Recovered “Landscape of Italian Character”/Photo: Art Recovery International.
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ART
Stolen Painting Missing Since End Of World War II Recovered by FBI in Chicago
The Bavarian State Painting Collections has recovered “a landscape painting that had been missing since 1945 through the assistance of the FBI,” reports ARTnews. “Originally part of the collection of the New Bayreuth Palace, ‘Landscape of Italian Character’ by Viennese artist Johann Franz Nepomuk Lauterer was reported as a war loss… The artwork had been in the publicly-accessible Lost Art database of the German Lost Art Foundation since 2012. Research and recovery work by the specialist firm Art Recovery International (ARI) would unearth the provenance information about the painting, showing it had been looted from Germany by an American soldier.” Lawyers were “contacted by a person in Chicago who claimed to possess a ‘stolen or looted painting’ and was inquiring about how to return it… The possessor’s uncle had brought the painting home from Germany after serving in the U.S. Army during the war.” More from Art Recovery International here.
MSU Broad Art Museum Announces Center For Object Research And Engagement
The Center for Object Research and Engagement (The CORE), an educational space featuring art from the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at Michigan State University’s permanent collection, has been launched. “Through innovative approaches to object-based research, The CORE encourages close looking and learning, while advancing the museum’s values of diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility. Major renovations to the MSU Broad Art Museum’s lower level began in June, with The CORE set to launch with a grand opening celebration on November 10,” the museum relays. “The space will feature a wide range of artworks that span 5,000 years of history, offering a portal to different time periods and cultures. Prompts and tools throughout The CORE invite visitors to experiment with object-based learning and research, a specialty of the MSU Broad Art Museum’s work.” More here.
DESIGN
Chicago’s Yung Atelier Chosen For Three-Month Feature In Vogue
British Vogue will spotlight Yung Atelier in a three-month feature for their luxury interiors campaign, highlighting emerging global brands and artists. Appearing in both print and digital formats, “this recognition underscores Yung Atelier’s heritage and unwavering dedication to bespoke design and fabrication, setting them apart in an industry tilted toward rapid production. The team of the second-generation Asian American-led company is ninety-five percent people of color,” the company relays in a release. Yung Atelier’s “a diverse group of often overlooked individuals” and the company “is committed to sustainability, operating entirely on renewable energy, with seventy percent of its waste either recycled or composted. Bobby Yung, president and creative director of the Atelier, guided the company’s evolution from a mom-and-pop workroom to a conscious and sought-after home décor brand.”
Holly Hunt Sells Aspen Home For $70 Million
“Holly Hunt, a leading interior designer in Chicago for four decades, sold her home in Aspen for $70 million, not far below the record home price” for that community, lists Crain’s. “Hunt sold the property, a six-bedroom house she built on 4.23 acres, in an off-market deal to an undisclosed buyer.”
Haunted Houses Could Become A Year-Round Fright
“Haunted houses—from the state-of-the-art professionals to the mom-and-pop bootstraps—are getting bigger and better,” surveys Future Party. “And audiences are showing up in droves. The phenomenon speaks volumes about the power of horror entertainment and the desire for people to have communal experiences. And with Universal starting Halloween Horror Nights earlier in the year and even cementing a permanent horror destination in Las Vegas, spooky season may soon be all year round.”
O’Hare Recovery Still Mid-Pandemic
“By the height of the busy summer season, the number of travelers passing through U.S. airports for the year had already hit the same levels as before” the start of the pandemic, reports the Tribune (via Yahoo). “The number of passengers passing through Transportation Security Administration checkpoints at O’Hare during the first seven months of the year remained at about eighty-six percent of pre-pandemic volumes, Chicago Department of Aviation data shows. And airlines scheduled nearly fourteen percent less passenger space on flights out of O’Hare in the past year than they did in 2019.”
Final Unity Temple Restoration Foundation Public Performance On Friday
Just days before closing its books after a half-century, Unity Temple Restoration Foundation will present its final public performance at the Frank Lloyd Wright architectural masterpiece this weekend, reports Wednesday Journal. “The performance, ‘The Coming of Light,’ is a composition for oboe, baritone and a string quartet, and will feature the Avalon String Quartet and singer Dorian McCall and oboist Andrew Nogal. The piece was commissioned in 2009 to honor the centennial of Unity Temple’s dedication.” Friday, October 27, 7:30pm. Registration required here.
DINING & DRINKING
Tzuco Honors Día de Los Muertos With Immersive Collaboration
Tzuco Chef-Partner Carlos Gaytán will again champion heritage Mexican cuisine, celebrating Día de los Muertos at a collaboration dinner, surrounded by traditional marigolds, banners, skeletons and more, joined by chef Grace Ramirez. Gaytán and Ramirez will honor the tapestry of Mexican culture as they present a four-course feast honoring the Day of the Dead, paying homage to life, death and the memories that connect us all. The menu includes Guajillo Adobo Prawns Tostada, grilled guajillo adobo prawns, guacamole and gold-dusted chapulines; and Pulpo Enamorado, Salsa macha roasted octopus, pickled carrot, peas, potatoes and tonnato aioli. Reservations are $120 per person before tax and gratuity. Tzuco, 720 North State, Friday, November 3, reservations available 4pm-11pm. Reserve here.
Berwyn Czech Bakery Vesecky’s Made It Nearly 120 Years
“The owners at Vesecky’s Bakery, a Czech bakery that has endured for four generations in Berwyn,” have posted to Facebook that they will close after 118 years, reports Eater Chicago. Founded by the Vesecky family in 1905, “the bakery specializes in Czech treats like houska and kolacky, as well as muttnicks, or hot dogs baked into a bun. The closure is slated for the end of 2023.”
Graziano’s Brick Oven Closed After Thirty Years
A staple in Niles in the Northwest suburbs for thirty years closed its doors on Monday, reports CBS 2 (video). Headlines Journal & Topics, “Discount Tire Plans To Lease Adjacent Lot From Restaurant Owners For New Store.” The Grazianos promised a “new retail development” as well.
LIT
Open Books Book And Record Fair In Pilsen This Weekend
“Record shops and book stores will sell vinyl records, used books and Spanish-language titles Saturday,” reports Block Club.
Judge Blocks Arkansas From Criminally Charging Librarians Over “Harmful” Material
“Arkansas is temporarily blocked from enforcing a law that would have allowed criminal charges against librarians and booksellers for providing ‘harmful’ materials to minors, a federal judge ruled,” wires AP. The preliminary injunction is against a law that would also “have created a new process to challenge library materials and request that they be relocated to areas not accessible by kids… A coalition that included the Central Arkansas Library System in Little Rock had challenged the law, saying fear of prosecution under the measure could prompt libraries and booksellers to no longer carry titles that could be challenged.”
92NY’s Core Literary Series “Paused” After Disinviting Author Critical Of Israel
92NY, one of New York City’s leading cultural organizations, is “putting its prestigious literary reading series on pause,” reports the New York Times (free link), “following an outcry over its decision to cancel an appearance last week by a prominent writer who had been critical of Israel.” 92NY “decided to pull an event… featuring the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Viet Thanh Nguyen, who had planned to discuss his memoir… 92NY confirmed afterward that the decision not to go ahead with the event stemmed from Nguyen’s public statements about Israel. The decision drew criticism from advocates for free expression. And over the weekend, a number of writers scheduled to appear at 92NY in the coming months announced their intentions to pull out, and some members of the poetry center’s staff resigned… 92NY said that the 2023-24 literary series was ‘on pause given recent staff resignations.'”
Florida To Ban University Discussion Of “Social Issues”
A proposed Florida rule would ban public university activities “intended to achieve a desired result related to social issues,” which are defined as “topics that polarize or divide society among political, ideological, moral, or religious beliefs, positions, or norms,” reports the Tampa Bay Times. A lawyer comments: “I can’t think of anything that doesn’t.” “The regulation, when approved, will determine how the state enforces the law known as Senate Bill 266, a measure pushed by Governor DeSantis that seeks to gut diversity, equity and inclusion programs at colleges and universities.” The head of the statewide faculty union: “It limits ways for students to be active members of society and speak their minds, regardless of where they fall on the political spectrum.”
MEDIA
The Messenger Dispatched
Yet another online news start-up running out of cash and resisting owner interference, reports the Daily Beast: “Growing increasingly anxious over the financial health of The Messenger, staffers at the ‘non-partisan’ media start-up have quietly been pushing to unionize the newsroom… Among the issues employees would like to see addressed… are the outlet’s recent partnership with an Al firm, The Messenger president Richard ‘Mad Dog’ Beckman’s suggestion to others that the site is ‘out of money,’ and the internal secrecy over the site’s traffic. Additionally, employees wonder why the editor-in-chief… continues to be MIA… noting that owner Jimmy Finkelstein has taken to regularly sending editors story ideas and tips… The Messenger currently ranks #195 among U.S. news sites, pulling in similar numbers to local Texas news stations.”
Silicon Valley Ditches News
“News organizations are scrambling to adjust to the latest rift in the long-fractious relationship between publishers and tech platforms,” the New York Times writes in a major report (free link). “Even Google—the strongest partner to news organizations over the past ten years—has become less dependable, making publishers more wary of their reliance on the search giant. The company has laid off news employees in two recent team reorganizations, and some publishers say traffic from Google has tapered off.” Some of the largest tech platforms, like Instagram, “have said in no uncertain terms that hosting news on their sites can often be more trouble than it is worth because it generates polarized debates. Others, like Elon Musk, the owner of X, have expressed disdain for the mainstream press. Publishers seem resigned to the idea that traffic from the big tech companies will not return to what it once was.”
MUSIC
B.L.U.E.S. On Halsted Reopening?
One simple statement on the Facebook account of the club that closed in March 2020 at the advent of the pandemic: “Be back soon!!” (An unconfirmed account of new ownership was posted on Twitter/X.)
Chicago Jazz Authority Jim DeJong Was Eighty-One
“Jim DeJong was a jazz music authority who worked for many years at the Jazz Record Mart, wrote about the genre and was one of the driving forces behind the Jazz Institute of Chicago,” reports the Trib. While not a musician himself, DeJong started to work “at Bob Koester’s now-shuttered Chicago’s Jazz Record Mart, then at 7 West Grand… He soon became a widely known and respected expert on jazz music. Whether working in his store or attending numerous concerts, DeJong often dressed in all black, and was known in the jazz community as ‘the man in black’… Howard Reich, the Tribune’s jazz critic from 1989 until 2021, said DeJong ‘was all about sharing jazz with the world, and it was impossible not to be swept up in his cause… [he] was a universally beloved figure on Chicago’s jazz scene… Every faction seemed to admire Jim and hold him close, presumably because of his vast knowledge of the music and his selfless advocacy for it.'”
STAGE
Music Director Of Chicago Opera Theater Stepping Down
The board of directors of Chicago Opera Theater, producers of new and reimagined opera, announced that Lidiya Yankovskaya will step down from her position as music director at the end of the company’s fiftieth anniversary season. Her final appearance on the podium as music director will be as she leads the Chicago premiere of Shostakovich’s “The Nose” in a new production by Francesca Zambello at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance, December 8 and 10. Yankovskaya will continue to lead Chicago Opera Theater’s Vanguard Initiative, the training and residency program for first-time opera composers which she created for the company in 2018.
After Forty Years, No More Watertown New Repertory
“After forty seasons and more than 300 productions, New Repertory Theatre’s board of directors has determined that it is not possible to sustain the organization going forward,” reports American Theatre. “Audiences and critics responded enthusiastically to New Rep’s relaunch and its 2023 season, but fundraising with major donors has fallen short of the theatre’s goals. The board has therefore initiated the process of formally dissolving the organization, and expects to have no assets at the conclusion of this process.”
ARTS & CULTURE & ETC.
What CPD Did When They Found KKK In Their Ranks
The Sun-Times and WBEZ continue their investigation of members of violent, extremist groups like the Oath Keepers who remain on the Chicago police force. “When some officers got involved with notorious extremists, the Chicago Police Department assigned an officer to go undercover and raided the home of a cop who was recruiting colleagues to the radical and potentially violent group. The city’s police board then moved swiftly to rid the department of all the extremist officers. That was the approach the department took more than fifty-five years ago—after a small group of officers privately pledged their allegiance to the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. The story of how Chicago police aggressively rooted out the Klansmen in its ranks contrasts sharply with the lax approach taken toward the cops who have allied themselves in recent years with twenty-first-century extremist groups.”
The ongoing series on radicalism in the ranks is here: “Chicago police officials have said that joining the Oath Keepers does not constitute a rule violation, despite the group’s anti-government stance, history of arrests and key role in the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot… Under a proposed revision of departmental policy, cops could face discipline for recruiting members to an organization, attending an event, raising money or even engaging with a banned group’s content on social media.”
Police Tell Lincoln Square Residents To Protect Halloween Decorations From Arsonist
“Police are urging Lincoln Square and North Center residents to move hay bales and other Halloween decorations away from their homes after at least ten fires have been set in the area, apparently targeting holiday displays,” reports Block Club.
Michigan Supreme Court To Decide If Town Can Surveil Citizens Without Warrant
“The Michigan Supreme Court heard a case that will determine if it was legal under the Fourth Amendment for a local town to hire a drone company to repeatedly spy on the home of one of its residents without a warrant,” reports 404 Media. Court records “show that the township hired Zero Gravity Aerial to specifically and repeatedly fly over [the man’s] property for the express purpose of proving he had violated the township’s ordinances. It’s particularly notable that the township did not get a warrant to do this and chose to contract with a commercial drone business to do surveillance, rather than work with local law enforcement or get permission from a judge.”
