I bought a Picasso drawing for around a hundred bucks!

Mine, all mine?

Maybe that's premature. I bought a lottery ticket for 100 Euros--around $135. If I win the raffle, I have a 1 in 50,000 chance, then I win a Picasso drawing from 1914.

All proceeds from the lottery go to relief organizations for Tyre, Lebanon.

Questions I've been asked so far:
  * No, I will not just hang it in my living room to get damaged or stolen. I'm aware these things need special handling.
  * Yes, the winner (or a legal proxy) has to go to France to pick it up. I've never been to France, and I'm looking forward to the trip.
  * No, I will not let anyone lick the drawing, no matter how much they enjoy licking great art (you know who you are).

For those of us who like art And economics

SMU in Dallas has a good business school, and they have one of the best arts administration schools. The two have been getting together more often, and they've done some interesting studies into what makes an art organization (which is pretty much a business) thrive.

Piano in Texas

(photo)

Sometimes we need an outsider to tell us what our familiar home space is really like. So please read this funny interview with Renzo Piano, enthusiastic Texas lover. (Piano is the superstar architect who designed, among other things, the Menil Collection building in Houston. His addition to the already-perfect Kimbel Art Museum in Fort Worth opened last week.)

Ai Weiwei goes to prison again

Not detained for tax evasion again; this time he's organizing an exhibit at the iconic Alcatraz prison in San Francisco Bay. Because Ai Weiwei is currently prohibited from travelling outside China, an intermediary will oversee the actual installation. I'm looking forward to seeing what comes out of this.