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F R I D AY- S U N D AY, N O V E M B E R 6 - 8 , 2 0 0 9
Lobster safari
C f
Cruising for crustaceans
along the Swedish coast
An Arsenal fan’s pitch-perfect home Van Gogh through his letters
Contents
3 | Sports 8-9 | Cover story Travel 12 | Interview
Home sweet stadium Lobster safari The man behind the magic
13 | Film
4 | Books Cruising for crustaceans along the
1989: hammer, no sickle
Swedish coast Morgenstern on ‘A Christmas Carol’
14 | Top Picks
5 | Art
In Berlin, peacocks, dragonflies
Van Gogh through his letters and bats
Collecting: Yves Saint Laurent Old masters at the Dulwich
6-7 | Fashion 15 | Taste
Checkbook restoration
16 | Time Off
Our arts and culture calendar
Black diamonds
t
in the rough
Barbara Tina Fuhr Editor
Paul Ames
Elisabeth Limber Art director
Resurrecting a French label Brian M. Carney Taste page editor
Seafood on offer in Gothenburg’s Feskekörka fishmarket.
Questions or comments? Write to wsje.weekend@wsj.com.
COV E R , S e a f o o d f r o m S m o g e n I s l a n d , Sw e d e n . Please include your full name and address.
P h o t o g r a p h : M a c d u f f Eve r t o n / C o r b i s
THE JOURNAL CROSSWORD / Edited by Mike Shenk 60 Went for the gold
61 Metal baskets
Down
1 On cloud nine
44
45
Leatherneck’s letters
Litigious sort
77 “Cry, the Beloved
Country” author
for burning oil 2 Flummoxed 46 “More to Love” host 78 Irregularly
Across 22 Farm team 30 Curl up cozily 47 Grudging approval 63 Puts in the microwave 3 Expert at forging 48 Smooch shaped disks
1 Hormel product 23 Penultimate 32 Boorish bloke 49 Golden calf maker 64 Long-necked lutes 83 Lawn tool
letters 4 “Major Dundee” star 52 Proton feature?
33 Bonobo, for one 50 Not written 85 Lines at the movies?
5 Like the 65 Alibi ___ (excuse makers) 5 Crude cartel Favorable use of
house beer 24 Order pizza, say 34 Had on 51 Lavish plastic? Whatever! 86 Raves about
66 Zen riddles 6 Within reach
10 Songwriters’ org. 25 Response to 35 “Darn it!” 53 Studio art I’m a PC 87 Sophocles play
getting a ring? souvenir 67 Big account 7 “Mon Oncle” director/star
15 Org. that sells 38 Royal advisers? 54 New PC of 1985 90 Very long time
26 Bank deposit? Outhouse 54 White vestment 68 Floods 8 Somewhat
“Cut class, not 71 Central part 57 Valerie played her 91 Have the deed to
27 Carping? committees? 55 In-box item 9 Slim dagger
frogs” T-shirts 58 Bakery need 93 Any of the “One Bad
Nitpicking Whatever! 56 Pâtissier? 72 More than asleep 10 1990s Oldsmobile model
19 “Don’t look ___!” I’m a PC 59 “Inferno” division Apple” singers
of Richard? Tart person? 76 Like Piglet 11 Sows and cows
20 Singer Bryson Whatever! 44 Press into Whatever! 62 Timetables, 97 Grout applier
77 Crisp? Tuber splinter? 12 With nary a wave
21 Preside over I’m a PC service I’m a PC Whatever! I’m a PC à la Variety 98 Adversary
13 Feel poorly 64 Embroidered alphabet 99 Pop-up breakfast fare
79 Caterer’s containers
I’m a PC / by Myles Callum 80 Several Norwegian kings
14 What it is 66 “Gimme a break” brand 100 Competent
15 Sheriff’s power? 67 “Apparently!” 101 Sign on for
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 81 Puffin’s cousin Latin militia?
82 What C on a boarding 68 Jazz dance another hitch
19 20 21 22 Whatever! I’m a PC
pass might indicate 69 “For Whom the 102 Locks in a stall
16 Way to go
23 24 25 26 84 Game-ending word Bell Tolls” woman 103 Grand ___
17 Spill the beans
85 Shoulder bag feature 70 Valuable violin 104 Opportune
27 28 29 30 31 18 Cash on hand?
87 Hosted, toasted or roasted 71 Grieve 105 Great Lakes port
28 Baseball Hall
32 33 34 88 Hotel amenity 72 Smart 106 Grifters’ games
of Famer Robin
89 Anti-inflationary 73 Vein yields 107 Prize for Asimov
35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 29 Cost-of-living meas.
measures? Vincent’s knobs? 74 Piece of cake 108 At the peak of
31 Directional suffix
44 45 46 47 48 49 50 Whatever! I’m a PC 75 “¿Cómo ___ usted?” 111 Is for you
34 “A Room of One’s Own”
92 Thus
writer
51 52 53 54 94 It’s heard on the street
36 They offer spot coverage
55 56 57 58 59 60 95 Reverence
37 Chestnut weasels
Last Week’s Solution
96 Lauder of lotions A S AM S E L O
P E C L A P O R A L
61 62 63 64 38 Bygone days
100 Designer suit name C H C OI P O N
E S R O D E N E D S
39 Sites of some fancy
65 66 67 103 Fairy tale guy? parties H A T O L
D O W E
R T H E O V E R H E A D
Hexing a pop musician? E L D I
L C E S
S A C K R O A D S
40 Buffy Sainte-Marie and
68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 Whatever! I’m a PC S E M NE H L R E S H E A S N I T S
Tantoo Cardinal, e.g.
109 One who’s out of stock? O L D
S A L O F H
L E R S P Y D E R S
76 77 78 79 41 Sister of Olga and Masha
110 Home to Hermès D I A L A A
F S P A R A N
42 Football factory worker D R O I D S T E M T H U
80 81 82 83 112 Steelhead, for one
43 Goes downhill, in a way WA S F O R C E D T O D OW N S I Z E
113 Russian clown Popov
84 85 86 87 88 E MM Y Y U L E F U R O R V I N Y L
114 Breathing apparatus?
89 90 91 92 93 115 Rubbish WSJ.com L B O L E P E R E R O D E T E A
T O N T O I V I E D A S T O E R A S
94 95 96 97 98 99 116 1973 album featuring Crossword online D E C I D E D T O C U T C O R N E R S
“Photograph” N O D E C R U I R E N E
For an interactive
100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 117 Animated clownfish O P E L G A A B S O E N O
version of The Wall J U S T B E A R L Y G E T T I N G B Y
118 Thrusting weapon
109 110 111 112 113 Street Journal Crossword, O N T H E S E E A D R I L L E A S E
119 Sides in an
WSJ.com subscribers C H A S E AM P S E N I A C H A G
114 115 116 117 ongoing battle
can go to T H EWO L FWA S A T T H E I R D O O R
120 Story-telling slave
118 119 120 121 WSJ.com/WeekendJournal MU T E B E A N P I T A S A L O N E
121 Prohibition backers S P E D A M Y S S C O T T T V S E T
W2 FRIDAY - SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6 - 8, 2009 | WEEKEND JOURNAL
v Sports
For Arsenal fanatic, a stadium to call home
By James Appell own jacket now hangs where Mr.
I
N THE WORLD of sports, there Bergkamp’s once was. In total, he es-
are fans and there are fanatics— timates that he spent £3,000 at the
and Steven Kyprianou, a life- auction, admitting that he has
long Arsenal Football Club obses- stretched himself financially to sat-
sive, falls squarely among the latter. isfy his love for Arsenal.
Not only does he own season tickets The football theme continues
for 14 seats, Mr. Kyprianou adores throughout the rest of Mr. Kypri-
Arsenal so much that, earlier this anou’s flat, with memorabilia adorn-
year, he moved into the stadium. ing the walls. The true pièce de resis-
The old stadium, that is. Arsenal tance is in the bathroom, where a
announced plans in 1999 to relocate flat-screen television on the wall
from Highbury Stadium, the club’s plays round-the-clock sports news,
home for 93 years, to a state-of-the- allowing him to stay informed in
art venue about 500 meters away. even the most private of moments.
The new home, Emirates Stadium, The Highbury Square complex,
opened in July 2006 at a cost of estimated to have cost £150 million,
about £400 million ($660 million), still bears many of the telltale signs
boasting a 20,000-plus-seat up- of its former guise. The stands were
grade. Meanwhile, the old stadium hollowed out, rather than knocked
was converted into a high-end apart- down, and flats built inside the
ment complex, Highbury Square, metal shells. Original Art Deco fea-
which opened in August 2008. tures, most notably the East Stand’s
Mr. Kyprianou relished the red-and-white Arsenal insignia,
chance to spell out his commitment have been retained. And where once
to Arsenal in bricks and mortar. He there was a pitch, there now stands
attended his first Arsenal match at a garden, replete with fountains and
the stadium when he was five. Now, colored lighting, designed by land-
30 years later, he owns two flats scaper Christopher Bradley-Hole.
there, a coveted penthouse and the Architects Allies and Morrison have
one-bedroom apartment in which been nominated for a clutch of Clockwise from top left:
he lives, an outlay valued in the re- awards for the site. The façade of Arsenal’s old
James Appell, www.highburysquare.com (2)
gion of £1.7 million ($2.8 million). But the development of High- Highbury Stadium is part of the
“It’s private, secure, quiet, very bury Stadium has not been without new apartment complex known as
aesthetically pleasing, with parking challenges. Though sales have been Highbury Square; Steven Kyprianou
off the street,” said Mr. Kyprianou, steady, occupancy rates remain only in his new Highbury Square flat,
who runs a business that provides around the 70% mark, according to with former Arsenal striker Dennis
communications technology to com- the club. In September, Arsenal sold Bergkamp’s coat hook behind
mercial retailers. “And let’s not for- a tranche of nearly 150 apartments him on the door; a view of
get—it’s Highbury Stadium! I’d hap- to real-estate group London and Highbury Square from above.
pily camp here in winter.” Stamford Property at a discount to
Mr. Kyprianou isn’t the only fan market value of 20%, with cashflow
able to take advantage of the bur- problems blamed. A spokesman for
geoning trend for integrating sports Arsenal declined to comment on the
venues and housing. Also in Lon- specifics of the deal. Financially, at
don, Leyton Orient Football Club de- least, the stadium move may not
veloped its Brisbane Road stadium have been entirely successful for
five years ago, constructing blocks the club.
of flats on the four corners of the Despite the business risks,
pitch. Plans are also afoot for a though, the decision to convert the
project at the Walthamstow Dog old stadium into apartments has
Track in northeast London and, fur- changed the life of Mr. Kyprianou,
ther afield, in Dubai’s Stadium who finally has found an apartment
Point, a complex next to the city’s that’s a match made in heaven. Wak-
new cricket arena. The idea was also ing up every day to look out over his
floated for the redevelopment of Ti- club’s former home is the stuff of
ger Stadium in Detroit—though ulti- boyhood dreams.
mately a decision was made to flat- “I didn’t sleep for the first week I
ten the site. moved in here,” he said, smiling as
On the whole, though, the High- he sat on a comfortable leather sofa
bury Square project, comprised of in his Highbury Square home. “I just
725 flats in North London that range put my face to the window and
in price from £250,000 to £1.5 mil- looked out, in awe of the place.”
lion, is largely a unique one, bucking But those fans without Mr. Kypri-
the usual preference, as at Tiger Sta- anou’s means were sad to see the
dium or the Brooklyn Dodgers’ old stadium go—and now are
Ebbets Field in New York, for demol- tempted by a dream they can’t live
ishing old stadiums entirely. out. “They’d ripped it all out,
Never before has a football club smashed all the windows in, cut big
so eagerly sought to maintain the holes in it and it was a bit depress-
link with its former home as Arsenal ing,” said Pete Krige, a season-ticket
did at Highbury, where the benefit holder who stood gazing through
was historical preservation—the the entrance of the new complex.
East and West stands happen to be Now Mr. Krige, who lives in a ter-
listed buildings protected by law— raced house around the corner, ad-
and the added bonus of potential mits the new flats make him proud
tenants like Mr. Kyprianou. Not only to be an Arsenal fan, though it’s all a
did he buy apartments in the Arse- bit bittersweet. “They’ve done a fan-
nal complex, he also splashed out tastic job with the place,” he said.
when the club auctioned off all the “I’d love to live here.”
items that were left, from the turf to Though largely ecstatic about
the bath-taps, before it moved stadi- his new home, Mr. Kyprianou la-
ums in 2006. ments that other residents in the
“The idea was to buy stuff that I complex do not share his commit-
would then put into my own prop- ment to Arsenal. Other true fanat-
erty,” said Mr. Kyprianou. His arse- ics, he says, have been left peering
nal of booty that day included three at the gate—and Highbury Square “Fifty Fathoms Automatique”
(ref. 5015-3630-52)
baths from the changing rooms, the has been infiltrated by traitors.
showerheads and taps, soap dis- “I know there’s a Liverpool sup-
pensers and soap holders. porter here, and a Manchester
Then there are his “prized pos- United supporter, because I’ve seen
sessions”: former Arsenal striker them wearing their shirts,” he said.
Dennis Bergkamp’s coat hook and “It’s a bit of a slap in the face.”
shoe holder. Mr. Kyprianou’s shoes —James Appell is a writer based
fit handily in the holder, while his in London.
WEEKEND JOURNAL | FRIDAY - SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6 - 8, 2009 W3
v Books
Getty Images
Hammer, no sickle East German guards threw
open Berlin Wall checkpoints on
Nov. 9, 1989, and jubilant crowds began
How the fall of the Berlin Wall and communism’s collapse reshaped Europe dismantling the wall in the days that followed.
By William Anthony Hay tingent the transition was. Leader- in Leipzig on Oct. 9, 1989. Western tance to German reunification. He ropean countries for help. The bur-
B
ENJAMIN DISRAELI de- ship, as we know, must not only man- television captured the size of the and his American ally had the advan- den thus fell on Germany, which
scribed the Franco-Prussian age crises but also avert them, often demonstrations and the lack of a tage of a clear objective: democracy, promised the Soviets generous
War that brought about Ger- in conditions of uncertainty. Condi- firm response—and momentum with a market-based economy for loans and other financial guaran-
many’s unification in 1871 as “the tions in 1989 were uncertain indeed. shifted dramatically to the East Ger- all of Germany and, it was hoped, tees.
German revolution, a greater politi- In the late 1980s, the Soviet bloc man public. Meanwhile, for the gov- for the rest of the Eastern Bloc, too. The costs of reunification— com-
cal event than the French.” was engaging in a process of slow re- ernment, the cost of repression The moment for repression had bined with such checkbook diplo-
It turned out to be a shrewd form, but the possibility of repres- grew, making a “Chinese solution” passed, and West Germany’s pros- macy—hobbled the German econ-
claim, given the two world wars sion was never far away. East Ger- increasingly unlikely. Several East- perity appealed to East Germans omy for a generation, making Ger-
that followed. But the German reuni- many remained the most authoritar- ern European regimes began mak- more than their old system did. many anything but the superpower
fication of 1989 seems less a revolu- ian Soviet satellite. Its leaders ing concessions that included open- Mr. Kohl persistently caught Mr. that many had feared. Indeed, wor-
tion in Disraeli’s sense than a resto- feared that Mikhail Gorbachev’s pol- ing their borders to the West. The Gorbachev and other resistant lead- ries about a reunited Germany were
ration. Rather than setting into mo- icy of Perestroika—a cautious loos- spirit of rebellion reached its height ers off-balance, presenting succes- appeased, in part, by the crippling
tion yet another round of great- ening of Communist Party control on Nov. 9, when the Berlin Wall fell. sive faits accomplis that defined the burdens that the country bore
power rivalry, the end of Germany’s over the economy and political life— Few welcomed the change. A new reality. When Mr. Mitterrand merely to end its own division.
division brought about changes that would unleash forces impossible to French novelist captured the gen- dropped his opposition, in the Ms. Sarotte makes clear that
extended democratic stability control. They were right to worry. eral sentiment by writing that he hopes of gaining German backing 1989 was a hinge moment that, un-
through Eastern and Central Eu- The citizens of Eastern Europe were loved Germany so much that he was for French ambitions in Europe, like 1871, moved history in a better
rope. That Europe is no longer a already restless, seeing ever more glad there were two of them. Mrs. Thatcher found herself margin- direction. Despite the literal costs
flashpoint in world politics is a mea- vividly—thanks in part to global François Mitterand and Margaret alized. Mr. Kohl also chipped away to Germany, the events she de-
sure of just how successful the trans- technology—how materially de- Thatcher both joined Mr. Gorbachev at Mr. Gorbachev’s objections, even- scribes brought considerable bene-
formation has been. in opposing Ger- tually even winning his acceptance fits—and not only to the deprived
In “1989: The Struggle to Create man unification. of a united Germany’s continued East. German reunification became
Post-Cold War Europe,” Mary Elise “That Europe is no longer a The U.S., for its membership in NATO. a model for peaceful transfer. NATO
Sarotte charts the events of that mo- part, had long em- At home, Mr. Kohl used the skills and the European Union pressed as-
mentous year and their astonishing flashpoint in world politics is a braced a policy of of a ward heeler to play German poli- piring members to match Germa-
effects. With the collapse of East preferring the di- ticians off one another and to align ny’s standards of transparency and
Germany’s communist dictatorship, measure of just how successful vided-Germany sta- himself with his supporters in the to institute the rule of law, easing
Helmut Kohl, West Germany’s chan- tus quo. East. Monetary union—requiring a the transition from totalitarianism.
cellor, shrewdly played events to the transformation has been.” The U.S. became one-to-one exchange rate for the Many analysts predicted a re-
the advantage of the West. He man- more engaged after deutsche mark, despite huge differ- turn to the instability of the 1920s
aged to absorb the “other” Germany Nov. 9, however, ences in the value of East and West and 1930s or the pre-1914 rivalry
within the Federal Republic despite prived they were, compared with and Mr. Bush ended up having the Germany’s currency—was a potent among great powers. Instead, they
resistance from the Soviet Union the West, and how unfree. fewest qualms, among Western lead- lure. It helped sell the idea that East saw peace, rising living standards
and other European powers. Mr. China’s crackdown on protesters ers, about reunification. Mr. Baker Germany could be absorbed into ex- and spreading democracy. A benefi-
Kohl found an invaluable partner in at Tiananmen Square on June 3, privately noted that for the past 40 isting West German structures. cent European order that collapsed
George H.W. Bush and James Baker, 1989, provided an alternative to Per- years America had wanted a free Eu- Indeed, money played a key part with World War I returned when the
Mr. Bush’s secretary of state, both of estroika that fit more closely with rope; with a united Germany, he in the whole process. Mr. Kohl real- Berlin Wall fell. It is an achievement
whom saw a democratic Germany the history of Communist rule. But saw, the U.S. would have a greater ized that Mr. Gorbachev would in- well worth celebrating.
within NATO as part of a structure East German authorities—in a fatal role than Mr. Gorbachev in Europe’s sist on payment for his concessions. —William Anthony Hay, a
that would preserve both American miscalculation—failed to seize on destiny. The Soviet Union was feeling severe historian at Mississippi State
influence and European stability. it; at a tipping-point moment, they Thus Mr. Bush became Mr. Kohl’s economic strains, and it could not University, is the author of “The
But the full story shows how con- chose not to repress mass protests partner in overcoming the resis- count on either the U.S. or major Eu- Whig Revival.”
W4 FRIDAY - SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6 - 8, 2009 | WEEKEND JOURNAL
v Art
Letters paint portrait of van Gogh Saint Laurent
sale, part deux
Collection of correspondence dispels key myths associated with the Dutch artist’s life and work
By Paul Levy
T here’s something for every-
one at the second Yves
Saint Laurent-Pierre Bergé auc-
Amsterdam tion, which is set to take place
A
T LEAST SINCE the advent of in Paris on Nov. 17-20 and offer
cheap color reproduction in household items from Chateau
the 1960s, Vincent van Gogh Gabriel, the pair’s fairytale re-
has been a front-runner for the title treat on the Normandy coast.
of the world’s most popular artist, The first Yves Saint Laurent-
with millions of copies of his paint-
ings “Sunflowers” and “The Starry
Night” decorating student walls ev- Collecting
erywhere.
You can’t miss the irony of such
Margaret Studer
posthumous fame for an artist who
sold only a single painting in his life- Pierre Bergé estate sale, held
time. The view of the mad, almost in February, featured master-
possessed genius springs from the pieces of fine art and furniture.
bad 1934 Irving Stone novel based It fetched Œ374 million, making
on van Gogh’s letters, “Lust for it the most valuable private col-
Life,” and from the less bad 1956 lection sold at an auction. A
MGM film of it starring Kirk Doug- 1911 painting by Henri Matisse,
las. More recently we’ve had the ten- the top lot, went for Œ36 mil-
der, sad van Gogh of Don McLean’s lion, a record for the artist.
1972 song, “Vincent” (which begins Part two of the pair’s estate
“Starry, starry night”). sale is less expensive, but no
Now a landmark six-volume edi- less intriguing, featuring house-
tion of his letters (Thames & Hud- hold items from Chateau Gabri-
son, £325-£395, www.vangoghlet- el’s kitchen, bedroom and be-
ters.org) and some exhibitions yond. Expected to go for Œ3 mil-
2009 The Press Association (2)
based on it, argues that we’ve got lion-Œ4 million in total, the
Vincent wrong. Fifteen years of 1,185 lots in the Christie’s sale
scholarship by a trio of curators at come not only from Chateau
the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam— Gabriel, but also from the
Leo Jansen, Hans Luijten and pair’s Parisian apartments and
Nienke Bakker—have arrived at Mr. Saint Laurent’s Paris of-
very different conclusions from the fices. Among the items are fur-
820 autographed let- nishings, art, walking sticks,
ters by the artist— Louis Vuitton and Hermès lug-
about 600 of them to gage, framed butterflies, toy
his art-dealer brother, soldiers and even Mr. Saint Lau-
Theo—and 80 written rent’s Mercedes Benz, esti-
to van Gogh. Though mated at Œ30,000-Œ50,000.
these letters have Paris designer Jacques
never been out of print Grange, who was responsible
since first published in for Chateau Gabriel’s interior
English in 1958, the decoration, says the inspiration
new edition dispels for the retreat came from the
some of the key points exotic castles created by Lud-
of the van Gogh myth. says, that they have intrinsic liter- tious about saying that the letters wig II of Bavaria and also from
Born in 1853, the sec- ary worth. They reveal the original- confirm the now-popular view that patrician director Luchino Vis-
ond of six children of a ity of his ideas about art; his theo- Vincent had bipolar disorder. He conti’s film sets, particularly
clergyman of the Dutch ries of complimentary colors; his was diagnosed with epilepsy, that of “L’innocente” (1976), a
Reformed Church, Vin- passion for Japanese woodcuts; his though; and they said that at that film about infidelity and be-
cent van Gogh worked admiration for Jean-François Millet time, symptoms such as mania and trayal in the spoiled world of
from the young age of and Eugène Delacroix; his use of a depression might have been as- the Italian upper class.
16 for a firm of art-deal- perspective frame, which he dis- cribed to epilepsy. Their research Some of the lots are particu-
ers in the Hague and carded when he became skilled tells us that in the notorious inci- larly colorful. An ancient Etrus-
London, before becom- enough to do without it; his immer- dent, van Gogh sliced off only a can terracotta left foot from
ing a missionary in a sion in religion, until he felt able to small bit of his ear; and that he around the third century B.C. is
wretched Belgian coal- do without it as well; but also his never remembered his bouts of estimated at Œ1,000-Œ1,200,
mining district. At the deeply Protestant understanding manic agitation. When he and Paul while a double-headed cup
age of 27 he decided to and appreciation of scripture. They Gaugin conducted what he saw as from the Congo is pegged to go
teach himself to be- indicate the vast reach of his read- the utopian experiment of living in for Œ4,000-Œ6,000. There’s also
come an artist. In a career that Top, a letter from Vincent van Gogh ing. Though he left school at 15, he the Yellow House in Arles, he was by a 19th-century bronze statue of
lasted only 10 years before he shot to his brother Theo (1882). Bottom, was hardly a working-class drop- no means as poor as in the myth. Neptune from Chateau Gabri-
himself in 1890, he produced more van Gogh’s ‘Self Portrait as an Artist’ out: he had been home-schooled by Theo made him an allowance of 300 el’s billiard room (estimate:
than 800 paintings and 1,200 draw- (1888) in Amsterdam. a governess, and then attended a French francs a month in 1888, con- Œ2,500-Œ3,500) and a sculpture
ings. A prodigious, compulsive let- boarding school. siderably more than the postmas- set of Mr. Saint Laurent’s favor-
ter writer, he often illustrated his let- When van Gogh turned 16, his un- ter, Joseph Roulin (whose entire ite pets, French bulldogs, esti-
ters with a sketch of work he’d al- Then, at the Royal Academy in cle got him a job with the art dealer family Vincent painted) had to sup- mated at Œ400-Œ600.
ready done (probably to justify him- London from Jan. 23 to April 18, cu- Goupil & Cie in the Hague. After four port his wife and three children. Proceeds from the sale will
self to Theo, who was supporting rator Ann Dumas will show 35 let- years of training, Goupil sent him to When Ms. Dumas displays some go to the fight against AIDS.
him financially). He was a genuinely ters in the context of a mighty loan England, where he lived in South of the swirling, thickly impasto’d,
good writer—in three languages, exhibition of 65 paintings and 30 London, and, at 20, earned more turbulent Saint-Rémy paintings
Christie’s
Dutch, French and English. drawings that explore the themes of than his father did. Here he fell in done shortly before his suicide,
Physically, the letters are ex- the letters. Some of the pieces, love with and was rejected by his made in the frenzy of madness ac-
tremely fragile, and opportunities which are on loan from public and landlady’s daughter, and suc- cording to the standard myth, she’ll
for the public to see the actual auto- private collections all over the cumbed to religious mania. He was point out that the letters indicate a
graphed copies of them are rare. world, are well known, and some are sent to a Paris dealer, but began to calm spirit; and that, indeed, he
There is an exhibition of 120 of the being exhibited for the first time. despise the commercial side of art never made a painting—or wrote a
letters at the Van Gogh Museum in The curators say this may well be and was sacked in April 1876. Back letter—during his bouts of illness.
Amsterdam until Jan. 3. The mu- the last time the letters can ever be in England, the letters record his The new edition of the letters de-
seum has rearranged its own very shown to the public; it will also be time as a substitute teacher, then as pict Vincent as a rational artist, but
large permanent collection of paint- the first major van Gogh exhibition a Methodist minister’s assistant, a troubled, though superlatively tal-
ings, which includes most of the in London for more than 40 years. “preaching the Gospel everywhere,” ented, modern man. Above all, the
iconic works—“The Potato Eaters,” Ms. Dumas calls her show “The working in a bookshop, translating letters are a remedy for critical judg-
“Sunflowers,” “Irises,” the paint- Real Van Gogh: The Artist and his parts of the Bible into Dutch, French ment jaded by a million cheap post-
ings of reapers and sowers, the Letters.” The title of the exhibition and English and going to Amster- ers: they help us look at the pictures
chair and the famous portraits and is a tribute to the scholarship of the dam to study theology. afresh and see the truly great artist
self-portraits—so that the letters editors, which, she says, allows us It seems obvious with hindsight who made them.
can be seen alongside the works he now to see van Gogh as he really that he was mentally unstable. Yet —Paul Levy is a writer based in A double-headed cup from the
was writing about. was. The letters are so good, she Messrs. Jansen and Luijten are cau- Oxfordshire. Congo (estimate: Œ4,000-Œ6,000).
WEEKEND JOURNAL | FRIDAY - SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6 - 8, 2009 W5
v Fashion
Hunting for diamonds in the rough
Looking for an alternative to flashy gems, discerning shoppers turn to black stones and natural cuts
By Jemima Sissons
W
HEN SARAH TAYLOR, a 27-year-old
law graduate from London, re-
ceived an engagement ring, she
was more than a little shocked, and not
only because her boyfriend proposed on a
railway platform in northern Scotland on a
rainy Monday morning in March.
“It was black—a band of tiny black dia-
monds, set in black gold,” Ms. Taylor said.
“When I finally managed to compose myself
and look at the ring, it was exquisite.”
Her 30-year-old fiancé, Paul Williams, a
teacher, wanted to buy something different,
so he opted for a black diamond. “Why go
for bog-standard solitaire?” he said. “I
wanted something out of the ordinary.”
Mr. Williams turned out to be remark-
ably in touch. Tired of the garish bling that
has come to epitomize Champagne-popping
yacht hoppers, many shoppers are seeking
out more original types of diamonds, with
rough cuts or alternative hues—and black
diamonds have become a particularly popu-
lar choice. Apart from their own distinctive
qualities, alternative diamonds are also a
better credit-crunch choice: Both rough dia-
monds and treated, colored diamonds are
cheaper than their polished counterparts.
London-based jeweler Ming Lampson,
who makes exquisite heirloom-quality
pieces for her clients, has noticed a real Cult Mayfair-based jeweler Stephen Web- raw, organic quality. Worn by royals hun- Left to right: Jewels Verne shrimp brooch
surge in interest in black diamonds. “In the ster, whose neo-gothic crab rings, poison- dreds of year ago, before polishing tech- (£30,000); Jewels Verne lobster ring (£17,000);
last three months alone I’ve made four or ivy necklaces and knuckle dusters are worn niques were mastered, they are enjoying a vortex diamond couture knuckle duster ring
five black diamond engagement rings,” she by gothic-inclined celebrities, fashionistas revival as people look to adorn themselves (£15,340); and Jewels Verne ‘Bit on the Side’
said, adding that there is a hunger for un- and socialites, sees the shift in trend as with less ostentatious, subtler rocks. ring (£5,800), all made by Stephen Webster
usual stones at the moment. “In the ’90s ev- part of a cultural zeitgeist. “Black diamonds London jeweler Leonardo Pieroni has with black diamonds.
erything used to be white diamond and are about dark glamour, which is perfect been using rough diamonds for more than
white metal. Now people are becoming for today,” Mr. Webster says. “There is a 20 years. His beautiful, simple designs—a
more adventurous.” huge craze for the romantic, grown-up gold band with a single stone is one of his terested in rough gems over 10 years ago,
Ms. Lampson said she likes using black goth, symbolized by interest in [vampire signature styles—are a way to own dia- when she was working for diamond miner
diamonds because they reflect the light in a TV] programs like ‘True Blood.’ I think this monds without breaking the bank. A four- Leviev. “So many years of heat, pressure
special way, flashing in a bright white. “If look has become quite seductive.” Mr. Web- carat rough diamond gold ring, for exam- and natural gasses have turned carbon into
you see someone wearing a black diamond sters says that one of his clients—a Russian ple, fetches £3,200—much cheaper than a this amazing stone with all its natural crys-
necklace, it catches your eye from the other art collector—has commissioned him to polished rock of the same size, which would tal shapes. It has a perfect raw beauty.”
side of the room,” she said. “Unlike a white make a £20,000 vampire ring that will in- go for £10,500 to £250,000, depending on Diamond in the Rough sells its jewelry
diamond, there are no rainbows, no internal clude black diamonds. Mr. Webster added its quality. at the Moussaieff stores in London and
reflection. They possess this very special that black diamonds have captured another, Recently, however, rough diamonds have Geneva, with prices starting at £6,000 for a
opaqueness.” previously untapped audience: “Earlier this started to go luxe too. De Beers’s Talisman ring with a sizable rough diamond. Many
Hollywood also has given black dia- year I made a bespoke black diamond tie- collection, which is based on rough dia- pieces include smaller, polished diamonds
monds a boost. Sarah Jessica Parker bar for Mickey Rourke, and Russell Brand is monds and features beautiful, rustic-style as well. “There is a craze for everything
donned a black diamond strand necklace by a real fan of our black-diamond pieces. Men medallions, pendants and rings, is definitely that is natural these days, and these are
American jeweler Itay Malkin in the “Sex are going mad for them—it’s the acceptable not a budget option: A pair of yellow gold something different, a conversation piece,”
and the City” movie, and Adrian Grenier non-bling way to wear jewelery.” earrings containing 7.41 carats of rough and said Alisa Moussaieff, Moussaieff’s manag-
sported a similar one in this season’s finale Black diamonds have a storied history. polished stones costs £16,500. ing director and owner.
of the TV show “Entourage.” At the Basel- In medieval Italy, they were known as the Another leader in rough-luxe diamond What’s next for jewelery? Baselworld fea-
world jewelery fair in March—a barometer “stones of reconciliation.” A wave of a black jewelery is American company Diamond in tured an array of purple-hued jewelery
of what’s going to be hot in the coming diamond in the face of an unhappy spouse the Rough. Started four years ago by New made from stones like agate and amethyst.
year—the pairing of black and white dia- would, according to legend, clear things up. York-based Anjanette Clisura and Daniel Es- In the U.K., Mayfair jeweler Mr. Webster
monds was one of the strongest trends. Ac- The Duke of Wellington admired them for kapa, who felt there was something missing says people are already searching for some-
cording to its organizers, the show featured their opaque beauty and reportedly owned in the market, the company now sells its thing edgier. “I’ve had huge demand for
a lot of “unpretentious jewelery”—pieces a black diamond weighing 12.25 carats. One jewelry around the world. “I think that gray diamonds recently,” he said. “They’re
that didn’t draw attention to the wearer of the largest black diamonds in the world rough is so appealing because you get to definitely going to be the new black.”
and could be worn every day, such as those today—the Spirit of de Grisogono—comes see the stone exactly how nature has —Jemima Sissons is a writer based in
with dark or rough stones. in at a whopping 312 carats. formed it,” said Ms. Clisura, who became in- London.
These show-stoppers are genuine black
diamonds, which acquire their gloomy hue
naturally because they have high concentra- Arbitrage
tions of dark crystals, such as sulphides.
Manufacturers also can treat diamonds to
make them black. Modern processes have Marc Jacobs Lola perfume
allowed them to enhance and change the
color of poor-quality, muddy diamonds—
which would never be sold in their natural Local
state—in a laboratory, using radiation or City currency Œ
heating. Both natural and treated black dia-
monds are much cheaper than your run-of- New York $92 Œ62
the-mill diamond. Whereas a one-carat
Amelia Troubridge; top, Stephen Webster (4)
white diamond can range from £3,000 to London £59 Œ66
£8,000, a natural black diamond costs
£250-£450 a carat, and treated black dia-
monds start at only £80-£120 a carat. Dia- Hong Kong* HK$780 Œ68
monds treated to become colors other than
black cost from £500 to £2,000 a carat. Paris Œ89 Œ89
(The real thing will cost you a small for-
tune—“fancy color” natural diamonds, such
as red, blue and yellow, are the most expen- Frankfurt* Œ89 Œ89
sive in the world).
Rough diamonds are also becoming styl- Rome Œ91 Œ91 * only available
Dita Von Teese wears an Art Deco ring with black ish. In keeping with more austere times, mid-November
diamonds (£3,250) by Stephen Webster. these natural stones are admired for their Note: Prices of 100-ml bottle, plus taxes, as provided by retailers in each city, averaged and converted into euros.
W6 FRIDAY - SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6 - 8, 2009 | WEEKEND JOURNAL
Sewing a sequel at Vionnet
A
S “ROCKY VII” PROVES, it’s scared … she’s influenced every- the original.
hard to live up to the original thing,” the designer says of Ms. Vi- Of course, the current Givenchy
but even harder to abandon onnet’s work. under Riccardo Tisci bears no resem-
an established brand. This is true of Thirteen years of designing wom- blance to the former label of Hubert
fashion houses, too, which is why en’s wear for Miuccia Prada have de Givenchy. It’s just a brand—and a
we’re essentially up to “Dior V,” given him a background in indepen- successful one. Brands like Nina
“Givenchy V” and “Halston VI: The dent women, though. Vionnet’s Ricci, Halston and Rochas recently
Designer Strikes Back.” spring 2010 collection shown in have been revolving doors for de-
Paris last month walks a fine line be- signers who set aside their artistic
tween homage and modern life. druthers to channel someone else’s.
On Style Largely created from squares of fab- Sometimes, as in the case of Balen-
ric (right out of Vionnet textbooks), ciaga with designer Nicolas Ghes-
CHRISTINA BINKLEY long tunics can also be worn as quière, investors hit gold.
short dresses. Sleeves are tied like This isn’t the first attempt to re-
Now another former haute cou- scarves at the shoulders, and the vive Vionnet. Previous investors
ture house is seeking ready-to-wear scarf becomes a motif for shoes. tried it in 2006 and 2007. So we’re
immortality with new backers and a These are attractive clothes that really talking here about “Vionnet
fresh designer. Testing the limits of could be tossed in a suitcase. But be- IV.” Mr. Marzotto, too, worries
the strategy, the brand in question cause they’re labeled Vionnet, they about missteps; as he details his
is Vionnet, a masterful label that must be compared with the origi- plans, he adds, “I’m still crossing fin- Left to right: a 1936 Vionnet
you probably have never heard of. nals. The new Vionnet is heavier and gers every morning for Vionnet— gown; Madeleine Vionnet; a
Vionnet
Its founding designer, Madeleine less elegant, without the magic of crossing fingers with both hands.” design from the new Vionnet.
Vionnet shuttered her business in
1939, and it stayed shut for six de-
cades. So while the name is vener-
ated in fashion circles, it’s not as if
every high-school girl is dying to
own a Vionnet bag.
Yet earlier this year, Matteo Mar-
zotto bought the rights to the Vion-
net brand with his friend Gianni Cas-
tiglioni, chief executive of Marni.
Mr. Marzotto is the sixth-genera-
tion scion of an Italian textile family
and the former chief executive of
Valentino (now “Valentino III”).
“We have to re-interpret a bright
past, but not reproduce it,” he says.
The reintroduction of Vionnet
comes just in time to take advantage
of the first-ever Vionnet retrospec-
tive at the Louvre’s Musée des Arts
Decoratifs in Paris. The exhibit of
130 dresses, with interactive expla-
nations of Vionnet’s techniques,
runs through Jan. 31. The show also
may remind the public that Coco
Chanel was not the only designer
who pioneered today’s modern,
comfortable clothing.
Madeleine Vionnet popularized
the forgiving bias cut and dispensed
with buttons, zippers and hooks in
favor of draping and wrapping fab-
ric in comfortable forms; she
dressed Garbo and Dietrich. She cre-
ated clothing for women who trav-
eled, and her designs were so mod-
ern and influential that you can find
bits of them—wrap looks and drop-
waist dresses, for instance—in al-
most any store today. Her work is
studied in fashion schools with a rev-
erence akin to aviation’s regard for
Charles Lindbergh.
Ms. Vionnet was paranoid when
it came to copies—she pioneered
dress-design copyrighting meth-
ods, cutting down on knock-offs.
And in 1952, she donated her entire
archive of dress samples, patterns
and photographs to what is now the
Musée des Arts Decoratifs. The mu-
seum’s curator, Pamela Golbin,
grins at the fortune. “We’ve got the
goods,” she says. “She gave us the
entire memory of her house.”
The donation meant something
different for Vionnet’s new de-
signer, Rodolfo Paglialunga: He
lacked the benefit of an archive,
bringing a whole new meaning to
“inspired by.” He worked from text-
books, photographs and anything
else he could get his hands on.
Ms. Golbin says she toured Mr.
Marzotto, Mr. Castiglioni and his
wife (Marni designer Consuelo Cas-
tiglioni), and even Mr. Marzotto’s
mother through the exhibit. But Mr.
Paglialunga says he was too shy to
request a special tour. “I just went
very quietly myself,” he says.
“After I saw that, I was very
WEEKEND JOURNAL | FRIDAY - SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6 - 8, 2009 W7
v Travel
Frank Heuer
Lobster L
Flatön, Sweden
OW, BLACK CLOUDS swallowed the cliff-top church, hailstones
like ball bearings pounded the little boat and the wind whipped up
the slate-gray waves into a frenzy. All of a sudden, the Swedish lob-
Safari
ster safari seemed not such a good idea.
Not only were the elements against us, the seafood wasn’t on
our side either. Most of the baskets hauled with much manpower
from the seabed were either empty or filled with a derisory selection of her-
mit crabs, undersized cod or starfish. When eventually the sight of our first
lobster brought a cheer from everyone on board, the caviar-like roe glisten-
ing on her belly meant we were legally bound to return her to the deep.
“Don’t worry, they have hot dogs,” skipper Andreas Sveaberg joked, re-
ferring to our hotel restaurant, as the prospects of a self-caught meal
dimmed.
Lobster safaris, which give landlubbers the chance to pluck their own
lobster dinner from the sea, are offered by several hotels along Sweden’s
Bohuslän coast. This intricate network of 8,000 islands, countless inlets
and scattered fishing villages is strung for 200 kilometers along Sweden’s
western seaboard from the Norwegian border south to Gothenburg, which
has developed a reputation as country’s gourmet seafood capital.
On a fine day the views here are spectacular, with innumerable, moss-
Where foodies on the hunt for fresh covered skerries emerging through flat, blue waters bathed in soft, north-
ern light. Communities made up of wooden fishermen’s cottages painted
seafood come out of their shell mustard, white or deep Falu red, are strung along the coast. They include
Ingrid Bergman’s retreat in Fjällbacka, the windswept old herring port of
Klädesholmen and fashionable Marstrand, which is situated in the lee of a
17th-century fortress built for defense against Danes and Norwegians.
Scandinavian relations may be more pacific these days, but fishermen
along Sweden’s west coast still complain about Nordic neighbors stealing
their seafood. Lobsters are known as “black gold” in reflection of the price
By Paul Ames the king of crustaceans fetches on markets in Gothenburg and Stockholm.
For visitors hoping to get a taste of Swedish shellfish mania, the charm-
ing Handelsman Flink hotel on the island of Flatön offers a fall package for
lobster safaris that starts with a hearty lunch of fish soup and äggost, a local
dessert that translates as “egg-cheese.” Suitably nourished, guests head out
with the crew of a nine-meter boat for an afternoon spent pulling lobster
traps from the deep. Provided the expedition is successful, the hotel’s chef
will prepare the lobster for dinner upon return, while you relax in the sauna.
Fortunately, the hotel provides its guests with fluorescent green oil-
skins, which may not win any prizes for sartorial elegance but will shut out
most of the weather screeching down the Skagerrak channel that runs be-
tween Sweden, Denmark and Norway on its way to the North Sea.
“Yesterday we had a glorious day: sun, flat seas, lots of lobsters,” Mr.
W8 FRIDAY - SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6 - 8, 2009 | WEEKEND JOURNAL
Thörnströms kök
STAY
Where to
Handelsman Flink
A cluster of mustard-colored
Paul Ames
wooden houses built around an
old general store, the hotel is known
for its lobster safaris and restau-
rant. Double with breakfast from
1,780 kronor (Œ170); lobster safari
package, 3,500 kronor p.p. (Œ335).
%46-304-550-51
www.handelsmanflink.se
Salt & Sill
Hotel and restaurant situated on
floating pontoons on the sea on
the fishing island of Klädesholmen,
which specializes in herring. Hotel
rooms combine modern Scandina-
vian design with spectacular views
of the rocky coast. Doubles with
breakfast from 1,590 kronor (Œ152).
%46-304-673-480
www.saltosill.se
Hotel Flora
A neat boutique hotel in a canal-
Jennie Lund
side square on the edge of historic
central Gothenburg. Doubles with
breakfast from 1,050 kronor (Œ101).
%46-31-138-616
Clockwise from left: Handelsman www.hotelflora.se
Flink’s lobster safari boat in Flatön; Hotell Liseberg Barken Viking
freshly boiled Swedish lobster; Håkan Built in 1907, the sailing ship
Thörnström at his restaurant in Viking once carried cargos of
Gothenburg; a fishnet at a boathouse Swedish timber to Australia. Now
in Bohuslän; fisherman Ivan Axelsson
Frank Heuer
it’s moored permanently in
runs a lobster safari out of Resö. Gothenburg, converted into a hotel.
Doubles from 1,596 kronor (Œ153).
%46-31-635-800
www.liseberg.com
Sveaberg, the skipper, explained to one guest who seemed unamused as her ster menus. At Mr. Thörnström’s eponymous restaurant tucked away in a
EAT
surf-tossed complexion began to match the color of her green coveralls. Mr. residential neighborhood behind the Museum of Art, this year’s lobster Where to
Sveaberg and his shipmate, both locals from the west coast, had laid the menu kicked off with vanilla-glazed lobster claw with Jerusalem arti-
traps days in advance and baited them with herring. Each of the passengers chokes. It moved on to braised lobster with veal sweetbread and truffle, fol-
took turns pulling up a trap from the bottom by hand, but once we’d dragged lowed by lobster tail saffron rice with squid and mussels, and then a selec-
them on board, the professionals took over, carefully extracting the lobsters tion of Swedish cheese that includes “granbarksost” wrapped in the bark of Thörnströms Kök
to ensure that none of the safari-goers’ fingers risked claw-induced injury. Christmas trees. Finally, it finished with rum-flambéed pineapple. Chef Håkan Thörnström, who
Although there was no sign of the weather improving, our luck with the Food like this doesn’t come cheap, although the kronor’s recent slide makes modern Swedish cuisine
nets began to change when our boat, the Nephrops, edged out of the rela- against the euro has made Sweden more affordable for visitors from points based on local ingredients, has
tively sheltered waters between Flatön and Bokenäs islands into the mouth south. Pound and dollar holders must still dig deep. Combined with a wine cooked for the 60th birthday of King
of the Gullmaren fjord. By the time we paused for an on-board picnic of cof- menu that matches each course with top-class tipples from Germany, New Carl Gustaf and the Nobel banquet.
fee and cinnamon buns, we had three of the beauties safely stored on deck. Zealand, California, Cognac and the Loire Valley, dinner for one at Thörn- %46-31-162-066
The friendly group of 50-something professionals from Stockholm on our ströms Kök came to 1,520 kronor ($218). www.thornstromskok.com.
sister boat had done even better with four. Dinner was on. Catching your own lobster is not exactly a low-cost alternative. The sa-
Swedish Taste
Swedes claim the salt levels and chilly waters of their west coast are per- fari package, which includes a one-night hotel stay, costs 3,500 kroner
Home of what is arguably
fect for seafood. In the cold, experts say, shellfish grow more slowly, giving ($503) a head. That’s not including drinks, although they did throw in the
Gothenburg’s most inventive
them a sweeter, more intense flavor. “Of all the lobsters I’ve tried, I think steaming mug of rum-infused tea waiting to greet our bedraggled group as
cuisine. Chef Magnus Lindström
ours have the best quality,” says leading Gothenburg chef Håkan Thörn- we returned from our expedition. An even warmer welcome was awaiting
serves up scallop terrine or wild
ström. “You can’t compare it.” our lobsters. Set up on the jetty was a huge cauldron of bubbling broth.
duck with ginger and sea buckthorn.
Beneath the arches of Gothenburg’s fish market lies a dazzling display of Though the Lobster Institute, based in Maine, says lobsters, like insects,
%46-31-132-780
pink shrimp, black-tipped crab claws, piles of oysters, crawling live cray- do not process pain, animal rights campaigners insist there is evidence that
www.swedishtaste.com
fish, gleaming rows of haddock, hake and mackerel and, of course, lobster— the shellfish suffer. Nonetheless, the successful lobster safari-goers cheer-
either dull, black living specimens or vivid scarlet, fresh from the pot. The fully lined up to drop their catches into the pot. Minutes later the lobsters Sjömagasinet
market was constructed in 1874 beside the dock in the style of a gothic were lifted from the bouillon, shells transformed from dull black to pepper- Supreme seafood on Gothenburg’s
chapel and is known as the Feskekôka, meaning “fish church.” red. In the wooden boathouse, we were given a crash course in how to re- riverfront. The late New York Times
Traditionally, seafood was served simply and unadorned here. “You cook move claws and carapace cleanly, offered a nibble on the spindly legs, then journalist and food writer R.W.
it plain and you eat it plain,” explains Ann Katrin Ljung, food editor of the sent off to warm up in the hotel spa while dinner was prepared. Apple Jr. listed it as one of his top 10
national daily Expressen. “You don’t fuss.” This being Scandinavia, guests should be prepared to discard their inhi- restaurants. Chef Leif Mannerström
But over the past decade, things have been growing more sophisticated. bitions and mingle naked in the sauna with their crewmates without turn- is so well known in Sweden that he
In 1999, now legendary chef Leif Manneström won a Michelin star for Sjöma- ing as scarlet as the lobsters. More difficult was to rewind in the hot tub, has appeared on a postage stamp.
gasinet, a fish restaurant housed in a timber-framed waterfront building contemplating the tempestuous sea view without your mind drifting to the %46-31-775 -5920
that served as a warehouse for the Swedish East India Company. From then fate of the seafood in their cauldron. www.sjomagasinet.se
on, Gothenburg has been on the map as a gastronomic hot spot, where a By late September, the Nordic nights come down early and it was dark as
Smaka
generation of younger chefs built reputations by combining the region’s su- we made our way to the hotel restaurant. Our lobster arrived, halved, accom-
Known for the best meatballs in
perlative seafood with seasonal local roots, berries and herbs to produce a panied by a glass of Pouilly Fumé and adorned only by a bowl of hollandaise—
Gothenburg, this neighborhood
fresh take on Swedish traditional cuisine. plain, simple and sea-fresh delicious. It was followed by a beautifully pre-
restaurant serves Swedish clas-
Today, Sweden’s second city boasts five Michelin star restaurants, with a sented dish of hake served with our lobster’s claws, pork belly, shredded
sics like elk steak or ‘old man’s mix’
queue of others tipped to join the constellation of stars. Gothenburg’s culi- cabbage and pickled cucumber.
(cured sprats and egg on rye bread).
nary kudos have helped put this elegant and cultured seaport firmly on Eu- After a finale of crème brûlée served with wild berries and a vivid orange
%46-31-132-247
rope’s city-trip circuit, as an increasingly number of visitors come to stroll sorbet of sea buckthorn and washed down with a honey-scented glass of
www.smaka.se
its 18th-century avenues and tree-lined canals. American ice-wine, sleep came easy despite the gale still blowing outside.
At the start of the lobster season in late September, the city’s top tables The lobster safari seemed like a fine idea after all. –Paul Ames
compete to honor the “black gold” from the coast with specially crafted lob- —Paul Ames is a writer based in Brussels.
WEEKEND JOURNAL | FRIDAY - SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6 - 8, 2009 W9
W10 FRIDAY - SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6 - 8, 2009 | WEEKEND JOURNAL
WEEKEND JOURNAL | FRIDAY - SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6 - 8, 2009 W11
v Interview
Joan Villaplana
The man behind the magic
By Kati Krause mas proclaiming him a member of truck full of TV sets in a convention
W
HEN THE PORTUGUESE associations like the International center than one TV set on a football
magician Luis de Matos Brotherhood of Magicians. His Mági- pitch.
made an elephant and a Fer- cus shop can be visited at c/Diput-
rari disappear in front of 12,000 peo- ació, 274, in Barcelona. Q: What has been your most dif-
ple in a Lisbon sports stadium for ficult commission?
the Expo ’98, when the Spaniard Q: How would you define your That was the presentation of a
Mag Lari cut a person in eight job title? new Volkswagen Golf convertible in
pieces in his 2007 show Secrets, and You could call me an artisan of the now-defunct Sala Scala theater
when a magical chest spat fire, magic or a creator of illusions. in Barcelona, around 1990. We had
smoke and objects during a recent to make the car vanish and reap-
production at the Teatre Nacional Q: That sounds very artistic. pear. It was extremely complicated
de Catalunya, Carles Ferrandiz was Yes, but when you do a job for a because the theater’s layout was re-
never far away. professional showman the work ally weird. The stage was 30 meters
He might shy away from the lime- isn’t that artistic anymore. Imagina- long but very narrow and grew out
light, but Mr. Ferrandiz’s invisible tion ends when the show beings. into the room, which meant there
hand is behind some of the most were people sitting around it. The Carles Ferrandiz
spectacular magic tricks performed Q: What do your commissions same presentation was then taken in his workshop,
in Spain and the rest of Europe over usually look like? to Madrid and I spent a month adapt- in front of one
the past 40 years. Together with his The most creative work is when ing it to the different stage. of his magical
team of six, the owner of the Mági- a professional comes to me with an devices.
cus magic shop in Barcelona manu- idea but doesn’t know how to Q: How much do you charge to
factures devices for magicians and achieve it. That’s imagination and in- make a car vanish? Absolutely not. What has However, the less knowledgeable
theater productions, invents magic vention. It’s also more fun and chal- About Œ20,000. changed is the way of performing they are, the more magical the show
tricks and makes objects and people lenging than inventing devices for magic. There are fewer shows, but becomes. I’ve got old books on
disappear upon request. the shop. Any commission depends Q: Do you go to see the shows the problem is not magic: there are magic here that teach ways of doing
Mr. Ferrandiz is the son of Span- on the circumstances—money, where your devices are being fewer shows in general. There is tricks that would be impossible to-
ish magician José María Ferrandiz, space, the situation on stage. For ex- used? hardly any varieté left. I don’t think day. Nobody would buy it.
and as a young man he was disen- ample, what if the stage is empty? I Of course, I try to go as often as it’s a lack of interest; it has to do
chanted with magic for the disrup- can do magic but not wonders. possible. I find it interesting. And I with an interpretation, taken by the Q: So increased knowledge has
tive effect it had on their family. He learn: sometimes artists, when they authorities, of what is culture and made magic look less magical?
decided to become a mechanical en- Q: Because if it’s empty…? rehearse with the device, change what isn’t. I think juggling is as Yes, but it has also led magicians
gineer—only to find himself manu- If there are other people or things. That gives me great satisfac- much culture as the recital of po- to put in more effort. Of course it
facturing pieces for his father’s items, you have more possibilities. I tion. People often ask me whether a ems—if it is done well. Culture has lost something wonderful: the
shop. The two formed a partner- need dancers, music, light, or at magician can still impress me, since doesn’t always have to be sublime innocence. But I think that before,
ship, and Mr. Ferrandiz warmed to least a couple of plants! I know all the tricks. I reply that if and deep. magicians didn’t use to be artists—
the subject. Now 61 years old, he has the show is good, I’m impressed. On they were simply people perform-
made more things disappear than Q: So the difficulty of a produc- the other hand, when I see a bad Q: Do you think there are cul- ing tricks that no one else knew. To-
he can remember. tion doesn’t depend on the size of show, I suffer. tural differences in the world re- day’s great magicians are first and
We met Carles Ferrandiz in his the object? garding magic? foremost artists.
Barcelona office, replete with magi- No, it’s about the situation and lo- Q: Do you think that magic is an I think that people all over the —Kati Krause is a writer based in
cal devices, ancient books and diplo- cation. It can be easier to produce a art form in decline? world enjoy seeing a good show. Barcelona.
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W12 FRIDAY - SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6 - 8, 2009 | WEEKEND JOURNAL
v Film
To to bottom, Film Frame; s 2009 Westgate Film Services, Sony PIctures
Jim Carrey as Scrooge in ‘A Christmas Carol.’
‘A Christmas Carol’: What the dickens?
T
O PUT IT bluntly, if Scroogely, unnature of that technology. Like eternity. This sad excuse for family
Disney’s 3-D animated ver- “The Polar Express” and “Beowulf,” entertainment tries to enshrine a
sion of “A Christmas Carol” is which were also directed by Mr. Ze- classic while defacing it.
a monstrosity. The pace is predomi- meckis, “A Christmas Carol” em-
‘The Men Who Stare At Goats’
nantly glacial—that alone would be ploys a motion-capture process that
“The Men Who Stare At Goats”
enough to cook the goose of this pre- translates the movements of live ac-
stars George Clooney, Jeff Bridges,
mature holiday turkey—and the tors into fantasy images. For its de-
Ewan McGregor and Kevin Spacey.
tone is joyless, despite an extended tractors, including me, motion cap-
All of them look like they’re having
passage of bizarre laughter, several ture has long been synonymous
lots of fun, and their enjoyment
dazzling flights of digital fancy, a with a special sort of semi-lifeless-
promises to be infectious. After a
succession of striking images and ness—body language that is vaguely
while, though, the only sign of infec-
Jim Carrey’s voicing of Scrooge plus impoverished, faces with limited
tion may be an urge to squirm, fol-
mobility and dead eyes.
lowed by nagging doubts. You may
In the global marketing push for
Film his new film, the director has dis-
wonder if this screen version of the
book of the same name is as un-
missed such problems as essentially
JOE MORGENSTERN solved. But they haven’t been solved
funny and strangely mushy as it
seems, or if you’re simply failing to
at all; they’ve only been mitigated,
lock in on its frequency. But there’s
half a dozen other roles. “Why so and partially masked by the novelty
no steady signal to lock in on, no
coldhearted?” Scrooge’s nephew, value of 3-D. Motion capture re-
firm ground beneath the story of a
Fred, asks the old skinflint. The mains an impediment to capturing
secret U.S. Army unit that was dedi-
same question could be asked of emotion. “A Christmas Carol” soars
cated to developing psychic powers.
Robert Zemeckis, who adapted and only when Scrooge is in temporal
It’s a goof about goofballs, a comedy
directed the film, and of the com- transit—one lyrical sequence flies
that takes self-pleasure wherever it
pany that financed it. Why was sim- him back to his boyhood village.
can be found.
ple pleasure frozen out of the pro- And some of the action, as well as a George Clooney stars in ‘The Men Who Stare At Goats.’
Jon Ronson, the book’s author,
duction? Why does the beloved cataclysmic climax fueled by hell-
said the story was true; ostensibly
story feel embalmed by technology? fires and hellwinds, will scare little
sane citizens really did try to create
And why are its characters as insub- kids out of their little wits. that, of course. It’s a series of testi- lem is resolved simply by reducing
a force of American soldiers with su-
stantial as the snowflakes that seem Dickens framed his novella as a monials and expressions of love the volume in his earpiece. At an-
perpowers, warrior monks who
to be falling on the audience? moral tale. Disney sells it as a thrill from cast members, many of whom other point he asks, in a tone that
could make themselves invisible,
A catch-all answer—and by now ride—“The Polar Express” with a re- had idolized Michael when they also verges on plaintiveness, “I’m
walk through walls and, as a train-
an all-too-familiar one—lies in the ally bad Santa. Well, it’s a free coun- were kids. It’s a pastiche that pulls trying to conserve my voice. Please
ing exercise if nothing else, kill a
try, and a public- together live footage and pieces of a understand.” Singers almost always
goat by staring at it. Yet demonstra-
Michael Jackson in ‘This Is It.’ domain prop- marvelous black-and-white homage conserve their voice during rehears-
ble truth wasn’t the issue. The plea-
erty. Neverthe- to Hollywood that was to be played als, so his plea falls on sympathetic
sures of the book came from the cra-
less, you can al- against “Smooth Criminal” in the ears. Still, there’s a strong sense of a
ziness of the schemes, the fervor of
most see the vari- show—the Rita Hayworth of “Gilda” fragile man at the center of sensory
the crackpots who devised them
ous rooms on the tossing Michael her glove, Hum- pummeling, trying to conserve
and the steady skepticism of the
Disneyland phrey Bogart scowling at him or fir- what’s left of himself.
prose. In the movie, which was di-
ride-to-be while ing a tommy gun. And it’s an ex-
rected by Grant Heslov from a
the movie makes pertly packaged—brilliantly pack-
screenplay by Peter Straughan, the WSJ.com
its way from Vic- aged, considering how quickly the
two main crackpots, played by Mr.
torian past to fun- job was done—phantasmagoria that
Clooney and Mr. Bridges, have be-
house future.
come arch charmers, and the tone is
emphasizes, quite convincingly, the Opening this week in Europe
(Maybe the ride’s energy that Michael could still draw
New Age whimsy, with absurdist n (500) Days of Summer Belgium, Croatia
sound de- from whatever was fueling his
overtones by way of the Coen broth- n A Christmas Carol Denmark, Germany,
sign-to-be is why wraith-thin body.
ers and Wes Anderson. One of the su- Finland, Norway, Romania, Sweden, U.K.
the Ghost of In most of the footage we see,
perpowers under study involves re- n A Serious Man Austria, Italy
Christmas the star, like the superb profession-
mote viewing by means of extrasen- n Bright Star U.K.
Present laughs so als around him, already knows all
sory perception. I wish I could have n Coco Before Chanel Greece, Finland
long and mania- his moves and does them dazzlingly.
viewed this movie remotely, or not n Julie & Julia Spain
cally.) In the tur- (Many of those moves must have
at all. n Land of the Lost Norway
gid stretches be- been as deeply imprinted in his mus-
tween action se- ‘This Is It’ cles as they were in his tortured n New York, I Love You Portugal
quences, the After all the media madness psyche.) Nevertheless, “This Is n Public Enemies Italy
drama, or what’s about Michael Jackson over all the It”—how eerie that the show’s n Sin Nombre Norway
left of it, makes years and decades, it comes as bit- bland title could become so tersely n The Informant! Czech Republic, Germany,
its way with such tersweet news—though maybe not apt—gives us a few glimpses of Poland
ponderous, self- sweet, depending on one’s attitude Michael Jackson’s struggles during n The Men Who Stare at Goats Greece,
important art- toward the late King of Pop—that he the rehearsal process. Italy, U.K.
istry that lives vividly in “This Is It,” a spectac- He stops at one point to say, halt- Source: IMDB
Scrooge’s ular record of rehearsals for a show ingly, “What I’m trying to hear is WSJ.com subscribers can read reviews of
present threat- that wasn’t to be. like a fist in my ear.” It’s more of a these films and others at WSJ.com/FilmReview
ens to become an Kenny Ortega’s film is more than plea than a complaint, and the prob-
WEEKEND JOURNAL | FRIDAY - SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6 - 8, 2009 W13
v Top Picks
Berlin Art Nouveau exhibit crawls with mysterious fauna
Berlin: The Bröhan Museum, vasses depicting the sensual side of
discreetly located across from the flora and fauna. Animals had a fea-
city’s Charlottenburg Palace, is one tured role in the movement, and Ju-
of Germany’s best niche museums. gendstil designers slid them up,
Blessed with a comprehensive col- down and off the evolutionary lad-
lection of Art Nouveau and Art Deco der, giving them human, plant-like,
objects, first assembled by a West or even mineral, characteristics.
Berlin industrialist in the 1960s and The curators, reaching into hid-
’70s, the museum is a knickknack den corners of their permanent col-
lover’s paradise. It is also a serious lection, present animal-themed
institution, with a mission to investi- works that are both hilarious and
gate the origins and manifestations hypnotic. A sea-green ceramic vase,
of modernity in the decorative arts. made around 1900 by Amphora, a
This fall, the museum has mounted now-defunct Bohemian firm, has
a special exhibition about the Art menacing cat heads around its rim,
Nouveau period, drawing primarily which function as what could be
on German sources, called “Pea- called predatory mock-handles. A
cock, Dragonfly and Bat: Art Nou- 1903 metal candelabra features a
veau’s Mysterious Fauna.” candlestick holder rising, like a car-
Jugendstil—the German varia- toon thought bubble, out of a bat’s
tion of Art Nouveau—became an es- head; while an 1896 glass goblet has
tablished style in the last few years dragonfly wings for a stem.
of the 19th century, extending an in- Some of these objects, like porce-
fluence throughout northern Eu- lain owls meant to resemble sad chil-
rope. Named after a Munich maga- dren, have crossed the dividing line
zine called “Jugend,” or “Youth,” between fun and kitsch. A few, how-
German Art Nouveau, like Art Nou- ever, appeal to us today as genuine
veau everywhere, tried to break works of art, especially those made
away from stiff, ornate historical by Copenhagen’s Royal Porcelain
styles by deriving inspiration from Factory. The single best piece in the
the natural world. Owing something show is a Danish decorative plate de-
to the theories of Charles Darwin, picting jellyfish at sea, floating like
Martin Adam, Berlin
and to the Paris of Toulouse-Lau- clouds in the sky.
trec, Art Nouveau remade nature’s —J.S. Marcus
relationship with reality, turning Until Feb. 14
vases, tables and tableware into can- www.broehan-museum.de Shell with coral stems by Johann Lötz Witwe, on show at the Bröhan Museum in Berlin.
Vienna’s Kunsthalle revisits 1989; the end of history or the beginning of the future?
doms were in short supply in the be seen on YouTube): “It’s never too
Vienna: In 1989, the Berlin Wall Beginning of the Future” helps to an- that peace and bloodless revolution USSR. Couples would wash them late, it’s never too late, to tell the su-
crumbled. But what else happened? swer that question. At the entrance that year didn’t stream forth dom- and hang them to dry in their bath- perpower to stop and meditate.”
A new show at the Kunsthalle, enti- is a series of panels: 1989 around the ino-like the world over. But this of- rooms for re-use. Even more fundamentally, Neo
tled “1989: The End of History or the world, a year in pictures. It shows ten wry group show of 35 artists The show doesn’t stop here, as Rauch’s socialist-realist paintings
from 20 countries makes connec- one might expect, but also extends of parallel worlds question whether
tions to 1989’s unexpected effects. to more familiar forms of discon- we’re even able to make sense of the
The exhibit sidesteps a whole- tent in the West. Seen alongside recent past. Likewise, the idea that
sale condemnation of life under to- works from post-communist coun- history itself is suspect pervades
talitarianism, though there’s some tries, however, the similarities be- Sophie Calle’s ephemeral photo-
of that, too. Ilya and Emilia Kabakov tween the two become unnerving. graphs of East Berlin (1996),
recreate mindless bureaucracy in The Norwegian graphic novelist and Stephan Huber’s imaginary world
their installation, “The Big Archive” painter Hariton Pushwagner maps (2009) and the film “Video-
(1993). A room-sized labyrinth of cu- sketched endless identical high- gram of a Revolution” (1992) by
bicles, papered over meticulously rises in his novel “Soft City” Harun Farocki and Andrei Ujica.
with sketches and notes, eventually (1968-76). Take away the cars, how- Footage, both professional and
leads the viewer to nothing. In addi- ever, and these same buildings amateur, of the capture, trial and ex-
tion to a sense of frustration, what’s could be concrete high-rises ubiqui- ecution of Romanian dictator Nico-
also created here is a nostalgia for tous in the former Eastern Bloc, lae Ceausescu in late December of
the safe, nearly cozy dimension of stretching to infinity. 1989, is spliced together. What be-
communism. Memos are beautifully Nam June Paik’s “Good Morning, gins as a staged media circus grows
sketched, points of emphases Mr. Orwell,” a taped variety show grotesque and surreal. And even
traced over in pastel felt-tip. The
Photo by Jan Versnel s VBK
which aired to 10 million American though Ceausescu’s regime fell
space is timeless and free from the and French viewers on New Year’s nearly 20 years ago, the video still
pressures of modern life. Day 1984, was conceived in re- feels remarkably immediate. The
Boris Mikhailov’s photo series, sponse to George Orwell’s “1984.” past, it seems, may still be in flux.
“Salt Lake” (1986), is captioned It’s hard not to sing along during —Helen Chang
‘The Big Archive’ (1993), installation
with anecdotes on the absurdities of Allen Ginsberg’s “Do the Meditation Until Feb. 7
by Ilya and Emilia Kabakov.
everyday life. One explains that con- Rock” segment (parts of which can www.kunsthallewien.at
Old master artists draw attention at London’s Dulwich Picture Gallery
London: It’s always worth mak- British watercolors. little satyrs, but this benign image architectural detail. It hangs near Gi-
ing the trip to the Dulwich Picture The Dulwich installation is as of a goat-footed woman surprised acomo Balla’s abstract red and blue
Gallery in southeast London, if plain as can be, with simply me. gouache and graphite study “Line of
only to look again at the Old Mas- framed pictures displayed on a Other treats include: van Gogh’s Speed” (circa 1913). And don’t miss
ter paintings in the permanent col- dark, chestnut-colored wall, drawing of his father’s vicarage the creepy, technically highly accom-
lection. But currently there’s also which makes it possible to concen- (circa 1884); a very tactile Ingres plished “The Snake Charmer”
“Drawing Attention: Rembrandt, trate exclusively on the images. study of drapery; and a strange, (1866) by Edward John Poynter,
Tiepolo, Van Gogh, Picasso and And some of these are very splen- gory Delacroix “The Bride of Lam- which contrasts in its liveliness
more Master Drawings from the did. Among the Italian drawings, mermoor” (circa 1826). This is with the Pre-Raphaelite Brother-
Art Gallery of Ontario.” This long- Giambattista Tiepolo’s “A Reclin- matched by Fuseli’s pen and brown hood’s pallid lily-pad ladies, such as
winded title has the merit of show- ing Male Nude” (1745) is worth a ink double-sided study of “A Stand- “Ariadne” (circa 1867) by Edward
ing the catholicity of this selec- look, if only to see the details of ing Nude Figure, Seen from Behind.” Burne-Jones, hanging nearby.
tion of about a hundred of the best modeling and shading that were The mere detail of the pointed ears —Paul Levy
works on paper drawn from Cana- later assimilated into his grand tells you this creature is demonic. Until Jan. 17
da’s best collection of (mostly Eu- ceiling paintings. His son Domeni- A lovely 1905-07 charcoal repre- www.dulwichpicturegallery.
s Art Gallery of Ontario
ropean and British) drawings. A co’s jolly, playful “Satyrs and Saty- sentation of a farmhouse by Piet org.uk
grant made in 1969 allowed a cura- resses in a Landscape” remedied a Mondrian indicates that the artist
tor in Canada early access to what gap in my own classical educa- was more interested in the vertical
was still a buyers’ market in many tion—I suppose there had to be fe- lines of the trees and the horizon- ‘Portrait of a Girl’ (1917) by Egon
areas, from French drawings to male satyrs in order for there to be tals of the house than he was in its Schiele on show at the Dulwich.
W14 FRIDAY - SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6 - 8, 2009 | WEEKEND JOURNAL
v Taste
Masterpiece / By Tom Nolan
7
The Tycoon’s Companion
When F. Scott Fitzgerald died days you got somebody’s plot and the studio, Hobby the former Uni- himself a hack.” For his own occa- with his companion, Sheilah Gra-
in Los Angeles in 1940, he’d been a smart secretary and gulped Ben- versity of Pennsylvania student sional movie “polish jobs,” Fitzger- ham, to visit the newly married
laboring for a year and a half on zedrine ‘structure’ at her six or adopts “the foreign locu- ald was paid $1,200 a week. “But West and his wife Eileen at their
“The Last Tycoon,” a novel about eight hours every week. The direc- tion”—reminiscent of a Yiddish the irony of having Pat embody North Hollywood home. By then
a charismatic movie producer tor took care of the gags.” or old-country Jewish accent—he Scott’s mercurial mood and finan- Fitzgerald the alcoholic romantic
named Monroe Stahr. Published A decade after the coming of feels will find favor with the old cial instability was appealing.” was in undeniable professional
posthumously, this uncompleted talkies, though, the gags have mogul: “I want only one thing . . . The more Hobby stories he and physical decline. West the hy-
manuscript would be called—by, grown thin. “All of [his stuff] I should go on the lot anytime. did, the more Fitzgerald liked perrealist was in gratifying as-
among others, Edmund Wilson— was old,” a script-department From nothing. Only to be there. his amoral protagonist. To the cent: He’d gotten the hang of
the finest work of fiction ever man notes of Pat’s material, “and Should bother nobody. Only help author these vignettes were hu- scriptwriting and was doing well,
written about Hollywood. some didn’t make sense.” When a a little from nothing if any young mor sketches, and so they still with his weekly rate just raised
On weekends dur- studio executive person wants advice.” seem: some of them semislap- to $600.
ing those same cre- named Jack Bern- When Berners the studio exec- stick, some surprisingly poi- Fitzgerald had his fatal heart
ative months, Meet ers casts his gaze utive denies him an assignment gnant, and some flashing with attack on Dec. 21, 1940, at age
Fitzgerald dashed F. Scott on this perennial with the topical brushoff, “Good unexpected menace like a cute 44. “The Last Tycoon,”
off (for quick cash) supplicant, “he saw luck, Pat. Anyhow we’re not in Po- animal that suddenly snarls. edited and with a
a batch of tales in- Fitzgerald’s a sort of whipped land,” which the Na- foreword by Fitzger-
volving a much dif- Pat Hobby. misery in Pat’s eye zis have just overrun, ald’s friend Edmund
ferent Hollywood that reminded him the author notes: Wilson, would be pub-
type: a down-at- of his own father. “‘Good you’re not,’ lished in 1941. “The Pat
heels scriptwriter named Pat Pat had been in the money be- said Pat under his Hobby Stories,” with
Hobby. The 17 Hobby episodes, fore Jack was out of college— breath. ‘They’d slit an introduction by Es-
printed in Esquire magazine be- with three cars and a chicken your gizzard.’” quire’s Arnold Ging-
tween 1939 and 1941 and later col- over every garage. Now his Pat was “a com- rich, wouldn’t be-
lected into “The Pat Hobby Sto- clothes looked as if he’d been plete rat,” Fitzgerald come a book until
Ryan Inzana
ries” (Scribner), complement standing at Hollywood and Vine told his Esquire edi- 1962.
“The Last Tycoon” and fill out his for three years.” tor, but not sinister. Nathanael West,
vision of the movie-town that fed Forty-nine years old, twice di- (His offenses are al- 37, and his 27-year-
and inspired him in his final vorced (“they had both given up most always found out old wife were killed in
years. The unfinished “Tycoon” is asking for alimony”), Hobby— and foiled.) And he has a road accident in El Cen-
a masterpiece of modern-roman- once a $2,500-a-week man, now pride: He doesn’t think of himself “The Pat Hobby Stories,” with tro, Calif., the day after Fitzger-
tic tragedy. “The Pat Hobby Sto- lucky to get $250—prolongs his as washed-up but as “an old- its odd mix of guffaws and cha- ald’s death. As Pat Hobby said in
ries” is an acerbic comedy—one “career” through wheedling, timer”—a badge of honor and grin, is unique in the literature of a different context, “That’s pic-
where the laughs often stick in pleading and lying. He cadges term of endearment on the movie- Hollywood. It even sounds a few tures. . . . You’re up—you’re down—
your throat. ideas, steals others’ work to lot away from which he’s lost. grim echoes of Nathanael West’s You’re in, you’re out. Any old-
“He was a writer but he had present as his own, even tries Hobby served “as a punching apocalyptic 1939 novel “The Day timer knows.”
never written much, nor even read his hand at blackmail. No ploy is bag” for his creator’s frustrations, of the Locust.”
all the ‘originals’ he worked from,” too low. wrote Fitzgerald’s secretary Fitzgerald was friends with Mr. Nolan is the editor of Ross
Fitzgerald recorded of Hobby, “be- Seizing on a chance encounter Frances Kroll Ring: “Pat was not West, another transplanted au- Macdonald’s “The Archer Files:
cause it made his head bang to with a studio honcho named Mar- Scott, nor did Scott, even in his thor employed by the studios. In The Complete Short Stories of
read much. But the good old silent cus to beg for a pass back into lowest moments, ever consider late 1940, Fitzgerald often drove Lew Archer, Private Investigator.”
Bookshelf / By William Anthony Hay
7
Hammer, No Sickle
Benjamin Disraeli described In the late 1980s, the Soviet loved Germany so much that he for French ambitions in Europe, bers—long the beneficiaries of Ger-
the Franco-Prussian War that bloc was engaging in a process was glad there were two of Mrs. Thatcher found herself mar- man largess—that they would not
brought about Germany’s unifica- of slow reform, but the possibil- them. François Mitterand and ginalized. Mr. Kohl also chipped lose out to East Germany.
tion in 1871 as “the German revolu- ity of repression was never far Margaret Thatcher both joined away at Mr. Gorbachev’s objec- The costs of reunification—
tion, a greater political event than away. East Germany remained Mr. Gorbachev in opposing Ger- tions, eventually even winning his combined with such checkbook di-
the French.” It turned out to be a the most authoritarian Soviet sat- man unification. The U.S., for its acceptance of a united Germany’s plomacy—hobbled the German
shrewd claim, given the two ellite. Its leaders feared that part, had long embraced a policy continued membership in NATO. economy for a generation, making
world wars that followed. But the Mikhail Gorbachev’s policy of per- of preferring the divided-Ger- At home, Mr. Kohl used the Germany anything but the super-
German reunification of 1989 estroika—a cautious loosening of many status quo. skills of a ward power that many had feared. In-
seems less a revolution in Disrae- Communist Party control over Washington became heeler to play Ger- deed, worries about a reunited Ger-
li’s sense than a restoration. the economy and political life— more engaged after man politicians off many were appeased, in part, by
Rather than setting into motion would unleash forces impossible Nov. 9, however, and against one an- the crippling burdens that the
yet another round of great-power Mr. Bush ended up hav- other and to align country took on merely to end its
rivalry, the end of Germany’s divi- ing the fewest qualms, himself with his own division.
sion brought about changes that 1989 among Western lead- supporters in the Ms. Sarotte makes clear that
extended democratic stability By Mary Elise Sarotte ers, about reunifica- East. Monetary 1989 was a hinge moment that
through Eastern and Central Eu- tion. Mr. Baker pri- union—requiring a moved history in a better direc-
(Princeton, 321 pages, $29.95)
rope. That Europe is no longer a vately noted that for one-to-one ex- tion. Despite the literal costs to
flashpoint in world politics is a the past 40 years Amer- change rate for the Germany, the events she de-
measure of just how successful to control. The citizens of East- ica had wanted a free deutsche mark, de- scribes brought considerable
the transformation has been. ern Europe were already restless, benefits. German reunification
Europe; with a united spite huge differ-
became a model for peacefully
In “1989: The Struggle to Cre- seeing ever more vividly—thanks Germany, he saw, the ences in the value
transferring democratic institu-
ate Post-Cold War Europe,” Mary in part to global technology— U.S. would have a of East and West
tions to the former Soviet bloc.
Elise Sarotte charts the events of how materially deprived they greater role than Mr. Germany’s cur-
NATO and the European Union
that momentous year and their were and how unfree. Gorbachev in Europe’s rency—was a po- pressed aspiring members to
astonishing effects. With the col- China’s brutal crackdown on destiny. tent lure. It helped match their standards of trans-
lapse of East Germany’s commu- protesters at Tiananmen Square Thus Mr. Bush to sell the idea that parency and to institute the rule
nist dictatorship, Helmut Kohl, on June 3, 1989, provided an alter- became Mr. East Germany could be ab- of law, easing the transition
West Germany’s chancellor, native to perestroika that fit Kohl’s partner in sorbed into existing West Ger- from totalitarianism. Many ana-
shrewdly played events to the ad- more closely with the history of overcoming the broad resistance man structures. lysts predicted a return to the
vantage of the West. He managed Communist rule. But East Ger- to German reunification. He and Indeed, money played a key instability of the 1920s and
to absorb the “other” Germany man authorities—in a fatal miscal- his American ally had the advan- part in the whole process. Mr. 1930s or the pre-1914 rivalry
within the Federal Republic de- culation—failed to seize on it. At tage of a clear objective: democ- Kohl realized that Mr. Gorbachev among great powers. Instead,
spite resistance from the Soviet a tipping-point moment, they racy, with a market-based econ- would insist on payment for his they saw peace, rising standards
Union and from other European chose not to repress mass pro- omy for all of Germany and, it concessions. The Soviet Union was of living and the spread of de-
powers. Mr. Kohl found an invalu- tests in Leipzig on Oct. 9, 1989. was hoped, for the rest of the feeling severe economic strains, mocracy. A beneficent European
able partner in George H.W. Bush Several Eastern European re- Eastern Bloc, too. No one else and it could not count on either order that had collapsed with
and James Baker, Mr. Bush’s sec- gimes began making concessions had a better idea. the U.S. or other major European World War I returned when the
retary of state, who came to see that included opening their bor- Mr. Kohl persistently caught countries for help. The burden Berlin Wall fell. It is an achieve-
a democratic Germany within ders to the West. The spirit of re- Mr. Gorbachev and other resistant thus fell on Germany, which prom- ment well worth celebrating.
NATO as part of a structure that bellion reached its height on Nov. leaders off-balance, presenting suc- ised the Soviets generous loans
would preserve both American in- 9, when the Berlin Wall fell. cessive faits accomplis that de- and other financial guarantees. At Mr. Hay, a historian at Missis-
fluence and European stability. Few welcomed the change. A fined the new reality. When Mitter- the same time Mr. Kohl offered as- sippi State University, is the au-
But the full story shows how con- French novelist captured the gen- rand dropped his opposition, in the sistance to Poland and reassured thor of “The Whig Revival,
tingent the transition was. eral sentiment by writing that he hopes of gaining German backing poorer European Community mem- 1808-1830.”
WEEKEND JOURNAL | FRIDAY - SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6 - 8, 2009 W15
Barcelona art
religion A crest that adorned the gate at “Albert Oehlen, Abstract Reality” show-
“The Worlds of Islam in the Aga Khan Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch cases work by the German-born artist
Museum Collection” showcases ob- in California, on show in London. (b. 1954), including computer-gener-
jects from 1,400 years of Islamic his- ated designs, incorporating photo-
tory, illustrating religious art, history graphic and printed collages.
and traditions from the Far East to Musée d’Art Moderne
the Iberian Peninsula. de la Ville de Paris
CaixaForum Until Jan. 3
Until Jan. 17 % 33-1-5367-4000
% 34-93-4768-600 www.mam.paris.fr
obrasocial.lacaixa.es
Stuttgart
Berlin art
history “Johann Heinrich Schönfeld” displays
“Celebration of Freedom,” the 20th an- autographed drawings and prints by
niversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the German baroque painter
features a giant domino chain follow- (1609-83).
ing the wall’s former route, fireworks Staatsgalerie Stuttgart
exploding over the Brandenburg Gate, Nov. 7-March 7
a concert and all-night party. % 49-711-4704-00
Brandenburg Gate www.staatsgalerie.de
Nov. 9
% 49-30-2474-9888 Vienna
www.mauerfall09.de art
"Gender Check" examines gender roles
in Eastern European art created since
Shaan Kokin/Julien's Auctions
art
“Grey Area—Julie Mehretu” presents the 1960s, including paintings, photo-
densely-layered abstract paintings and graphs, posters, films and videos.
prints by the Ethiopian-born American MUMOK Museum Moderner Kunst
artist. Stiftung Ludwig
Deutsche Guggenheim Nov. 13-Feb. 14
Until Jan. 6 % 43-1-5250-0
% 49-30-2020-9314 www.mumok.at
deutsche-guggenheim-berlin.de
Zurich
design National Gallery of Scotland examples of fabrics, fashion clothing, design
“Decorum” displays 600 glass proto-
London
Nov. 13-Feb. 14 music accessories and architecture. “Formless Furniture” examines the
types by 80 contemporary designers, % 44-131-6246-200 Museo del Traje maxim “form follows material”
offering modern interpretations of tra- “London Jazz Festival” brings interna-
www.nationalgalleries.org tional jazz greats such as Sonny Rollins, Until Dec. 13 through a display of furniture designs
ditional glass-decoration techniques. by Gunnar A. Andersen, Ron Arad,
Chick Corea, Carla Bley, Gilberto Gil, Dave % 34-91-5504-700
Kunstgewerbe Museum Jerszy Seymour and others.
Until Nov. 22 Frankfurt Holland and Branford Marsalis to the Bar- museodeltraje.mcu.es
Museum für Gestaltung Zürich
% 49-30-2664-2304-0 art bican and Royal Festival Hall.
Nov. 11-Feb. 14
www.smb.museum “Botticelli” exhibits a selection of 80 Various venues Paris % 41-43-4466-767
portraits and mythological allegories Nov. 13-22 art www.museum-gestaltung.ch
Bilbao by Italian Renaissance painter Sandro % 44-20-7324-1880 “Le Nouveau Festival” is a new show-
Botticelli (1445-1510). www.londonjazzfestival.org.uk case for contemporary art, featuring
architecture
“Frank Lloyd Wright” shows 200 origi- Städel Museum exhibitions, shows, conferences, screen- Source: ArtBase Global Arts News Ser-
nal drawings, historic and newly com- Nov. 13-Feb. 28 photography ings, tableaux, concerts and perfor- vice, WSJE research.
missioned models alongside photo- % 49-69-6050-980 “Points of View” explores the evolu- mances.
graphs examining the work and life of www.staedelmuseum.de tion and influence of photography Centre Pompidou
the American architect. through 250 rarely seen images from Until Nov. 26
Guggenheim Bilboa Geneva 1839 to the early 20th century, as pho- % 33-1-4478-1233
Until Feb. 14 tography grew into a form of social www.centrepompidou.fr
art
% 34-435-9000 documentary, visual expression and
“A Record of the Floating World: Japa-
www.guggenheim-bilbao.es art.
nese Prints from 1700 to 1900"
British Library
shows the evolution of Japanese
Bonn prints, depicting the “floating world” Until March 7
art (ukiyo) of entertainment. % 44-20-7412-7676
“Julian Rosefeldt American Night” ex- Fondation Baur www.bl.uk
hibits film installations by the German Until Jan. 3
artist, created between 2004 and music
% 41-227-0432-82
2009, including “Asylum,” “Trilogy of “Michael Jackson: The Official Exhibi-
fondation-baur.ch
Failure” and “Ship of Fools.” tion” celebrates the singer’s life
Kunstmuseum Bonn (1958-2009), with more than 250
Nov. 12-Jan. 17
The Hague items including awards, clothing and a
art wide range of personal belongings
% 49-228-7762-60
kunstmuseum.bonn.de “Cezanne, Picasso, Mondriaan: A New from his estate.
Perspective” examines the importance The O2 Bubble
of the works of three pioneers of mod- Until Jan. 31
Brussels ern Western art.
puppetry % 44-20-8463-2000
Haags Gemeentemuseum michaeljacksonexhibition.co.uk
“Puppet Theatre of Quanzhou” fea- Until Jan. 24
tures nine puppeteers and eight musi-
% 31-70-3381-111 Madrid
cians of the Quanzhou troupe, continu-
ing the heritage and traditions of Chi- www.gemeentemuseum.nl architecture
nese string-puppet theater. “Palladio the Architect (1508-1580)”
Théâtre National Lisbon shows drawings and scale models of
Nov. 10-14 music work by the Mannerist architect along-
% 32-2-2035-303 “Amália, Independent Heart” is an exhi- side art by his contemporaries.
www.theatrenational.be bition following the life and art of Por- CaixaForum
tuguese Fado diva Amália Rodrigues Until Jan. 17
Frédéric Goetz
Edinburgh (1920-99) with documents, music, % 34-913-3073-00
art films and other objects. obrasocial.lacaixa.es
“Sir Peter Lely: Artist and Collector” Museu Colecção Berardo
explores art by the Dutch portrait Museu da Electricidade design
painter (1618-80), alongside Italian Until Jan. 31 “Marimekko: Fabrics, Fashion, Architec-
and Flemish works from his own pri- % 351-21-3612-913 ture” traces the history of the Finnish Designer glass vases by Werner Aisslinger (left)
vate collection. mirror.berardocollection.com design company with more than 150 and by Hyun Ju Do (right), on show at the Kunstgewerbe Museum in Berlin.
W16 FRIDAY - SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6 - 8, 2009 | WEEKEND JOURNAL
