By Neale Gulley

BUFFALO, New York |
Wed Feb 22, 2012 7:42pm EST

BUFFALO, New York (Reuters) – A new company will take over passenger boat tours on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls, replacing the operator of the “Maid of the Mist” boats that have carried millions of tourists under the powerful falls for more than a century, officials said on Wednesday.

The Niagara Parks Commission said it named Hornblower, Canada, Co., a subsidiary of San Francisco-based Hornblower Cruises Events, to run boats on the Canadian side of the falls under a 30-year contract.

A household name for generations of tourists, Maid of the Mist Co. has run boats at the base of Niagara Falls since 1846. The boats sail through the turbulent waters under the powerful falls, drenching the poncho-clad passengers on board.

Maid of the Mist said in a statement that having lost its bid to renew its Canadian-side lease with the Parks Commission, “our business, with a 165-year history of service to tourists from around the world, may soon come to an end.”

“We are carefully assessing our position,” company president Christopher Glynn said in the statement.

“Maid of the Mist” boat tours depart from both the Canadian and U.S. sides of the falls, and the company still holds the Parks Commission contract to run the tours from the U.S. side. It stores its boats at the Canadian dock.

Maid of the Mist signed a new contract in 2008, but the Parks Commission was ordered by the province of Ontario in 2009 to open the deal to competitive bidding following criticism of the process.

This bidding was the first competitive bidding process conducted since the boat tours began 165 years ago.

“We look forward to bringing our high-quality operations and guest service to the Niagara Falls region,” said Terry MacRae, chief executive of Hornblower, in a statement.

Hornblower, which operates Statue Cruises in New York and California, submitted a proposal guaranteeing annual rent in excess of $60 million for the first five years of its contract, the parks commission said.

New York State Assemblyman John Ceretto, who has been an advocate for Maid of the Mist, said while he believes in an open bidding process, the Niagara Falls-based company’s situation is “unfortunate.”

“The problem is … they put the boats in on the Canadian side and take them out on the Canadian side,” said Ceretto, a Republican. There is no boat storage on the more dramatic and rocky U.S. side of the falls.

The 30-year deal is expected to generate roughly $500 million in revenue. Hornblower still must finalize design of a new vessel and has begun working to obtain site permits for a revamped launch facility and observation deck, the Parks Commission said.

The “Maid of the Mist” boats operate from late April to late October, departing every 15 minutes using two 600-passenger boats.

Hornblower’s operations are slated to begin in the spring of 2014.

(Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst and Paul Thomasch)

Article source: http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/lifestyle/~3/SiOmRA3KHh0/us-niagarafalls-maidofthemist-idUSTRE81M01Z20120223

By Michelle Martin

LONDON |
Wed Feb 22, 2012 6:04pm EST

LONDON (Reuters) – London Fashion Week shook off its traditional image as a mere playground for quirky emerging talent with a display of grown-up elegance for the autumn/winter 2012 season that had leaders of the global fashion pack singing the British capital’s praises.

By the close of the shows, top British designers such as Paul Smith, Alexander McQueen’s Sarah Burton and Burberry’s Christopher Bailey had presented catwalk collections which more than suggested that the “edgy” London of yesteryear had matured into a sleek and sophisticated luxury powerhouse.

“We used to come here and think it’s all going to be eccentric and street chic and actually it’s incredibly grown up, polished and sexy, glamorous clothes so it’s a global stage now — it’s wonderful,” U.S. Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour told Reuters on the sidelines of the shows.

London has always been overshadowed by New York, Milan and Paris on the fashion map, and often derided by critics as the “capital of quirk,” despite spawning industry stars such as Stella McCartney, McQueen and Vivienne Westwood as well as leading global luxury labels such as Burberry and Mulberry.

Military styles, bright prints, furs and quintessentially English looks dominated the catwalks, while bejeweled, sequined and embroidered creations also featured prominently this season.

Many of the collections included paneled creations. Belstaff delivered tailored leather jackets with armor type paneling. Burberry sent paneled trenchcoats down the runway and Peter Pilotto dressed his models in figure-hugging stretch dresses slashed with mesh panels.

Designers accentuated the female figure by nipping coats and jackets in at the waist to create an hourglass silhouette — Burberry used colorful bows to achieve this look while McQ from Alexander McQueen chose leather military-style belts with gold buckles.

Sasha Wilkins, founder of the successful LibertyLondonGirl.com fashion blog, said the British capital now competed on equal footing with its rival fashion capitals.

“We seem to have got to the point where London can properly take its place on the world stage,” said Wilkins, a former Wall Street Journal executive style editor.

And the city’s place on the fashion map is likely to become more prominent this summer thanks to a “great halo effect” that the Olympic Games will bring, British Fashion Council chairman Harold Tillman told Reuters.

QUINTESSENTIALLY ENGLISH

Traditional English fabrics like felts, velvets, tweed and tartan found favor with designers who sought to overturn London’s reputation for young creativity, avant garde trends and edgy designs by opting for elegant tailored creations.

Burberry creative director Bailey combined country and town styles at a show packed with celebrities including Kate Bosworth, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and the British Prime Minister’s wife Samantha Cameron.

His models sashayed down the runway in quilted jackets, peplum skirts and tiered fringe dresses teamed with brogue lace-up angle boots before a clap of thunder was heard and water emulating rain gushed down the sides of the transparent marquee in which the event was hosted.

Vivienne Westwood also championed the British cause with her Red Label collection which saw tattooed models don tweed suits, baggy jodphur-like trousers and tailored creations inspired by tribal prints.

“Britishness is just a way of putting things together and a certain don’t care attitude about clothes. You don’t care, you just do it and it looks great. What we do always looks British even if we’re inspired by Africa or the North Pole or whatever,” Westwood said.

HIGH DRAMA

At McQ, military chic ruled supreme — creative director Sarah Burton, who designed the wedding dress Kate Middleton wore for her wedding to Britain’s Prince William last year, sent models down a runway carpeted with autumnal leaves in khaki coats and suits featuring large pockets and big metal buttons with shiny leather lace-up stiletto boots.

Flared strapless tartan dresses with sheer sleeves, lacy tops, delicate embroidery and appliquéd velvet flowers showed a softer, more feminine side in a dramatic show which saw model Kristen McMenamy, clad in a bridal ivory gown, sign her soul away to the devil in a wooden hut in a forest.

Stella McCartney also staged an extravagant spectacle, wowing the audience with magic tricks, models dancing on tables, a jazz band and a vegetarian dinner as she showcased bright marbled patterns, floral prints and gathered puffy skirts.

“It’s London, it’s Britain. It’s celebrating everything that is bold and irreverent about being a British brand,” McCartney told Reuters about her inspiration for the opulent collection.

After presenting a Renaissance-inspired collection of fluffy fur hats, bright print dresses with oriental flower patterns and richly embroidered and beaded sheer evening gowns, British designer Alice Temperley said London had become a very exciting place to be as people realized a lot of businesses in the British capital were actually very scalable.

“It’s not just about the new generation, there are people coming through that are obviously very creative and very inspiring and what London is renowned for, but it’s also about people who have good businesses that can and do sell globally,” she said.

(Reporting by Michelle Martin; additional reporting by Li-mei Hoang and Ethan Bilby, editing by Paul Casciato)

Article source: http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/lifestyle/~3/CljinRo_QJk/us-fashion-britain-london-idUSTRE81L28J20120222

STOCKHOLM |
Thu Feb 23, 2012 3:44am EST

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Sweden’s heir to the throne, Crown Princess Victoria, gave birth to a baby girl on Thursday, which could help restore the monarchy’s battered popularity.

“My feelings are a little bit all over the place,” Prince Daniel, the 34-year-old Victoria’s husband, told a news conference, holding back tears as he announced the birth of the couple’s first child.

The baby was 51 cm (20 inches) and weighed 3.28 kg (7 pounds), he added.

“The crown princess feels brilliant, she is so happy and everything has gone very well. The little daughter and the crown princess are very well,” added Daniel, a personal fitness trainer who married Victoria in a glittering 2010 wedding.

The monarchy in the Nordic state has seen its popularity fall in recent years, particularly after a 2010 book about the playboy lifestyle of King Carl XVI Gustaf, who has been on the throne since 1973.

The king in May 2011 used a rare interview with Swedish news agency TT to apologize for undermining trust in the monarchy, but denied strip club visit allegations and any knowledge of a friend’s underworld contacts to silence the scandals.

A poll after the TT interview, commissioned by daily Dagens Nyheter, showed 66 percent of Swedes backing the symbolic-power monarchy, down from 70 percent in November 2009 and 74 percent in February 2009.

(Reporting by Patrick Lannin and Anna Ringstrom; Editing by Alessandra Rizzo)

Article source: http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/lifestyle/~3/1_UxcubZnRc/us-sweden-royal-idUSTRE81M0HJ20120223

By Antonella Ciancio

MILAN |
Wed Feb 22, 2012 3:06pm EST

MILAN (Reuters) – Cashmere maker Brunello Cucinelli aims to float on the Milan stock exchange by early May, in what would be the third share offering of an Italian luxury company in less than a year.

The maker of 2,000-euro colorful cashmere sweaters said in an interview on Wednesday he sought a reasonable price for his initial public offering aimed at ensuring sustainable growth.

“The price will be graceful, because the project is for a graceful growth,” the businessman said at his showroom, where he showed a young collection of cashmere furs and sporty boots.

“I hope to float by between the end of April and the start of May,” he said, adding he was confident Italy’s efforts to stem the euro zone debt crisis would ease market concerns.

Cucinelli said last week it had filed with Italian regulators for an IPO. The deal, sponsored by investment bank Mediobanca, will include the issue of new shares and the sale of existing equity.

A keen philosopher whose website reads “beauty will save the world,” Cucinelli said he wanted to go public to find “new long-term guardians” for his business, that he started in 1978 by selling colored cashmere sweaters.

“I want a healthy business, that gives healthy profits and healthy dividends. I am not doing an IPO to pay down debts, also because we don’t have much debt.”

The company had around 48 million euros of debt at the end of 2011, that it closed with revenue of around 242 million euros and pretax profits of some 30 million euros. In 2009 it had revenue of about 150 million euros.

Cucinelli would be the third Italian luxury maker to float in less than a year, after the successful flotations of Salvatore Ferragamo in Milan and Prada in Hong Kong in June.

European luxury makers have fared better than other industrial players during the euro-zone debt crisis, as they rely on new-money Asian buyers travelling the world.

But unlike peers who have boosted their retail presence to boost sales, Cucinelli said he was not looking to open many stores. “Top luxury does not have to be too distributed,” he said.

The company sells mostly in multibrand stores worldwide and in only 50 monobrand shops, a small number compared with powerhouses such as Prada and Ferragamo.

Prices of its cashmere coats and sweaters are however above the average of other luxury goods.

“Affordable luxury is a nonsense,” he said, adding French luxury group Hermes was his luxury model. “I have one brand name, one collection.”

Son of a farmer, Cucinelli is anything but an orthodox capitalist. He has turned the medieval village of Solomeo, in the central Umbria region, into a factory where workers do not punch a time clock and lunch breaks are long.

During the preparatory steps for the IPO, he said he did not allow auditors to work at night. “It would have been bad to see them at work while people were drinking at the bar,” he said.

(Additional reporting by Sabina Suzzi, Elisa Anzolin; Editing by Maureen Bavdek)

Article source: http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/lifestyle/~3/vqMLeyBosQk/us-fashion-italy-cucinelli-idUSTRE81L1UK20120222

By Ethan Bilby

LONDON |
Wed Feb 22, 2012 1:42pm EST

LONDON (Reuters) – Menswear was the focus of autumn/winter 2012 London Fashion Week Wednesday with designers of classic Savile Row suits and avant garde Fashion East casual wear saying that London was still a synonym for quality in men’s clothing.

London’s Savile Row is world-renowned for its tradition of bespoke classic menswear pieces and quality construction, and Gieves and Hawkes design director Barry Tulip told Reuters that his collection stayed true to tradition whilst updating it for this season.

“The most important thing about this collection is that we’ve not reinvented the wheel, we’ve kept it very classic. We’ve just updated it to make it relevant for today’s customer.”

Exotic luxury blends of cashmere and mink were featured on some of the jackets in the Gieves and Hawkes collection, along with playfully bright geometric printed ties to brighten up the mood in austere times.

“When everybody is depressed as they are now, you have to dream a little bit – for instance we’ve gone to town with our printed ties taking our inspiration from David Hicks,” he said.

Hicks was a well known interior designer in the swinging sixties of London, and Tulip said that the collection featured many other small 1960s elements such as widened lapels and a lowered notch.

Elsewhere in London another Savile Row brand, E. Tautz, sent models down the runway in hand-made woolen tweed and cotton creations in hues of black, charcoal and grey.

Double breasted polo coats, charcoal tweed jackets, and wool tweed zip duffel coats were featured in an elegantly decorated Freemason’s hall replete with colorful stain glass windows.

Designer Patrick Grant said he was inspired by the heavy materials worn by the military, having wanted to become a member of the horseguard cavalry when he was a boy, as well as the dark absorbent forms he saw at a Richard Serra exhibition in New York.

“All the clothes in this collection are very matte, quite heavy, and it’s that really light-sucking matteness that we liked and that came from Serra,” he told Reuters.

QUALITY AND QUIRKINESS

London’s reputation for quality and originality was also an important focus for many of the casual menswear designers featured at NEWGEN and Fashion East Men.

Designer Paw Hansen, originally from Denmark, said that the level of quality was very important for his minimalist 1950s and American baseball inspired jackets.

“All my clothing is handmade in Britain. I’ve worked at many places before and I didn’t want to just tap on a keyboard send the designs off to be made in China, I wanted to be involved with the patterns,” he said.

The Fashion East venue featured a number of quirky installations, with models playing table football in orange and black long coats, three models sitting at a bus shelter showing off grey and white Christopher Shannon streetwear, and boys for T. Lipop in hooded parkas with fake snow on their eyebrows and beards.

Kit Neale, whose bright allotment-inspired colours featured harlequin greens and aubergines, said that London was a great place to look forward in menswear.

“Menswear can push so much at the moment – it’s all about the boy having the confidence and attitude to wear it.”

(Additional reporting by Michelle Martin, editing by Paul Casciato)

Article source: http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/lifestyle/~3/rEoqONEVStk/us-fashion-britain-menswear-idUSTRE81L1Q120120222

By Ian Simpson

WASHINGTON |
Wed Feb 22, 2012 1:02pm EST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Political and cultural figures joined to break ground for a new museum celebrating black Americans on Wednesday, with President Barack Obama calling it a symbol of Americans’ shared history.

The $500 million National Museum of African American History and Culture will be the only national museum devoted solely to black life, art, history and culture.

The site is scheduled to open in 2015 on the National Mall, the two-mile-long stretch of parkland between the Capitol and the Lincoln Memorial.

Obama, the first black president, said the museum should be seen not as a memorial to black Americans’ often-tragic history but as a reminder “that each of us is made in God’s image.”

“It should stand as a reminder that the best things in life rarely come quickly or easily,” he told the groundbreaking ceremony.

Obama was joined by a dignitaries including former first lady Laura Bush and Democratic Representative John Lewis of Georgia, a veteran of 1960s civil rights campaigns who spearheaded creation of the museum.

Hosted by actress Phylicia Rashad, the ceremony included performances by jazz pianist Jason Moran, opera singers Denyce Graves and Thomas Hampson, and the Heritage Signature Chorale.

The seven-level museum will be between the Washington Monument and the National Museum of American History. It is the culmination of efforts begun by black Civil War soldiers to get a monument.

The museum, the 19th in the Smithsonian system, will have most of its 374,000 square feet underground, and it is expected to draw 3 million to 3.5 million visitors a year.

Exhibits will include a Jim Crow-era segregated railroad car, slave shackles, galleries devoted to military and sports history, and a trumpet owned by jazz great Louis Armstrong.

The Mall’s next building project is expected to be the Frank Gehry-designed memorial to President Dwight Eisenhower. Design approval for the four-acre memorial near the Capitol is scheduled for next month.

(Reporting by Ian Simpson)

Article source: http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/lifestyle/~3/yPDjbTge8Lw/us-obama-museum-idUSTRE81L1MU20120222

By Cathy Yang

HONG KONG |
Tue Feb 21, 2012 10:20pm EST

HONG KONG (Reuters) – Umberto Bombana’s distinctive flair for refined, regional Italian cuisine has taken him around the world and earned his Hong Kong restaurant three Michelin stars in 2011, within just two years of opening.

After more than a year of soul-searching following the closing of the restaurant where he previously worked, Bombana opened “8 ½ Otto e Mezzo BOMBANA” in Hong Kong’s glitzy Central district. The name is a salute to the Italian movie by Federico Fellini.

Bombana, who said his culinary journey centers on the plate and the food he serves, includes signature dishes such as cavatelli with a shellfish ragout and sea urchin. He also plans to open a new restaurant in Shanghai this month.

He spoke to Reuters about his passion for truffles and what it is like to cook for an increasingly sophisticated mainland Chinese clientele.

Q: What have you learned by being an Italian chef in Hong Kong for more than 15 years now?

A: “It’s very pleasant. I’m very happy to cook in Hong Kong. We have people who dined in New York the day before they come here. They eat here, they go to Paris. It’s a very international crowd here. So it’s very fulfilling to cook for people with sophistication and high expectation. And for me, it’s fun, it’s a good challenge.”

Q: A lot more of your guests come from mainland China – from Beijing, from Shanghai. How sophisticated are their tastes?

A: “Now they are learned. They have traveled. They have traveled to London, they traveled to New York … They are very sophisticated and they have high expectations. They really enjoy looking for the best wine, for the best food, and have a great experience. The Chinese already have good taste. They have a tradition. They have 4,000 years of history of food, so they know. When they come here they expect to have a great meal. You don’t change your style based on the client. You just do the best. If it tastes great, it tastes great for everybody.”

Q: Some people have described you as the “King of White Truffles, how did you get hooked on them?

A: “Truffle is amazing. When you smell white truffle you are shocked. At first, people are a bit suspicious. But everybody, they become almost addicted to this smell because it’s such a unique and intense flavor. I’m talking about the white one.

The intensity of the fragrance is amazing. When you start to work in an important restaurant in Italy, you’ve got to know all the best ingredients. From the area where I’m from — it was in the Southern part of the Alps — they found some truffles all over. When you first arrive, you have this smell in the kitchen. (It) smells like gas. It’s so intense. You say, ‘What’s going on here?’ so this is the white truffle. The stimulation you have is quite amazing.”

Q: And how did you tame that in your cooking?

A: “We know traditionally how it’s been used, so based on that you do your creation. White truffle, for example, you don’t have to do too much — simple pasta with a little butter and parmesan, or simple Eggs en Cocotte with white truffle is beautiful. Based on the simplicity, you do a beautiful taste … Of course, the best things are eggs, risotto, simple pasta, where the truffle gives you the full personality, the full amount of flavor on the simple item.”

Q: What is one thing you still want to do in your career?

A: “The restaurant is evolving; it’s evolving all the time. There’s always place for improvement. You need to search for new ingredients. You want to have organic vegetables. You want to present in different ways. You want beautiful china. It’s a challenge really; you know your competition (is) amazing. For example, here we have 10 Michelin restaurants in this building. So you need to evolve all the time, be the best, please your guests. It’s really a journey; you never stop in a restaurant. That’s what excites me. I’m waiting for the season of the black truffles and the season of the white asparagus. Every season is something new, something happens. It’s life growing, year by year, season by season.”

Q: Your restaurant in Hong Kong earned three Michelin stars in just two years’ time. How did you react?

A: “I was shocked, I was amazed. I’m fulfilled. That’s the best that can happen to you as a chef, passionate about this job. There is nothing like Michelin. There are about 10 Italian chefs who have three stars. I’m the first three-star outside Italy. For me it’s touching the sky. Most important as well are my customers, they’re happy.”

Aromatic Cheeses Risotto

Celery root and black winter truffle

240 g Carnaroli rice (1.3 cup)

4 teaspoons chopped shallot

40 ml white wine (2.7 tablespoons)

800 ml veal broth (3.4 cup)

40 g taleggio cheese (6.3 tablespoons)

40 g parmesan cheese

40 g butter (roughly 3 tablespoons)

40 g olive oil (just under 3 tablespoons)

40 g black winter truffle

40 g celery root (4 tablespoons)

(serving for 4 persons)

Braise shallot in olive oil. Add rice and toast for a few minutes. Add white wine, cook with broth for 12 to 18 minutes until ready. Add celery and then mix well with cheese and butter. Then slice Black Winter Truffle on top.

(Additional reporting by Andy Ho; editing by Elaine Lies and Patricia Reaney)

Article source: http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/lifestyle/~3/BHE3cpUBXIE/us-food-chefs-bombana-idUSTRE81K0E720120222

By Kara Newman

NEW YORK |
Tue Feb 21, 2012 8:51am EST

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Whether headed to Las Vegas for a business convention or bachelorette party, Vegas thrill-seekers are legendary in their pursuit of flash and excitement.

However, that doesn’t necessarily extend to the drinks – at the bar, the objective is to make guests feel comfortable, even as they push limits at the poker table.

“There is no ‘iconic’ drink in Las Vegas,” says resident mixologist Patricia Richards. “The world visits Las Vegas, so people like things that are familiar, or somewhat familiar, and cocktails that are not too ‘geeked out.’”

In other words, classics like the Mojito, Margarita and Cosmopolitan are top Vegas tipples. Richards adds that if she had asked her the same question three years ago, she would have selected Grey Goose with Red Bull as the cocktail of choice.

Along the glittery Vegas strip, most of the action takes place within the enormous hotel complexes which encompass casinos, entertainment venues, and more bars, restaurants and cocktail lounges than anyone could tackle in a single visit.

For business travelers, Richards recommends the Parasol Up and Parasol Down bars (both at the Wynn, www.wynnlasvegas.com).

Food Wine Magazine also selected Parasol Down as one of its “50 Best Bars in America,” due in large part to Richards’ drink list. The two-tiered bar features large inverted parasols and nightly shows projected on to the “Lake of Dreams” waterfall.

Elsewhere, Richards notes The Chandelier (bit.ly/f4NK43)

at the Cosmopolitan as “a bar that will impress,” thanks to thousands of crystals artfully hung around the drinks area to glamorous effect, as well as chilled “ice bars” like Minus 5 (bit.ly/eRQmgK)

at the Mandalay Bay.

Take refuge from the cheery chorus line of slot machines on the Strip, and join the local crowd in a quieter, darker atmosphere at the Downtown Cocktail Room (thedowntownlv.com/)

(best cocktail name ever: “Don’t Fig With Me”) or Herbs Rye (www.herbsandrye.com/).

Alternatively, for kitschy escapism, Frankie’s Tiki Room (frankiestikiroom.com/)

has a cult following for its tropical drinks served in tiki-inspired vessels. A bonus: This may be the only 24-hour tiki lounge in America.

Even if you’re a die-hard whiskey drinker, no one will know if you indulge in the escapism of a fruity Cosmo while you’re in town. After all, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. RECIPE: Berry Politan Courtesy of Patricia Richards According to Richards, Cosmopolitans and twists on the classic Cosmo are big sellers at her Las Vegas bars. Here’s one of her original variations. 1 oz. Ciroc Red Berry Vodka 1/2 oz. Cointreau Liqueur 1/2 oz. Freshly Squeezed Lime Juice 3/4 oz. White Cranberry Juice 1/4 oz. Simple Syrup Combine the above ingredients into a mixing glass. Add ice and shake well to chill. Strain into a chilled martini/cocktail glass. Garnish with one fresh raspberry, one fresh blackberry and one slice fresh strawberry, dropped into cocktail.

(Editing by Peter Myers and Paul Casciato)

(Kara Newman is the author of “Spice Ice: 60 tongue-tingling cocktails,” available. The opinions expressed are her own.)

Article source: http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/lifestyle/~3/zpwfS9JzRwU/us-spirited-traveller-lasvegas-idUSTRE81K0VV20120221

By Mike Collett-White

LONDON |
Tue Feb 21, 2012 1:40pm EST

LONDON (Reuters) – Sotheby’s will offer the only privately owned version of Edvard Munch’s haunting work “The Scream” at an auction in New York on May 2 where it expects to fetch over $80 million, the highest pre-sale value the auctioneer has ever put on a work of art.

The 1895 work is owned by Norwegian businessman Petter Olsen, whose father Thomas was a friend, neighbor and patron of Munch, the auctioneer said on Tuesday.

There are four versions of the famous depiction of a figure facing out with its hands to its ears apparently screaming. The three others belong to Norwegian museum collections.

Simon Shaw, senior vice president and head of Sotheby’s Impressionist Modern Art department in New York, called the pastel-on-board creation “one of the most important works of art in private hands.

“Given how rarely true icons come to the market it is difficult to predict The Scream’s value,” he added in a statement. “The recent success of masterpieces at Sotheby’s suggests that the price could exceed $80 million.”

The auctioneer called The Scream one of the most instantly recognizable images in art and popular culture, second only perhaps to Leonardo Da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa”.

The painting seeks to communicate Munch’s anxiety in the hills above Oslo and has been interpreted by many as the embodiment of modern-day anxiety and existential angst.

“It’s an image that has burnt itself into our collective retina,” Shaw told Reuters, speaking to the painting’s iconic and world renowned status.

Global turbulence in recent decades “has only made it more ubiquitous and well-known,” Shaw said, noting that the painting had been on the cover of Time magazine back in 1961.

Sotheby’s drew comparisons with Munch’s Dutch contemporary Vincent Van Gogh, as both artists strived to put their psychological experiences on canvas.

It also said the version on offer at its impressionist and modern art evening auction was the “most colorful and vibrant” of the four images and the only one in which one of the figures in the background turns to look at the cityscape.

The work also features a hand-painted inscription on its frame in which Munch explains his motivation for image. It includes the lines “My Friends walked on-I remained behind/shivering with Anxiety-I felt the great Scream in Nature.”

NARROW ESCAPES

Olsen said proceeds from the sale would go toward building a new museum, art centre and hotel at his farm in Norway.

His father, Thomas, was the scion of a ship-owning family who supported Munch from the late 1920s, and the men were neighbors at Hvitsten in Norway.

During the Nazi regime, Munch’s works were declared “degenerate” and removed from the great public German collections. Olsen stepped in to help rescue 74 of the works, probably saving them from destruction.

Before Olsen and his family fled Norway for Britain in 1940, he transported his art collection, including the work now being sold, to Sandbu, a family farm where it remained until Norway’s liberation in 1945.

Two other versions of The Scream have been the subject of high-profile art thefts in recent years.

In 1994, two thieves entered the National Gallery of Norway and fled with the museum’s 1893 version of The Scream. A successful sting operation brought the work back to the museum later that year, unharmed.

A decade later, masked gunmen stole Munch’s 1910 version of The Scream, as well as his Madonna, from the Munch Museum, also in Oslo. Both works were recovered two years later, and went back on exhibition in 2008.

Shaw said that museum attendance spiked after the first theft as patrons were drawn to the blank wall space where the work had hung, attesting to its drawing power.

Exhibitions of The Scream in London and New York before the sale will provide a rare opportunity to see the work, as museums holding the other three versions do not lend them out.

Given history, with two of the four works having been stolen in the past 20 years, intense security can be expected.

“We are conscious of the unique circumstances, and will be taking all necessary measures to ensure the safety of the work,” Shaw said, while declining outline specific plans.

(Reporting by Mike Collett-White, Additional reporting by Chris Michaud; editing by Paul Casciato and Bob Tourtellotte)

Article source: http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/lifestyle/~3/pbrO_0WyMig/us-auction-thescream-sothebys-idUSTRE81K0OH20120221

By Jeb Blount

RIO DE JANEIRO |
Tue Feb 21, 2012 1:10pm EST

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – An oil-led economic boom, hosting of the 2014 soccer World Cup and the 2016 Olympics, and a plunge in violent crime are making Rio de Janeiro, called Cidade Maravilhosa, feel like the “Marvellous City” for the first time in decades.

With a growing record of solving or easing Rio’s urban problems, authorities want to fix something else once considered unfixable – the chaotic, and increasingly popular, Carnival street parades, known as blocos, attended by millions.

Singing, drinking, dancing and revelry are all fine, says Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes. Urinating in the streets is not.

Since the pre-Lenten samba festival season officially began on January 20, more than 800 men and women have been arrested for public urination, an offense that has been rarely enforced before. For many Cariocas, as the residents of Rio are known, the crackdown seems unrealistic.

“Nobody likes the mess, but I don’t know how you can punish someone for doing something they must do,” said Joao Pimentel, author of the 2002 book “Blocos,” about Rio’s street Carnival.

In 2011, a judge threw out a public urination charge saying a person’s biological needs trumped Rio’s public-order campaign.

For Pimentel, it’s not just about manners, it’s impractical.

The Bola Preta (Blackball Parade), on Saturday attracted 2.2 million people. Many were packed shoulder-to-shoulder in 35 Celsius (95 Fahrenheit) heat 80 across on narrow, downtown streets.

There were only 400 chemical toilets scattered over dozens of blocks. Meanwhile, vendors with cold, 3-real ($1.75) beers were rarely more than a step or two away.

“There’s too much beer, too many people and never enough toilets even if you could get to one in time,” Pimentel said.

Those 400 toilets, one for every 5,500 people, would have begun overflowing if only about 1 in 8 of the Bola Preta revelers used one, said Joao Aveleira, a medical doctor and Carnival enthusiast who founded the Suvaco do Cristo (Christ’s Armpit) Carnival group 25 years ago. The parade takes place under the outstretched right arm of Rio’s famous Christ the Redeemer statue.

While Aveleira, Pimentel and others complain about the lack of toilets, there are more toilets this year than in the past. A decade ago sidestreets near Bola Preta would be awash with an inch or more of urine and smelled foul for weeks.

CARNIVAL FOR ALL

In the past, Rio merely tolerated the street Carnival, focusing on the more famous and structured samba school parades at Rio’s Sambodrome stadium, Aveleira said.

At the Sambodrome, costumes and the right to participate cost hundreds to tens-of-thousands of dollars, samba school budgets run to the millions, spectators are charged for admission and performances are timed and rigorously judged. The street carnival is free and open to all.

Under Paes, and his predecessor Cesar Maia, who tried to encourage healthy living by ending the tradition of selecting an obese man as Carnival king, blocos have grown but maintain their informality.

“They’ve finally realized that street Carnival is big business, Rio’s main event,” said Aveleira.

“People come to Rio because our Carnival is democratic. In Salvador, there is a strict hierarchy: the rich in their boxes, the middle class paying to dance inside a roped off area and the poor on the edges,” Aveleira said. Salvador and Rio are the country’s two biggest Carnival capitals.

Rio’s efforts to clean-up Carnival are part of a wider effort to get Cariocas to behave more civilly. Paes has set up public order units that tow away illegally parked cars and remove vendors from crowded city streets.

He has also worked with Rio’s state-level authorities to institute drunken driving checks. which have cut road accidents 32 percent since 2009, according to Brazil’s Health Ministry.

The Choque de Ordem (Order Shock) campaign seems to be working at Carnival too. Rio’s orange-clad street sweepers, who swoop in with brooms, dustbins and high-powered water jets after every street parade, collected 35 percent less garbage after Bola Preta this year than last.

“We’ve had as many as 50,000 people at our events, and there were years where there were fights and gunshots. Not anymore. This is supposed to be fun, free but not chaos,” said Aveleira.

This year Suvaco do Cristo, sold 800, 25-real T-shirts to pay for the event and 35,000 revelers showed up February 12 for the parade.

On Tuesday 200,000 people danced along Ipanema beach at Afroreggae. Another 60,000 turned up in Flamengo Park at a Sargento Pimenta (Sergeant Pepper) event where Beatles songs are sung with samba percussion.

Rio arrested 77 at Afroreggae for public urination.

“Like any other thing that grows up, you have to start acting more responsibly,” Pimentel said. “The restrictions and efforts by the city are good, but we still need more toilets.”

(Reporting by Jeb Blount; Editing by Jackie Frank)

Article source: http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/lifestyle/~3/1TiW7gWC5T4/us-brazil-carnival-idUSTRE81K1HG20120221