened many livelihoods. How will her policies fare the arts?

Brian Frye

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