Category: AJBlogs

National Gallery Does It Again: A Wonderful Christmas Theme
“The first Christmas gift is gold …” says the National Gallery’s Caroline Campbell as she begins a video inviting visitors to explore the theme of gold in the stories told by art at the London museum. … read more
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts Published 2017-12-20

A Plenitude of Nudes: Drawn to Michelangelo’s Musclemen at the Met
“This drawing is the reason why I’m a curator at the Met,” Carmen Bambach confided during a victory lap around her masterpiece marathon – Michelangelo: Divine Draftsman and Designer (to Feb. 12). … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2017-12-21

Reflections on the Bodleian’s Treasures – and a few others
To be honest, though for most of my adult life I’ve lived less than twenty minutes away from the Bodleian Library, I haven’t spent a great deal of time in its reading rooms … read more
AJBlog: Plain English Published 2017-12-21

Recent Listening: The Wisdom Of Eddie Palmieri
Eddie Palmieri, Sabiduria (Ropeadope)
Twin undercurrents run through this immensely satisfying album: Palmieri’s mastery of Afro-Cuban rhythms and the deep harmonic inspiration with which he motivates himself and his musicians. … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2017-12-20

Documenting the Athens Music Scene
One of the first things I saw when I moved to Athens, GA, two years ago was a gallery – okay, it was the landing of a rock club, the Georgia Theatre … read more
AJBlog: CultureCrash Published 2017-12-20

A Room in India at Park Avenue Armory: A theater titan stumbles? Or fights back?
Those who like theater that’s epic, brainy and political couldn’t have had a more irresistible ticket than A Room in India – no matter how expensive it was. Théâtre du Soleil, the Paris-based crucible headed by director Ariane Mnouchkine, … read more
AJBlog: Condemned to Music Published 2017-12-19

 

What have you LEARNED from 2017?
No doubt you have worked hard. You have challenged your creativity, stretched every penny, and exhausted every option. Good job! So, in these last two weeks of this year, how about taking a moment to … read more
AJBlog: Audience Wanted Published 2017-12-18

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Boeuf
We have so many ways nowadays to discover how boeuf en daube is pronounced without having to tap a French shoulder, human or beef. Raise your hands, readers, if you know what novel lists this dish as an ingredient. … read more
AJBlog: Out There Published 2017-12-18

Touched by a Virtual Hand
Charles Atlas, Rashaun Mitchell, and Silas Riener collaborate on a video/live performance. … read more
AJBlog: Dancebeat Published 2017-12-18

Kevin Mahagony RIP
The singer Kevin Mahagony has died at the age of 59. As The Kansas City Star’s Timothy Finn reported today, Mahagony had only recently returned to his hometown. … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2017-12-18

 

Wanna Pay $125 to See Two Shows at the Met? Now You Can!
“Have you dreamed of getting VIP treatment at The Met? … Now you can.” That sounds like a quip I’ve used repeatedly on CultureGrrl. But the Metropolitan Museum is dead serious: If you wanna be a Met … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2017-12-14

American Television’s Götterdämmerung Frightens the London Theatre Zone
Owing to circumstances of age and birthplace, I expect I was a fan of – perhaps addicted to – the American TV series of the late-1950s to early 1960s, The Twilight Zone. … read more
AJBlog: Plain English Published 2017-12-14

 

Time to Rethink: Court Extends Injunction Preventing Berkshire Museum Disposals
It’s time for the Berkshire Museum to face reality: Its pursuit of easy money through art disposals has backfired, devolving into a litigation exhibition with no end date, costly to both its reputation and what’s left of … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2017-12-13

Celebrating Chicago pianist Willie Pickens (1931-2017)
Willie Pickens, 86, a powerful, lyrical and generous modernist who performed, taught and mentored young musicians from Chicago starting in 1959, died of a heart attack on Dec. … read more
>AJBlog: Jazz Beyond Jazz Published 2017-12-13

Aida at the Met
When I was a teenager, my mentor in all things operatic was Conrad L. Osborne. I read him religiously in High Fidelity magazine. I thrilled to his encyclopedic erudition, to his impassioned advocacy, and … read more
AJBlog: Unanswered Question Published 2017-12-13
 

More “Mundi” Conundrums: Exactly Who Paid the Leonardo’s Princely Price (and why)?
In my Friday post about those said to have “acquired” the $450.3-million Leonardo da Vinci, I suggested that the convoluted Salvator Mundi story was still developing and hard to predict. Sure enough, … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2017-12-12

Janine Jansen at Carnegie Hall without veneer – or microphones breathing down her neck
What price freedom? Carnegie Hall’s Perspectives series allows its selected artist-curators to have something close to carte blanche over multiple concerts in numerous different forums. This year, the glamorous Dutch violinist Janine Jansen is one of those artists, … read more
AJBlog: Condemned to Music Published 2017-12-11

Janine Jansen at Carnegie Hall without veneer – or microphones breathing down her neck
What price freedom? Carnegie Hall’s Perspectives series allows its selected artist-curators to have something close to carte blanche over multiple concerts in numerous different forums. This year, the glamorous Dutch violinist Janine Jansen is one of those artists, … read more
AJBlog: Condemned to Music Published 2017-12-11

Great Expectations, Set By Museums, And Then?
I was drawn to an exhibition at the Toledo Museum of Art by its title: Glorious Splendor: Treasures of Early Christian Art. When I went to see it last month, it was not quite what I expected. Or what the title conjured. But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a good show. … read more
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts Published 2017-12-10

Robert Gard on Arts and Communities
When my good friend Maryo Gard Ewell asked me to write a reflection on the Gard Foundation/Americans for the Arts collaborative collection of Robert Gard’s writings (To Change the Face & Heart of America), … read more
AJBlog: Engaging Matters Published 2017-12-11

Iyer on Iyer
Vijay Iyer’s music occupies a fascinating terrain.  It’s a world that emanates from a lifetime of improvisation and a multilayered approach to the passage of time.  It’s also music that reflects its creator’s quiet defiance … read more
AJBlog: Infinite Curves Published 2017-12-11

Monday Recommendation: Discovering “Melanctha”
Dave Brubeck & Carmen McRae, Tonight Only (Columbia)
What would the Rifftides staff do without readers who keep us informed and on track? … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2017-12-11

Mostly Other People Do The Killing…Downsized, Full Bore
http://hotcuprecords.com Mostly Other People Do The Killing, Paint (Hot Cup) Mostly Other People Do The Killing has been a septet, a quintet and a quartet. For Paint , now that saxophonist Jon … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2017-12-09

“Mundi” Conundrum: Latest Head-Spinning Chapter in Tangled Trajectory of Leonardo’s “Salvator Mundi”
Another bizarre twist has been added the convoluted tale of the modern odyssey of Leonardo da Vinci‘s “Salvator Mundi,” bought anonymously at Christie’s on Nov. 15 for $450.3 million. The latest news, posted today on … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2017-12-08

Attorney General Asks to Extend Preliminary Injunction Preventing Berkshire Museum Sales
The legal jousting in the Berkshire Museum case continues: The State Attorney General’s Office has filed a new motion in Massachusetts Appeals Court, seeking “to extend the current injunction and stay until Jan. 29, 2018.” … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2017-12-07

 

“Essential Personnel”: My Q&A with Getty’s Communications VP on the Approaching Wildfires
With the area’s surrounding streets and nearby freeway closed to traffic due to rapidly spreading wildfires that are approaching (but so far have not reached) the Getty Center, the Getty today is staffed by only “essential … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2017-12-06

The Murder of the LA Weekly
Southern Californians have been bludgeoned with bad news lately, as a number of media outlets – LAist, BuzzFeed, Los Angeles magazine, the LA Times, and the OC Weekly – have either shut down or … read more
AJBlog: CultureCrash Published 2017-12-06