Art: Raphael, Cheap
The ways of art collectors are just as mysterious as those of artists. Andrew Mellon once paid the Soviet government $1,166,400 for an example of Raphael's genius, the Alba Madonna (TIME, March 4, 1935). Last week another Raphael Madonna, less fine than Mellon's but highly praised by the experts, was put up for sale in Manhattan. The auctioneer vainly suggested that bidding start at $50,000. Final knockdown price: $27,500.
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CHRISTINE LINDBERG of Oxford's U.S. dictionary program, on why unfriend was chosen as Word of the Year by the New Oxford American Dictionary; it refers to removing someone on a social-networking site like Facebook
Quotes of the Day »
CHRISTINE LINDBERG of Oxford's U.S. dictionary program, on why unfriend was chosen as Word of the Year by the New Oxford American Dictionary; it refers to removing someone on a social-networking site like Facebook
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