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January 19, 2010 | Arts and Entertainment
 

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Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Mona Lisa still smiling

Critics, historians, collectors and auction houses generally get the call on which which art works are the best.

It’s probably no surprise to the average person, but the “Mona Lisa” still rules, according to a more general system of ranking.

Leonardo Da Vinci’s creation tops the list of the top 10 oil paintings featured in the media in the last decade.

Compiled by overstockart.com, it was measured according to appearances in print publications, on television shows and in films. Data was gathered with “media aggregators and public Google search statistics.”

The rest of the top 10 included:

  1. “Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer,” by Gustav Klimt, which was sold for a record $135 million in 2006.

  2. “Girl with Pearl Earring,” Johannes Vermeer.

  3. “Starry Night,” by Vincent van Gogh, which was the best-selling oil painting of the last decade.

  4. “Le Rêve (The Dream in French),” by Pablo Picasso.

  5. Self-Portrait in a Velvet Dress, by Frida Kahlo.

  6. “The Café Terrace,” by Vincent van Gogh.

  7. “Untitled,” by Mark Rothko.

  8. “The Scream,” by Edvard Munch.

  9. “Poppies near Vetheuil,” by Claude Monet.

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Cityfolk director leaving

John Harris, who stabilized and has steered the folk arts-presenting organization Cityfolk through hard times over seven years, is stepping down as executive director.

“But I’ll be here until July 5, through the annual Cityfolk Festival,” Harris, 47, said Tuesday, Jan. 19.

“The first reason for my decision is that my wife, Natalie, has been hired as executive director of the Louisville (Ky.) Coalition for the Homeless. Also, my dad died in September. My mom, who lives in Kentucky, is alone now. We want to be closer to her.”

Harris came to Dayton from the Whitesburg, Ky.,-based folk arts cooperative Appalshop.

Cityfolk planned to begin an immediate national search in hopes of hiring his successor by the start of the 2010 festival, which will be July 2-4 in downtown Dayton.

“John has helped us maintain and enhance Cityfolk’s ability to offer the very best in ethnic and cultural traditions in some very challenging economic times,” board chairman Jerry Brunswick said. “His desire to stay through the festival means we will maintain continuity of leadership in a critical time of planning, execution and fund raising.”

Harris said he is proud of new programs, including Culture Builds Community, Cityfolk has implemented during his tenure. “We have also brought a lot of great music here to share cultural traditions with the people of the community. At the end of the day, that’s the main reason we’re here.”

For more information about Cityfolk, call (937) 223-3655 or go to www.cityfolk.org.

Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment | Categories: Arts News

 

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