“One or more intruders broke in to Dulwich Picture Gallery in south London late on Wednesday and removed two paintings from the Rembrandt’s Light exhibition. Police were called and following a search of the area officers challenged a suspect running from the scene. … Neither painting left the gallery grounds and remain in the gallery’s care.” – The Guardian
Author: Matthew Westphal
Venice Floods: No Damage To Artworks, Say Museums
“Though Italy is gearing up to declare a state of emergency over the flooding that has engulfed Venice in the past two days, many of the city’s art institutions have somewhat miraculously reported that their artworks are unscathed, with minimal damage to building infrastructure. The Venice Biennale, in particular, fared remarkably well.” – artnet
She Gave Up On A Pro Basketball Career To Sing Opera. Now She’s One Of The Met’s Next Stars
In younger days, J’Nai Bridges, who’s been getting terrific reviews for her house debut as Nefertiti in Philip Glass’s Akhnaten, really was a championship-level basketball player back home in Washington state. (When a singing rehearsal conflicted with a finals game, she made her choice.) But Bridges still plays, often with fellow musicians, for exercise and stress relief. Says her best friend, pianist Sakura Myers, “J’Nai is a low-key sadist when it comes to exercise.” – T — The New York Times Style Magazine
Shoji Sadao, 92, Architect Who Realized Visions Of Buckminster Fuller And Isamu Noguchi
“Fuller was pursuing out-there ideas in design and architecture, and it often fell to Mr. Sadao to do the practical work of implementing them. … [He] filled a similar role with Noguchi, the acclaimed sculptor and landscape architect. He helped turn Noguchi’s concepts, whether for the Hart Plaza fountain in Detroit or the 400-acre Moerenuma Park in Sapporo, Japan, into reality.” – The New York Times
Why Wile E. Coyote Is A Great Mythic Protagonist
“The Road Runner … can run through paintings, or invisible brick walls, or across vast stretches of open sky. His pursuer cannot. Wile E. Coyote’s schemes and traps sometimes fall apart due to his own hubris, but like any Greek tragic hero, he’s doomed from the start. The universe has it out for him.” – Vulture
Ballet Helps Veteran Recover From PTSD
“‘Keep your fingers straight and off the trigger. Do not point the rifle at anyone you do not intend to shoot.’ That’s Roman Baca, a U.S. marine and Iraq War veteran. But he’s not speaking to the company of soldiers he led during his tour as a sergeant in Fallujah, Iraq. Here, Baca is instructing a company of ballet dancers” in the documentary short Exit 12: Moved by War. (video) – The Atlantic
Should We Be Casting Only Disabled Young Actors As Tiny Tim In ‘A Christmas Carol’?
“Now, in an era in which authenticity and representation have become entertainment industry watchwords, the presenters of some of the many theatrical adaptations that are staged every winter are rethinking who gets to play this iconic role … In London, the casting call for the role made it clear: ‘Applicants without a disability will not be considered.’ In New York, the language was subtler: ‘Performers with disabilities are encouraged to audition.'” – The New York Times
Why Do We Even Need Fiction? Asks Isaac Bashevis Singer
“Why invent things when nature and life supply so many strange events? … Why bother proving a lie when truth needs no preface? I sometimes fear that all of humankind may sooner or later come to my conclusion: that reading fiction is a waste of time. But why should I be afraid? Just because I would personally be one of the victims? No, it’s not just that.” – Los Angeles Review of Books
The One-Sentence-1,000-Pages Novel Missed Out On The Booker, But It’s Won This Prize
Lucy Ellmann’s Ducks, Newburyport was an obvious choice for the £10,000 Goldsmiths Prize, which honors “fiction at its most novel.” Jury chair Erica Wagner said, “In her gripping and hypnotic book, Ellmann remakes the novel and expands the reader’s idea of what is possible with the form.” (In a separate essay, fellow judge Anna Leszkiewicz writes about why Ducks, Newburyport is the winner.) – New Statesman
Joshua Bell Extends As Music Director Of Academy Of St. Martin In The Fields To 2023
“Bell is only the second holder of the music director role at the Academy, succeeding the Academy’s founder Sir Neville Marriner, who held the post from the orchestra’s formation in 1958 until 2011 … The violinist first collaborated with the orchestra in 1998, when he was 21 years old, in a recording of Bruch and Mendelssohn concertos, with Marriner conducting.” – The Strad