Discussion Divas

Water-lily pond

On Tuesday at a Christie’s auction in London, “Le Bassin aux Nymphéas,” a rarely seen painting of Claude Monet’s beloved water lilies sold for a record $80.4 million, smashing the painter’s own record and proving to the world that the art market, unlike the stock market, is alive and well.
Bidding was described by news outlets as “intense” and “standing room only,” going to “a blond woman in the front row,” who represented an anonymous buyer.

The painting, which was expected to collect about $50 million, last sold at auction in 1971 for $320,000 and remained in private hands since then. Christie’s called the piece “one of the great rarities of Impressionist and Modern art,” and highlighted that it was “signed, dated and sold” by Monet—apparently another rarity. The work is part of a series of four from 1919.

All about water lilies
In the early 1830s, Monet moved to Giverny, northeast of Paris. There he created magnificent gardens and built the water-lily pond, the almost exclusive subject (250) of his later works. Lilies were just one of his many series—the Rouen Cathedral, haystacks, Waterloo Bridge—where he depicted the same subject in different light, time and season.

More about Monet (1840-1926)
Monet began his career drawing caricatures as a teenager in Le Havre, France. Under the mentorship of Eugene Boudin, a painter of landscapes, Monet developed a predilection for painting out of doors. During his life he collaborated with other well known Impressionists such as Camille Pissarro, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Alfred Sisley.

His work, and the Impressionist movement he pushed forward, centered on the use of spontaneous, staccato brushwork to capture light and form within natural scenes. Interestingly, the term Impressionism stems from a work by Monet, "Impression: Sunrise," which a critic deemed an "impression," or unfinished.

In his later years, Monet suffered from cataracts which limited his ability to distinguish colors and most likely contributed to the dark and red browns used in "The Japanese Bridge" he painted at Giverny in the early 1920's. 

The big picture
The art market of late has been on fire, and Tuesday’s auction—combined with a week of London are auctions at Christie’s and Sotheby’s—could reap $1 billion. Despite sentiment that the dismal stock market and other economic woes could dent art prices, new wealth from places like Russia is helping buoy the market. And that sounds like another good Diva topic for another week!

In this corner we have...

If you found yourself near a TV on Wednesday morning, you might have seen Michelle Obama hosting "The View," complete with fist bumps all around. Part of the campaign's attempt to recast her image, it was by most accounts a success, and a sure sign that the presidential campaign--the real deal--is finally underway.

The candidates want to save you pain at the pump
If the recent wall-to-wall media coverage is any indicator, soaring gas prices may be the most important issue in the 2008 campaign. Whether or not Barack Obama and John McCain can really do anything them is seriously debatable, but that doesn't mean they won't at least try to look like they can.
 
This week McCain called for the federal government to lift its ban on offshore oil drilling, a ban he used to support. He also wants to add more oil refineries and nuclear power plants, and said in a speech that "conservation serves a critical national goal"--a statement that is unusual only because it came from the mouth of the Republican presidential candidate. He also supports a federal gas-tax holiday.

 

Obama, in contrast, opposes offshore drilling and instead wants to hit the oil companies with a windfall profits tax, which McCain opposes. Obama also supports government subsidies for alternative fuels such as ethanol. 

Hold the public financing, please
While we're all paying through the nose to fill our cars, the other big political news this week centered on something we won't be paying for. Obama announced that he will not be accepting federal funds--taxpayer dollars--to run his campaign, the first time a major party candidate has ever done that in the general election.
 
Under a system that's been around since 1976, a candidate can accept federal money--this year $84.1 million--as long as he refuses private donations and agrees to not spend any more than what the government gives him. It's designed to keep special interest money out of campaigns. Obama calls the system "broken" and says he would be at a disadvantage because the Republican National Committee, a fundraising machine, can spend as much as it wants for McCain.
 
The thing is, Obama is also a fundraising rock star. Through the end of April, he had raised $266 million for the general election, compared with $93 million for McCain. So Obama doesn't need the federal money, and now he can spend as much as he wants. Problem is, last year he suggested he would take public financing, so the McCain campaign hammered him, saying he had "broken his word."
 
The big picture
It's only June. We've still got five months to go, and this campaign is already getting interesting. We can only hope the candidates continue to stay on the issues and have a real debate about their policy differences. That would be refreshing. Keep your fingers crossed!

Honk if you're a Christian

The state of South Carolina is set to begin churning out “I Believe” license plates, complete with a cross and stained-glass window, thanks to a unanimous vote by the state legislature and a swift signature from the governor.

It’s the first of its kind in the country, decidedly Christian, and sure seems to blur the line between church and state—not mention alienate those of other faiths.

Meanwhile, religion is heating up on the campaign trail, with both John McCain and Barack Obama courting religious voters. Because we try to keep these postings short, we’ll do a roundup of where the candidates are in terms of support from a variety of religious groups over the next few weeks and months. This week, we’ll use the “I Believe” news to look at their standing with some Christian groups.

McCain and the religious right
For years we’ve been hearing about the role of conservative Christians and evangelicals in political campaigns. These groups were key to the success of President Bush in 2000 and 2004.

However, many of these groups are on the fence about McCain. Some religious conservatives say they are considering not voting at all, or want a better understanding of where he falls on hot-button issues and whom he will pick as a running mate.

So McCain is strengthening his rhetoric, criticizing California ’s gay marriage ruling and touting his anti-abortion stance. However McCain, an Episcopalian turned Baptist, also knows he may need to temper his religious talk to attract moderate and independent voters.

Obama and religion
Obama, who has not been shy about talking about his faith, is doing his share of religious courting as well. He met on Tuesday with Christian leaders in Chicago, including some conservative religious leaders like Bishop T.D. Jakes, who heads up a huge church in Dallas. His campaign is expected to try to court evangelicals and Catholics too.

In this election, you may hear more about the “religious left”
If you have a few minutes, read this Q&A conducted by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. Some say liberal or progressive religious groups are a growing voice in U.S. politics. According to Pew research, the so-called “religious left” could account for as much as a quarter of the adult population.

The big picture
As Obama and McCain begin their dance to attract religious voters, both have already been tripped up by clergymen. McCain had to distance himself from Rev. John Hagee, who made statements that were perceived as anti-Catholic. Obama’s former pastor, the now notorious Jeremiah Wright, has become a cable news fixture for saying he thinks the U.S. government was responsible for spreading HIV, among other things. Obama recently resigned from the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago in the wake of Wright’s statements and after another minister there who mocked Hillary Clintonmocked Hillary Clinton. Meanwhile, patently false but painfully persistent rumors continue to circulate on the Internet that Obama is a Muslim.

What do women want?

Hillary Clinton's run for the White House may have folded this week, but she certainly succeeded in advancing the cause of women as much as any politician in U.S. history. And while we're excited for the upcoming race between Barack Obama and John McCain, we'll never forget the image of a strong woman on the campaign trail. We hope to see another viable female candidate in every presidential election to come.

 

The question is, are the rest of us up to the challenge? Earlier this week The New York Times media columninst David Carr penned an interesting piece musing about the success of the "Sex and the City" movie (it took in about $55 million in its first weekend at the box office) and the rise of female-targeted web sites. The Times headlined his column aptly, "Slumber Parties Go Digital."

 

As my sister said, Carr's argument is not rocket science: Coverage of celebrity pregnancies, fashion, weddings and shoes is as popular online as it is in the women's magazines that many of us have a love-hate relationship with. His final analysis: The revolution for women on the Web so far is "shallow, but one that carries deep implications."

 

What do women readers want?

A few months ago, while lunching with a successful startup CEO, I asked for ideas on how to get better distribution for our site and The WeeklyDIVA, which, as you know, attempts to help busy women stay on top of the news. He said, "Don't women want horoscopes?"

Recently I asked the CEO of a growing and popular women-focused Web site why all the topics focused on "living" and "beauty." Where's the hard news, I asked? “It's an interesting question,” he said—it has to be filtered for the one thing women don’t have: time.

 

Then, just in the last week, I expressed to a friend of mine, another startup CEO on this recipient list, that we were trying to figure out how to grow our subscriber list. He says I’m unique, and not everyone shares my interests or passions for the news, which may make it difficult.

 

Really? Can it be that all those women out there that I know with one, two and three degrees don't care about the news and the lives that are impacted by events in their communities or in places far away? Is it really all just about cosmopolitans and lipstick for women?

 

Is there a place for content like The WeeklyDIVA?

At the WeeklyDIVA, we think it's about lipstick, cosmos—and using our brains. It's about feeling connected to the news, despite being so wrapped up in a new product launch, or so busy wiping baby food off the floor, that we didn't have time to read headlines about the housing market's collapse or why the lawyers in Pakistan were being attacked, and what that means for our lives.

 

In the end we know there is a place for The WeeklyDIVA in the sphere of women because we know you read it and we know you refer it to your friends. Naturally, as we grow we need resources. But you are our main resource—you and the other women out there who may be inaccurately categorized as just “horoscope" readers. This revolution on the Web for women does not have to be shallow. But the only way it won’t be is if we don’t let it be. 

Tell us what YOU think: What do women want? And be sure to read David Carr's column.

Best,

Stacey

editor, The WeeklyDIVA

We'll be back with news next week. We just couldn't let this one go!