arts

After months of delays, the company’s Starliner spacecraft is scheduled to be blasted into orbit at 6:54 p.m. Eastern time Thursday from Kennedy Space Center in Florida without crew members on board, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The vehicle is expected to fly to the International Space Station and dock there Friday, before it returns to Earth several days later. The Starliner—a gumdrop-shaped vehicle with room for seven people—so far hasn’t been able to complete a test mission to the…

The dissident Russian film director Kirill Serebrennikov is calling for the lifting of sanctions on Roman Abramovich, one of the investors behind his latest film. The Russian oligarch, now trying to sell Chelsea football club because of financial restrictions imposed on on him by the British government, was a valuable patron of the arts, said the director.Abramovich’s record as a sponsor of important cinema should be taken into account, Serebrennikov added, speaking at the Cannes film festival. “We have to lift the…

The Future of Everything Festival is happening right now. Click here to register and watch for free as a member. U.S. companies should continue to have a presence in Russia despite the war in Ukraine, Max Levchin, chief executive of buy-now-pay-later company Affirm HoldingsInc., said Wednesday. “In the long term I hope American businesses do end up in Russia and Russian people have the perception that Americans are…

Boutique auctioneer Phillips sold a 16-foot-wide, red-and-peach painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat for $85 million in New York on Wednesday.  Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa put the untitled 1982 painting up for sale, and an Asian telephone bidder represented by a Phillips representative based in Taipei won it after a four-minute competition. The sale didn’t break the $110.5 million record for a Basquiat, held by an untitled blue work from 1982 that Mr.…

Silicon Valley venture-capital firm Andreessen Horowitz debuted a $600 million fund dedicated to gaming startups, stepping up its bets on so-called Web3 technology just as a broader market decline underscores the volatility of the cryptocurrency-based sector. The venture firm, known as a16z, said Wednesday the fund is its first dedicated to the games industry, pointing to the billions of dollars in annual revenue that hit games such as “Fortnite” and…

Days into his role as CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, WBD -1.99% David Zaslav gathered movie-studio executives and grilled them about a recent string of box-office flops, including “Cry Macho,” a Clint Eastwood neo-Western.Warner Bros. executives conceded they had doubted the movie would turn a profit, people familiar with the meeting said. Why, Mr. Zaslav asked, was “Cry Macho” made if they had reservations? When they replied that Mr.…

WASHINGTON—The Justice Department sued casino mogul Steve Wynn Tuesday to force him to register as a lobbyist in connection with his 2017 efforts to obtain a diplomatic favor long sought by Chinese authorities.The lawsuit comes almost a year after the department told Mr. Wynn to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act and signaled that it would go to court to compel him to do so if necessary, as The Wall Street Journal reported at the time, citing people familiar with the matter.…

There are plenty of instances in the Web3 world where projects feature stolen art that’s turned into NFTs without creators’ permission. DeviantArt, an online art and design community founded in 2000, is now opening up its NFT protection tool to everyone. Until now, that tool was available only to DeviantArt community members. But now any artist can sign up for it. Here’s what you get: the free version allows you to upload 10 images, and you’ll get alerts if…

One thing not in short supply right now are product announcements in the online travel sector. Over the past two weeks both Airbnb ABNB 2.62% and Uber Technologies UBER 2.46% have unveiled big, multipronged platform updates, ostensibly to better serve consumers and make them more comfortable using their platforms as pent-up travel demand surges. The changes are as crucial to their…

A group of 65 artworks totaling $922 million and amassed over the past half-century by New York real-estate developer Harry Macklowe and his ex-wife, Linda Macklowe, can now claim bragging rights as the priciest collection ever sold in auction history.Colorful, wall-power paintings by midcentury masters like Mark Rothko, Andy Warhol and Cy Twombly triumphed across a pair of evening sales at Sotheby’s in New York: an initial, $676 million sale held in November, and Monday’s $246 million follow-up. This second and final…