BROWNSVILLE, Texas (AP) – A man set to stand trial for the 2009 slaying of the executive director of the Brownsville Museum of Fine Art has pleaded no contest and been sentenced to life in prison.
Jury selection had been scheduled to begin Monday in the capital murder trial of 21-year-old Ernesto Ivan Martinez of Brownsville when he pleaded no contest to murder.
Prosecutors say Martinez stabbed Barry Horn dozens of times while at the victim’s home. Martinez later said it was retaliation for an earlier alleged assault by Horn.
Martinez, who fled after the killing, could have faced the death penalty if convicted of capital murder. He was captured in Matamoros, Mexico.
Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Women’s fashions from the early 1900s are part of the Women’s Exhibit in the Annie Ruth House. Image courtesy of Frisco Historic Park & Museum. FRISCO, Colo. (AP) – Investigators say they suspect arson in a fire that heavily damaged the Frisco Historic Park Museum.
Lake Dillon Fire-Rescue Chief Dave Parmley says firefighters used as little water as possible on Sunday to keep from damaging artifacts at the Ruth House. The building interior and roof were damaged, but the exterior was saved, along with many of the artifacts that include clothing and a hat collection.
Town officials say a passing driver noticed flames around 7 a.m. Sunday and called for help. Firefighters extinguished the flames at the Ruth House building before it spread to any other buildings.
Police also found a broken window at the Bills Ranch House at the back of the Historic Park complex but aren’t sure if the two incidents are related. No items were missing from the building.
A $5,000 reward has been offered for information leading to the persons responsible.
Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
1931 mugshot of Al Capone (1899-1947), U.S. Dept. of Justice Convict No. 28169.
LONDON (AFP) – A revolver belonging to notorious American gangster “Al” Capone sold at a London firearms auction Wednesday for £67,250 ($109,079, 75,656 euros).
The 1929 .38 “Police Positive” gun was used by the mobster, full name Alphonse Gabriel Capone, during his reign as king of the Chicago underworld in the Prohibition era.
The Christie’s Antique Arms, Armour and Collectors Firearms sale displayed 209 lots dating from the 10th to the 20th centuries and raised a total of £634,825 ($1,024,000).
“This sale saw strong international interest from a notable number of new clients, including the successful purchaser of Al Capone’s revolver,” Howard Dixon, Head of Sale, said.
“The clear demand for quality, condition and rarity reflected the hunt for perfection in this category,” he added.
New York-born Capone gained notoriety for his involvement in the 1929 St. Valentine’s massacre which claimed the lives of seven rival mobsters and for his sharp suits and hats, which became the stereotypical image of gangsters thereafter.
Capone, who was also known by the nickname “scarface”, once mused: “You can get much farther with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone.”
Typical view from the center of Delft, with its pedestrian walkways and canal-side cafes. Photo by Jens Buurgaard Nielsen, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
DELFT, Netherlands (AP) – You don’t have to be in Delft long to see what inspired Johannes Vermeer.
Meandering up and down countless bridges that stretch over canals, and past storefronts and slender houses, the quaint Dutch life sets in.
It’s this life – with its scenes of domesticity, milkmaids, and yes, that girl with the pearl earring – that the famed Dutch master so cherished during his lifetime in the city in the 1600s. And it’s one that comes alive for anyone who visits this city of about 100,000 people even centuries after Vermeer’s time.
Granted, Delft is often overlooked as a tourist destination considering its larger, more cosmopolitan neighbors: Amsterdam is an hour by train and Den Haag (The Hague), some 25 minutes.
But quaint does have a place and a time _ and Delft exemplifies it. From the famed blue-and-white Royal Delft porcelain factory, to old Gothic churches, streets bordered by canals, and miles of bicycle paths, Delft is an ideal stop in the Netherlands. It’s also close enough for daytrips to Den Haag to visit the M.C. Escher Museum and, if you’re there in the spring, to see the famed tulips at Keukenhof.
Here are highlights:
ROYAL DELFT: Delft, the town, is synonymous with Royal Delft. An entire industry of so-called Delftware began in the 17th century (during Vermeer’s time) but just this one factory remains today. It’s open for tours and even offers would-be painters the chance to get a feel for the craft through workshops. Visitors get a thorough look at the history of the porcelain and watch it in the present-day too by seeing any of the factory’s seven painters or handful of artisans who make the pottery. There’s also a café and a shop where you can buy Delftware. Workshops must be booked in advance and start at $21 (14.5 euros), which does not include the pottery. Regular entry is $11.50 (8 euros). Skip the guided audio tour; there’s plenty of information on the walls and in pamphlets, http://www.royaldelft.nl/ .
CENTRAL DELFT: Delft’s charm is best experienced by ambling. Walk along the canals, admire the architecture, watch out for bikes and enjoy. There are several must-sees, including the towering, brick cathedral in the old city center, the Oude Kerk (Old Church) – http://www.oudekerk-delft.nl/ – which dates to at least the 1200s. Vermeer was buried here in 1675.
The Vermeer Center showcases the life and work of Vermeer, who was born in Delft in 1632. The center, which is housed at the former St. Lucas Guild – where Vermeer served as dean of the painters – has examples of his work, a recreation of his studio, and more. Entry is $10 (7 euros), http://www.vermeerdelft.nl/ . The Museum Het Prinsenhof tells the story of William of Orange, who led the Netherlands Revolt, a clash between the Protestants and Catholics in the late 1500s. Also on display there are art and other wares from the city’s 17th century Golden Age, http://www.prinsenhof-delft.nl/ . Entry is $10.70 (7.50 euros).
Search for the Nieuwe Kerk (New Church) but don’t let the name fool you. Work on this cathedral, on the market square, started in 1396, http://www.nieuwekerk-delft.nl/ . Entrance fee of $5 (3.50 euros) gets you into both the Old and New churches. On a visit here with my boyfriend, we became intimately acquainted with the bells of the Nieuwe Kerk, hearing them each morning from Hotel Emauspoort, where we were staying.
Our room at the hotel was actually one of two Dutch caravans set up inside the courtyard. The trailer-like caravans look like wheeled wooden circus wagons, though they’re equipped with heat, shower, toilet, and TV. They’re named for a famous Dutch clown character, Pipo, and his wife Mammaloe. Caravans are about $135 (95 euros) per night. Inside the hotel, a themed-Vermeer room costs $216 (150 euros), http://www.emauspoort.nl/eng/ .
DEN HAAG: The home of the United Nation’s International Criminal Court offers a larger city feel and standout museums, well worth a trip from Delft. The museum devoted to the avant-garde graphic artist M.C. Escher is well-worth the trip to Den Haag alone. Visitors to the museum, Escher in Het Paleis, see the works of Dutch-born Escher displayed in the Lange Voorhout Palace, which has been owned by the Dutch royal family for more than a century. The museum showcases Escher’s life and work, while also telling the story of the royal family. Even the light fixtures in each room are a sight. Entry is a bargain at $11.50 (8 euros) – look for a euro off coupon at tourist centers. Splurge on the $7 (5 euros) chance to play with depth and be in your own Escher-style keepsake print picture (and accompanying digital copy), http://www.escherinhetpaleis.nl/
To see one of Vermeer’s most famous works – Girl with a Pearl Earring – and art by other Dutch masters, including Rembrandt van Rijn, visit the Mauritshuis. Housed in a stately 17th century mansion, the collection is also called the Royal Picture Gallery. Entry ranges from $15-$17 (10.50-12 euros), depending on the season, http://www.mauritshuis.nl/index.aspx?siteid=54 . (Check before you go as the museum is to begin renovations in April 2012.)
KEUKENHOF: If you’re visiting in the spring, don’t miss this massive garden, open late March to late May, when Holland’s famed tulips – literally millions of them – and other botanical delights are on display.
Cheesy but fun, Keukenhof is like an amusement park for flowers. A calliope at the entrance plays hits by the Bee Gees; climb a windmill, take a boat tour through canals and tulip fields, step into giant wooden shoes, http://www.keukenhof.nl/ .
It’s reachable from Den Haag or Delft by hopping a train to nearby Leiden and then catching a bus. A $30 (21 euros) ticket from the tourist center across from the train station covers garden admission and round-trip bus ride; otherwise admission alone is $21 (14.50 euros). To see colorful tulip fields in the area, rent bikes outside the park starting at $12 (8.5 euros).
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Emily Fredrix can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/emfred.
Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
AP-WF-06-21-11 1859GMT
ADDITIONAL IMAGES OF NOTE
Typical view from the center of Delft, with its pedestrian walkways and canal-side cafes. Photo by Jens Buurgaard Nielsen, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.Among the many art attractions sought out by visitors to Delft is Johannes Vermeer’s (Dutch, 1632-1675) Girl with a Pearl Earring, painted in 1665.
The exhibition ‘Beyond Tradition’ is on display at the National Museum of the Palazzo Venezia in Rome. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. ROME (AFP) – National Art Museum of China director Fan Di’an unveiled a Chinese exhibition in Rome on Wednesday with 100 seminal works that help define the transition between ancient and modern Chinese art.
“At a time when Chinese and Western cultures came together, between the 19th and 20th centuries, these six Chinese masters emerged from tradition and conquered the discretion of the time,” Fan Di’an said at the opening ceremony.
“They accept the West but absorb it with care. Their creativity is not just a linguistic transformation but mainly a transformation of thought,” he said.
“At a time of great social transformation in China, despite the unstable and difficult conditions they did not abandon their artistic ideals,” he added.
The exhibition entitled “Beyond Tradition” shows “the protagonists of a total transformation in traditional Chinese painting in its artistic, technical, cultural and social forms,” organizers said in a statement.
The six artists – Ren Bonian, Jiang Zhaohe, Qi Baishi, Pan Tianshou, Huang Binhong and Li Keran – were “the first bridges towards contemporary Chinese art, the first to be taken up with modernity,” the statement said.
A Qi Baishi painting was sold at auction last month in Beijing for $65 million (45 million euros) – a world record for modern Chinese art.
Divided into three categories “Portraits,” “Flowers and Birds” and “Landscapes,” the paintings are arranged in the stately halls of the historic Palazzo Venezia in central Rome and the show runs until Sept. 15.
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
The exhibition ‘Beyond Tradition’ is on display at the National Museum of the Palazzo Venezia in Rome. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
George Clooney at the 2009 Venice Film Festival, photo by Nicolas Genin, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.
ROME (AFP) – Hollywood star George Clooney’s The Ides of March, a thriller about a U.S. presidential campaign, will open this year’s Venice Film Festival and will compete for the coveted Golden Lion award, organizers said Wednesday.
The film, about a Democratic governor campaigning in presidential primaries, will make its world premiere on August 31 immediately after the opening ceremony.
Clooney directs and stars in the movie, along with Ryan Gosling, Marisa Tomei, Evan Rachel Wood, Paul Giamatti, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jeffrey Wright and Max Minghella.
The Ides of March is the fourth film directed by Clooney after Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002), Good Night and Good Luck (2005) and Leatherheads (2008).
The Falls of the Ohio Museum in southern Indiana opened in 1994. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. CLARKSVILLE, Ind. (AP) – The moving of a 12-foot-tall mammoth’s skeleton has marked the start on a major redesign at a southern Indiana state park’s natural history museum.
The planned $5.5 million project at Falls of the Ohio State Park is aimed at refreshing its interpretive center for the first time since it opened in 1994.
The work will include a new entrance from the parking lot, remodeling the rotunda and reconstructing exhibits to be “more immersive and interactive,” said Danni Cummins, executive director of the Falls of the Ohio Foundation, which is raising money for the project.
Cummins told The Courier-Journal of Louisville that the foundation has raised about $3 million toward its goal and will need the rest to reconstruct all the exhibits.
The moving on Monday of the fiberglass casting of the mammoth’s skeleton, which was found in Utah, in the rotunda was done so that work can start there, giving the public a chance to see progress on the project and be encouraged to support it, Cummins said.
The interpretive center gets 30,000 to 40,000 paid visitors a year, Cummins said, a fraction of the 500,000 estimated to visit the state park annually. The exhibits are 17 years old, and museum experts say exhibits should be renewed every 10 to 15 years, Cummins said.
Jonathan Noffke, project manager for the Solid Light museum and exhibit design firm of Louisville, said the skeleton will help produce a dramatic entrance to the center’s auditorium as visitors walk beneath it.
Large graphics highlighting the major themes of the interpretive center’s exhibits – which focus on the Devonian Sea that covered the region 380 million years ago, the region’s cultural history and the Ohio River falls – will be installed on the rotunda’s walls.
Noffke said plans are for the rotunda work to be completed by Aug. 1.
Cummins said the interpretive center will remain open through the remodeling and that it is off to a good start, even though her heart was in her throat a few times as the skeleton shook during its move atop dollies.
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Information from: The Courier-Journal, http://www.courier-journal.com
Copyright 2011. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
AP-WF-06-21-11 1707GMT
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
The Falls of the Ohio Museum in southern Indiana opened in 1994. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Long thought to be a self-portrait by Vincent van Gogh, this oil on pasteboard work depicts the artist’s younger brother Theo. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
THE HAGUE (AFP) – Art researchers at Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum said Tuesday they have “discovered” a work by Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh – long thought to have been a self-portrait – was in fact a picture of his younger brother Theo.
“According to current opinion, Vincent van Gogh never painted his brother Theo, on whom he was dependent,” the Van Gogh Museum said in a statement.
But senior researcher Louis van Tilborgh now believed the 1887 painting of a man wearing a light-colored hat and a dark blue jacket was in fact Van Gogh’s brother Theo, Vincent’s junior by five years.
“The conclusion is based on a number of obvious differences between the two brothers,” said the museum, pointing out dissimilar features including the neatness of the subject’s beard and his round-shaped ear, “something Vincent did not have.” “The form and color of Theo’s beard, more ochre than red, is also an indication” as well as the man’s “eye-color and the style in which he was dressed supports the new insight,” the museum said.
“The portrait matches pictures of Theo,” Van Tilborgh told the Dutch news agency ANP.
Theo van Gogh died six months after his older brother shot himself in a wheat field at the age of 37 in Auvers, France, in July 1890.
The new investigation’s results are published in a 600-page catalog, put together by Van Tilborgh and three other researchers at the museum, which houses the largest collection of Van Gogh’s paintings and letters.
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
Long thought to be a self-portrait by Vincent van Gogh, this oil on pasteboard work depicts the artist’s younger brother Theo. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
