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Vartan Gregorian, Savior Of The New York Public Library, Has Died At 87

Gregorian, an immigrant from Armenia who became a scholar and leader of Brown University and the Carnegie Corporation, "was best known for resurrecting the New York Public Library from a fiscal and morale crisis. It was a radical, midcareer change from the pastoral academic realm, and a risky plunge into the high-profile social and political wars of New York...

Helen McCrory, Star Of Peaky Blinders And Harry Potter, Has Died At 52

McCrory's husband, actor Damian Lewis, announced the news of her death on Twitter. "I’m heartbroken to announce that after an heroic battle with cancer, the beautiful and mighty woman that is Helen McCrory has died. ... We love her and know how lucky we are to have had her in our lives. She blazed so brightly. Go now Little...

The Forgotten Land Artist

Nancy Holt was always serious. Her journals show how other artists loved talking through ideas with her. She was very close to Michael Heizer, Richard Serra and Joan Jonas. She exchanged concrete poetry by post with Carl Andre and Sol LeWitt. But when I ask Le Feuvre if the men saw her as a peer, she answers: “Yes, but.”...

Key Arts Figure In Belarus Freed From Prison After International Campaign

"Tatsiana Hatsura-Yavorska, the director of the Watch Docs Film Festival in Belarus, has been released from prison and had charges against her dropped following an international outcry from film festivals and human rights organizations. was arrested in Minsk on April 5, allegedly for her role in organizing an underground photo exhibition celebrating Belarusian health workers." - The Hollywood...

Louis Menand On The Pragmatism Of Lionel Trilling

As Menand puts it in his new book, The Free World: Art and Thought in the Cold War, “Trilling thought that people’s literary preferences tell us something about the kind of human beings they wish to be and about the way they wish other human beings to be—that is, something about their morality and their politics.” - The Point

Time To Take Bernard Henri Levy Seriously?

For nearly half a century, Lévy has been one of the most visible public intellectuals in France and a master at manipulating philosophical and political controversy. With his good looks and outsized ego, Lévy is a compelling performer. He is also an irresistible target for critics from the left, right, and center. - Foreign Policy

‘The First Great Balanchine Dancer’, Mary Ellen Moylan, Dead At 95

"Still in her teens, Ms. Moylan began to perform principal roles with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, where Balanchine, ever more enthusiastic about her work, was the resident choreographer. … career began and largely took shape before Balanchine formed Ballet Society and, in 1948, the New York City Ballet. But her career was closely associated with his...

‘I’m Just Free, Now That I Don’t Have To Worry About Fees’: Frank Gehry At 92

"Buzzing through his sprawling work space, the architect said he has now reached a point in his career where he has the luxury of focusing on what matters to him most: projects that promote social justice." - The New York Times

How Gabby Giffords Uses The French Horn To Help Her Recovery

The ex-Arizona representative was shot ten years ago. She's rebuilt her life with constant therapy, including playing the French Horn, which helps with her ability to speak. - PBS News Hour

Benita Raphan, Maker Of Lyrical Short Films That Hover Between Documentary And Experiment, Has Died At 58

Raphan's "genius" films - about people with unusual minds and talents - weren't quite documentary; they were that, but more. "Up From Astonishment (2020), her most recent film, is about Emily Dickinson. In it, ink blooms on a page; butterflies pinwheel; there are empty bird nests, an abacus and various inscrutable shapes. Susan Howe, a poet, and Marta Werner, a Dickinson scholar,...

Gianluigi Colalucci, Restorer Of Michelangelo’s Colors, Has Died At 91

In the 1980s, Colalucci led the team that restored the Sistine Chapel. "To paint the Sistine ceiling, Michelangelo labored atop a towering scaffolding, his neck craned skyward and paint dripping onto his face. In an enterprise that captivated the international art world, Mr. Colalucci assumed the same position for the delicate task of cleansing the chapel of the layers...

Anne Beatts, Who Broke Into National Lampoon And Saturday Night Live Before Getting Her Own Sitcom, 74

Beatts helped shape the early days of Saturday Night Live. "'It was pretty much any adjective you want to throw at it,' she told the Orange County Register in 2013. 'It was exciting, stimulating and fabulous. It was also horrible, boring and exhausting.'" - Washington Post

Actor Riz Ahmed Says He’s At His Best When He’s Overwhelmed

Ahmed, whose performance in The Sound of Metal has been nominated for countless awards this season, doesn't prefer the easy life. When he was a kid, he says, "I wanted to perform in some way, but I didn’t think it was viable. Teachers told me I should be a barrister, because I was always arguing with them." - The...

Ethel Gabriel, Who Ran Parts Of RCA Victor For 40 Years, Has Died At 99

Gabriel began working at RCA when she was a student at Temple University, testing records for manufacturing imperfections. And she didn't leave. "Gabriel often said that she had produced some 2,500 records. Tucker said officials at Sony, which now holds RCA’s archives, had told her that the number may actually be higher, since contributions were not always credited."...

Yes, There Really Was An Eleanor Rigby

Paul McCartney invented the details of her life as recounted in the famous Beatles song, but he found her name on a gravestone in a village church cemetery on the outskirts of Liverpool that he and John Lennon used to take shortcuts through. Yes, the grave is still there, and we do know a bit of her actual biography....

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