ARTS
Rare self-portraits of Bacon bring a high price
Posted on Sun, Jul. 06, 2008
By The Associated Press
A rare set of three works by painter Francis Bacon was sold Monday by Christie's auction house in London for $34.5 million.
Bacon painted the Three Studies for a Self Portrait in Paris in 1975, beginning a series of self-portraits he painted around that time. It was bought by an unnamed buyer in 1976 and has since never been seen in public.
A sculpture called Balloon Flower Magenta by Jeff Koons sold for $25.8 million, the highest price Koons has ever received at auction. Lucian Freud's Naked Portrait With Reflection sold for $23.5 million at the same sale.
Christie's director of postwar and contemporary art, Pilar Ordobas, said the prices illustrate the continued confidence in the global art market.
BEATLES INTERVIEW
FOUND IN A GARAGE
The British Broadcasting Corp. will air a long-lost Beatles interview featuring John Lennon and Paul McCartney talking about the day they met and their songwriting partnership.
The precious film sat forgotten for 44 years in a garage in south London until film fan Richard Jeffs realized a piece of pop history was contained inside.
Experts were surprised to find the audio portion still usable for radio broadcast.
The nine-minute interview was recorded at the Scottish Television studios in April 1964 during the early days of Beatlemania. It will be broadcast for the first time on BBC Radio 4.
On the tape, Lennon tells how he was playing with a skiffle band outside Liverpool when McCartney introduced himself.
PAVAROTTI HEIRS
COME TO AGREEMENT
A lawyer for Luciano Pavarotti's widow says his family has come to a friendly agreement on how to divide up his estate.
Pavarotti had drafted two wills near the end of his yearlong battle with cancer. One divided his assets by Italian law, giving half to his second wife, Nicoletta Mantovani, and half to his four daughters. The second left the tenor's U.S. holdings to Mantovani.
Pavarotti died last September. He had three adult daughters from his 35-year marriage to AduaVeroni. He married Mantovani in 2003, and the couple had a daughter.
Mantovani's lawyer GiorgioBernini in Milan declined to provide details about her agreement with Pavarotti's three eldest daughters. He says a judge is expected to confirm the deal by the end of this month.
LEDGER'S HOMETOWN
NAMES THEATER FOR HIM
The Australian hometown of the late actor Heath Ledger named a theater in his honor Tuesday for his commitment to acting.
The $87 million, 575-seat Heath Ledger Theater in Perth is a fitting tribute because Ledger was always supportive of other young actors, Western Australia state Premier Alan Carpenter said at a naming ceremony.
Ledger died at 28 of an accidental prescription drug overdose in New York in January.
''Heath Ledger was totally dedicated to the craft of being an actor, and that's what made him successful,'' Carpenter said. ``I think what we're doing is continuing that support for young people who want to make a career in the arts and acting, stage and in film, whatever it happens to be.''
Kim Ledger, the actor's father, said family members would travel to New York later this month to attend a screening of The Dark Knight. Ledger plays the Joker in the movie, his final full film role. The actor's performance has already been lauded by critics.
The renewed attention on his son because of the film has made the family's grieving process difficult, the elder Ledger said.
''It's just been a little more public, and the films make it a little more public as well,'' he said. ``It's been a little bit hard, but we've always been extremely proud of his work and that hasn't changed.''
Ledger received a best-actor Academy Award nomination for his role in 2005's Brokeback Mountain.
The Dark Knight opens in theaters July 18.
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