THE ARTSA Modigliani Bright Spot: Amedeo Modigliani’s...

THE ARTS

A Modigliani Bright Spot: Amedeo Modigliani’s “Portrait of Jeanne Hebuterne,” which went to a private collector for $5.9 million, was the top seller at Sotheby’s disappointing New York auction of Impressionist and modern art on Tuesday. The Modigliani was a rare highlight in the sale of 46 works, 17 of which went unsold. In all, the auction house brought in $25.9 million, about $6 million less than its low pre-sale estimate.

Mozart, Armani Style: Italian fashion is joining with an Austrian opera on the British stage. Giorgio Armani will make his first venture into opera by designing costumes for an updated version of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “Cosi fan Tutte” at London’s Royal Opera House. The opera, to be directed by Jonathan Miller, will open Jan. 18.

London Looks at North America: London’s British Museum has finally found a home under its roof for its collection of native North American ethnography--thanks to $1.6 million from the Chase Manhattan Bank, the largest corporate gift ever received by the famed institution. The collection represents all the native peoples of North America--from the Inuit and Eskimos of the Arctic to the Navajos of the American Southwest. The 20,000 artifacts include wampum, scarves, combs, dresses, bison robes, weaponry, eating utensils, basketry, potlatch clothing, headdresses with eagle feathers, war- and peace-pipes, moccasins, totem poles and sealskin parkas, including many from California Native American tribes. The Chase gift will enable the North American collection to be permanently housed in one gallery in the British Museum; it has previously been scattered in other London museums and in storage. The collection is scheduled to go on view in 1997.

POP/ROCK

Blood Donors Called: Musician David Crosby remained hospitalized awaiting a liver transplant at UCLA Medical Center on Wednesday, and in anticipation of an organ being located, his representatives put out a call for blood donors. Crosby has type-O blood, and could need as many as 100 units during a transplant surgery. Los Angeles County currently has a shortage of type-O blood. Donors 17 or older, who are in good health and not at risk for the AIDS virus, are requested to contact the UCLA Blood and Platelet Center to schedule an appointment.

Pop Chart: Nirvana’s “MTV Unplugged in New York” album will enter the nation’s pop chart at No. 1 after selling 311,000 copies during its first week in the stores. Other new releases on this week’s Top 10: Megadeth’s “Youthanasia,” which sold 143,000 units to rank No. 4; Aerosmith’s “Big Ones,” which sold 90,000 copies to place No. 6; and Tom Petty’s “Wildflowers,” which will place No. 8 with 84,000 copies sold.

‘Wicked’ Lawsuit: Six men who claim they co-wrote the hit song “Wicked” with rap star Ice Cube have sued the musician in Los Angeles, claiming they are still due at least $50,000 for their share of profits from the work. Jesse Lars, Eddie Goodman, Stanley Jones, Anthony Holmes, Angelo Trotter and Torcha Chamba allege fraud, breach of contract and accounting violations. The song was included on Cube’s 1992 album, “Predator.”

TELEVISION

A January Kickoff: Tom Snyder’s “Late Late Show” on CBS will premiere on Jan. 9. The program, which will follow the “Late Show With David Letterman” and be produced by Letterman’s company, will be done live in Los Angeles at CBS’ TV City. The format will be similar to Snyder’s current weeknight show on cable’s CNBC, with live guest interviews and viewer call-ins.

‘GWTW,’ Part III: Just days before the TV miniseries version of “Scarlett,” Alexandra Ripley’s best-selling sequel to “Gone With the Wind,” begins airing Sunday, word came Wednesday that a second sequel to the 1936 original isn’t far behind. “GWTW” author Margaret Mitchell’s estate has signed British author Emma Tennant to write another chapter in the saga of Scarlett O’Hara and Rhett Butler. Tennant is best known for two sequels to Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice.”

QUICK TAKES

Country singer Dwight Yoakam will perform at North Hollywood’s Palomino club at 10 p.m. tonight in a benefit for the historic concert venue as well as the L.A. Firemen’s Relief Assn. for widows, orphans and the disabled. The Lonesome Strangers will open the show at 9 p.m. Tickets are $50. . . . About 100 prime seats for tonight’s Placido Domingo concert, “A Celebration of Spanish Music” at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, have been released and are available at the auditorium’s box office or through Ticketmaster. Tickets are $75 and $100. . . . Oscar- and Tony-winner Mercedes Ruehl (“The Fisher King,” “Lost in Yonkers”) will develop and star in an upcoming comedy series for NBC. . . . “Mayflower Madam” Sydney Biddle Barrows has joined “America’s Talking” as a regular correspondent on the cable network’s two-hour morning show, with her first report airing today. Barrows’ beat: covering the Heidi Fleiss trial. . . . Snow, a cluster of live reindeer and 75 Santa Clauses will set the scene at Hollywood’s Cinerama Dome Theatre tonight for a Disney-style celebration of Friday’s opening of the Tim Allen film, “The Santa Clause.” The “real” Kris Kringle is scheduled to arrive from the North Pole via helicopter at 6:30 p.m.