Lena Dunham And Her Mom Win Arts Award Together
Nov 15, 2013
Yesterday, in front of a sold-out “Women in the Arts” luncheon at the Brooklyn Museum, HBO “Girls” creator Lena Dunham and her mother, internationally-recognized artist Laurie Simmons, were both honored for their contributions “in the field of visual arts.” Simmons is highly recognized for her staged photographic works which appear in collections of the Brooklyn Museum, MoMA, and the Guggenheim Museum among others; Dunham has received seven Emmy nominations as well as an award for “Television Program of the Year” and a Writers Guild of AmericaAward for “Best New Series.”
The museum’s auditorium was packed and the conversation-on-stage between mother and daughter before lunch was slightly delayed due to “traffic, subway and bridge delays,” said museum director Arnold L. Lehman. “Everyone is coming to Brooklyn!”
Many Brooklynites attending the benefit felt proprietary about Ms. Dunham. In many cases, she went to school in brownstone Brooklyn with their children. They had watched her grow up and were proud to have her in their museum, which like Dunham, is also having its moment. Dunham, too, recalls Brooklyn in her work; in a recent New Yorker essay, she noted the abundance of bagel shops and squash players in Brooklyn Heights (and her genius is in lumping them together). Others in the audience were artists themselves like Carol Dunham (husband and father of the honorees), Mickalene Thomas, Wangechi Mutu and Piper Kerman, author of the book and Netflix hit, “Orange is the New Black”.
(For full story, see link below)
http://www.forbes.com/sites/lynndouglass/2013/11/15/lena-dunham-and-her-mom-win-arts-award-together/
Banksy's Thrift Shop Painting Sells For More Than $600,000 At Charity Auction
Nov 1, 2013
A Banksy-doctored painting sold at an online auction yesterday for $615,000.
It was dropped off at a Housing Works thrift shop near Gramercy Park in New York City on Tuesday morning. The woman who dropped it off said that the painting was of value and that someone would be contacting them shortly, according to the Housing Works organization. So much for an ordinary transaction.
The simple oil painting, titled “The Banality Of The Banality of Evil,” was stripped of its human figure, and now has a Nazi figure painted on, plus the Banksy signature. It is featured on the artist’s website which chronicles his month-long street-art spree all over New York. The original painting was purchased two months ago from the very same thrift shop.
(For full story, see link below)
http://www.forbes.com/sites/lynndouglass/2013/11/01/banksys-thrift-shop-painting-sells-for-more-than-600000-at-charity-auction/
Rare Letters By Jackie Kennedy, Sigmund Freud and Ernest Hemingway Are Up For Sale
Dec 19, 2013
Today, a rare collection of 300 important historical manuscripts go on the block both live and online, at the auction house Profiles in History in Calabasas, California. Today’s sale called “The Property Of A Distinguished American Private Collector Part III,” is the third sale of museum-worthy letters and manuscripts. The event gives the public access to a little piece of their very own history; Joseph Maddalena, president of the auction house, states in the sale catalog: “I have decided to pursue auction as the best way to bring wonderful materials on a regular basis to market…”
The first sale of 300 lots last December fetched almost $6 million and the second auction, of 250 letters, about $3 million last April. “We’re not saving the best for last,” said Marsha Malinowski, president of of Marsha Malinowski Fine Books and Manuscripts, “We tried to create a balance.”
The balancing act includes letters from Charles Darwin, William Shakespeare, Malcolm X, Catherine the Great and Jackie Kennedy Onassis, to name a few.
(For full story, see link below)
http://www.forbes.com/sites/lynndouglass/2013/12/19/rare-letters-by-jackie-kennedy-sigmund-freud-and-ernest-hemingway-are-up-for-sale/