ART AFICIONADO

Saturday, December 24, 2022

Cosplay is an Art: Dysfunctional Christmas Caroling

Wednesday, December 21, 2022

Stipe, Merchant, and Bragg sing Prine's "Hello in There"

BoingBoing recently published an article by writer Jennifer Sandlin that celebrated R.E.M.'s debut EP Chronic Town's 40th anniversary. An additional treat was another article where she shared a live performance video featuring Michael Stipe, Natalie Merchant, and Billy Bragg singing John Prine's classic "Hello in There" in Glasgow. As explained by Natalie Merchant, the performance was "a first concert stop before heading to the former Soviet Bloc just after the collapse of the Berlin Wall."

Source:

https://boingboing.net/2022/12/18/40-watt-club-in-athens-georgia-celebrates-the-40th-anniversary-of-debut-r-e-m-ep-chronic-town.html

https://boingboing.net/2022/12/18/michael-stipe-natalie-merchant-and-billy-bragg-sing-a-john-prine-classic-in-this-live-performance-from-1990.html

Tuesday, December 20, 2022

2007: Two Paintings Stolen, But Later Recovered, from MASP

On December 20, 2007, two paintings were stolen from the São Paulo Museum of Art (MASP): The Portrait of Suzanne Bloch by Pablo Picasso and O Lavrador de Café by Candido Portinari.

The Portrait of Suzanne Bloch, is an oil painting done during Picasso's Blue Period of Wagnerian opera singer Suzanne Bloch, sister of violinist Henri Bloch.

Brazilian artist Candido Portinari's O Lavrador de Café is an oil painting depicting a black worker in a coffee plantation standing tall holding a hoe.

As reported by Reuters, thieves broke into the MASP just after 5 AM using hydraulic jack and a crowbar. The heist lasted three minutes. It was reported, at that time, the two paintings were worth about $55 million dollars. Picasso's painting alone was said to be worth $50 million.

The two paintings were recovered a few weeks later by São Paulo police.