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Ralph DeLuca has carved out a rare niche for himself as the go-to art adviser of Hollywood’s A-list. The no-nonsense New Jersey native is on first-name terms with most major gallerists and counts blue-chip celebrity collectors like Sylvester Stallone and Leonardo DiCaprio as clients as well as friends. Other top-tier advisees include Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino and Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw. If you’re heading to the Dec. 6-8 Art Basel, keep an eye out for him: He’s the bushy eyebrowed, shaven-headed force of nature squiring boldfaced names to the best booths in the fair. DeLuca, 47, started out on Wall Street before pivoting to collectibles more than 20 years ago. It was legendary dealer Tony Shafrazi who suggested he upgrade to art. DeLuca proved a natural: curious, unflappable and direct. “I don’t have a formal education. I come from nothing. But I have my reputation,” he says. “At the end of the day, we’re collecting stuff, not curing cancer. Art is very important, but we’re not changing the world.” Now based in Las Vegas, he’s one of the key supporters of LACMA’s looming satellite there. But he retains his close connections to Hollywood, earning his clients’ trust by advising them not only on what to buy, but also on how not to get hoodwinked. “With a celebrity art collector,” he says, “they can get totally exploited by an art adviser or dealer — I’ve seen that happen a lot.” Here are his Ten Commandments for any Hollywoodite keen to follow the DeLuca playbook. 1. Rules Are Rules “Just because you’re rich and famous doesn’t mean the rules of the art world don’t apply to you,” DeLuca says. Many Hollywood A-listers, he says, “don’t understand why, if they can call and get a private jet to Bora Bora from the chairman of the airline in a minute, they can’t buy work from a 24-year-old artist who’s two years out of school and painting with his feet.” Even household names need to earn the respect of a gallerist or dealer and put in face time at their booths or shopfronts. If you expect to simply snap up whatever you want, when you want it, expect to become familiar with the phrase “We’re taking indications of interest.” “You have to manage a client’s expectations and help them understand that a lot of people are asking for the same works, and galleries don’t place them right away. The more involved you are, the better access you get,” he says. “I’m only as good as my worst-behaving client. For me to make the phone call, I’d have to vet that client and school them in the rules for a while.” A strong gallery relationship, of course, unlocks better access to emerging work fresh from the artist’s studio, at which stage pricing will likely be much more favorable. “I am very selective when buying emerging work, which I buy for myself and my clients only in the primary market,” he says, referring to artworks that are being sold for the first time. “It’s important for collectors to care about and support young artists and galleries but with the proviso that they do their research — or hire someone.” 2. Use Your Fame Wisely Patronage today involves deploying your own renown to help burnish the reputation of whoever you collect. The more you’re willing to say you own a work, or post a picture of it on social media, the better access you’ll get. “Sylvester Stallone is the perfect example of this,” says DeLuca. “He loves to get the artist on the phone, and he’s Instagrammed studio visits and things he’s bought and loved. He has a huge social media following, and it trickles down. It’s good for the ecosystem.” Galleries and artists cozy up to celebrities and tech barons for much the same reason. “They have these amazing parties, their homes get photographed — everyone from the Dalai Lama down has been to Leo DiCaprio’s house. It’s better that a painting is on their wall as opposed to a museum in Miami or Wisconsin.” 3. Buy on Instinct, Not on an Interior Designer’s Say-So Don’t fret over where a piece might be installed or if it matches the decor: “A real collector never worries about wall space. You can move stuff out when your tastes change.” 4. Stay Loyal Sure, assess a few advisers up front and see whose style and taste best fit your own, but once you choose one, don’t diversify. “Do not ask 40 people to chase after the same thing for you,” warns DeLuca. “It creates fake demand and makes you look like a trophy hunter and a flipper.” 5. See Art for Yourself ... “Go and see as much art in person as you can,” says DeLuca. “We’ve gotten complacent, and lazy, because we can buy on our phone or by FaceTiming the dealer. That’s a mistake, and it backfires. You need to understand the texture, the tonality, the tactileness of a work in person.” 6. ... but Approach Art Fairs With Caution “Celebrities get accosted at art fairs. People come up and ask for autographs, and you might just be standing there looking at something, a Warhol or whatever, and it gets out that you bought the painting,” he says, citing unauthorized shots from Art Basel Miami Beach that showed DeLuca with client DiCaprio last year. “You’re surrounded by 50,000 douchebags who want to go look at art and take selfies in front of a Twombly.” The rare exception: Art Basel’s OG fair in Switzerland. “It’s different and much more about the art. But celebrities have crazy schedules and don’t all have the time to go to Europe for a fair like that.” 7. Beware the BOGO The new gimmick whereby a gallerist will offer to sell a certain artwork as long as the buyer snaps up another one on behalf of a museum or institution is an unwelcome development, says DeLuca. Such practices, he notes, amount to creative blackmail by “force-feeding a museum to take a donation so the gallerist can tell the artist they got them into one. It’s not creating stewardship or patronage.” The exception: if a blue-chip institution asks for help acquiring a specific artwork. “Say Michael Govan at LACMA calls me up and says, ‘We want XYZ painting and we’re X dollars short.’ I would be happy to approach a client and work with the gallery.” 8. Resist the FOMO An adviser’s job is often to tell clients what to buy. DeLuca recalls walking around an art fair with a well-known, wealthy collector and discouraging him from buying almost everything he considered. “He had FOMO running around the art fair, so excited, like a kid in a candy store, because everyone was talking about needing to own this or that. In six months’ time, he would have said, ‘Why did I buy this?’ Keep your ears open, but don’t buy with them. Buy with your eyes and the opinion of your adviser.” It’s much harder to offload an artwork than a more fungible investment. “Going back to the gallery is a difficult conversation, because art is hard to buy and hard to sell. It’s not liquid like stocks.” Case in point: DeLuca has been working with a new client for more than six months — and has not yet transacted a single piece. The fact that so many folks were listening rather than looking is one major reason for the current slump in the secondary market for emerging art, he adds: “A lot of collectors were focusing too much on the social aspects of art collecting.” 9. Collecting Is Personal Ask an adviser about their own collection — but not to check their taste. “This is one business where you get high on your own supply,” says DeLuca. “It’s easy to spend other people’s money, but it’s important that the art adviser collects themselves.” It’s a lesson DeLuca learned from his mentor, storied adviser Todd Levin. Advisers may not have pockets as deep as those of A-list celebrities, of course, but they should be participating in the art economy, and at a similar percentage as they’d expect their clients to take. 10. Art’s a Business, Too “If you suggest money doesn’t play into this at all, you’re really blowing smoke up your own ass,” he scoffs. “[Art] is an asset class, and when it appreciates, you’re happy.” One sector DeLuca is watching closely on this front: Indigenous and Native American artists, where he’s seeing a surge in interest and support. But it’s important not to lose sight of art’s intrinsic worth. DeLuca often tells clients to ask themselves a difficult question: “Do I love this enough to want to live with it in perpetuity even if it does not increase — or even decreases — in dollar value over time?” . THR Newsletters Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day More from The Hollywood Reporterjili slot logo png 。

AN ARTIST has used artificial intelligence to create what he claims is the most realistic image of a teenage Virgin Mary before she gave birth to Jesus. The tech expert said he reconstructed the face of Virgin Mary as she mysteriously appeared on a piece of cloth more than 700 years ago in Mexico. Miguel Ángel Omaña Rojas, from Mexico , said he spent weeks studying the intricate facial features as they appeared in the original picture of the Virgin Mary of Guadalupe. He analyzed her facial structure, skin tone and expression to "capture gestures and expressions in a dynamic way", the DailyMail reports. The tech expert then used his artificial intelligence models - which were previously trained to study large sets of data about human faces and bodies - to recreate the life-like photos. He said in a YouTube video: "This is the most faithful approximation that artificial intelligence was able to carry out." read more on Jesus The Virgin of Guadalupe, also known as the Our Lady of Guadalupe, is a Catholic title given to Mary, mother of Jesus which has been linked to her mysterious supernatural appearance to a Mexican peasant named Juan Diego. Catholics believe that Mary left a miraculous image of her appearance on his cactus fibre cloak, which still exists today in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City. The picture of Mother Mary on the cloak is depicted with golden rays of light shining behind her, representing the sun. It comes after artificial intelligence revealed what could be the true face of Jesus after analysing the mysterious Shroud of Turin. Most read in Science Scientists made a shocking new discovery saying the historic relic - a burial cloth claiming to show an imprint of Christ when he died - could be real. Believers claim Jesus was wrapped in the shroud after he was crucified and that the markings left behind resemble his injuries from the cross. Using the marks on the cloth, The Sun asked AI to reimagine what the son of God might have looked like. Clever AI tool Gencraft was given the prompt "face of Jesus based on the Shroud of Turin" and returned some fascinating results. It shows Jesus as having hazel eyes and a gentle complexion. The man in the picture has a well-kept beard, clean eyebrows and long brown hair going past his shoulders. Under his tired eyes, he has clear signs of weariness. Researchers who have studied the real cloth have made their own impersonations in the past. Many have agreed that the person wrapped in the cloth was a man with sunken eyes who was between 5ft 7in to 6ft tall and had plenty of facial hair . Some claim markings on the body resemble horror crucifixion wounds. Signs of wounds from a thorny crown on the head, injuries to the arms and shoulders and lacerations to the back have all been reported by scientists. The Bible says Jesus was whipped by the Romans, made to wear the agonising headpiece and forced to carry his cross before he was left to die. It comes as the latest evidence around the shroud suggests the cloth was made around 2,000 years ago - the same period when Jesus was said to have lived and died. Most estimates say Jesus was crucified in AD 33, based on the Julian calendar, Bible passages and gospels from the time - 1,991 years ago. Italian researchers used specialist x-ray technology to examine the linen sheet and determine its age. The Institute of Crystallography of the National Research Council studied eight small samples of fabric to uncover tiny details of the linen's structure and cellulose patterns. They used specific ageing metrics like temperature and humidity to determine the results. The Turin Shroud was first displayed publicly in 1350 and since 1578 has been preserved in the royal chapel of the cathedral of San Giovanni Battista in Turin, Italy - hence its name. But it has been at the centre of religious debates for centuries with many describing the idea it was used by Jesus as a hoax. Researchers in 1988 even claimed to have debunked the relic and proved it was from the Middle Ages - hundreds of years after Jesus. Dr Liberato De Caro, lead author of the latest study, said the old research - which used carbon dating to estimate the shroud was made between the years 1260 and 1390 - was unreliable. READ MORE SUN STORIES Meanwhile, an atheist filmmaker who once set out to prove the Shroud of Turin was a hoax is now convinced it's real. David Rolfe used to be a sceptic when he began filming a documentary on the mysterious cloth but ended up converting to Christianity during the project. THE Shroud of Turin is a mysterious piece of linen cloth which has left researchers debating its origins for centuries. Many have suggested the cloth was used to wrap around Jesus before his burial following the crucifixion. Others have said it was produced far too late to be used by Jesus. The burial cloth has captivated the minds of historians, church chiefs and religious sceptics since it was first shown publicly in the 1350s. Esteemed French knight Geoffroi de Charny gave it to the dean of a church in Lirey, France. It was later dubbed the Holy Shroud when the suggestions that it was used for Jesus came about. Many of these theories relate to how it features brown marks across it resembling a person's face and body. Scientists have said the feint markings could possibly belong to the son of God. It is 14ft 5in long and 3ft 7in in width and actually features some burn marks. The shroud was damaged in a fire in 1532 in the chapel in Chambéry, France and was later repaired by nuns. Scientists have long been studying the Shroud of Turin with hopes of solving the long-standing mystery. More than 170 peer-reviewed academic papers have been published about the linen since the 1980s. Despite a variation of findings many do believe it was used to bury Jesus.2025 has been filled with attractive and affordable 5G mobile phones under ₹20,000. With high functionality and seamless connectivity, such phones now seem to make it easy for people to adapt to the new networking technology without burning huge holes in their pockets. Please review the article for the best collection of Best 5G Phones Under ₹20,000 , the most specialist budget-friendly new additions for upgrading. Realme keeps giving value for money, and the Narzo 70 Pro is the same. The Narzo 70 Pro also features that underneath it has the MediaTek Dimensity 6080 processor plus a 6.5-inch AMOLED display with a 120-hertz refresh rate, thus making this device high-speed and rich in visual appearance. The phone even features a 64 MP AI camera setup that gives excellent photography at that price bracket. According to the statistics, Realme took 16% of India's mid-range smartphone market in 2024 and is the most beneficial investment to spend less. The advertisement is for the Best 5G Phones Under ₹20,000. The smartphone's performance engine is powered by Snapdragon 7 Gen 1, which is slim and smart. The 5,000-mah battery keeps the audience busy throughout the day, and the bright 50 MP dual camera system captures all the colorful details. With this price, there is also a 256GB memory option, making it among the most value-for-money 5G handsets . Flagship-grade gaming performance for an unbelievably budget 5G smartphone 2025 for Young Gamers borrowed from portable devices. Moreover, the combination of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 and an AMOLED display with 120 Hz manages everything without a hiccup. It supports 44W fast charging and Value-for-Money 5G handsets as an additional boon for the always-on-the-go person. Samsung's Galaxy M14 5G combines reliability with performance. An Exynos 1330 chipset provides best 5G Phones Under ₹20,000 performance, and the powerful 6000mAh battery provides impressive runtime. One UI Core provides an easy and clean interface. Based on data from Counterpoint Research, they are among India's top contenders for budget mid-user options in 2024. The Poco X6 Pro's triple cameras, led by a 64MP lens, will make photos stunningly detailed. The chip is fast, enabling multitasking very easily and at great speed. Further, it enhances the media experience on this mobile device by supporting Dolby Atmos. These days, 5 G phones have the upper hand, but the slashing prices will kill off even the most beloved models. It promises to launch, at best, 5G Phones Under ₹20,000 and possibly even in 2025—an ideal job with all the niceties possible from a phone that features zingy performance at a price. Due to the low price of new technology, shifting to affordable 5G mobile phones is no longer a very expensive affair. Intelligent connectivity onboard thus makes the budget 5G Smartphones 2025 another good thing for people's pockets.

BEIRUT (AP) — Insurgents' stunning march across Syria gained speed on Saturday with news that they had reached the suburbs of the capital and with the government forced to deny rumors that President Bashar Assad had fled the country. The rebels' moves around Damascus, reported by an opposition war monitor and a rebel commander, came after the Syrian army withdrew from much of southern part of the country, leaving more areas, including several provincial capitals, under the control of opposition fighters. The advances in the past week were among the largest in recent years by opposition factions, led by a group that has its origins in al-Qaida and is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. and the United Nations. In their push to overthrow Assad's government, the insurgents, led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, or HTS, have met little resistance from the Syrian army. For the first time in the country's long-running civil war, the government now has control of only four of 14 provincial capitals: Damascus, Homs, Latakia and Tartus. The U.N.’s special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, on Saturday called for urgent talks in Geneva to ensure an “orderly political transition.” Speaking to reporters at the annual Doha Forum in Qatar, he said the situation in Syria was changing by the minute. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, whose country is Assad's chief international backer, said he feels “sorry for the Syrian people.” In Damascus, people rushed to stock up on supplies. Thousands went to Syria's border with Lebanon, trying to leave the country. Many shops in the capital were shuttered, a resident told The Associated Press, and those still open ran out of staples such as sugar. Some were selling items at three times the normal price. “The situation is very strange. We are not used to that,” the resident said, insisting on anonymity, fearing retributions. “People are worried whether there will be a battle (in Damascus) or not.” It was the first time that opposition forces reached the outskirts of Damascus since 2018, when Syrian troops recaptured the area following a yearslong siege. The U.N. said it was moving noncritical staff outside the country as a precaution. Syria’s state media denied social media rumors that Assad left the country, saying he is performing his duties in Damascus. He has had little, if any, help from his allies. Russia, is busy with its war in Ukraine . Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which at one point sent thousands of fighters to shore up Assad's forces, has been weakened by a yearlong conflict with Israel. Iran has seen its proxies across the region degraded by regular Israeli airstrikes. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday posted on social media that that the United States should avoid engaging militarily in Syria. Pedersen said a date for talks in Geneva on the implementation a U.N. resolution, adopted in 2015, and calling for a Syrian-led political process, would be announced later. The resolution calls for the establishment of a transitional governing body, followed by the drafting of a new constitution and ending with U.N.-supervised elections. Later Saturday, foreign ministers and senior diplomats from eight key countries, including Saudi Arabia, Russia, Egypt, Turkey and Iran, along with Pederson, gathered on the sidelines of the Doha Summit to discuss the situation in Syria. No details were immediately available. Rami Abdurrahman, who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said insurgents were in the Damascus suburbs of Maadamiyah, Jaramana and Daraya. Opposition fighters were marching toward the Damascus suburb of Harasta, he added. A commander with the insurgents, Hassan Abdul-Ghani, posted on the Telegram messaging app that opposition forces had begun the “final stage” of their offensive by encircling Damascus. HTS controls much of northwest Syria and in 2017 set up a “salvation government” to run day-to-day affairs in the region. In recent years, HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani has sought to remake the group’s image, cutting ties with al-Qaida, ditching hard-line officials and vowing to embrace pluralism and religious tolerance. Syria’s military, meanwhile, sent large numbers of reinforcements to defend the key central city of Homs, Syria’s third largest, as insurgents approached its outskirts. The shock offensive began Nov. 27, during which gunmen captured the northern city of Aleppo, Syria’s largest, and the central city of Hama , the country’s fourth largest city. Opposition activists said Saturday that a day earlier, insurgents entered Palmyra, which is home to invaluable archaeological sites had been in government hands since being taken from the Islamic State group in 2017. To the south, Syrian troops left much of the province of Quneitra including the main Baath City, activists said. Syrian Observatory said government troops have withdrawn from much of the two southern provinces and are sending reinforcements to Homs, where a battle loomed. If the insurgents capture Homs, they would cut the link between Damascus, Assad’s seat of power, and the coastal region where the president enjoys wide support. The Syrian army said in a statement that it carried out redeployment and repositioning in Sweida and Daraa after its checkpoints came under attack by “terrorists." The army said it was setting up a “strong and coherent defensive and security belt in the area,” apparently to defend Damascus from the south. The Syrian government has referred to opposition gunmen as terrorists since conflict broke out in March 2011. The foreign ministers of Iran, Russia and Turkey, meeting in Qatar, called for an end to the hostilities. Turkey is a main backer of the rebels. Qatar's top diplomat, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, criticized Assad for failing to take advantage of the lull in fighting in recent years to address the country’s underlying problems. “Assad didn’t seize this opportunity to start engaging and restoring his relationship with his people,” he said. Sheikh Mohammed said he was surprised by how quickly the rebels have advanced and said there is a real threat to Syria’s “territorial integrity.” He said the war could “damage and destroy what is left if there is no sense of urgency” to start a political process. Karam reported from London. Associated Press writers Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria and Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Baghdad contributed to this report.Australia's proposal to ban under-16s from social media platforms is "rushed", social media companies claimed Tuesday, expressing "serious concerns" about potential unintended consequences. The landmark legislation would force social media firms to prevent young teens from accessing their platforms or face fines of up to Aus$50 million (US$32.5 million). Platforms such as X, Snapchat, TikTok, and Meta have criticised the 24-hour time frame given for stakeholder comments, claiming a lack of consultation and inadequate details about how the legislation would work. X said in its submission that it had "serious concerns" the ban would have "a negative impact" on children, adding it breached their "rights to freedom of expression and access to information". The company added that the proposed law was "vague" and "highly problematic" and that there was "no evidence" that it would work. Australia is among the vanguard of nations trying to clean up social media, and the proposed age limit would be among the world's strictest measures aimed at children. The proposed laws, which were presented to parliament last week, would also include robust privacy provisions that require tech platforms to delete any age-verification information collected. The government is trying to approve the law this week, before parliament breaks for the rest of the year. Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, said in its submission the ban would "fail" in its current form because there was not enough consultation with stakeholders. "More time should be taken to get this bill right," it said. TikTok raised concerns over the privacy provisions -- including that they overlapped and contradicted other legislation -- and the limited time to consult stakeholders. "Its rushed passage poses a serious risk of further unintended consequences," the company's submission said. Key details about how social media companies are expected to enforce the ban remain unclear. Some companies will be granted exemptions from the ban, such as YouTube, which teenagers may need to use for school work or other reasons. Once celebrated as a means of staying connected and informed, social media platforms have been tarnished by cyberbullying, the spread of illegal content, and election-meddling claims. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese insisted Tuesday that "social media is causing social harm". "It can be a weapon for bullies, a platform for peer pressure, a driver of anxiety, a vehicle for scammers and, worst of all, a tool for online predators," he wrote in an opinion piece. "And because it is young Australians who are most engaged with this technology -- it is young Australians who are most at risk." The laws would give families "peace of mind" that their children's well-being and mental health were being prioritised, he said. If the proposed law passes, tech platforms would be given a one-year grace period to figure out how to implement and enforce the ban. The proposal comes just months before Australians go to the polls in a general election that must be held in the first half of 2025. lec/arb/fox

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