The Translator

In spite of its brevity, Daoud Hari's "The Translator" is an important book. Daoud's words courageously shed light on the horrors taking place in Darfur. On July 14, 2008 the International Criminal Court in the Hague charged Sudan's president, Omar al-Bashir, with ten counts of war crimes, three counts of genocide, five of crimes against humanity and two of murder. The ICC Prosecution charges that President al-Bashir "masterminded and implemented a plan to destroy in substantial part" three tribal groups in Darfur because of their ethnicity. As I write this in August 2010, over two years after the publication of "The Translator", President al-Bashir has not been brought to justice and the situation in the Sudan has become increasingly untenable. After a brief cease fire in February 2010, the killings in Darfur continue.

Daoud Hari remains exiled in the United States where his writing and speaking engagements continue to gather international support to end what many call genocide in Darfur. Hari's small volume, which chronicles his harrowing journeys across the war torn landscape, weighs heavily in the international discourse about Darfur. Daoud Hari's "The Translator" is a must read for the politically engaged.

Last Week Casino Owner Stephen Wynn Paid $33.2 Million for a Rembrandt

photo courtesy Christie’s
Rembrandt
Portrait of a Man, Half-Length, With His Arms Akimbo
421⁄4" x 341⁄4" oil on canvas 1658

Carol Vogel in the New York Times reports that the mystery buyer of Rembrandt's Portrait of a Man, Half-Length, With His Arms Akimbo at Christie's last week was casino mogul Stephen Wynn. The $33.2 million is a record for a Rembrandt at auction. The painting has an interesting recent provenance and after its donation by George Huntington Hartford II hung in the President's office at Columbia University in New York for ten years from 1958 to 1968.

My hope is that Stephen Wynn will put the painting on public display in the near future. After closing his private gallery at the Wynn hotel, Las Vegas lost an intimate collection of important paintings. I enjoyed the Wynn collection immensely and as a non-gambler I was intrigued with the mix of great art within the glowing and at times tawdry Vegas of American pop culture.


photo courtesy Reuters

On a related note, currently at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles is an interesting exhibit: Drawings by Rembrandt and His Pupils: Telling the Difference which runs from December 8, 2009–February 28, 2010. Rembrandt's mark-making is extraordinary and the collection of his drawings from around the globe is not to be missed. My detailed thoughts will be posted next week.


Photography © The Art Institute of Chicago
Rembrandt
Seated Female Nude
pen and brown ink and brush and brown wash; corrected with white gouache about 1660
The Art Institute of Chicago, the Clarence Buckingham Collection

More at:
Rembrandt Drawings at the Getty
Wynn Pays Record Price for Rembrandt Portrait