OPRAH SELLS HER KLIMT FOR $150 MILLION

February 12, 2017

Yes, it takes money to make money. Multi-billionaire, Oprah Winfrey just made a nice little profit her selling her Gustav Klimt. Her 1912 Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II sold for $150 million last summer.

Oprah, who is a noted art collector, originally purchased the painting, one of two portraits the Klimt did of Adele Bloch-Bauer, 10 years ago at Christie’s for $87.9 million. It was sold by the subject’s heirs, after they won a protracted legal battle with the Austrian state museum over five Klimt canvases seized by the Nazis from Bloch-Bauer’s husband during World War II.

The Nazi-looted works were the subject 2015’s Woman in Gold, starring Helen Mirren as Bloch-Bauer’s niece, and Ryan Reynolds as her lawyer.

In the ten years Winfrey owned the work, its value increased over 70%. It was purchased by an anonymous Chinese collector.

Another major Klimt painting, “Water Serpents II”, sold by Russian billionaire collector Dmitry Rybolovlev in November 2015 for $170 million.

(via Artnet)

"THE MASTER OF COUTURE", BALENCIAGA, IS FASHION'S NEXT BLOCKBUSTER

February 11, 2017

London’s Victoria & Albert Museum will surely have another blockbuster this summer. Balenciaga: Shaping Fashion opens at the end of May, and gathers over 100 garments and 20 hats by Spanish designer, Cristóbal Balenciaga. Christian Dior once said of him,

“Haute Couture is like an orchestra whose conductor is Balenciaga. We other couturiers are the musicians and we follow the direction he gives.”

In the 50s, when most designers were following the New Look, Balenciaga broke through boundaries, and experimenting with new shapes in ways. His influence is still be seen on runway today. Exhibition curator Cassie Davies-Strodder, says,

“Cristóbal Balenciaga was one of the most influential fashion designers of the 20th century. Revered by his contemporaries, including Coco Chanel and Hubert de Givenchy, his exquisite craftsmanship, pioneering use of fabric and innovative cutting set the tone for the modernity of the late 20th century fashion.
His lasting impact on fashion will be explored through the work of those who trained with him and through recent garments by designers including Molly Goddard, Demna Gvasalia, and J.W. Anderson, who reflect the legacy of his vision today.”

The show includes the V&A’s own collection, as well as a collaboration with x-ray artist Nick Veasey that reveals the hidden genius of the designer.

Balenciaga: Shaping Fashion opens at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, on May 27, 2017 and runs through February 18, 2018.

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(via Artnet)

IF THIS YEAR'S OSCAR-NOMINATED FILMS HAD REALLY HONEST POSTERS...

February 08, 2017

If Hollywood was really honest about posters to celebrate their 2017 Oscar-nominated films, this is what you might get…

“The more talented Affleck”
“An Intro to Racism”

and you know that one with the kid from Slumdog…

(T/Y Stephen, via College Humor)

THESE ICONIC PHOTOGRAPHS OF DAVID BOWIE COULD BE YOURS...

February 05, 2017

Auction site Paddle8 is having an auction of rare David Bowie photographs by the likes of Terry Pastor, Tom Kelly, Brian Duffy, Lynn Goldsmith, Ron Galella, Geoff MacCormack and Mick Rock who captured some of the most indelible images of the late icon. Rock says,

“You’ve got to remember how young we all were. Only Ian Hunter in Mott the Hoople had actually had a real job.”

Bowie hired Rock as his official photographer and videographer during his Ziggy Stardust tour in ’72-73 and granted him unprecedented access. Bowie once said of their collaboration,

“Mick sees me the way I see myself.”

Some of those photographs as well as others are in Paddle8’s buy now sale.

MICK ROCK

MICK ROCK & RUSSELL YOUNG

TERRY PASTOR

RON GALELLA

TOM KELLY

GEOFF MACCORMACK

LYNN GOLDSMITH

David Bowie as Andy Warhol in '95's "Basquiat.

ONE OF TRUMP'S HARSHEST CRITICS? WOULD YOU BELIEVE DR. SEUSS?

February 04, 2017

Dr. Seuss, the German-American cartoonist and author, born Theodor Seuss Geisel, is well-known for his children’s books but not so much his political cartoons. For two years, starting in 1941, Geisel worked as a political cartoonist for the liberal New York newspaper PM, creating more than 400 cartoons on the subject of Nazis, Hitler‘s rise and World War II. These cartoons have been reemerging amid protests against Trump’s executive order barring immigrants and refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries.

The cartoons show the apparent naiveté about the dangers posed by Nazi Germany over 70 years ago, as well as a callousness regarding the lives of children who aren’t American citizens.

“America First” is nothing new. Geisel’s war cartoons highlight and lampoon isolationism, anti-Semitism, and racism. They skewer Hitler, Mussolini, and a variety of American nationalists, including Charles Lindbergh. And they feature Geisel’s fierce anti-authoritarianism and humanism that run through Dr. Seuss’s books.

By May 1941, Geisel was publishing as many as seven cartoons a week in PM. One called, “The Isolationist,” features a limerick, with a drawing of a whale suspending himself “safely” on top of a mountain, out of water, and thus out of danger. It reads,

“Said a whale,
‘There is so much commotion
Such fights among fish in the ocean
I’m saving my scalp
Living high on an Alp
(Dear Lindy! He gave me the notion!)”

As the cliché goes, history repeats itself, but somehow as obvious as things are in retrospect, we are doomed to repeat them it seems.

(via The Atlantic)

#RIP: JOHN HURT

January 29, 2017

Actor John Hurt, who garnered Oscar nominations for his roles in Midnight Express and The Elephant Man, died on Friday.

Hurt was known for playing tortured characters, and died on-screen in Alien, when a creature exploded from his chest. CNN ranked it among the top 10 movie deaths of all time.

Working more than six decades in television, movies and voice work in England and the U.S., he most recently played a priest who counsels Jackie Kennedy in Jackie.

“I’m very much of the opinion that to work is better than not to work. There are others who’d say, ‘No, wait around for the right thing’ – and they will finish up a purer animal than me. … Of course, I don’t do everything by any means: I do turn lots of stuff down, because it’s absolute crap. But I usually find something interesting enough to do.“

I first became aware of Hurt when the rest of the world did. His big break was playing someone I knew quite well, much later. He nailed being Quentin Crisp in the mid-1970s The Naked Civil Servant, which was adapted from Crisp’s autobiography. (Hurt and Quentin remained friends until Quentin’s death.) He played him again in the film, An Englishman in New York and he became the elderly Quentin SO completely, that after 2 minutes, I felt like I was actually visiting with my old friend. Watch below.

Some of his other top television shows were roles in I, Claudius, Watership Down & Doctor Who.

He was awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2004 Queen’s Birthday Honours List for his services to Drama.

“I’ve just been whipped along by the waves I’m sitting in. I don’t make plans at all. Plans are what make God laugh. You can make plans, you can make so many plans, but they never go right, do they?“

John Hurt was 77.

#REALESTATEPORN: THE MOST EXPENSIVE HOUSE IN THE COUNTRY IS HOW MUCH?!

January 22, 2017

So, with a new billionaire Commander-in-Chief that’s ALL about showing his wealth, here’s the ultimate Hollywood party pad that’s so decked-out and flashy that almost no one can afford it. This may both excite and disgust you with its ostentation…

It is 38,000 feet with another 17,000 square feet of terraces and there are 12 bedrooms (including two master suites) and 21 bath rooms. This estate seems more like a resort than a single family home and comes with more amenities than most five-star hotels.

It comes with 6 bars, a bowling alley and a wall of gold pins. What’s with the ropes? Is there a VIP area? In L.A., of course there is. The requisite home theater has 40 reclining seats with Hermès pillows and blankets. If you happen to have an Oscar party or want to watch the Superbowl while outside, there’s an an outdoor screen next to the pool.

And life at 924 Bel Air Road also means you can scale back your visits to look at L.A. art. There are an 100 works and installations, including an oversize Leica.

What’s in that glass-walled garage? 12 rare cars worth a total of $30 million come with the house. The pool of billionaires to market this house to? According to the developer, around 3,000 people worldwide. Price: $250 million

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ROBERT TRACHTENBERG'S "RED-BLOODED AMERICAN MALE" CELEBRATES MEN & BUSTS STEREOTYPES

January 08, 2017

Do you know the name, Robert Trachtenberg? Maybe not but I know you’ve seen his photographs in Entertainment Weekly, Rolling Stone, Esquire, the New York Times Magazine, People, and Vanity Fair. He’s shot the comic duo Key & Peele, sex symbols Scott Eastwood & Kelan Lutz & sexpot Tracy Morgan, and Will Arnett in fishnets for the cover. From leading men to comedians, ballet dancers to quarterbacks, war veterans to Broadway veterans, Red-Blooded American Male features more than 100 images that bust the ideal of the typical American male from from trans fitness model Aiden Dowling to Judd Apatow pregnant in a negligee.

And as Mel Brooks says,

“Trachtenberg’s taste in subject matter is impeccable. If I’m in it —you know it’s good.”

You can follow Robert on Instagram and get your copy of Red-Blooded American Male here.

“This was for Rolling Stone’s Hot issue. It seemed absurd to do anything where we tried to make Paul Rudd look deliberately ‘hot.’ His ‘hotness’ comes effortlessly. He agreed we should mock the whole notion of ‘hot.’ He agree to get in the bed. He agree the boxers were getting in the way and dropped them. Months later, he sent me a nice note saying friends had seen the photo on the walls of gay bars across America and he couldn’t be more proud.”

15 ROCK-SOLID NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS YOU CAN TOTALLY STICK TO...

January 01, 2017

OMG, who the fuck am I kidding? You aren’t even going to make it to the end of this list…

(via Sad and Useless)

ANNUAL LIST OF VARIOUS THINGS WE GOT STUCK IN OUR PENISES, VAGINAS & BUTTS

December 30, 2016

Deadspin’s Holiday tradition returns. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s database of emergency room visits is out and as per usual here are the most awkwardly shaped, and least pleasant objects that America has shoved into its various orifices, working south from the top…

Ear

• DEFLATED BALLOON

• BEETLE

• “PLACED TOILET PAPER IN EAR SO WOULDNT HAVE TO HEAR NEIGHBORS”

• CHESS PIECE

• PLASTIC DRINKING STRAW

• PAPER NAPKINS

• HAIRPIN

• HAIR BAND

• GASOLINE

• “CRAYON STUCK IN EAR FOR 2 WEEKS”

• END OF SHOELACE

• FAKE DIAMOND

• PAPER & AN ERASER

• BALL FROM EYEBROW RING

• DOG’S PAW

Nose

• PEBBLE FROM THE FISH TANK

• “STUCK A RAISIN UP HIS RIGHT NOSTRIL, BROTHER TRIED TO REMOVE WITH TWEEZERS BUT PATIENT MOVED”

• STOVE PELLET

• “WAS LAYING ON HIS BACK AT SCHOOL WHEN AN ERASER FELL INTO HIS NOSTRIL”

• PLASTIC SNAKE

• MAGNETS UP EACH NOSTRIL

• PLASTIC HEARTS IN EACH NOSTRIL

• BABY WIPE

• MINI HOCKEY STICKS

• EGG DYE TABLET

Throat

• RULER

• BRANCH

• STALE CAKE

• “ACCIDENTALLY SWALLOWED A PILL BOTTLE WHEN TAKING HIS MEDICATION”

• ASTHMA INHALER

• “WAS OPENING A BOTTLE OF SODA W/ HIS TEETH & BOTTLE CAP FLEW DOWN HIS THROAT”

• HOOP EARRING

• PLASTIC HONEY FILLED STRAW

• “PLAYING WITH A BLOW DART GUN, BLEW THE PIN OUT, IT HIT THE WALLFLEW BACK INTO PATIENTS THROAT AND HE SWALLOWED IT”

• CANADIAN QUARTER

• “INHALED A WASP WHILE JOGGING NOW THROAT SWELLING”

• PAINT-STIRRING STICK & PAINT

• “HELD DOWN IN ART CLASS, CLASSMATE SHOVED SEQUINS DOWN THROAT”

• DOG SHAMPOO

• GLOW STICKS

• “EATING CLUB SANDWICH AND PART OF TOOTHPICK BROKE OFF, HE SWALLOWED IT, SCRATCH IN THROAT, ABLE TO FINISH SANDWICH”

Penis

• “CARVED DOWN PIECE OF DOMINO INCISED PENIS INSERTED DOMINO PIECE INTO PENIS NOW WANTS IT REMOVED”

• SANDAL BUCKLE

• BB

• DOLL SHOE

• “HAD PEBBLE STUCK IN PENIS WHILE SWIMMING IN A LAKE 3 WEEKS AGO”

• PEN CAP

• PEN

• 3 INCH STRAIGHT PIN

• “MARBLE IN PENIS, CUT PENIS TRYING TO GET IT OUT”

Vagina

• 3 PAPER TOWELS

• 3 GOLF-BALL SIZE BOUNCY BALLS

• 6 SCREWS

• PILL BOTTLE

• USB ADAPTER

• “SAT ON THE TOP OF A DOLL HOUSE AND THERE WAS A SPIKED ROOF”

• KNOTTED ROPE

• “WENT SWIMMING, WENT TO REMOVE TAMPON CANT LOCATE IT”

• POINTY TOY PIG

• “BOYFRIEND STUCK BOTTLE IN VAGINA. THE CAP CAME OFF AND GOT STUCK”

• HALF A BAR OF SOAP

• SHARPENED PENCIL

• “PUT A BOUNCY BALL IN HER VAGINA, IT’S STUCK, WAS MASTURBATING”

• “PLACED A BOBBY PIN IN VAGINA -STATES SHE DOES NOT KNOW WHY”

• DOLL

• SMALL PAINTING KIT

• "PART OF A SILICONE DILDO BROKEN OFF”

• CIGARETTES AND LIGHTER

• SHOE HEEL

• PIECES OF PLASTIC CUP, BROKEN CRAYON, PIECE OF PLASTIC, & STRAW

• “POSSIBLE RETAINED VAGINAL FOREIGN BODY, USING VIBRATOR WHILE INTOXICATED”

Rectum

• “USING A VIBRATOR LAST NIGHT, THOUGHT WAS INSERTING IN VAGINA, INTERRUPTED BY MOM & SAT UP QUICKLY, INSERTED IN RECTUM, CAN’T REMOVE”

• WINE CORK WRAPPED IN PAPER TOWELS, ELECTRICAL TAPE & A CONDOM

• 10 BROKEN CRAYONS

• FLASHLIGHT

• “PER WIFE PATIENT SAT DOWN ON A SCREWDRIVER AND IT WENT UP HIS RECTUM”

• 2 DILDOS

• “PUT A PENCIL UP RECTUM TO MAKE BOWEL MOVEMENT TO GET GAUZE PATIENT SWALLOWED TO COME OUT”

• PLASTIC MELATONIN BOTTLE

• POSSIBLE SHOT GLASS

• “RECTAL FISSURE MASTURBATING FOR HER BOYFRIEND USING A HAIRBRUSH IN HER RECTUM YESTERDAY”

• NAIL CUTICLE TOOL

• EGG TIMER

• CURTAIN ROD

• “ICE PICK IN RECTUM TO PUSH HEMORRHOIDS BACK IN”

• HANDLE OF A TOILET BOWL BRUSH

• HAMMER

• NUT AND BOLT

• “SMILEY HAND TOY FROM VENDING MACHINE, MOM NOTED A RUBBER HAND PROTRUDING FROM RECTUM”

• BINGO DAUBER

• BINGO CHIP

• DECORATIVE PUMPKIN

• BOWLING PIN

• “SHOESHINE CONTAINER ALLEGEDLY INTOXICATED DID NOT KNOW GF INSERTED OBJECT”

• TUB DRAIN CAP

• WIFE’S SIX INCH VIBRATOR

• BROOM HANDLE

• BASEBALL

• SALT SHAKER

• “MALE USING PLASTIC SEX TOY (VIBRATOR) THAT BROKE OFF IN RECTUM BUT LEFT WITHOUT TREATMENT”

(via Deadspin)