1 of 2. Gustav Klimt's 1911 oil painting, ''Ria Munk'', is seen in this handout picture released in London October 8, 2012.

LONDON | Mon Oct 8, 2012 11:41am EDT

LONDON (Reuters) - A U.S. art collector whose 20th century paintings from Germany and Austria are valued at more than 100 million pounds ($160 million) has attacked what he called "trophy hunters" who have driven prices higher and created a bubble in the market.

Benedict Silverman, a property developer and philanthropist, has decided to put his collection of works by artists including Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele and Otto Dix up for sale to raise funds for an education fund called Reading Rescue.

The 83-year-old is fully aware that rising prices for the kind of art he has collected over the course of nearly half a century will benefit his charity work.

But in an outspoken criticism of the market, he accused many buyers of being interested in art mainly as an investment.

"The prices paid these days are for trophies, not for art," Silverman told Reuters in emailed responses to questions.

Around 25 paintings, drawings and pieces of furniture are on display at the Richard Nagy gallery in central London and will be sold privately over a period of time.

"You ask if it (the strength of the art market) is a positive development. It is not. Connoisseur collectors are left in the dust snapping at the heels of these trophy hunters.

"I think there is a bubble and I can't wait for it to break as real collectors are interested in the art, not the price."

Auction houses and many market experts argue that there is no bubble in the art market, and that a growing number of collectors across an increasing geographical spread are creating a solid foundation for rising prices.

"LAST SUPPER"

But Silverman's unusually frank opinion, expressed as London gears up for Frieze art week when hundreds of wealthy buyers descend on the capital for a whirlwind of auctions, viewings and parties, is a reminder that not everyone is so sanguine.

"Collectors like me will always exist, but they are being knocked aside by the sharp elbows of speculators and professional collection builders who employ more knowledgeable people to make their decisions for them," Silverman said.

"Clearly if I was starting today I would not be able to build the sort of collection I have and few others will."

Nagy, a long-time collaborator with Silverman, said the collector had avoided auction houses to sell his art, preferring the discretion of a gallery and private sales.

"There has been a huge amount of interest, including from museums," Nagy told Reuters at his gallery in Old Bond Street.

Not all of the works have been priced, but a large 1917/18 Schiele depicting the artist and some of his peers in a version of the "Last Supper" is on offer at around 30 million pounds.

"Today these artists are seen as part of the mainstream of 20th century art, whereas 30 years ago it was thought of as an eccentric side-channel," Nagy added of the period and style of art on show.

Among the highlights are Ludwig Meidner's "The Incident in the Suburbs" of 1915, a dark-hued canvas depicting a man pushing aside another figure who has fallen to the ground against a backdrop of distorted buildings.

The picture, the first bought by Silverman in the late 1960s, reminded him of himself starting out in real estate and "pushing down" the competition to get ahead.

Schiele's "Around the Table" appears to equate the gathering of a group of artists with the communion of the Last Supper, and coming as it did so soon before his death in 1918, it was the final work in a long sequence of religious allegories.

His "Woman with Homunculus" of 1910 depicts a semi-nude young woman looking seductively over her shoulder yet also turning away from a deformed, child-like creature, while Klimt's "Ria Munk I" of 1912 is a striking deathbed portrait.

Reminiscent of John Everett Millais's "Ophelia", the square canvas depicts the daughter of a wealthy Viennese businessman who shot herself in the heart after falling out with her lover.

MUSEUMS "DRY AND EMOTIONLESS"

For Silverman, private collections would be the ideal home for his beloved possessions.

"I lived with all my works, looked at them all every day I was in the apartment and hope that the new buyers will do the same," he explained.

"I prefer the idea of them going to another collector who imposes his taste on a group of art works and for whom it will have a resonance even if it is different to mine.

"Do I want them to go to a museum? Probably not, even though I know they will eventually end up in museums," added the collector, who regularly loans his works out to museums.

"Generally I think museums are rather dry and emotionless places that do not bring any personality to the rooms in which they are hung, apart from their innate genius."

Asked how he thought he would feel when his art was sold, he replied: "I will try not to think about it. I have other pursuits to follow now. Having decided to sell, I'm turning the page ... and starting a new chapter."

(Reporting by Mike Collett-White, editing by Paul Casciato)

View the original article here

NEW YORK | Mon Oct 8, 2012 11:25am EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs Group's asset management unit on Monday named a former head of the U.S. Security and Exchange Commission's investment management division as its deputy general counsel.

Andrew "Buddy" Donohue, who most recently was a partner in the New York office of Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP, will join Goldman Sachs Asset Management effective November 1.

Donohue said he decided to make the change because he believes he can make more of an impact in-house. "I like being part of the discussions with management about issues and approaches the firm can take early on," he told Reuters.

Donohue will report to Ellen Porges, general counsel for Goldman Sachs Asset Management.

He was head of the division of investment management at the SEC from May 2006 to November 2010. In his role, he spearheaded an initiative to restrict how much mutual fund companies could charge in marketing and servicing fees, known as 12b-1 fees. The proposal was met with vehement opposition and ultimately never passed.

Donohue also led the SEC's examination of how ETFs use derivatives, which is ongoing. Prior to the SEC, Donohue served as global general counsel for Merrill Lynch Investment Managers and before that as general counsel at OppenheimerFunds.

Goldman Sachs Asset Management has $702 billion in assets, according to the firm's website. The firm's 75 mutual funds alone have $190 billion, according to Lipper.

(Editing by Leslie Adler)

View the original article here

Cast member Michael C. Hall attends a panel for ''Dexter'' during the Showtime television portion of the Television Critics Association Summer press tour in Beverly Hills, California July 30, 2012.

LOS ANGELES | Mon Oct 8, 2012 4:54pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - "Dexter" star Michael C. Hall has always been attracted to cutting-edge projects, so it's no surprise to see the actor who plays the blood spatter analyst/serial killer pop up in the edgy, dark comedy Web series "Ruth & Erica".

Starring "ER's" Maura Tierney as a lonely middle-aged woman trying to deal with her increasingly frail parents, the 13-episode show debuted on WIGS, YouTube's No. 1 channel for scripted drama, last month.

Hall, who won a Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild award for his role on "Dexter" and who previously appeared in "Six Feet Under," joins the "Ruth & Erica" cast on Wednesday as Tierney's loser, ex-drug addict realtor and would-be boyfriend.

Hall, 41, spoke with Reuters about switching gears for a new comedic role, the new season of "Dexter," and foot tattoos.

Q: This is not your usual TV show - was that the appeal?

A: "Absolutely. The format is unique and you can tell the story in much briefer sketches than in series TV. Each one is just five to seven minutes long, and I did three of them. And then there's the amazing cast, the fact that it won't take over your life for five or more years if it's successful like a network show, and the writing (by "Party of Five"'s Amy Lippman) was so strong and compelling."

Q: The loser realtor is another juicy role for you. How much of you is there in him?

A: (Laughs) "I'm not as organized or fastidious as maybe the average person, and I can certainly relate to his general dishevelment. And after playing someone as remarkably capable as Dexter, it's nice to play someone who's anything but."

Q: Your character's beard is a nice touch. Whose idea was that?

A: "I just happened to have one when they called me about this, and Amy and I just decided it really fit the character."

Q: Despite all the humor, the WIGS show tackles some serious issues - aging parents, illness, healthcare.

A: "Exactly, it tackles those baby boomer fears about getting older and our parents getting sick and how we adjust to that. And my character, like the others, feels the wheel of his life turning in a way that makes him realize that when you lose your parents, you're next."

Q: Have you gone through a similar situation in real life?

A: "My mother's still alive but my father passed away when I was still quite young. She's thankfully in very good health, but you do feel a sense of the finite time that remains for them, and then the finite time you have left. The show did make me think, and I feel very thankful for the relationship I have with my mother."

Q: Is doing an Internet show like this very different from a network or cable show?

A: "Not really. It's pretty much the same process and we moved at a comparable pace - but with a smaller crew. I'd definitely do it again."

Q: It's season 7 for "Dexter," and there's quite a situation now between Dexter and his sister Debra, who's onto his secrets. Has that re-energized the show?

A: "It really has, and we all feel so excited about it now the playing field has fundamentally changed. All the relationships have also changed as a result, and to have that happen this late in a series is almost unheard of."

Q: So what can fans expect?

A: "You'll see both of them negotiate this new information being out there. And I've heard that if there's any major theme in this new season, it's to do with love - its meaning, its nature, familial love, romantic love, all kinds of love."

Q: You excel at playing these wild characters. What's the wildest thing you've done recently?

A: (Laughs) "I got a tattoo on my foot. It looks like a mixture of a doodle and the map to an alien planet. That was pretty crazy!"

Q: How painful was it?

A: "Just painful enough." (Editing by Chris Michaud and Kenneth Barry)

View the original article here

1 of 10. Visitors look at Raphael's ''Auxiliary cartoon for the Head of a Young Apostle from 1519-1520 which has an estimated value of £10 to £15 million (US$16 - $24 million) at Sotheby's London October 8, 2012.

LONDON | Tue Oct 9, 2012 10:02am EDT

LONDON (Reuters) - The most surprising thing about this year's Frieze art week, which puts London at the cutting edge of the contemporary art world every October, is that there is so much old art around.

The annual Frieze Art Fair will go ahead as usual in a giant marquee in Regent's Park, a grid of 175 galleries teeming with potential buyers and thousands of contemporary art lovers keen to keep up with the latest trends in a fast-moving world.

And there are the spin-off events across the capital designed to lure the world's wealthiest buyers - auctions, rival fairs, parties, gallery openings, exhibitions and discreet viewings far from the hullabaloo.

But unlike previous editions, the October 11-14 fair this year comes with a separate Frieze Masters event featuring 96 galleries offering works from across the last 4,000 years.

The reasons for the shift are both commercial and cultural.

Organizers and exhibiting galleries are hoping for more crossover business between contemporary art collectors and those more interested in older works.

They also want to explore art's relationship with the past, representing an acceptance that what came before should be appreciated as well as challenged by iconoclastic young artists.

"I suppose what makes it interesting is what's come out of conversations with contemporary artists," said Victoria Siddall, director of the new fair. "It becomes apparent that a lot of them are looking at works that were made a long time ago.

"All galleries are interested in meeting new clients," she told Reuters. "There are old master and contemporary galleries, and I hope there will be a crossover. It would be great to broaden people's horizons in terms of what they collect."

"MEDICI" BUYERS

That crossover is already happening.

Among the most coveted clients for auction houses and galleries are so-called "Medici"-style buyers who acquire art across different periods and genres.

Sotheby's said 30 percent of buyers at its old master drawing sales had also bought art at its contemporary auctions, compared with seven percent in 2007.

It is no coincidence that it is displaying Raphael's 1519 "Head of an Apostle", which is worth up to $24 million, alongside Jackson Pollock, Francis Bacon and Gerhard Richter at its London headquarters this week.

Artists are also embracing Frieze's shift to the past.

The fair has organized a series of conversations bringing together leading contemporary artists with major curators.

On Thursday, London-born contemporary painter Cecily Brown talks with National Gallery director Nicholas Penny who is more used to talking about Raphael than Richter.

For Matthew Slotover, who with Amanda Sharp started Frieze Art Fair in 2003 and launched a New York edition this year, the new-look format was a way of keeping the event fresh.

"We think it's always good to innovate and try new things, as it keeps people interested and excited and us interested and excited too," he told Reuters.

"What we thought we could do with (Frieze Masters) was to animate all of this art that was radical when it was made."

RIVAL FAIRS

Rival fairs like PAD London, held in the exclusive Berkeley Square from October 10-14 and best known for showcasing 20th century art and design, will also delve into the past.

Galerie Mermoz, based in Paris, will present tribal art including a ceremonial head of Hacha representing the god Xipe Totec, dated 450-750 AD, from Mexico.

Modern PAD highlights include Alexander Calder's 1943 "Constellation with Red Knife" valued at $3.5 million.

Sotheby's offers Richter's "Abstraktes Bild (809-4)" for $14-19 million at its contemporary auction on October 12.

The painting has the added buzz of belonging to guitarist Eric Clapton who bought it and two other works by the German artist for $3.4 million in 2001.

That kind of price rise underlines how the top end of the art market has largely defied broader economic gloom.

Auction records have tumbled as buyers from the Middle East, Russia and China snap up top lots for private collections, long-term investments or to fill new museums and galleries.

"There's a lot of confidence in London at the moment," Slotover said of the art market. "London is a brilliant gateway to the rest of the world."

Not everyone is celebrating the boom.

Benedict Silverman, whose $160 million collection of works from early 20th century Germany and Austria is being sold for charity, blamed "speculators" for driving prices higher and making life difficult for collectors like himself.

"The prices paid these days are for trophies, not for art," he said.

"I think there is a bubble and I can't wait for it to break as real collectors are interested in the art, not the price."

(Reporting by Mike Collett-White, editing by Paul Casciato)

View the original article here

NEW YORK | Tue Oct 9, 2012 5:06am EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Vietnamese-born chef Charles Phan shares his passion for his homeland and tips about how to cook its delicious food in his first cookbook, "Vietnamese Home Cooking".

Phan and his family fled to Guam from Vietnam in 1975 before settling in San Francisco a couple of years later. In 1995 he opened his restaurant Slanted Door, which has won acclaim for its modern interpretation of traditional Vietnamese food. He now runs six other eateries in San Francisco.

The 50-year-old spoke to Reuters about his passion for Vietnamese food, his plan to open a New Orleans-inspired bar and his future plans.

Q: What is the goal of your first cookbook?

A: "It's way to spread the gospel, if you will, about Vietnamese culture and food. We try to do that with our restaurant. The book is another way of bringing that culture to you."

Q: What makes Vietnamese cuisine unique?

A: "The Vietnamese were conquered by the French and the Chinese. On a Vietnamese table, there is always a big platter of fresh vegetable and herbs. In Vietnam, up north, the food is a bit different from the south. You have different climates. In Saigon, it's hot and muggy and tropical so the country ranges pretty widely with its food."

Q: What does Vietnamese cooking have in common with others in Southeast Asia?

A: "Obviously, rice is the common link across these cultures. They use meat as condiments rather than a main course. We don't have ovens so we don't bake things. We steam things. Fuel is scarce so we use very little wood. You have the fruits and vegetables that come from Southeast Asia you use over there. When you compare all of Southeast Asia with Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, they are very similar. Things get different when you get into China."

Q: You have plans to open another restaurant?

A: "We are about to open to Creole bar concept. I happen to like bourbon a lot; so does my architect. So this bar will have an extensive bourbon list and interesting bourbon from the last three years. It's tiny. It's only 1,300 square feet. So the bar drives the concept. It's inspired by New Orleans. There will be oysters from New Orleans. We'll have gumbo. We'll make a mean fried chicken."

Q: Do you have second thoughts about serving Creole food?

A: "I cook all this food at home all the time. I'm not saying I'm an expert at it but it's simple enough and it's high quality food .... You don't have be Vietnamese to cook Vietnamese food as long as you understand the sensibility."

Q: What should one be mindful of in making Vietnamese food?

A: "You have to learn how to eat Vietnamese food before you cook it. You have to understand what the sensibility is or what I call the gold standard. This is how the Vietnamese want it. This is how people in Vietnam treat their food. You might not agree.

"In Vietnam people like their meat medium to well done. You could change that. There's nothing wrong with that. Again in Vietnam, people eat their soup with herbs and lemon in it. But you don't have to do it. Cooking is knowing where you are going and achieving that goal."

Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce (Makes 20 to 25 skewers; serves 10 to 12 as an appetizer)

2½ pounds skinless, boneless chicken thighs

¾ cup sliced shallots

¾ cup shallot oil or canola oil

2 tablespoons minced garlic

1½ tablespoons roasted chili paste

2 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons kosher salt

2 teaspoons mild Madras curry powder

Peanut sauce (see below)

Sriracha sauce, for seasoning

20 to 25 (10-inch) bamboo skewers

1. Trim any visible fat from the chicken thighs, then cut the thighs into long strips, about 1-inch wide. Put the chicken into a bowl and set aside.

2. To make the marinade, in a food processor or blender, combine the shallots and shallot oil and process until smooth. Add the garlic, chili paste, sugar, salt, and curry powder and process until smooth.

3. Add the marinade to the chicken and mix well to coat evenly. Cover and refrigerate for 3 hours. In a shallow dish, immerse the bamboo skewers in water to cover.

4. Prepare a medium-hot fire for direct-heat grilling in a charcoal grill (you should be able to hold your hand 1 inch above the grate for only 3 to 4 seconds).

5. Just before the coals are ready, drain the skewers and thread 1 strip of chicken lengthwise onto each skewer, taking care to insert the skewer through the center of each strip. Do not leave the tip of the skewer exposed or it will burn.

6. Place the skewers on the grill grate and cook, turning once, for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until well browned and opaque throughout.

7. In a small bowl, stir together the peanut sauce with Sriracha to taste. Transfer the skewers to a large platter and serve immediately, accompanied with the sauce.

PEANUT SAUCE (makes about 2 cups)

1 cup sweet (glutinous) rice

1/2 cup roasted peanuts

2 cloves garlic

1 Thai chili, stemmed

3 tablespoons red miso

3 tablespoons ketchup

3 tablespoons canola oil

3 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons vegetarian stir-fry (aka vegetarian oyster) sauce

1-1/2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

1. Rinse the rice in a fine-mesh sieve until the water runs clear, then transfer to a heavy-bottomed pot with a lid. Add 2 cups of water and bring to a boil over high heat. Decrease the heat to low, cover, and cook for about 15 minutes, until the water is absorbed and the rice is tender. Remove from the heat and let stand, covered for 10 minutes. Then uncover, fluff with a fork, and let cool to room temperature. Alternatively, the rice can be prepared in a rice cooker.

2. In a food processor, combine the cooled rice, peanuts, garlic, chili, miso, ketchup, canola oil, sugar, stir-fry sauce, lemon juice and sesame oil and process until the mixture is a fine paste. Thin with water (about 1/2 cup) until the texture is smooth and creamy. Transfer to a bowl, cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. The sauce will keep, refrigerated, for up to four days.

(Reporting by Richard Leong; editing by Patricia Reaney and Richard Chang)

View the original article here

PARIS | Mon Oct 8, 2012 1:31pm EDT

PARIS (Reuters) - French group PPR plans to sell its declining Fnac music and book retailer, a source familiar with the matter said, to focus on its more profitable luxury and sports brands such as Gucci and Puma.

The board will meet on Tuesday to discuss splitting off Fnac, which analysts estimate could be worth up to 800 million euros ($1 billion), the source told Reuters on Monday. It will then present the plan to employees, the source said.

PPR confirmed it plans to hold a board meeting on Tuesday "to study the strategic options concerning Fnac."

PPR, the world's third-largest luxury group behind LVMH and Switzerland's Richemont, has been trying to sell its various retail businesses for several years to concentrate on its luxury and sports brands which have stronger growth prospects.

Analysts and bankers have said getting rid of Fnac would be particularly difficult as the unit's sales and profits have been dwindling steadily, hit by music piracy and fierce competition from the Internet.

PPR would also face resistance to any job losses at Fnac from the government, which is trying to fight rising unemployment and putting pressure on companies to safeguard jobs.

Labour minister Michel Sapin said on Monday he was closely watching PPR's decision to cut ties with Fnac and its impact on jobs.

Fnac, which has outlets in Brazil, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and Belgium, employs 18,000 staff, with about 12,000 in France.

"The exit plan is not completely decided," the source said, adding PPR aims to seek shareholders' approval at next year's annual general meeting in the spring.

PPR could put Fnac's assets into a new legal entity which could either be sold to a third party - which analysts say would likely be a private equity firm - or listed on the stock market, the source said.

If Fnac applied for a separate Paris listing, PPR shareholders which include the Pinault family holding Artemis with a 40.7 percent stake, would receive shares in Fnac.

The scheme would be similar to that used by Carrefour to spin off Spanish discount chain Dia which left the retail giant free to revamp its poorly performing French business.

"Fnac has a good chance of attracting private equity or industrial bids," a Paris-based trader said, citing a price of around 550 million euros.

PAINFUL PROCESS

Getting out of general retailing has been a long and painful process for PPR, whose initials stand for Pinault-Printemps-La Redoute, which began in 2006 with the sale of the Printemps department store.

Fnac, in which PPR started investing in 1994 and fully owned in 1996, was identified as a non-strategic asset three and a half years ago.

"At least we will know how much Fnac is really worth once it is no longer consolidated in PPR's accounts," said Catherine Gaigne from the Sud union, which represents Fnac employees.

Analysts at CM-CIC Securities put a value of 775 million euros on Fnac, or 6.1 euros a share, saying a spin-off was a suitable option given "the difficulty of selling this asset".

Others said an IPO was usually reserved for growth stories, not declining businesses, and that option seemed less likely.

Investors cheered the prospect of seeing PPR free from Fnac, sending the shares up as much as 3 percent. The stock closed 2 percent higher, the only gainer on a 1.4 percent weaker French blue-chip CAC 40 index.

The company, which owns fashion brands Yves Saint Laurent, Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta, Stella McCartney and Alexander McQueen, sold furniture retailer Conforama last year.

In July it raised 968 million euros by selling its remaining stake in distribution unit CFAO to Japan's Toyota Tsusho Corporation (TTC).

Last week, PPR Chief Executive Francois-Henri Pinault said he would update investors on plans to sell its Redcats unit - which owns mail order businesses La Redoute, Cyrillus and Vertbaudet - before October 25.

Fnac, which also sells toys and home electronics, made an EBIT loss of 7.5 million euros in the half year to June 30 while PPR's luxury divisions made a profit of 727.1 million euros.

($1 = 0.7657 euros)

(Additional reporting by Christian Plumb, Blaise Robinson and Elena Berton; Editing by Erica Billingham and David Cowell)

View the original article here