Essential Arts & Culture: Norton Simon keeps its Cranachs, Doug Aitken lands at MOCA, the power of ‘Carré’
A complicated restitution case. A composition that mind-melds four orchestras. And an L.A. artist gets ready to transform a downtown museum. I’m Carolina A. Miranda, staff writer for the Los Angeles Times (and the blogger behind Culture High & Low), and here are the week’s top arts and culture stories:
Paintings held by Nazis to remain in Pasadena
For almost a decade, a pair of beguiling paintings of Adam and Eve by German Renaissance master Lucas Cranach the Elder have been at the heart of a restitution battle between Pasadena’s Norton Simon Museum and the descendants of Dutch art dealer Jacques Goudstikker, whose firm was forced to sell them to the Nazis during World War II. Now, a U.S. judge has ruled that they belong to the Norton Simon. Goudstikker’s heirs will appeal.
This week, I wrote about the incredible journey these paintings have made, one that raises difficult questions about the murkiness of ownership during revolution and war — and if it should matter whether the person trying to reclaim Nazi-looted art is the daughter of a Nazi. Los Angeles Times
In related news: The 99% Invisible podcast has a pretty terrific story about the photographs of Lucia Moholy, who documented the architecture of the Bauhaus. Moholy lost her negatives when she was forced to flee Germany during World War II. They were rescued by architect Walter Gropius — but that’s just the beginning of the tale. 99% Invisible
An L.A. artist gets his first museum survey
An exclusive clip of Doug Aitken’s “migration (empire)” as it will appear in MOCA’s the Geffen.
Doug Aitken will be taking over the Museum of Contemporary Art’s Little Tokyo space starting Sept. 10 for his first career survey, “Electric Earth.” For the show, Aitken will be installing seven large-scale video pieces and a new sound piece, transforming the space in the process. “How can we see it as a kind of living, breathing space where the viewer feels empowered,” Aitken tells The Times’ Deborah Vankin. “Where it’s always evolving, always moving forward.” Los Angeles Times
Job cuts at San Diego’s contemporary museum
In advance of a major fall renovation at its La Jolla exhibition space, the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego is cutting eight full-time positions and 20 part-time spots. Voice of San Diego
Karlheinz Stockhausen’s 1960 composition “Carré” was a radical work for a radical era. Written for four orchestras and choruses that surround an audience, it’s as concerned with music’s structure and pitch as it is with the ways in which sound travels through time and space. Stagings of it are practically impossible undertakings, but a recent performance in Bochum, Germany, revealed its power. “The ensembles never seem to react to one another,” writes Times classical music critic Mark Swed. Yet, “somehow, everyone swims in the same sonic ocean, and that is transporting.” Los Angeles Times
While in Europe, Swed also ducked into Salzburg to check out the Gustavo Dudamel-Cecilia Bartoli production of “West Side Story” reimagined as an opera. The verdict? It is, Swed writes, “an outright theatrical turkey, indiscriminately gobbling up opera and Broadway.” Los Angeles Times
Falling in love (again!) with the Bard
Of Shakespeare’s plays, “Love’s Labor’s Lost” is one of the trickier ones to pull off, writes Times theater critic Charles McNulty, with its arcane language and satire intended for devotees of Renaissance literature. But a staging of this lesser-known play at the Old Globe theater in San Diego is bringing “fresh life” to the material. Los Angeles Times
Q&A: Hal Linden returns to the stage
Hal Linden has starred on Broadway, played clarinet in big bands and been the personable Emmy-nominated lead on the TV series “Barney Miller.” Now, he’s prepping for a role in the musical “The Fantasticks,” which begins previews at the Pasadena Playhouse on Sept. 6. “It’s a simple little story about truth, about life and love,” he tells writer Susan King. Los Angeles Times
Art of the disabled on its own terms
A group show at the Good Luck Gallery in L.A.’s Chinatown showcases an array of intriguing works from the Disparate Minds initiative, bringing work by developmentally disabled adults into the broader dialogue about art. Reviewer Leah Ollman is a fan: “One of those great, double-strength shows whose work is as fresh and memorable as the larger, lingering ideas and questions it provokes.” Los Angeles Times
Plus: How Helen Rae, a 77-year-old Claremont artist, who was born deaf and is non-verbal, communicates through her drawings — which are inspired by the pages of fashion magazines. Vogue
In other news…
— The 13th century Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi is declared safe after central Italy is struck by a devastating magnitude 6.2 earthquake. The Art Newspaper
— In a time of uncertainty, Mexican artists are returning to their roots. New York Times
— Not a horror movie: Important world monuments, including the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C., are being afflicted by a mysterious black slime. Artnet
— The bizarre trial of painter Peter Doig, who was sued over a painting he didn’t paint, is now over — and he has emerged victorious. Dushko Petrovich reports. Artnet
— I visited the very tony, very dude-ish Glenstone art collection in Potomac, Md., and took lots of pictures. Los Angeles Times
— L.A. artist Jaque Fragua is doing street installations that remind the city of its native past. Fast Company
— The Herb Alpert Foundation has given a transformative donation of $10.1 million to Los Angeles City College so music majors can study tuition-free. Los Angeles Times
— Playing Beethoven in nightclubs. New York Times
— Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble brought its global panoply of musical styles to the Hollywood Bowl in a concert that included a tribute to Prince. Los Angeles Times
— And since we’re on the subject of the Bowl, Ken-David Masur made his conducting debut there this week. Reviewer Rick Schultz was impressed. Los Angeles Times
— Steppenwolf, Chicago’s brash and uncompromising theater company, is turning 40. Vanity Fair
— “Please Don’t Ask About Becket,” a new “emotionally astute drama” by Wendy Graf at the Sacred Fools Theater Black Box in Hollywood, takes on angsty adolescence. Los Angeles Times
— A dance critic considers synchronized swimming: “In ballet, pain comes from impact with the floor; in synchro, pain comes from thrusting up against the water.” New York Times
— A superb show devoted to the work of California Light and Space artist Robert Irwin in Washington, D.C., sheds light on his early work. ARTnews
— A San Francisco exhibition has taken Kurt Russell as a point of inspiration. Because, hello, Kurt Russell. io9
And last but not least…
A piece of fiction inspired by Silicon Valley. Because I love the smell of disruption in the morning. n+1
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