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How ‘Citizen Kane’ Got To Be, And Stopped Being, The ‘Greatest Film Ever Made’

“Maybe it’s hard to imagine now, but for many years, Kane‘s dominance wasn’t a matter of personal preference. It was practically a piece of data — like the name of the president, or the location of Florida. Miles and miles of words have been written about why Orson Welles’s masterpiece was so widely acclaimed … [and], of course, about whether it deserves that acclaim — not to mention who, exactly, is responsible for its greatness. But how did Citizen Kane become so firmly established at the top of the canon in the first place? Who put it there?” Bilge Ebiri gives a run-down of the history. – Vulture

The Complicated Legacy Of James Beard (And What It Says About American Food Culture)

“In the decades that followed World War II, no public figure prosecuted the cause of introducing America to seasonality, freshness, and culinary pleasure with greater vigor than James Beard. Gay, bow-tied, effusive, charismatic, and possessed of a lavish appetite, Beard had the misfortune to live in an era at once bigoted, repressed, paranoid, abstemious, and uninterestingly dressed. Today he is best known for the awards dispensed by his eponymous foundation, which remain, 35 years after his death at the age of 81, the most prestigious in the American restaurant industry. But of the man himself, contemporary memory is fairly shallow: He exists mostly in outline, as the bald, long-dead bon vivant beaming out at America’s eaters from illustrations, portraits, and the obverse of the culinary medals that bear his name.” – The New Republic

Louise Glück Felt ‘Panic’ At Receiving Nobel Literature Prize

“‘Mostly I am concerned for the preservation of daily life with people I love,’ she told the prize organisers on 8 October, when asked how she felt about winning. ‘It’s disruptive. [The phone] is ringing all the time. It’s ringing now.’ Speaking to the press outside her house that same day, she said she felt ‘agitation and joy’ before getting in a waiting car.” – The Guardian

Man Posing As Building Owner Hires Artist To Paint Mural, Then Disappears

“Joshua Hawkins said a man named “Nate” hired him last month to paint a mural on his building and offered Hawkins more than he was asking to do it. Hawkins said he met that man twice, first when the man dropped off paint and the first half of the payment, and again when the man brought the final payment before the piece was finished.” – Central Illinois Proud

Great Dead Pop Singers Are Posting TikTok Videos

“Frank Sinatra has a TikTok account …, as do Whitney Houston, John Lennon, and Prince. Some of the profiles were clearly set up by the late-singers’ estates. Others seem to be the work of record labels, in a bid to introduce their catalogues to a younger generation. And while the phenomenon is a little weird, it’ll also probably work.” – Mic

The Pandemic’s Threat To American Culture

Joseph Horowitz: “More than handwringing, this litany invites historical analysis. Why is no one in Congress or the White House talking about protecting crucial cultural interests, echoing discussions abroad? For three centuries, Americans regarded Europeans as cultural parents; we would emulate, learn, and grow. Where does that relationship stand today? Are we still growing up? Reverting to infancy? Opting out?” – The American Scholar

Inside The Collapse Of The Baltimore Museum Of Art’s Big Deaccessioning Plan

Peggy McGlone and Sebastian Smee report on how director Christopher Bedford’s plan to raise $65 million to fund diversity-equity-and-inclusion projects by selling paintings by Andy Warhol, Brice Marden and Clyfford Still was conceived, approved, attacked, and withdrawn. “There’s one thing the Baltimore episode made clear: Even the most noble of causes, including paying the mostly minority guards a living wage and improving access for the community, can’t be funded by monetizing the collection.” – The Washington Post

Well, Someone’s Taken Credit For The Monoliths (Just Guess What They’re Doing Now)

“An anonymous collective called The Most Famous Artist says it was behind … the original steel stele in Utah as well as the replica that popped up in Atascadero, California, before being swiftly dismantled by a band of Christian zealots. And now — as if there were any doubt as to where this was headed — the collective is selling facsimiles for the low, low price of $45,000.” – Artnet