The dust jacket from a 1926 edition of ‘Mein Kampf.’ Image courtesy of the New York Public Library Digital Collection and Wikimedia Commons. PARIS (AFP) – French auction house Pierre Bergé & Associés said Wednesday it has withdrawn from sale a rare first edition of Hitler’s Mein Kampf following a protest from a Jewish watchdog body.
The National Bureau for Vigilance against Anti-Semitism had opposed the sale and had criticized the auctioneers for presenting Hitler’s autobiography/manifesto, “as if it was just another work or art written by a poet or a member of the French Academy.”
The copy had been predicted to fetch between 3,000 and 4,000 euros ($4,200-$5,600) as part of a scheduled May 16 sale of a library of crime-related works owned by Philippe Zoummeroff, a retired industrialist.
Zoummeroff, who is Jewish, said he had acquired his copy of Mein Kampf “to show what has existed, to document the despicable.”
Mein Kampf is not banned in France in line with a 1979 court ruling that it constitutes a historical document which is indispensable for the understanding of the contemporary period.
Another French auction house last month canceled a planned sale of some 40 objects belonging to Hitler or his henchman Hermann Goering following intervention by France’s culture minister.
Two copies of Mein Kampf, which had been signed by Hitler, were controversially auctioned in Los Angeles earlier this year and sold for nearly $65,000.
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
The dust jacket from a 1926 edition of ‘Mein Kampf.’ Image courtesy of the New York Public Library Digital Collection and Wikimedia Commons.
LONDON – Tate Britain today announced the four artists who have been shortlisted for the Turner Prize 2014. The artists are Duncan Campbell, Ciara Phillips, James Richards and Tris Vonna-Michell.
This year marks the 30th year of the Turner Prize, founded in 1984 to promote discussion of new developments in contemporary British art. The variety of media used by the four shortlisted artists this year reflects the diversity of work being made in the UK today, often exhibited globally, from film and video to performance, collaborative working and installation.
The shortlist includes work that manipulates and appropriates found film footage and online imagery, as well as work that employs analogue technology, craft and design. These contrasting approaches suggest the impact of the Internet, cinema, TV and mobile technologies on a new generation of artists.
Penelope Curtis, director of Tate Britain and chair of the jury said: “This year’s nominations illustrate the mobility of the contemporary art world, in which works are seen at global biennales and festivals over the course of the year. The four shortlisted artists share a strong international presence and an ability to adapt, restage and reinterpret their own and others’ works, very often working in a collaborative social contexts.”
The nominated artists are:
Duncan Campbell (born 1972) for his presentation It for Others in Scotland + Venice at the 55th Venice Biennale. Campbell’s engaging films often take provocative individuals as their subject, weaving together fact and fiction to create portraits that question the authority and means through which history is presented. Responding to Chris Marker and Alan Resnais’ 1953 film Statues Also Die, Campbell’s It for Others combines archive footage and new material, including a new dance work by choreographer Michael Clark.
Ciara Phillips (born 1976) for her solo exhibition at The Showroom, London. Phillips works with print in the broadest sense producing screenprints, textiles, photographs and wall paintings as site-specific installations. She often works collaboratively, transforming the gallery into a workshop and involving other artists, designers and local community groups. Phillips has taken inspiration from Corita Kent (1918-1986), a pioneering artist, educator and activist who reinterpreted the advertising slogans and imagery of 1960s consumer culture.
James Richards (born 1983) for his contribution to The Encyclopaedic Palace at the 55th Venice Biennale. In his videos and installations Richards brings together a disparate range of found and original material to create poetic meditations on the pleasure, sensuality and the voyeurism that is within the act of looking. Found VHS video and new imagery undergo varying levels of manipulation and repetition and, with an accompanying soundtrack, heighten the emotional and psychological range of the original.
Tris Vonna-Michell (born 1982) for his solo exhibition Postscript II (Berlin) at Jan Mot, Brussels. Through fast paced spoken word live performances and recordings, Vonna-Michell creates circuitous, multilayered narratives. Accompanied by installations providing a visual script in the form of slide projections, photocopies and other ephemera, Vonna-Michell’s works are characterized by fragments of information, detours and repetitions designed to confuse and enlighten in equal measure.
The Turner Prize award is £40,000 with £25,000 going to the winner and £5,000 each for the other shortlisted artists. The prize, established in 1984, is awarded to a British artist under 50 for an outstanding exhibition or other presentation of their work in the 12 months preceding April 17, 2014. It is intended to promote public discussion of new developments in contemporary British art and is widely recognized as one of the most important and prestigious awards for the visual arts in Europe.
The Turner Prize 2014 exhibition takes place at Tate Britain from Sept. 30 to Jan. 4. The winner will be announced at an awards ceremony Dec. 1.
The members of the Turner Prize 2014 jury are Stefan Kalmár, executive director and curator, Artists Space, New York; Helen Legg, director, Spike Island, Bristol; Sarah McCrory, director, Glasgow International; and Dirk Snauwaert, artistic director, Wiels, Brussels.
One of a pair of mid-19th-century ‘memento mori’ (or mourning) daguerreotypes, showing deceased children (est. $200-$400). Waverly Rare Books image FALLS CHURCH, Va. – Waverly Rare Books will auction nearly 375 lots of antique and rare maps, atlases, books, photographs and autographed items on Thursday, May 15 at the firm’s northern Virginia gallery. Waverly’ Catalog Auction #261 will start at 6 p.m. Eastern time, with Internet live bidding available through LiveAuctioneers.com.
“This auction has a very strong map category, with three top lots – one topographical map and two atlases – estimated in the low thousands,” said Monika Schiavo, director of Waverly Rare Books. “There is also a very strong bindings section containing many good-looking books that collectors may be able to snap up at attractive prices. The photography section is solid, as well.”
An expected top lot is J. C. Fremont’s Topographical Map of the Road from Missouri to Oregon (est. $4,000-$6,000). Printed in 1846, the seven pages of maps outline the Platte Valley South Pass route that traced Fremont’s 1842 journey and were used by emigrants bound for California and Oregon. They are based on Fremont’s journal and sketches from topographer Charles Preuss.
Also expected to do well are a pair of atlases by Mathew Carey of Philadelphia (1760-1839), the first major American publisher of maps and atlases. The first, titled Carey’s General Atlas (circa 1796), contains 42 maps, some of primarily American interest, along with maps of other parts of the world. The atlas is expected to bring $3,000-$5,000.
The second is Carey’s American Atlas, printed in 1809 (est. $800-$1,200). The 25 maps include the United States, British possessions in North America, the New England states, many Southern states, South America, the West Indies, the discoveries of Captain Charles Clerke (who sailed with Capt. James Cook), and that portion of the United States northwest of the River Ohio that a late act of Congress directed to be sold.
Fans of rare books will surely take note of the “Vinegar Bible” – the Holy Bible published in 1717 by John Baskett in Oxford, England, and so-named because of a misprint – the heading of Luke 20 reads “Parable of the vinegar” instead of “vineyard.” The two-volume set – one for the Old Testament and one for the New Testament – is estimated at $2,000-$3,500.
A copy of the book Poems Chosen Out of the Works of the Late Robert Herrick, printed in 1895 by Kelmscott Press (London), will be desirable to collectors mainly because it was published by William Morris, the English artist, writer, textile designer and socialist associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and English Arts & Crafts movement. It should realize $800-$1,200.
An autographed letter signed by Samuel Huntington (1731-1796), a signer of the Declaration of Independence and a member of the Continental Congress from 1776-1783 (where he served as the Congress’s president from 1779-1781), is expected to make $600-$900. Huntington was also Governor of Connecticut (1786-1796) and a Justice of the State’s Supreme Court (1774-1784).
The 10-volume set, Works of Victor Hugo, with an autographed note signed by Hugo and dated “27 mars 1874,” is expected to change hands for $300-$500. The note (or letter) is addressed to “Mr. Michael Levy” and contains two lines of text on 5¼- by 8-inch paper. The set was published in Philadelphia by John D. Morris & Company. No publication date is shown.
A first edition copy of the Dr. Seuss children’s classic The Cat in the Hat, with a first-state dust jacket, is expected to command $400-$700. The book – published by Random House in New York in 1957 – is in very good condition, save for some foxing mostly limited to the edges of the covers.
One of the more intriguing items in the auction is a scrapbook from a Rutgers University student Herman R. Terhume, who graduated in 1922. The scrapbook contains an archive of memorabilia including photos, sports programs, tickets and schedules, report cards, banquet menus, junior and senior prom programs and much more (est. $200-$400).
Antique photographs will feature a silver gelatin print signed by Edward S. Curtis and titled Signal to the Mountain God, measuring 7¾ inches by 5¾ inches and signed by Curtis, in the original “batwing” frame (est. $800-$1,000); and two memento mori (mourning) daguerreotypes (circa mid 1800s) of deceased children, in a hinged gilt frame (est. $200-$400).
Other noteworthy lots will include a 45-volume set of The British Essayists by James Ferguson, published in London in 1819 (est. $500-$800); a limited-edition (1/350) two-volume set of Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl, published in 1985 by Goldyne/Pennyroyal Press (est. $400-$700); and a copy of Poems of Shelley that features a colorful fore-edge painting of the English countryside, published in 1908 by Macmillan & Company (est. $200-$300).
The auction will take place at Waverly’s gallery at 360 South Washington Street in Falls Church, Va. For information on any item in the sale, call 703-532-5632 or e-mail info@quinnsauction.com.
View the fully illustrated catalog and sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
One of a pair of mid-19th-century ‘memento mori’ (or mourning) daguerreotypes, showing deceased children (est. $200-$400). Waverly Rare Books image
J. C. Fremont’s Topographical Map of the Road from Missouri to Oregon printed in 1846 (est. $4,000-$6,000). Waverly Rare Books image
General Atlas by Mathew Carey, printed in Philadelphia circa 1796 and featuring more than 40 maps (est. $3,000-$5,000). Waverly Rare Books image
American Atlas by Mathew Carey, printed in Philadelphia in 1809 and featuring 25 maps (est. $800-$1,200). Waverly Rare Books image
Two-volume set of the “Vinegar Bible” (1717), so-named because of a misprint in Luke 20 (est. $2,000-$3,500). Waverly Rare Books image
This 1895 collection of poems by Robert Herrick is desirable because it was published by William Morris (est. $800-$1,200). Waverly Rare Books image
Ten-volume set, Works of Victor Hugo, with an autographed note signed by Hugo and dated 1874 (est. $300-$500). Waverly Rare Books image
First edition copy of the Dr. Seuss children’s classic The Cat in the Hat (1957) with first-state dust jacket (est. $400-$700). Waverly Rare Books image
Autographed letter signed by Samuel Huntington (1731-1796), a signer of the Declaration of Independence (est. $600-$900). Waverly Rare Books image
Pair of bronze candelabras, 21 1/2 inches high. Estimate: $400-$500. Don Presley Auction image. SANTA ANA, Calif. – Don Presley Auctions will present more than 300 lots of antiques, fine art and decorative arts on Sunday, May 18, beginning at noon Pacific time. LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding.
Featured items include a 19th century bronze and tortoiseshell shelf clock, a fine handwoven Oriental rug from the 1920s-’30s, a 19th century Flemish tapestry, and a Sevres porcelain box with silver overlay.
Other categories represented in this eclectic sale are cold painted bronze figures, many 19th century Chinese items, oil paintings, antique Russian enamel, Baccarat and Lalique crystal, Galle, marble, alabaster, 19th century bronzes, ivory, sterling silver, Tiffany & Co., Meissen, KPM, Royal Vienna, Sevres, Limoges, Dresden, Judaica, pottery, china, coins, jewelry, clocks and watches, sconces, lamps and chandeliers.
For details phone 714-633-2437.
View the fully illustrated catalog and register to bid absentee or live via the Internet as the sale is taking place by logging on to www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
The mummy sarcophagus stands nearly 6 feet high. Image courtesy Capo Auction image. NEW YORK – Capo Auction Fine Art and Antiques conducted their Mid-Spring Fine Art and Antiques auction April 26. There was much anticipation leading up to the auction, largely due to one of Capo’s featured items – a rare Egyptian Ptolemaic period mummy sarcophagus, circa 332-330 B.C., that had come out of a Sutton Place luxury apartment in Manhattan.
LiveAuctioneers.com provided Internet live bidding.
The sarcophagus had an estimate of $5,000-$7,000, but from the start bidding escalated quickly with multiple phone bidders and others competing online. The rare artifact sold for $60,000, inclusive of the buyer’s premium.
The sarcophagus has a lid in the form of a standing mummiform figure, wearing a tripartite wig painted black, the face painted white with features painted blue, and a stubby Osiris beard in black. The sarcophagus is 68 1/2 inches high, 17 1/4 inches wide and 15 1/2 inches deep.
Click here to view the fully illustrated catalog for this sale, complete with prices realized.
The mummy sarcophagus stands nearly 6 feet high. Image courtesy Capo Auction image.Detail of the fourth-century B.C. Egyptian mummy sarcophagus. Image courtesy Capo Auction image.
‘The History of Reyard the Foxe,’ Kelmscott Press. PBA Galleries image. SAN FRANCISCO – PBA Galleries will offer the Library of Dr. Elmer Belt in Sale 533 to be held on Thursday, May 22. LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding.
Belt (1893-1980) was a renowned surgeon and noted bibliophile. An early member of Southern California’s bibliophile society, the Zamorano Club, and the fifth recipient of the Sir Thomas More Medal for Book Collecting, Belt was passionate book collector. The fruits of this passion can still be evidenced today in the Elmer Belt Florence Nightingale Collection and the Elmer Belt Library of Vinciana (a special collection of books and materials concerning Leonardo da Vinci and the Italian Renaissance), both donated to UCLA, and the Upton Sinclair Collection: From the Library of Dr. and Mrs. Elmer Belt, which was donated to Occidental College.
The volumes being offered by PBA Galleries have remained in the Belt family since the doctor’s death in 1980 and reflect his wide range of interests. From the first significant scientific work printed in England to the fine printing of the Kelmscott, Ashendene and Grabhorn Presses, to the works of Sir Winston Churchill and William Faulkner, Belt’s refined collecting taste is evident throughout. Also to be included are a small group of California paintings from Belt’s home.
Among the highlights of the Belt collection is the account of the voyages of the HMS Beagle, which introduced Charles Darwin to the marvelous and varied botanical and zoological life of the Pacific Ocean, Narrative of the Surveying Voyages of his Majesty’s Ships Adventure and Beagle. The three volumes plus an appendix to volume 2 is inscribed by the captain of the Beagle, Robert Fitzroy, to Dr. John Lee, the English philanthropist, astronomer, mathematician, antiquarian and barrister. This is a first edition, first issue set and includes Volume III which is Darwin’s own account of the voyage (estimate: $30,000-$50,000).
A fine illuminated manuscript of Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s The Blessed Damozel from the pen of the calligraphic master Alberto Sangorski with a magnificent miniature painting after Rossetti. The manuscript is superbly bound by master bookbinders Riviere & Son of London (estimate: $20,000-$30,000).
Reflecting Belt’s scientific interests is a fine copy of the first edition of the William Gilbert’s groundbreaking work on magnetism De magnete, magneticisque corporibus, et de magno magnete tellure… Published in London in 1600, Gilbert’s treatise represents the first major English scientific work based on experimental methods of research (estimate: $25,000-$35,000).
Belt’s love of the finely printed book is shown in books from the fine presses of the Kelmscott, Ashendene and Grabhorn Presses including a fine copy of Caxton’s translation of The History of Reynard the Foxe printed at William Morris’ Kelmscott Press (estimate: $4,000-$6,000) and a number of volumes from the Ashendene press of Charles Henry St John Hornby including Thucydide’s History of the Peloponnesian War printed in an edition of only 280 copies (estimate $3,000-$5,000).
Bringing together Belt’s love of the beautiful and finely printed book and his interest in the scientific is the 1973 Lion and Unicorn Press edition of Captain Cook’s Florilegium with 30 stunning full-page engraved plates printed from the original 18th century copper plates made from drawings taken during Cook’s first voyage. Limited to only 100 copies, this being copy number 3, subscribed from the press by Belt (estimate $15,000-$20,000).
The sale will begin at 11 a.m. Pacific Time. For more information, please contact PBA Galleries at 415-989-2665 or pba@pbagalleries.com.
View the fully illustrated catalog and register to bid absentee or live via the Internet as the sale is taking place by logging on to www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
Large 17th century wall hanging from a Buddhist Tibetan temple, 88.8 inches x 146.4 inches. Estimate: £12,000-£18,000 ($20,377-$30,565). Dreweatts & Bloomsbury Auctions image. LONDON – As London prepares for a week of Asian art auctions in May, Dreweatts & Bloomsbury Auctions plans to offer a rare 17th century transitional hanging from the Ming/Qing dynasty, which will headline the company’s spectacular sale of Chinese ceramics and Asian works of art on Saturday, May 17. Also included will be an extensive selection of Tibetan art and Asian textiles.
LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding.
At 222cm wide and 366cm high (88.6 x 146.4 inches) the exceptional, and imposing, wall hanging includes a central velvet Imperial panel, and would originally have been hung in a Buddhist Tibetan temple, having been joined with panels of luxurious Imperial Chinese silk garments and other articles, sent as diplomatic gifts from China, to form the assembled hanging.
Aristocrats at the time would donate textiles to Tibetan monasteries as acts of devotion, and it was the Buddhist monks who would have created the patchwork hanging, which includes rare examples of bed hangings and bed covers produced in the 17th century for a Western market fueled by the expansion of European trade with China. The assemblage of the hangings was done with a ritual solemnity, signifying the monks’ vow of poverty and acceptance of an ascetic life modeled after the Buddha.
Framed with a fine brocade, the outer borders are made from further dragon panels woven using the Kesi (cut silk) technique, and parts of a late Ming period costume (Chaofu) in the Imperial colour of incense, (jin huang). This unique and rare piece of Chinese-Tibetan history is estimated to sell for £12,000-£18,000 ($20,377-$30,565) (Lot 100).
A 14th-15th century gilt bronze figure of the Shakyamuni Buddha in the bhumisparsamudra, or “enlightenment,” pose is the first of two rare Tibetan figures sure to attract a great deal of interest. The Shakyamuni Buddha is the Buddha on whose teachings the Buddhist religion is founded and the bhumisparsamudra is said to be his hand gesture when he reached enlightenment. The figure is estimated at £4,000-£6,000 (Lot 117).
The second is an unusual Sino-Tibetan 18th century cast silver and repousse metalwork figure of Jambhala the Tibetan wealth deity, and an emanation of Avalokitesvara, the Bodhisattva (enlightened being) of Compassion. There are five Jambhala manifestations, each with their own way of helping to relieve poverty and promote financial stability. Crafted here in his white manifestation, he is removing the suffering of poverty and sicknesses through compassion. Originally seated atop a lion, and holding the Wealth banner in his right arm, the statue is estimated to sell for £4,000-£6,000 (Lot 118).
A series of scroll paintings on cotton or silk, known as Thangkas, are highlighted by an extremely rare Sino-Tibetan example from the 19th century, which includes the distinguished hand impressions and seal of the Lama on the reverse. The scene depicts the multi-armed and 11- headed Avalokiteśvara flanked by Manjusri, the bodhisattva associated with transcendent wisdom, and Vajrapani, one of the first bodhisattvas of Mahayana Buddhism, and protector and guide of the Buddha. They are surrounded, on either side, by musicians and above are the chief of the Four Heavenly Kings, Vajshravana, and deities Mahakala and Yama, protective guardians of the dharma. They all set within the celestial realm of the Buddha.
Unusual in format, the thangka is a brilliant adaptation of Indian, Chinese and Tibetan elements, and provides a powerful visualization of the blissful state of enlightenment achieved through the cult of the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara. It is estimated at £8,000-£12,000 (Lot 133).
An extensive selection of Asian textiles, from official garments to a rare collection of children’s shoes and hats, are an unusual addition to the sale. Clothing children in auspicious garments has historically been part of Chinese traditional costumes, with children wearing several different styles of shoes and hats from infancy through adolescence that mimicked the features of especially powerful animals. The purpose was to protect children against evil spirits, or bestow good wishes of success and moral teaching.
The charming specimens included in this section, are a wonderful visual representation of the basics of the Chinese decorative system, which involves the use of auspicious images, intended to act and become alive for the benefit of the wearer. These colorful garments, therefore, are an important resource to record popular contemporary beliefs and preoccupations, which official historical records often failed to document.
Notable among the collection are a collection of four 19th century Chinese silk embroidered shoes, shaped as fish, dragons, cats and Buddhist dogs, (Lot 86) and a collection of five festive hats for children from the late 19th and early 20th century, shaped as dragons, symbolizing potent and auspicious powers, and butterflies, symbolizing beauty, elegance and long life (Lot 91). Both lots are estimated at £200-£300.
View the fully illustrated catalog and register to bid absentee or live via the Internet as the sale is taking place by logging on to www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
Large 17th century wall hanging from a Buddhist Tibetan temple, 88.8 inches x 146.4 inches. Estimate: £12,000-£18,000 ($20,377-$30,565). Dreweatts & Bloomsbury Auctions image.Four pairs of 19th century Chinese silk embroidered shoes shaped as fish, dragons, cats and Buddhist dogs, along with a pair of bound shoes. Estimate: £200-£300. Dreweatts & Bloomsbury Auctions image.Sino-Tibetan 18th century cast silver and repousse metalwork figure of Jambhala the Tibetan wealth deity. Estimate: £4,000-£6,000. Dreweatts & Bloomsbury Auctions image.
The Kremlin, Moscow. Photo by Lulmin, retouched by Surendil. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 1.0 Generic license.
MOSCOW (AFP) – Russia’s media watchdog vowed to crack down on swearing on Tuesday after President Vladimir Putin signed a wide-reaching law banning the use of obscenities in films, theater and mass media.
Putin on Monday signed legislation that bans outright the use of swear words in films, stage performances and media, prompting a storm of criticism from leading arts figures who called the law unworkable and overly draconian.
The language law comes as part of a broader crackdown on independent media and popular bloggers, apparently aimed at muzzling political debate.
The government media watchdog on Tuesday vowed to “strengthen monitoring of the observance of norms and demands of the law banning the use of obscenities in media.”
“Work on rooting out this form of transgression will be carried out as a priority,” the watchdog said.
Mainstream Russian media rarely uses obscenities, still seen as shocking.
But commentators on online media often use swear words, raising the possibility that this could trigger a ban.
“This will be a real headache for editors because of having to clean up comments on websites,” the editor of Moi Raion freesheet, Alexei Sinelnikov, told Izvestia daily.
The law, which comes into force on July 1, introduces fines of up to 50,000 rubles ($1,410/1,000 euros) and says that films that contain swear words will be refused distribution licenses.
It has triggered outrage among the arts community.
“It is a sanctimonious law. The people who initiated it don’t talk any other way,” Mikhail Ugarov, a renowned playwright and director, told Moskovsky Komsomolets daily.
The law would force alterations to texts that are protected by copyright, Ugarov added.
“Russian life is becoming more and more hypocritical, insincere and prudish,” award-winning theatre director Kirill Serebrennikov wrote on Facebook, saying swear words had been declared “enemies of the people.”
“We will really miss them,” he said.
Russia has already introduced compulsory age certification for everything from concerts to stage plays to television shows.
“Lawmakers seem to have a secret desire to protect young people from the defiling influence of subculture trends in liberal society,” wrote a journalist in an opinion piece on RAPSI legal news website.
Russian has a richly developed system of obscenities, many originating from prison and criminal slang.
Putin himself makes a point of talking tough and using coarse language in phrases such as his famous pledge “to wipe out (militants) in the outhouse.”
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ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
The Kremlin, Moscow. Photo by Lulmin, retouched by Surendil. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 1.0 Generic license.
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Smithsonian Institution is venturing further into online education with a new deal to provide content for digital courses in history, science, culture and the arts, the museum complex announced Monday.
Smithsonian officials unveiled an agreement with the Chantilly, Virginia-based education group The Great Courses for a new series of multimedia lectures. The 10-year deal begins with 12 courses scheduled for release this fall.
The courses will be primarily targeted at college-educated lifelong learners, but The Great Courses also serves college students, homeschooled students and a growing audience through Netflix and other entertainment sites. The company has recently created similar partnerships with National Geographic and the Culinary Institute of America.
Unlike MOOCs, the Massive Open Online Courses offered by universities, these courses will be offered for a fee of about $89.95 for a standard 24-lecture series.
“We’re a different kind of learning experience,” said Edward Leon of The Great Courses. “There’s no pressure, there’s no homework, there’s no exams — unlike a MOOC where you have to show up on Tuesdays at 11:00.”
The first course, entitled “Experiencing America,” involves a tour through American history based on iconic artifacts, such as Abraham Lincoln’s hat, George Washington’s sword and Dorothy’s ruby slippers from “The Wizard of Oz.” It will be taught by Richard Kurin, the Smithsonian’s undersecretary for history, art and culture.
Other courses about the universe, the industrial revolution and Italy’s art and culture will be taught by university professors.
Smithsonian Enterprises, the for-profit arm of the museum complex, has forged dozens of similar licensing deals with Showtime Networks, database provider Cengage Learning and others to broaden its reach and generate new revenue. The Great Courses will pay the Smithsonian a percentage of its sales, though financial terms were not disclosed.
“It’s all Smithsonian content — just another way to get it out there,” said Smithsonian spokeswoman Linda St. Thomas.
The museum complex may also consider creating MOOCs in the future with university partners that would offer credit for the courses, she said.
Seward Johnson’s sculpture, Forever Marilyn, on display in Palm Springs, California. Photo by Toohool, released to public domain. Fair use of two-dimensional representation of copyrighted sculpture, under terms of United States copyright law, illustrates the artwork in question.
HAMILTON, N.J. (AP) – A larger-than-life sculpture of Marilyn Monroe is among the hundreds of works now on display in a New Jersey park.
The 26-foot-tall “Forever Marilyn” created by 84-year-old sculptor Seward Johnson went on display Sunday at the Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, a 24-acre park just outside the state capital of Trenton. The exhibit will remain open to the public through Sept. 21.
The exhibit features more than 160 works.
Besides the 17-ton stainless steel-and-aluminum sculpture that depicts Monroe in her memorable billowing skirt pose from the 1955 movie “The Seven Year Itch,” the exhibit also features a 25-foot-tall Abe Lincoln explaining the Gettysburg Address to a suburban guy in a white cable-knit sweater.
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