"Christ Mocked, by the 13th-century Florentine painter Cimabue, had hung for decades above a cooking hotplate in the kitchen of a 1960s house near Compiègne, north of Paris, before it was s…
"If you have abandoned one faith, do not abandon all faith. There is always an alternative to the faith we lose. Or is it the same faith under another mask?" Graham Greene, The Comedia…
The formidable Norwegian soprano Lisa Davidsen, making her Metropolitan Opera debut in Tchaikovsky's Queen of Spades, is right now New York's most talked about opera singer. I caught the fin…
"Did you see my cardoons?" Mike pointed to a pile of leafless, longer celery. I have eaten cardoons, I remember, at an optimistic Sicilian-only restaurant in Manhattan, long- and quickly gon…
Peter Warlock's "Bethlehem Down," performed by Stephen Cleobury and the Choir of King's College, Cambridge, in 2016: (This is the latest in a series of arts- and history-related videos that …
"It is only by risking our persons from one hour to another that we live at all. And often enough our faith beforehand in an uncertified result is the only thing that makes the result com…
With the proliferation of prestige TV, show developers have been seeking out playwrights for their ability to compose sophisticated dialogue, plot turns and character. Everyone from recent M…
As Hollywood continues to enjoy its ability to recast mega-stars as their younger selves, it has brought fears that younger and less experienced actors are being pushed out. At the same time…
"At the top schools, administrators are fielding recruiting calls from television producers and managers, adding TV classes, and competing with high-paying shows for writers they can hire as…
Overreaction is crucial: the work must prompt commentators to proclaim the end of art, to evoke the cliché of the emperor's new clothes. " The Art Newspaper
"You can never be comprehensive in some absolute way. So, in a way, we've gone in the opposite direction and decided we're not even going to attempt to do that. Instead, we are going to enga…
This year, a huge chunk of total sales went to a handful of titles. The top 10 films at the domestic box office have accounted for 38% of ticket sales so far this year, according to data fir…
What are the essential pieces of culture you have to have? For Whelan, they include Stravinsky, MoMA, socks and Chanel No. 19. " The New York Times
"The mixture of sadness and sentimentality in 'Gift of the Magi' befits a man whose life was marked by repeated human tragedies. … The diseases of alcoholism and tuberculosis would haunt […
Analysts claim it's not only possible to see who's blowing up now, but more importantly, who's going to be blowing up next. Chartmetric says it can shortlist which of the 1.7 million artists…
"Our friendly neighborhood book review aggregators put on our black hats and seek out the most deliciously virulent literary take-downs of the past twelve months. It's a ritual blood-letting…
"The Welsh first minister has defended his government's handling of the festive Banksy work Season's Greetings, which is to be locked behind closed doors in a former police station after bei…
"In television, film, literature, and other media over the past ten years, artists have presented information as though it is gospel, then reframed it in ways that force us to reconsider our…
"In 2010, Hollywood was drunk on the success of Avatar and decided 3D tech was the wave of the future. … Large ensemble Garry Marshall rom-coms like Valentine's Day were still winners, as …
While computer-generated suggestions aren't going away, companies are increasingly looking for other means to help viewers discover shows and movies they might otherwise have missed in a wor…
"As dealers struggle to insure works of art bound for Hong Kong, where pro-democracy protestors continue to clash with police, Art Basel in Hong Kong organisers say they are working with a l…
The august, tradition-bound orchestra, founded 177 years ago when Vienna was the capital of a now-vanished empire, would not allow women even to audition until 1997, despite years of critici…
"Over the years, around the world, there have been stories of ballet dancers having unhealthy diets, eating disorders and mental health issues. In more recent decades, the ballet world has r…
"At their best, the artists who died this year could make us see the world in new ways " even as they made us laugh and cry. Here is a tribute to some of them, in their own words." " The New…
"Ded Moroz today is about what you would expect. He has a long white beard, wears a fur-lined hat, has an animal-towed sleigh, and delivers presents to well-behaved children when it is cold …