I love being inside of the 405 freeway in my car. Heaven is a Traffic Jam on the 405 ***** Mindy, short 40.06, 2017
I was pretty much a basket-case. ibid.
‘To be given a scholarship by him; it’s one of the most amazing gifts anyone has ever given me.’ ibid.
Why did she [mother] ask me to leave instead of him [father]? ibid.
She [mother] had a physical repulsion to me. ibid.
You may have noticed that the art market has done pretty well in recent years. Better than the stocks and share, commodities, and those complicated financial products you trade. The Banker’s Guide to Art, BBC 2017
London: the gold rush city of the art market. ibid.
Rule 1: Art is an asset class: an investment like stocks and share. ibid.
There are hedge funds investing in art and finance companies lending money taking the art you own as collateral. ibid.
Rule 2: Follow the money: buy the art liked by people more important than you. ibid.
Rule 3: Hire an Art Adviser: who’s job is to identify the art and artists that are on the up. ibid.
Rule 4: Don’t trust a dealer … a sales-pitch can be all smoke and mirrors. ibid.
Rule 5: Pay a lot for art: the art that goes up in value is produced by a small group of artists. ibid.
In their own day Turners cost as much as Titians. ibid.
Rule 6: Collect artists who repeat themselves. ibid.
Rule 7: Spread your risk … The art market is unpredictable, volatile. ibid.
Rule 8: Offshore your art. ibid.
Rule 9: Control the market. ibid.
Rule 10: Know when to sell. ibid.
In the 15th century Italy was home to a creative upsurge that redefined Western art ideals. A Fresh Guide to Florence with Fab 5 Freddy, BBC 2019
There were powerful patrons such as the Medicis and rock star artists such as Michelangelo. ibid.
Giotto brought narrative, he brought dynamism, he brought that naturalistic flavour and he was able to tell a story all in one picture. ibid.
A roof terrace, a primary school with a paddling pool, a movie screen made of concrete, a sports hall; inside corridors that stretch one hundred and fifty metres, 337 apartments for 1,600 residents under one roof. The Bauhaus Spirit, Sky Arts 2019
The twentieth century was rich in visions of utopia and better societies. The questions was, How to build a new world. And who could build it. ibid.
It was first and foremost a school: a campus home for Utopians, inventors and dreamers. ibid.
‘This kind of interdisciplinary thinking and working.’ ibid.
The Bauhaus moved far away from its Arts & Crafts room, and with this building it jumped straight into the industrial movement. ibid.
Now it was time for large apartment buildings. ibid.
Modern architecture from Europe lived on in the international style of New World cities. ibid.
‘First they had to improve buildings, then the city had to be viewed globally. The most famous congress was when a group travelled by boat from Marseilles to Athens: Walter Gropius Le Corbusier, Miles van der Rohe. Together, these modernists developed the idea of a charter which was intended to be a guide for urban planners.’ ibid. dude
100 years ago, an art school opened in Germany that would change the world forever. It was called the Bauhaus. A century later, its radical thinking still shapes our lives today. Bauhaus 100, captions, BBC 2019
The Bauhaus was the first truly revolutionary design movement. It’s a movement that only existed for fourteen years and yet it had a kind of worldwide impact. ibid. Michelle Ogundehin
The Bauhaus was the brainchild of Walter Gropius who created the school and became its first director, and is now considered one of the greatest architects and educators of the twentieth century. ibid.
Gropius now produced a manifesto, a kind of mission statement in which he outlined his vision. At the Bauhaus all the disciplines would come together to create what he considered to be the pinnacle of artistic achievement: a building. ibid.
August 1923 marked the opening of the first great Bauhaus exhibition. ibid.
‘Nazis go into the building and throw furniture out the window. There’s talk of burning the building down.’ ibid. art lady
An art dealer called Michel Cohen … if he surfaces, they will find him … He’s basically on the run his entire life … There were so many knowledgeable dealers that were trusting him for tremendous amounts of money … The $50 Million Art Swindle, opening comments, BBC 2019
Michel Cohen disappeared in 2001 having committed one of the largest thefts in art world history. ibid. caption
He opens a gallery at 1018 Madison. ibid.
Whilst Tanya showed contemporary art in the gallery, Michel sold modern masters out of the back room. ibid. caption
In the early 90s, Michel began borrowing money to finance bigger deals. ibid. caption
On January 2001, Michel fled from New York having stolen a total of $55 million. ibid.
A few weeks after Michel landed in Rio in January 2001, his wife and two children joined him. ibid.
Art and money have always gone hand in hand. The Price of Everything, critic, BBC 2020
A trading house for assets. ibid.
And that is what modern art has become: it is a luxury brand. ibid.
Nadja: Look at all those pale desperate wretches scurrying around in the moonlight.
Colin Robinson: It’s a performing arts school. What We Do in the Shadows s2e1: Resurrection, BBC 2020
This is a land known by two names: the first is Persia: ancient, mysterious, a place of adventure, of mighty temples and palaces built by powerful kings, a land of imaginable beauty. The other is Iran: isolated, proud, defiant, especially of foreign interference. Samira Ahmed, Art of Persia I, BBC 2020
Persia’s great kings built a vast empire and a rich culture that became an envy of the ancient world. ibid.
In 1979 revolution came to Iran when Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini transformed it into an Islamic republic. The country has been locked in conflict with the West ever since. ibid.
Our story starts over 3,000 years ago with some ancient plumbing. ibid.
They also made extraordinary monuments like this: Ziggurat of Chogha Zanbil … The temple was once full of beautiful objects and statues. ibid.
[Statue in cave:] Shapur I is making a statement: he is setting out his Sasanian dynasty to rule … Shapur I ruled for over 30 years; he built many cities during his reign … Under the Sasanians, Zoroastrianism became Iran’s official religion. ibid.
This: recording in stone in a gorge nearby the epic saga of Shapur’s triumphs over Rome. ibid.
Back to when the Arabs conquered Persia: a conquest that was more than a confrontation between two mighty armies … Iran isn’t Arab, and how it has proudly held on to its Persian identity and language to this day. Samira Ahmed, Art of Persia II
‘Zoroastrianism is the great forgotten world faith. And it’s a great shame because Zoroastrianism has embedded in it very basic principles of good thoughts, good words, good deeds, under the head of one supreme God – Ahura Mazda.’ ibid. Professor Lloyd Jones, Cardiff University
The spirit of the Zoroastrian religion runs right through Persia’s pre-Islamic history because of the special powers of the god Ahura Mazda bestowed on her kings. This place is called Naqsh-e Rostam: it’s home to a series of extraordinary rock carvings. ibid.
In 750 A.D. a century after the Arab invasion, a dynasty called the Abbasids rose to power. ibid.
From calligraphy to coins to ceramics, in the battle between two cultures the Persians were making an extraordinary comeback. ibid.