Polshek rarely worked for private clients. He devoted himself to public buildings, ranging from the Rose Center for Earth and Space at the Museum of Natural History in New York to the Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock, Arkansas. Equally rare, Polshek, who died last week at 92, chose commissions that were consistent with his politics. - Architectural Record
She was certainly a canny operator, but she was working to maintain safety and authority for herself and her sons (all three of whom became king) and stability for France. Though blamed for the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre, she spent years trying to make peace between Catholics and Huguenots. - Smithsonian Magazine
The 15 million yen (currently $104,000) prizes have been awarded to artist and dissident Ai Weiwei (sculpture), filmmaker Wim Wenders (theatre/cinema), pianist Krystian Zimerman (music), artist Giulio Paolini (painting), and Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa of the firm SANAA (architecture). - Artforum
"Notwithstanding her many roles in a wide range of Hollywood, international and Greek films, including The Guns of Navarone (1961), Zorba the Greek (1964) and Z (1969), Papas always gave the impression that there was an Electra, Antigone or Clytemnestra bubbling beneath the surface." - The Guardian
When we speak of adored artists, we often flash on the first time we encountered their work, a tendency that evokes first love. I was in college when I saw my first Godard film, “Every Man for Himself” (1980), widely considered a return to form. - The New York Times
"The overriding themes of (his) novels ranged widely: murder mysteries, espionage, family secrets and more. He could keep it light or go graphically violent. Yet his novels had a heavy overlay of emotional and moral fog that left the characters ... trying to grope their way ahead." - MSN (The Washington Post)
"The medical report on the death of the 91-year-old director said he had chosen to end his life. He 'had recourse to legal assistance in Switzerland for a voluntary departure' because he was 'stricken with 'multiple incapacitating illnesses'.'" - The Guardian
The debate over Netrebko has been part of a broader discussion in arts, culture and sport over how much individual Russians should bear responsibility for the actions of their government. - The Guardian
"His use of long takes, jump-cuts and actors’ asides to the camera all changed the filmmaking vocabulary. He once famously stated that every film needs a beginning, a middle and an end, but not necessarily in that order." - MSN (The Washington Post)
When she took the position in 1989, she was only the second woman ever appointed concertmaster at a major US orchestra, and she served for 20 years. "She was, by a long shot," said former orchestra general manager Bob Neu, "the finest concertmaster I have ever known." - The Star Tribune (Minneapolis)
The actress spent the seven decades after her Hollywood career ended as a result of the 1950s-era hysterical anti-Communism as an impassioned activist for human rights. - Washington Post
The dancer and choreographer, who built the ballet from that tiny beginning to "the country’s leading Hispanic dance performance and education troupe," has died at 92. - The New York Times
Polshek was the opposite of a starchitect. He "went the other way, embracing a modest approach to architecture that prioritized a design’s social value over its aesthetic worth." He designed buildings like the Santa Fe Opera, the Bill Clinton library and museum, and more. - The New York Times
Vogt brought people together in many places and on many levels: at his Spannungen festival in Heimbach, Germany, which became a musical home for a generation of musicians and listeners; for children with his Rhapsody in School project; with his two orchestras; and with audiences from the stage. - Van
She snuck into war-torn Chechnya, witnessed the Tienanmen Square protests, covered the Taliban's retreat from Kabul in 2001, and did extraordinary reporting from the Iraq War. Yet, she once told Susan Stamberg, "I didn't set out to be a war correspondent. The wars kept happening." - MSN (The Washington Post)
