Cremating the World's Most Expensive Painting

In May of 1990 Japanese billionaire Ryoei Saito made history when he purchased Van Gogh’s Portrait of Dr. Gachet and Renoir's Bal du moulin de la Galette at auction in the span of two days.  He spent a record sum on the paintings, equivalent to about $300 million today. Following the sale both works went straight from the limelight into foam-padded packing crates and were shipped off to a top-secret storeroom in the Tokyo area. 

Mr. Saito spent a few hours with his purchases, then locked them in a climate-controlled vault. And there they stayed, untouched and unseen–a symbol of the ever increasing commodification of art.

While the paintings rested, Saito struggled, financially and otherwise.  The 75-year old Japanese paper magnate briefly caused a scandal when he said he would have the  paintings cremated with him after his death, though his aides later claimed Saito threats were just an expression of his intense affection for the works.

After Saito’s death in 1996, it wasn’t clear who owned the paintings–Saito’s heirs, his company, or his creditors–or even where they were. Museum curators and auction houses tried to locate the works, but were never successful. To this day both masterpieces remain lost in the murky waters of the international art market.

If Everyone Could Live Where They Wanted

If all of the adults on the planet could migrate to the countries where they wanted to live, the world would be a very different place. Developed nations would be overwhelmed and many developing countries would be left relatively empty.

Gallup has gathered data over the past three years and come up with a Potential Net Migration Index (PNMI) that shows just how drastic this change could be.

Listed below are some of the more interesting findings.

Rank by Percent Change

Country, Percentage Change, Population Change

1. Singapore - 260% (+13 million) 

2. Saudi Arabia -180% (+48 million)

4. Canada - 170% (+57 million) [Canada would rank 14th in world population]

9. France - 70% (+45 million)

10. United Kingdom - 65% (+40 million)

12. United States - 60% (+186 million) [Greatest Population Gain]

15. Botswana - 55% (+1 million)

28. Germany - 15% (+12 million)

32. Japan - 5% (+6 million)

36. Thailand - 0% (no change)  [Isreal, South Korea, and Tajikstan also have no change]

41. China - -5% (-65 million)

48. India - -5% (-55 million)

172. Nigeria - -50% (-80 million) [Greatest Population Loss]

178. Democratic Republic of Congo - -60% (-40 million)

Source: Gallup World Poll

Bowling Alone

The most whimsical yet discomfiting bit of evidence of social disengagement in contemporary America that I have discovered is this: more Americans are bowling today than ever before, but bowling in organized leagues has plummeted in the last decade or so. Between 1980 and 1993 the total number of bowlers in America increased by 10 percent, while league bowling decreased by 40 percent. The rise of solo bowling threatens the livelihood of bowling-lane proprietors because those who bowl as members of leagues consume three times as much beer and pizza as solo bowlers, and the money in bowling is in the beer and pizza, not the balls and shoes. The broader social significance, however, lies in the social interaction and even occasionally civic conversations over beer and pizza that solo bowlers forgo.

From Robert Putnam’s 'Bowling Alone: America’s Declining Social Capital'

An Unwatched American Classic

Killer of Sheep is a 1970s American drama film written, directed, produced, and shot by Charles Burnett.  The drama depicts the culture of urban African-Americans in Los Angeles' Watts district. 

Killer of Sheep was shot on a budget of less than $10,000 over roughly a year's worth of weekends in 1972 and 1973, with additional shooting in 1975. In 1977, Burnett submitted the film as his Master of Fine Arts thesis at the School of Film at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Burnett stated that he also intended to make the film a history of African-American music and filled it with music from a variety of genres and different eras. Unfortunately, for this reason, the film could not be released because he had not secured rights to the music used in the film.

Shown sporadically after it's completion in the late 1970s, its reputation grew until it won a prize at the 1981 Berlin International Film Festival.

Since then, the Library of Congress has declared it a national treasure as one of the first fifty on the National Film Registry and the National Society of Film Critics selected it as one of the “100 Essential Films” of all time. Even with these enormous accolades, due to the expense of the music rights the film was never shown theatrically or made available on video. It was only seen on poor quality 16mm prints at few and far between museum and festival showings.

In 2007, three decades after it's completion, the music rights were finally purchased at a cost of US $150,000. The film was restored and transferred from a 16mm to a 35mm print and given a limited theatre release.