A former Swiss ambassador to China turned art collector has forked out $45,000 for a replica of the famed Venus de Milo statue — made from panda dung.
Children from the southwestern province of Sichuan, the home of China’s beloved giant panda, made the unusual statue with the help of famous sculptor Zhu Cheng, popular web portal sina.com reported.
The work of art, on display in a museum in the central province of Henan, attracted droves of onlookers and was eventually sold to Uli Sigg, a Swiss businessman who collects contemporary Chinese art, another report said.
An employee at the Henan Art Museum, surnamed Zhao, on Friday confirmed that a statue made of panda faeces had been sold to Sigg, Swiss ambassador to China in the 1990s, who spent a total of one million yuan on artworks.
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Social Network named best film by key group
New York: The Social Network, which tells of the rise of website Facebook, was named best film on Thursday by the National Board of Review in the first major award in Hollywood’s race to the Oscars.
The film’s maker David Fincher was named best director of 2010 and it’s star Jesse Eisenberg, who portrays Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, was named best actor by the group.
Among other top awards, the best actress trophy went to Lesley Manville for Another Year, while Christian Bale was named best supporting actor for The Fighter and Jacki Weaver claimed best supporting actress with Animal Kingdom.
The National Board of Review was formed more than 100 years ago as a non-profit organisation dedicated to supporting movies as both art and entertainment. Its members include a variety of industry experts. —Reuters