Support the fact-based journalism you rely on with a donation to Marketplace today. Give Now!

A Warhol painting could fetch $200 million. What's so special about it?

Warhol's Marilyn Monroe silkscreen is valuable, yes, but not very innovative, says art critic Blake Gopnik.
According to critic Blake Gopnik, it's not the price tag that's interesting, it's the "retread."
Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images

“Summer of Soul” producers on battling Black erasure to make the film

Jul 22, 2021
Why the Harlem Cultural Festival, known as “Black Woodstock,” was forgotten for decades.
The 5th Dimension performs at the Harlem Cultural Festival of 1969, as seen in the new documentary "Summer of Soul."
Courtesy Searchlight Pictures

60 years ago, pop art was born in a department store window

May 5, 2021
Why Warhol's commercial art made waves, according to art critic Blake Gopnik.
Andy Warhol's 1961 department store window display paved the way for his first solo pop art show the following year, "Campbell's Soup Cans."
Sion Touhig/Getty Images

For Broadway performers, a year of pandemic unemployment and reflection

Apr 2, 2021
As Broadway eyes reopening, a performer reflects on a year offstage.
"I think theater is resilient," said Broadway's Kathryn Allison. "There's nothing like sitting in a theater with a group of people, watching something that you know tomorrow's audience will never see."
@anniek_with_a_camera

Arts venues welcome COVID grant program to get through 2021

Jan 22, 2021
Hard-hit venues such as concert halls and theaters are preparing to apply for $15 billion in grants included in the latest relief bill.
Between April and July last year, the fine- and performing-arts industries lost about $42 billion in revenue, according to one estimate.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Has the COVID-19 crisis killed live theater in the UK?

Jul 29, 2020
One of Britain’s most successful industries struggles to recover from the pandemic.
The empty London Coliseum theater. After mass closures, the industry fears that full recovery is far off.
Chris Jackson/Getty Images

Play about the Constitution may be Broadway's hottest ticket this season

Feb 12, 2019
Broadway seems to want to seize on the success of global phenomenon hip-hop musical “Hamilton” by having more politically themed shows. This season, Hillary and Bill Clinton are the subjects of one play. But another play is coming off a successful off-Broadway run to grace a marquee on the Great White Way. Its subject? The […]
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

Blockbuster Broadway, it's more than just "Hamilton"

Jun 7, 2018
The musical about the founding father is still a top draw, but other shows have helped drive record attendance to Broadway theaters. With all the packed houses, show producers pulled in $1.7 billion.
"Harry Potter and the Cursed Child' is one of Broadway's blockbuster hits.
Ashley Milne-Tyte for Marketplace

Why Chronicle Books is watching retail's slide very closely

Aug 30, 2017
Chronicle Books want you to happen upon their titles in stores like Sur La Table and Urban Outfitters. Which makes declining retail sales a tricky proposition for them.
Tyrrell Mahoney, president of Chronicle Books.
Natasha Claro, Chronicle Books

Taylor Swift’s been dropping hints, but now it’s confirmed: She’ll drop a new album in November

Aug 24, 2017
After dropping hints on social media for weeks, Taylor Swift has announced that her sixth studio album, called “Reputation,” will drop November 10. A new single comes out tonight. It’s been three years since Swift’s last album, “1989,” a long time in this rapidly changing music industry. How will she fare? Click the audio player […]