Stories

Was Renoir Actually A Fairly Bad Painter?

The age-old question returns. “Surely Renoir would at least have benefitted from being slightly less prolific.” - Artnet

At Crystal Bridges, Renovation And Expansion Are The Order Of The Day

Of course, “while the museum and the Walton family espouse natural connections between art, community and general well-being (see also recent major investments in healthcare), the urge to collect continues apace.” - KC Studio

The Wealthy Friends Interfering In Mexico’s Frida Kahlo Legacy

“If it were not so tragic for Mexican art, the story would make an excellent detective novel. All the characters and ingredients are there.” - Le Monde English

Why Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey Is Destined To Be Forgotten

It’s "a nearly three-hour barn burner, racing from event to event with whirlwind kinetic energy. … Nolan’s reluctance to take a pause should, actually, give us pause. After all, Homer’s poem doesn’t just involve a lot of waiting. It is a postwar tale about waiting.” - Boston Globe

Another Long Dive On How The Bayeux Tapestry Made It Back To England

"Among the French, the mood is anxious. The tapestry’s early life is shrouded in mystery, but it seems to have led a fameless existence in Bayeux for hundreds of years.” - The New Yorker

A Comedian And Content Creator Sees Shakespeare As His Future

The aim of this actor’s comedic videos, “he says, was to land on ‘something bigger and onto a new challenge’ - such as theatre acting.” - BBC

In A World With Awards For Writing Badly About Sex, LitHub Has Tips For Doing The Opposite

“Even if you’re writing about stereotypically bad sex, your language should be fresh and surprising.” - LitHub

The Anthropic Settlement Is Turning Into Yet More Struggle For Authors Whose Works Were Stolen

Publishers and authors are wrangling, and third parties are getting into it, and in general, this isn’t great. - The New York Times

Is The Internet Dead?

“It’s no longer strange to think that AI might be everywhere, edging out all forms of human interaction: bots talking to bots, all the way down.” This is … not great. - The Atlantic

Grim New Video Games Are Out, From The Governing Party Of The United States

The games, reflecting the political goals of the president, resemble gaming classics. Tetris is unhappy with "Build the Wall," a little too close to Tetris itself. Then there’s one like Snake, where gamers “patrol the Rio Grande and capture figures representing migrants.” - Salon

Let Movies Be Movies Again, Hollywood

Don’t make a “verse,” like “The Monsterverse.” Just make a movie. They don’t all have to tie in together! - The Atlantic

Robin Morgan, Who Helped Found Second-Wave Feminism, Has Died At 85

“Morgan caused shock waves in 1970 when she published an essay in Rat, an underground newspaper. The article, titled 'Goodbye to All That,’ named specific men as sexists. ‘Goodbye to Hip Culture and the so-called Sexual Revolution,’ she wrote.” - The New York Times

With Freedom And Community, Music Has The Power To Transform Young Lives

“If you want to get a young person out of trouble, put a trumpet in their hands – then just watch what they do.” - The Guardian (UK)

Trying To Revitalize A Tiny ‘Lost’ Town With Traditional Arts In North Carolina

“In the wake of Helene and the subsequent inland migration, the is teaching so-called Old World skills — like fiber arts and clay throwing — as essential tools in the modern age.” - The New York Times

Court In Argentina Rules In Favor Of Jewish Art Dealer’s Heir

“Portrait of a Lady by Italian baroque painter Giuseppe Ghislandi was missing for eight decades before being photographed in 2025 hanging in the home of the daughter of a senior Nazi officer who had fled to Argentina after the second world war.” - The Guardian (UK)

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