At £31.7 million, the 1906 Nymphéas was the highest-selling item in a £122 million ($208 million) London auction that also included works by Picasso, Kandinsky, Chagall, and Mondrian, as well as two other Monets.
Author: Matthew Westphal
In Search Of Lost Stephen Crane
The first biography of the short-lived novelist, published in 1923, seems to have been largely made-up. What scholars have put together since “enables us to piece together a new Stephen Crane: a figure as driven to prove his manhood as Jack London; as plaintive about his broken faith as Herman Melville; and as ironic about his personal self, and as recklessly disinclined to take conventional sexual morals seriously, as Oscar Wilde.”
George Saunders On How Chicago Made Him Funny
“I think I got the idea that the high-serious and the funny were not separate. The idea that something could be gross and heartfelt at the same time. Some of the funniest things in South Chicago were also the most deeply true – these sort of over-the-line, rude utterances that were right on the money and undeniable. Their truth had rendered them inappropriate; … they responded to the urgency of the moment.”
This Man Is Not The Walt Disney Of Japan
“There is one famous animator who rebukes modern technology in favor of hand-drawn, 2-D conventions. His grumpiness knows no bounds … From his hard-line environmentalism and anti-Fabian leanings to comparing, in July of 2010, the act of using an iPad to public masturbation, he has painted himself as a Luddite with rigorous creative standards that have resulted, ironically, in his becoming an entertainment icon.”
Glenn Dicterow Tells Backstage Tales
The retiring New York Philharmonic concertmaster remembers rescuing Steinberg, walking out on Lenny, and shooting Danny Kaye.
William Forsythe On Why He Left His Companies And What’s Next
The choreographer, rehearsing a 1991work of his with the Boston Ballet, talks about the stress that led him to move away from the troupe he created in Germany after leaving Frankfurt Ballet, what will happen to the work he made for his dancers in the past decade (oblivion), and whether he will choreograph more (not yet).
Too Much Blood: The Problem With Shakespeare’s Tragedies
Jesse Green: “Theater critics thus have the opportunity – provided almost entirely by Shakespeare, since contemporary drama is notably short on gore – to watch hundreds of people die horribly each season. … Rarely do I see the plays done well enough to justify the awfulness they ask us to witness. And if they’re not properly awful, what’s the point? Do Much Ado and be done with it.”
There Will Be Chocolate: The Royal Ballet’s Lauren Cuthbertson On The Pre- And Post-Show
“You can’t dance on a full stomach. There are always Maltesers around backstage – yes, we really do eat them – and there’s a guy called Rob who is in charge of the armoury, and is a real feeder. You’ll walk down the corridor and he’ll be there, handing out bars of chocolate or sweets.”
OK, Guys, Musical Skill Really Does Help You Land Hot Babes (It’s Evolutionary Science!)
As with male birds and their songs or courting dances, “when you’re able to display that you have the time and resources to perfect your ability, then that ends up being attractive to a potential mate … If you can take care of yourself and learn a skill like music, then you can likely take care of a mate.”
‘Sorry’ No Longer Seems To Be The Hardest Word
“As a word, ‘sorry’ has entered that puckish pantheon of Terms That Seem to Say a Lot but Actually Say Very Little. … Our assumptions about What Apologies Mean are often completely misaligned with the way we actually use apologies in our day-to-day lives.”