“The author of ‘The Road,’ ‘All the Pretty Horses’ and several other novels was named the winner Monday of the PEN/Saul Bellow Award for lifetime achievement in American fiction. The prize is worth $25,000.”
Author: Laura Collins Hughes
At The Met, Americana Steps Into The Spotlight
The renovation of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s American Wing signals a different approach to Americana. “Now [its pavilion], with 30 percent more room for displaying work, is filled with some 60 monumental marbles, bronzes, mosaics, stained-glass windows and architectural elements, many placed so that visitors will be able to examine them at close range. Before, the sculptures were decorative; now they’re the focus….”
Our Moral Judgment: More Malleable Than We Might Think
“[S]ocial psychologists have begun to study what they call the holier-than-thou effect. They have long known that people tend to be overly optimistic about their own abilities and fortunes — to overestimate their standing in class, their discipline, their sincerity. But this self-inflating bias may be even stronger when it comes to moral judgment … and new research is helping to clarify when such feelings of superiority are helpful and when they are self-defeating.”
A Glimmer Of Hope For Salander Gallery Creditors
“Bank of America’s First Republic unit agreed to share proceeds from the sale of art with other creditors of the bankrupt Salander-O’Reilly Galleries LLC,” whose owner “has been charged with grand larceny, securities fraud, falsifying business records, forgery and perjury.” The agreement “increases the chances that the roughly 400 unsecured creditors of the gallery … will get something back.”
De Montebello: Astor Promised Met A Painting Sold By Son
“Philippe de Montebello, former chief of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, testified yesterday that late philanthropist Brooke Astor promised to give the museum a painting by American Impressionist Childe Hassam.” De Montebello was testifying “as a prosecution witness in the trial of Astor’s son Anthony Marshall,” who “told his mother that she was running out of money to get her to sell the Hassam work, according to the prosecution.”
Why Beginning Playwrights Need Our Financial Support
Because playwrights write on spec, they tend to be “white, male, middle-class graduates from south-east England – the group who can most afford to take this financial risk. It follows that most plays they write will inevitably reflect the world view and concerns of this narrow group. A system has evolved that ensures plays and playwrights are developed by a process of financial natural selection.”
English Chanel: Lagerfeld Designs For National Ballet
“The English National Ballet’s principal dancers will be gracing the stage in Karl Lagerfeld-designed Chanel haute couture this summer, for a special production to celebrate the centenary of the influential troupe Ballet Russes.”
Dame Judi Pens A Letter To A Critic
“Having played Elizabeth I and Victoria, she has come to be regarded almost as the embodiment of the Queen’s English. But when the Daily Telegraph’s theatre critic, Charles Spencer, crossed Dame Judi Dench with a critical review, he discovered her skills in language more fit for the groundlings.”
Female Musicians Are Judged On Looks Why, Exactly?
“Half a century ago, most female musicians did not care about their appearance: what mattered was how they sounded. Indeed, a ‘high priestess’ attitude seemed to be positively encouraged; anything visual was downplayed so that the music could sing out unimpeded.” With the priorities given different weight these days, “has the pressure on young women musicians to look like supermodels gone too far?”
Art Historians: Gauguin Lopped Off Van Gogh’s Ear
“[T]wo German art historians, who have spent 10 years reviewing the police investigations, witness accounts and the artists’ letters, argue that Gauguin, a fencing ace, most likely sliced off [Van Gogh’s] ear with his sword during a fight, and the two artists agreed to hush up the truth.”