“Stripped to the absolute bare necessities, the artists of De Stijl promoted a design reminiscent of the contemporary web, with clean lines, solid colors, and simplicity. But how could a hundred-year-old movement influence contemporary digital design?” Here’s how.
Author: Matthew Westphal
Tennyson’s False Teeth, Darwin’s Eczema, And George Eliot’s Enormous Right Hand
The Victorians were not, in fact, all that prudish. They had, as Kathryn Hughes explains, other reasons to hide their bodies.
Simon McBurney Suggested Adapting This Novel For The Stage, And The Artistic Director Said ‘Eeeuwww … Putrid’
But he did it anyway. The visionary theatre artist and director of the company Complicité writes about why, and how, he staged Stefan Zweig’s Beware of Pity.
Unknown Bob Marley Tapes Found And Restored After 40 Years In A Wet Basement
When the reels were discovered in the cellar of a seedy London hotel, “there was literally plasticised gunk oozing from every inch and, in truth, saving the sound quality of the recordings looked like it was going to be a hopeless task.”
Why Are There So Many Words Of The Year?
“Started in 1990 by a small group of linguists, Word of the Year has spread like a video of an anarchist punching a Nazi that’s been set to music.” Stefan Fatsis explains how it happened.
‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Is Now Amazon’s Number-One Bestseller
“[Margaret] Atwood’s foreboding tale of a society that regresses into religiously driven totalitarianism took the top spot from Breitbart News editor Milo Yiannopoulos’ Dangerous.” (Guess the Super Bowl ad worked.)
After Three-Year Search, Vancouver Symphony Finds Its Next Music Director
When Bramwell Tovey steps down after 18 years at the end of next season, stepping up will be Dutch conductor Otto Tausk.
Small Liberal Arts College Gets $100 Million Worth Of Art For Its Museum
Colby College’s Museum of Art is already the largest in the state of Maine, thanks in large part to previous gifts by Peter and Paula Lunder of a major collection of American art (itself worth $100 million) and of 100 Picasso etchings. Now the Lunders have made another gift of 1,500 works ranging from Rembrandt to van Gogh to Whistler to Ai Weiwei.
One Of Bolshoi Ballet’s Biggest Stars Is Retiring
After 20 years at the theater, including 13 as a principal, Maria Alexandrova has resigned. Bolshoi management says “This was Ms. Alexandrova’s personal decision,” and that they asked her several times to stay on. She herself posted on her Instagram page, “I’ve made a decision and I’m turning this page.”
Kuwait’s Shiny New Opera House Goes Up In Flames
The $770 million venue, which opened just this past fall, caught fire during work on its roof. Authorities say there were no casualties.