Arts & Saleroom
Cascade and NuCoal playing with fire
The delicate work going on by Cascade Coal and NuCoal Resources to save their exploration licences after some unkind findings by the Independent Commission Against Corruption looks less like negotiations and more like longwall mining . . . the bit just before the explosives go off.
With friends like those . . .
Political obituaries have been tricky and often lethal affairs, ever since Mark Antony insisted he was there to bury Caesar, not praise him. But former UK Cabinet minister Jonathan Aitken has embraced the challenge – with alarming candour – in his colourful new biography of Margaret Thatcher.
Sitting ovation for timeless design
Everyone deserves a good chair. With more than a nod to modernism, architects John Henry, Brian Steendyk and Sam Marshall and designer Richard Peters choose their favourites.
Why the ABC’s The Chaser did Chris Kenny a huge favour
Mark Latham | When the ABC’s The Chaser boys, in their post-election coverage, portrayed the right-wing commentator Chris Kenny as a dog lover, they did him a huge favour.
Film | Dark desert and New York au-go-go
In Ivan Sen’s Mystery Road, an existentialist Aboriginal detective searches for the truth in a corrupt outback town, while avant-garde filmmaker Beth B lifts the hem on New York’s rather unusual neo-burlesque artists in Exposed.
Murder in the garden: a new literary festival
Gardens can be sinister, as Miss Marple well knew. A new crime-lit festival is taking it outdoors, mixing the flowers with the forensics – and, to top it off, inviting along a Swedish thriller writer.
Ken Phillips: The warrior for the little guy
Catholic-schooled ex-teacher Ken Phillips knows what it’s like to be on the brink of bankruptcy. Now he’s parlayed his way into a position of political influence.
Martin Scorsese - our dangerous times at the cinema
The master film director charts the history of his love affair with the movies, from age eight, and details how often audiences have come to missing the hits.
Afghanistan’s young women dying to be free
They may live in a city remarkable for its freedom and safety, but many of the young women of Mazar-e-Sharif are burdened by social oppression and take their own lives in personal protest.
Right royal return on walking stick
An Australian walking stick inscribed to the Prince of Wales in 1920 has brought a surprise £6250 ($10,500) at a Christie’s sale in London.
Mystery behind vanished Rockwell work
New York | Norman Rockwell painted Sport, a cover for The Saturday Evening Post that was published in 1939. It is instantly recognisable, one of his scenes of iconic Americana, and yet a discerning eye may see hints of some personal turbulence behind its placid facade, said the author of a forthcoming biography.
Qatar: the new art hotspot
DOHA, Qatar | The art-world equivalent of McDonald’s golden arches, Damien Hirst’s candy-coloured spots, now covering the exterior of the exhibition space Al Riwaq, glaringly mark this Persian Gulf city as a player in the increasingly branded art world. And the exhibition inside, which includes all the touch points in the career of Hirst, 48, is just one of a constellation of openings organised to attract a who’s who in the art world (or at least a who’s afraid of being left out).
Hedge fund king sells art as legal bills mount
In recent months, as his legal troubles have deepened, billionaire hedge-fund manager Steven A. Cohen has sold stocks to meet withdrawal requests from skittish investors.
Artist’s Balinese collection for auction
The biggest collection of Balinese art and artefacts to come to market in Australia, amassed by artist Donald Friend from 1967 to 1979 and consigned by his long-time companion Atillio Guarracino, will be auctioned by Deutscher and Hackett in Sydney on October 27.
Trompf and Mayo feature in Christie’s sale
A rare crop of Australian vintage travel posters is featured in Christie’s South Kensington, London, rooms on October 30.
The LinkedIn life – and how I failed to connect
The social media networking platform has investors and competitors drooling though some users feel besieged.
Maggie Thatcher - how she played the men
A biography of the extraordinary British leader reveals that although she surrounded herself with men, it was the fact she was a woman that gave her the edge.
Film | The Great Beauty; Thanks For Sharing
The Lavazza Italian Film Festival centrepiece,The Great Beauty, is a Fellini-esque portrait of a decadent society, while Thanks For Sharing is a woeful American snapshot of sex-addiction.
Modern Love: 40 years of lasting fashion
An exhibition of spectacular designer wear, opening on October 26 at the Bendigo Art Gallery, examines what makes a fashion look turn vintage.
All LinkedIn – but where to go?
There’s growing scepticism about what LinkedIn really has to offer beyond digital badgering.
The Frank truth about daddy dearest
Who’s your daddy? It’s the question on many people’s minds after Mia Farrow revealed her son with Woody Allen might actually be the progeny of her first husband, Frank Sinatra.
An economist on a heart-felt mission
AFR Lunch | A personal tragedy reshaped the life and times of the former banker, now Paris-based OECD adviser, Adrian Blundell-Wignall.
Shortlist of 73 works released for 62nd Blake Prize
The judges of this year’s $25,000 Blake PRIZE, which explores themes of religion and spirituality through art, have released their shortlist of 73 works, culled from more than 900 entries.
Art collecting investor calls for Sotheby’s shake-up
Activist investor Daniel S. Loeb said last Wednesday that he wanted to join the board of auction house Sotheby’s in New York and called for the chief executive to step down.
Mossgreen puts head above ramparts with merge, new site and tea room
Melbourne’s Mossgreen auction house is having a big year. It started in April with a capital injection from wealthy former engineer Jack Gringlas that effected a merger with stamps and collectibles firm Charles Leski and the purchase of the former Sotheby’s saleroom, the historic Armadale Picture Theatre.
The defence rests
There’s no more stirring testament to the ceaseless vigil the Australian Defence Force keeps on our borders than the moment on Friday morning that human dynamo David Johnston realised a few extra warships were in Sydney Harbour.
Berejiklian chief of staff wanted job for Jack Simos
NSW Transport Minister Gladys Berejiklian has denied any involvement in helping win a contract for her old boss Jack Simos, but emails discovered this week suggest otherwise.
Barrister’s briefing perfects Gina genre
The Prince is a keen admirer of the itinerant prose style favoured by Australia’s richest human, Hope Georgina Rinehart, and Tuesday’s offering was a cracker.
Too many wimps in Tony’s team
Miranda Devine reckons Tony Abbott’s sporting prowess is the secret of his political success. Trouble is, his Cabinet team seems to be lacking in hairy-chested footy types..
Film | Rush and The Act of Killing
Ron Howard creates a riveting study of two racetrack gladiators; while a multinational documentary revels in the stomach-churning bravado of Indonesian mass murderers.
