“Anish Kapoor reached an out-of-court settlement yesterday in a dispute with the National Rifle Association over its use of an image of his Chicago sculpture Cloud Gate (2004)” — aka “The Bean” — “in a promotional video. An agreement has been reached to remove the image from the video.” — The Art Newspaper
Author: Matthew Westphal
Barbara Brooks Wallace, 95, Author Of ‘Peppermints In The Parlor’ And Other Children’s Mysteries
“For decades, Mrs. Wallace was a favorite of young readers for the enchanting mix of mystery, adventure and misadventure that she brought to her novels.” — Washington Post
Robert Rainwater, Influential Curator Of New York Public Library’s Art Holdings, Dead At 75
“Throughout his 37-year career at the library — including two decades as the first chief librarian of the Wallach Division, which combined the library’s vast holdings in art, prints and photographs — Mr. Rainwater … oversaw a vast expansion of the [library’s] holdings in modern and contemporary prints, artist-made books and printed ephemera from the 1970s onward.” — New York Times
Osmo Vänskä To Leave Minnesota Orchestra In 2022
The Finnish conductor, now 65, will have been the orchestra’s music director for 19 seasons when his current contract expires. Over those years, he brought the orchestra to international renown and Grammy Awards, led groundbreaking tours to Cuba and South Africa, and stood with the musicians through the lockout of 2012-14. — The Star Tribune (Minneapolis)
Tumblr’s Porn Ban ‘Isn’t Just A Blunt Solution, It’s Counterproductive’
Comparing the platform’s decision to “hammering a nail with a skyscraper, only to have it slip through an open window,” April Glaser argues that “what banning ‘adult content’ will do, however, is eradicate one of the few mainstream, safe, and non-taboo places where people could participate in communities that openly congregate around sex and sexuality.” — Slate
Killing Your Darlings: How Playwrights Decide When To Cut Passages They Love
“As novelist William Faulkner said about writing, but is applicable to all creative endeavours: ‘You must kill all your darlings.’ That said, killing your darlings can be really painful because you love them so dearly.” Lyn Gardner talks to theatre folk who’ve had to do it about why and how. (One groused, “I wonder if auteur directors are asked to kill their darlings. Does anyone ever say to Ivo van Hove: ‘Could you just cut 10 minutes?'”) — The Stage
Albert Einstein’s ‘God Letter’ Sells For $3 Million At Auction
“The one-and-a-half-page letter, written in 1954 in German and addressed to the philosopher Eric Gutkind, contains reflections on God, the Bible and Judaism. Einstein says: ‘The word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honourable, but still primitive, legends which are nevertheless pretty childish.'” (Even so, Einstein maintained that he was not an atheist.) — The Guardian
This Man Has Choreographed Four Different Nutcrackers (And Danced In Two Others)
Val Caniparoli has created different versions of the piece for the Cincinnati, Louisville, Grand Rapids, and Royal New Zealand Ballets, and at San Francisco Ballet he’s danced the settings by Lew Christensen and Helgi Tomasson. He talks to Avichai Scher about how he keeps them all straight in his head and different on the stage. — Dance Magazine
Esa-Pekka Salonen Is Next Music Director Of San Francisco Symphony
“Salonen, 60, will succeed Michael Tilson Thomas at the conclusion of the 2019-20 season, when Thomas steps down after 25 years at the orchestra’s helm.” — San Francisco Chronicle
Standardized Tests Determine Which Young People Get A Chance And Which Don’t — So How Well Do They Work?
“The question, then, isn’t so much whether the tests measure anything significant; they do, at least to a point. The meatier questions are these: whom do the tests overlook? And how does our culture’s dogged focus on test-measured potential shape what those in the system become?” — Aeon