When Charles III commissioned the building in the 1780s, he intended it to become a natural science museum; by the time it was ready to open in 1819, his grandson Ferdinand VII decided it was to be a showplace for the royal art collection. Since then, it’s been involved in everything from art education programs for peasants to the country’s civil wars (the Prado’s importance was the one thing every side agreed on). — The New York Times
Author: Matthew Westphal
New Streaming Service For Arthouse Films To Launch This Spring
With FilmStruck having closed and Criterion’s planned service limited to the titles admitted to its Collection, serious cinephiles who stream were feeling a bit bereft. “Enter OVID, a recently announced partnership [whose members]… control the rights to thousands of different documentary, arthouse, independent, and international titles.” — Hyperallergic
The Brooklyn Guy Who Transformed Britain’s Dance World Is Still Choreographing At Age 93
This student of Martha Graham came to London in the late 1960s, founded The Place, and started up the UK’s first contemporary dance company, school, and theatre there. And you probably haven’t heard of him. Meet Robert Cohan. — The Guardian
Day After Day In Class, Ballet Dancers Are Moving Themselves Past The Genre’s Gender Conventions
“Women can jump higher and complete more turns than ever before, skills traditionally associated with male dancers. For their part, men are training to incorporate the stretch and finesse that has long been standard for female dancers. Rather than distorting the form as some ballet purists fear, dancers who push the gendered boundaries of training ‘are more versatile and can be stretched in different ways,’ said [NYCB ballet master] Jonathan Stafford.” — The New York Times
Where The Baltimore Symphony Contract Negotiations Went Wrong — And How They Could Go Better
“When an orchestra faces an existential threat — that’s understandably how the players see this — you have to deal with it in a fundamentally different way. You don’t just follow some symphony industry playbook and toss an incendiary contract offer onto the table. In the midst of the concert season, no less. Seems to me this situation demanded a fresh approach.” Tim Smith offers some ideas for such an approach. — Tim Smith
Chicago’s Museum Of Contemporary Art Offers Discount To Anyone Affected By Gender Pay Gap
As of February 24, “anyone who believes the gender pay gap has negatively impacted their earning potential” may pay $12 for admission to the MCA. That’s 80% of the normal ticket price ($15). — Hyperallergic
Why Johns Hopkins Is Buying The Newseum Building
“The purchase is an opportunity to position the university, literally, to better contribute its expertise to national- and international-policy discussions. … It is also a power move for a university that ping-pongs in and out of the top-10 rankings — one that may lead more students to salivate over the school, and improve its status.” — The Atlantic
Museo Del Barrio Cancels Show On Director Alejandro Jodorowsky Over His Boast That He Raped An Actress
The statement in question comes from the director’s 1972 book about his breakout 1970 film El Topo: “After she had hit me long enough and hard enough to tire her, I said, ‘Now it’s my turn. Roll the cameras.’ And … I really raped her. And she screamed … Then she told me that she had been raped before. You see, for me the character is frigid until El Topo rapes her. And she has an orgasm.'” — ARTnews
Art Critic Mary Louise Schumacher Laid Off From Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
After 18 years as the paper’s art and architecture critic, Schumacher has taken a buyout; her position is being eliminated. The Journal Sentinel is a Gannett newspaper, and Schumacher is presumably one of the roughly 400 staffers whose layoffs by the chain were revealed earlier this month. — ARTnews
‘Choreographer To The Stars’ JoJo Smith Dead At 80
“With a career spanning over six decades, Smith’s credits include eight Broadway shows, hit TV shows, feature films and major domestic and international tours (including West Side Story). … Even with high-profile friends like Eartha Kitt and students like Barbra Streisand, Sylvie Vartan, Barbara Walters and Diane Von Furstenburg, Smith was best known as dance consultant for box office smash hit musical Saturday Night Fever (John Travolta). He will also be remembered as the founder of Jo Jo’s Dance Factory (currently Broadway Dance Center).” — Dance Magazine