Category: AJBlogs

The Red Shoes Redux
Matthew Bourne/New Adventures brings the 1948 movie, The Red Shoes, to the stage. Victoria Page (Sara Mearns) “auditions” for Boris Lermontov (Sam Archer on settee) at a party given by her aunt, Lady Nestor (Daisy May … read more
AJBlog: DancebeatPublished 2017-11-04

Unions, Journalism, and the Creative Class
IF we needed another reason to disdain the billionaires who increasingly dominate our political and cultural life: The Chicago Cubs owner Joe Ricketts shut down several news sites, including Gothamist and LAist because the … read more
AJBlog: CultureCrashPublished 2017-11-03

Replay: Herman Wouk appears on What’s My Line?
Herman Wouk, the author of The Caine Mutiny and Marjorie Morningstar, appears as the mystery guest on What’s My Line? John Daly is the host and the panelists are Fred Allen, Bennett Cerf, Arlene Francis, … read more
AJBlog: About Last NightPublished 2017-11-03

Almanac: Thomas Beecham on the purpose of music
“The function of music is to release us from the tyranny of conscious thought.” Thomas Beecham (quoted in Harold Atkins and Archie Newman, Beecham Stories: Anecdotes, Sayings and Impressions of Sir Thomas Beecham) … read more
AJBlog: About Last NightPublished 2017-11-03

What Can Augmented Reality Do For Museums?
I tend to me a bit skeptical about the use of technology in museums. But on a recent visit to Denver, I stopped in at the Clyfford Still Museum to see Still & Art,which puts augmented reality to an interesting use. … read more
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts Published 2017-11-02

Berkshire Bombshells: Revelations in the Attorney General’s Berkshire Museum Brief
In consigning its collection’s 40 highest-valued artworks to Sotheby’s, the Berkshire Museum tried to pull a fast one. That’s not gonna wash. In a nutshell, that’s the position taken by the Massachusetts Attorney General in … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2017-11-02

 

After Inconclusive Hearing, Attorney General Steps In as Possible Plaintiff in Berkshire Museum Case
After hearing more than two hours of arguments today (Wednesday) from two sets of lawyers for plaintiffs, as well as a response to the plaintiffs’ motion by the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, Judge John Agostini … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2017-11-01

 

From Mileposts to Through Line
Mileposts are those small signs we see (or, usually, ignore) as we speed along the interstate that indicate how far we’ve travelled. It’s only in the rarest instances that anyone pays them any attention. … read more
>AJBlog: Engaging Matters Published 2017-10-31

Deaccession Obsession: AG Enters the Fray; Compendium of My Berkshire Museum Commentary
As I reported Monday on my Twitter feed (while I was traveling and off-blog), the Massachusetts Attorney General has officially entered the fray in the legal battle over the Berkshire Museum’s planned art sales. … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2017-10-31

Artists as Researchers: Equity in Changing Places
In Cincinnati’s Walnut Hills district, …  Walnut Hills Redevelopment Foundation is leading the way on physical and economic changes to the area. The developer’s leadership, including Aprina Johnson, a local artist on the staff, recognized the importance of learning from residents about social impacts too. They developed a plan for an innovative initiative: paying artists to be researchers. … read more
AJBlog: The Bright Ride Published 2017-10-31

 

Matisse and Bonnard: A Perfect Pair?
It has been almost a month now since I stopped in at the Staedel Museum during a layover in Frankfurt to see “Matisse–Bonnard: Long Live Painting!” but when I have mentioned it in conversation to curators, dealers and other people in the art world, many have not known about the connection between the two. So it seems worth it to discuss the show here. … read more
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts Published 2017-10-29

The Unslaked Fires of Love
The White Light Festival presents Layla and Majnun, directed and choreographed by Mark Morris. … read more
AJBlog: Dancebeat Published 2017-10-30

2017 PEN USA Literary Awards
This year’s gathering, Friday night at the Beverly Wilshire, was not only free from obvious partisan rifts, but took on a fierce sense of purpose I don’t recall before., … read more
AJBlog: CultureCrash Published 2017-10-29

 

Tea for Three? Take a Seat
Simone Forti, Steve Paxton, and Yvonne Rainer get together at Saint Mark’s Church. (L to R): Simone Forti, Yvonne Rainer, and Steve Paxton rehearsing. Photo: Ian Douglas “It is better to have loved and lost … read more
AJBlog: DancebeatPublished 2017-10-28

A Turning of The Tide?
SINCE I turned my book Culture Crash in four years ago, a few things I described have proven me a bit pessimistic. (Visual art may be healthier than I predicted, and music steaming has … read more
AJBlog: CultureCrashPublished 2017-10-27

Three critics in a studio, wrangling
The second episode of Three on the Aisle, the new podcast in which Peter Marks, Elisabeth Vincentelli, and I talk about theater in America, is now available on line for listening or downloading. In this … read more
AJBlog: About Last NightPublished 2017-10-27

Almanac: Hermann Hesse on classical music
“We consider classical music to be the epitome and quintessence of our culture, because it is that culture’s clearest, most significant gesture and expression. In this music we possess the heritage of classical antiquity and … read more
AJBlog: About Last NightPublished 2017-10-27

Music Lessons for Museums
Over the past year or so, I have had the pleasure of working with the Wallace Foundation on its Building Audiences for Sustainability program, which has been funding initiatives at performing arts organizations for … read more
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts Published 2017-10-26

Parsing the Arguments: Second Lawsuit and Reply Brief Filed Today on Berkshire Museum’s Art Sales
In the continuing saga of Berkshire Museum’s planned art sales through Sotheby’s, a second lawsuit and motion for an injunction (following close upon these) have today been filed by a new set of complainants in … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2017-10-26

American Ballet Theatre Throws a Party
ABT presents new and recent ballets at Lincoln Center through October 29th. … read more
AJBlog: Dancebeat Published 2017-10-26

 

Excellence and Engagement: III
In my two previous posts I have been exploring the question of excellence as it applies to community engagement in the arts. Here, I want to address issues of equity and respect for communities in this context. … read more
AJBlog: Engaging Matters Published 2017-10-24

The Legacy of ’90s Indie Rock
If you live long enough and write for a living, there’s a pretty good chance you will end up “curating” — to use the current term – your own youth. … read more
AJBlog: CultureCrash Published 2017-10-25

 

News Flash: Berkshire Museum’s Head on Medical Leave; 21 of 40 Consignments Pulled from Sotheby’s Auctions
There have been two major plot twists in the convoluted saga of the Berkshire Museum’s highly controversial plans to sell 40 works from its collection at Sotheby’s. This just in from the Berkshire Museum: … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2017-10-24

Get Out And Go For A Walk!
It’s That Time of Year… This is just a reminder: TEFAF is in New York again, at the Park Avenue Armory, opening to the public on Saturday and to collectors on Friday. And before that, as … read more
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts Published 2017-10-24

Classical Music and The Echo Society
Sometimes — certainly not always — it makes sense to take a chance and see something you have very little sense of. … read more
AJBlog: CultureCrash Published 2017-10-24

 

Dark Matters from Finland
Tero Saarinen Company performs at the Joyce Theater. … read more
AJBlog: Dancebeat Published 2017-10-23

Music as Communication: with you, with myself, with it
I write music for three reasons that I can name, though there may be others that elude me.  These three reasons jockey with one another for primacy from one work to the next, and sometimes … read more
AJBlog: Infinite Curves Published 2017-10-23

The Most Under-Rated 20th Century American Composer — Take Two
Back in the thirties and forties, there were no American music historians to tell the story of American classical music. So the task fell to a couple of composers: Aaron Copland and Virgil Thomson. … read more
AJBlog: Unanswered Question Published 2017-10-22