August 25, 2004

Arts Briefing

IGHLIGHTS

BERLIN BROUHAHA A leading German art historian has accused the New York-based curators of the "MoMA in Berlin'' exhibition of cultural colonialism. The show, with more than 200 20th-century masterworks from the Museum of Modern Art, is on view through Sept. 19. Writing in the national daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the historian, Werner Spies, a former director of the National Museum of Modern Art at the Pompidou Center in Paris, said the exhibition minimized the impact of European artists on new American painting in an "outrageous way'' that "seems to be downright colonialist.'' He argued that the failure to include European artists like Matisse, Max Ernst, Dubuffet and Giacometti in the part of the exhibition that focuses on the last 50 years of 20th-century art suggests that "the Americans who chose the selections are engaging in cultural politics.'' His accusations were rebuffed by Peter Raue, the president of the Friends of National Gallery, who helped take the exhibition to Berlin. He said: "It is completely exaggerated to talk about American colonialism in this context. Every visitor can easily figure out by himself that this is an American exhibition.'' KIRSTEN GRIESHABER

BOB DYLAN; LIFE AND LYRICS Fans of Bob Dylan, can mark Oct. 12 on their calendars. That is the day when "Chronicles: Volume One,'' the first in his series of personal histories about significant periods in his life and career, is to be published by Simon & Schuster. In conjunction with "Chronicles: Volume One,'' Simon & Schuster will publish an updated edition of "Lyrics: 1962-2001,'' a compendium of lyrics to nearly every song Mr. Dylan has written.

OPERA HOUSE BLAZE Fire, apparently touched off by welders repairing the roof, has seriously damaged the opera house in Bonn just two weeks before the start of a Beethoven festival on Sept. 8, The Associated Press reported. Although the blaze injured no one, it left scorched holes in the boxy aluminum-sided building and smoke and water damage on and near the stage. The city's leading culture official, Ludwig Krapf, expressed concern that equipment under the stage might also have been damaged. The fate of the festival has not been decided.

SEND MORE BOOKS Barnes & Noble, which bills itself as the world's largest bookseller, says it has sold out its original order of "Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry". The book, written by John E. O'Neill, a fellow Vietnam War veteran who has been criticizing Mr. Kerry for 30 years, and Jerome R. Corsi, has been a focus of intense interest since Regnery, the publisher, announced its release before copies were shipped. Barnes & Noble said it had received complaints from both ends of the political spectrum. Some customers who cannot find copies contend that the company has not stocked it or is hiding it; others said it should be removed from the shelves. Barnes & Noble, which has 840 bookstores in 49 states, said it expected its stores to have more copies this week.

SHORTLIST PRIZE'S LONG LIST The Shortlist Music Prize, founded in 2001 for innovative and underground music, has announced its first step for this year's award: a "long list" of 73 names that next month will be winnowed down to 10 finalists. The artists who made this first cut are a diverse bunch, including Franz Ferdinand, Loretta Lynn, Dizzee Rascal, Devendra Banhart, TV on the Radio, the Killers, Ghostface Killah, the Wrens, Bebel Gilberto and Nellie McKay. The selection panel of 20 musicians, journalists and filmmakers included Norah Jones, Jim Jarmusch, Robert Smith of the Cure, Ahmir Thompson of the Roots, Jack Black and John Mayer. The $10,000 award will be presented at a concert in Los Angeles on Nov. 10. BEN SISARIO

LAST GASP The Broadway production of the comedy "Sly Fox,'' written by Larry Gelbart and directed by Arthur Penn, will close at the Barrymore Theater after the matinee performance on Sunday. It will have played 22 previews and 173 regular performances. A statement from the producers said that at this time of year "it is difficult to build an audience," adding, "This problem is compounded by the difficult weeks we face ahead, beginning with the Republican Convention and the traditional downturn of business in September.''

BOWING OUT Frank Conroy, 68, plans to step down as director of the celebrated Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa at the end of the year, The Associated Press reported. Mr. Conroy, who began in 1987, is only the fourth person to lead the program since it was founded in 1936. Mr. Conroy, who had surgery for colon cancer last year, told The Associated Press, "I'm doing fine, but I've been in this job for almost 20 years, and it's time for new blood.'' The program's alumni include Flannery O'Connor, John Irving, Raymond Carver and Jane Smiley, a dozen Pulitzer Prize winners and four of the last five United States poet laureates.

FOOTNOTES

S.E. Hinton, the author of the popular young-adult novels "The Outsiders'' and "Rumblefish,'' will publish her first novel in 16 years next month. The book, "Hawkes Harbor,'' her first fiction intended for adult readers, tells the story of an orphan's adventures at sea. To be published by Tor Books on Sept. 15, the novel is Ms. Hinton's first since "Taming the Star Runner.'' The former Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page cast his hands in cement on Monday in London to become the first music star to be featured in the new British Walk of Fame in Piccadilly Circus.