Tag Archives: Arts & Literature

Arts & Literature, Culture, Homes, Magazines, Previews, Reviews

Previews: Country Life Magazine – Nov 15, 2023

November 14, 2023 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

Country Life Magazine – November 15, 2023: The latest issue features the annual Georgian Group Architecture Awards; Horns of plenty – The Bull, monarch of the meadow has been a key mythological figure since ancient times; the sensitive restoration of Somerton Castle in Lincolnshire, a once-neglected medieval stronghold; the great thatching renaissance, and more…

Here’s to the Georgians

Imaginative restoration, from Stowe House to Stroud canal, is lauded in the annual Georgian Group Architectural Awards

No, you’re not going batty

Jane Wheatley investigates the development pitfalls of finding a pipistrelle on your property

Back to the strawing board

The art of thatching is enjoying a renaissance as architects are drawn to its eco credentials, as Sarah Langford discovers

Horns of plenty

The monarch of the meadow has been a key mythological figure since ancient times. Ian Morton takes the bull by the horns

The toast of the town

Jonathan Self finds comfort in every crunchy, buttery mouthful and asks: how do you like yours?

Buried treasures

Christopher Stocks goes under-ground to examine the centuries-long allure of glittering grottos

The great country-house revival

Director-general Ben Cowell celebrates Historic Houses and half a century of achievement

Sir David Hempleman-Adams’s favourite painting

The explorer chooses a work that demonstrates the beauty and colour of the natural world

Hebridean overtures

Jamie Blackett runs the gauntlet of the ‘Grand National’ in pursuit of ever-elusive South Uist snipe

From ruin to rebirth

Nicholas Cooper marvels at the sensitive restoration of Somerton Castle in Lincolnshire, a once-neglected medieval stronghold

Native breeds

Kate Green meets the docile and floppy-eared British Lop

The good stuff

Need a sparkling conversation starter? Hetty Lintell picks out a fistful of fabulous cocktail rings

Dressed to impress

The sartorial centre of Savile Row provided the perfect setting for our Gentleman’s Life party

Interiors

Painting a floor is a fun way to add colour and pattern to a room, finds Amelia Thorpe

A touch of glass

Victorian glasshouses are feats of engineering that deserve a new lease of life, says Lucy Denton

Big apple

Charles Quest-Ritson is wowed by the display of trained apples in the 18th-century walled garden at The Newt in Somerset

Kitchen garden cook

Melanie Johnson savours the sweet earthiness of a chestnut

Shakespeare, but not as we know it

Sir Kenneth Branagh’s Lear may be off beam, but Michael Billington is buoyed by a stirring portrayal of the Bard’s wife

And much more

Arts & Literature, Culture, Magazines, Opinion, Politics, Reviews

Previews: The New Yorker Magazine – Nov 20, 2023

November 13, 2023 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

The New Yorker – November 20, 2023 issue: The new issue features The A.I. Issue – Joshua Rothman on the godfather of A.I., Eyal Press on facial-recognition technology, Anna Wiener on Holly Herndon, and more…

Why the Godfather of A.I. Fears What He’s Built

Geoffrey Hinton has spent a lifetime teaching computers to learn. Now he worries that artificial brains are better than ours.

By Joshua Rothman

In your brain, neurons are arranged in networks big and small. With every action, with every thought, the networks change: neurons are included or excluded, and the connections between them strengthen or fade. This process goes on all the time—it’s happening now, as you read these words—and its scale is beyond imagining. You have some eighty billion neurons sharing a hundred trillion connections or more. Your skull contains a galaxy’s worth of constellations, always shifting.

Does A.I. Lead Police to Ignore Contradictory Evidence?

Too often, a facial-recognition search represents virtually the entirety of a police investigation.

By Eyal Press

On March 26, 2022, at around 8:20 a.m., a man in light-blue Nike sweatpants boarded a bus near a shopping plaza in Timonium, outside Baltimore. After the bus driver ordered him to observe a rule requiring passengers to wear face masks, he approached the fare box and began arguing with her. “I hit bitches,” he said, leaning over a plastic shield that the driver was sitting behind. When she pulled out her iPhone to call the police, he reached around the shield, snatched the device, and raced off. The bus driver followed the man outside, where he punched her in the face repeatedly. He then stood by the curb, laughing, as his victim wiped blood from her nose.

Personal History A Coder Considers the Waning Days of the Craft

Coding has always felt to me like an endlessly deep and rich domain. Now I find myself wanting to write a eulogy for it.

By James Somers

Art, Art Galleries, Arts & Literature, Exhibitions, Profiles, Reviews

Art Reviews: Gagosian Quarterly – Winter 2023

November 11, 2023 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

Gagosian Quarterly (Winter 2023) – The new issue features Annie Cohen-Solal who writes about the exhibition A Foreigner Called Picasso, at Gagosian, New York, detailing the genesis of the project, her commitment to the figure of the outsider, and Picasso’s enduring relevance to matters geopolitical and sociological. Connecting the dots among the Surrealist milieu, including Picasso, a conversation on the underrecognized photographer Lee Miller sets the stage for a New York show about her work, friendships, and collaborations with fellow artists.

A FOREIGNER CALLED PICASSO

Dora Maar, Portrait de Picasso, Paris, studio du 29, rue d’Astorg, winter 1935–36

Cocurator of the exhibition A Foreigner Called Picasso, at Gagosian, New York, Annie Cohen-Solal writes about the genesis of the project, her commitment to the figure of the outsider, and Picasso’s enduring relevance to matters geopolitical and sociological.

By Annie Cohen-Solal

I have been interested in the issue of immigration ever since I entered the art world. I began my career as an intellectual historian: I was a scholar of Jean-Paul Sartre and wrote his first biography. It was quite unexpected that I would fall into the orbit of the art world, let alone so fast, but two days after I arrived in New York City, in 1989—I had just been nominated cultural counselor to the French Embassy in the United States—I met Leo Castelli at a dinner. Out of the blue, Leo told me, “You don’t look like your predecessors.” (I was the first woman in the position.) “You’ll take New York city by storm and I’ll teach you American art. Come to the gallery tomorrow, I have a show with Roy [Lichtenstein]. Come for the opening and stay for the dinner.”

LEE MILLER AND FRIENDS

Lee Miller, Fire Masks, 21 Downshire Hill, London, England 1941, 1941

The American Surrealist photographer Lee Miller is the subject of the exhibition Seeing Is Believing at Gagosian, New York. Here we present a conversation on the stewardship of Miller’s legacy, her photography and writing from the frontlines of war to the pages of Vogue, and the intertwined lives of her friends, lovers, and the many artists she knew.

Art, Art Galleries, Arts & Literature, Exhibitions, Previews, Videos

Art Exhibitions: ‘Gerhard Richter – Engadin’, Hauser & Wirth St. Moritz Gallery

November 11, 2023 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

Hauser & Wirth – Art Gallery (November 11, 2023) = Gerhard Richter, born in 1932, is one of the most important and celebrated artists of our time. His works can be found in international collections and have been exhibited in numerous museums and galleries in Europe and the United States. Richter first vacationed in the Swiss Alpine village Sils, located in the Upper Engadin region, in 1989, a location he has regularly visited during both summer and winter holidays for over 25 years.

Silsersee (Lake Sils) – Gerhard Richter 1995

GERHARD RICHTER
ENGADIN

St. Moritz

16 December 2023 – 13 April 2024

Curated by Dieter Schwarz and presented across three venues in the Upper Engadin—Nietzsche-Haus, the Segantini Museum and Hauser & Wirth St. Moritz—this momentous exhibition is the first to explore Gerhard Richter’s deep connection with the Engadin’s alpine landscape. More than seventy works from museums and private collections—including paintings, overpainted photographs, drawings and objects—are testament to the artist’s fascination with the Upper Engadin. Opening 16 December 2023, ‘Engadin’ will be on view through 13 April 2024.

The work connecting the three exhibition venues is a steel sphere that Richter had produced as an edition, on view at each site. He first presented it at Nietzsche-Haus in 1992, in an exhibition curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist. Each unique sphere bears the name of a mountain in the Upper Engadin. The matte, subtly reflective, almost surreal sphere delicately reflects all that surrounds it. It symbolizes the sublime yet inhospitable manifestations of nature, which are especially conspicuous in the mountains.

St. Moritz – Gerhard Richter – 1992

Kugel III (Piz Fora) [Sphere III (Piz Fora)] – Gerhard Richter – 1992

On view at the Segantini Museum and Hauser & Wirth are paintings that Richter created from photographs taken during his hikes in the Upper Engadin. These works mark a new chapter in his landscape painting—a genre that had always appealed to him for its supposed untimeliness. Richter’s Engadin landscapes are exemplary of the ambiguity in his painting, oscillating between a seductive transfiguration of nature and a reflection of its alienness. Particularly noteworthy is the painting ‘Wasserfall (Waterfall)’ (1997) from Kunst Museum Winterthur, a work that clearly traces Richter’s engagement with 19th-century painting, from romanticism to realism. The artist later overpainted some of the Engadin motifs, including depictions of Piz Materdell and Lake Sils, transforming them into abstract paintings with a melancholic atmosphere that responds to impressions of the landscape.

Arts & Literature, Books, Newspapers, Previews, Reviews

The New York Times Book Review – November 12, 2023

November 10, 2023 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW (November 12, 2023): This week’s issue features ‘Fear of Flying’ turns 50 – With its feminist take on sexual pleasure, Erica Jong’s novel caused a sensation in 1973; The 2023 New York Times/New York Public Library Best Illustrated Children’s Books, and more…

‘Fear of Flying’ Is 50. What Happened to Its Dream of Freedom Through Sex?

This color photo is a close-up of a woman’s face near a window. She is wearing a cream-colored blouse and pearls, and her face, partly concealed by her thick blond shoulder-length hair, is turning toward the camera.

With its feminist take on sexual pleasure, Erica Jong’s novel caused a sensation in 1973. But the revolution Jong promoted never came to pass.

By Jane Kamensky

Fifty years ago last month, Erica Jong published a debut novel that went on to sell more than 20 million copies. “Fear of Flying,” a book so sexually frank that you may have found it hidden in your mother’s underwear drawer, broke new ground in the explicitness of writing by and for women. Jong’s heroine, Isadora Wing, was a live wire. She was also a dead end, certainly for Jong, and maybe for feminism, too.

6 New Paperbacks to Read This Week

Recommended reading from the Book Review, including titles by John Edgar Wideman, Yasunari Kawabata, Allegra Goodman and more.

Arts & Literature, Books, Culture, Magazines, Previews, Reviews

Arts & Culture: The New Criterion — Dec 2023

November 10, 2023 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

The New Criterion – December 2023 issue:

Art a special section

Absinthe minded by Barnaby Conrad III
The three faces of Lafayette by Michele H. Bogart
Matisse & Derain: a study in contrasts by James Panero
Rodin & Michelangelo: a speculation by Eric Gibson
A German restoration drama by Michael J. Lewis
Notes on “Le Serf” by William Tucker
Thirties at the Met by Karen Wilkin

New poems by Kieron Winn & Richard Tillinghast

Arts & Literature, Essays, Journals, Previews

The Arts: Brick Literary Journal – Autumn 2023

November 10, 2023 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

BRICK LITERARY JOURNAL (AUTUMN 2023)

Leanne Betasamosake Simpson goes to the breathing lands
Paul Holdengräber and Merve Emre visit Mrs. Dalloway
Douglas Kearney rescues the earth from the world
Jessica Moore on the smarginatura of motherhood
Jan Zwicky approaches Wittgenstein’s silence
Tina Campt defines Black gravity

Arts & Literature, Books, Magazines, Previews, Reviews

Preview: London Review Of Books – Nov 16, 2023

November 8, 2023 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

London Review of Books (LRB) – November 16, 2023: The latest issue feature The Inside Story of the NHS Infected Blood Scandal; Elizabeth Taylor’s Magic; The UK government has become increasingly hostile to Freedom of Information requests on arms, and more…

Bad Blood – ‘We’ve messed up, boys’

‘In the UK between 1970 and 1991, about 1250 people with bleeding disorders were infected with HIV (and many of them with Hepatitis C, too); by the time the Infected Blood Inquiry began, about three-quarters had died, the majority of them from HIV-related causes.

By Florence Sutcliffe-Braithwaite

The Poison Line: A True Story of Death, Deception and Infected Blood
by Cara McGoogan.

Death in the Blood: The Inside Story of the NHS Infected Blood Scandal
by Caroline Wheeler.

Elizabeth Taylor’s Magic

‘Nearly eighty years after she first starred in a film, Taylor is famous for two things: her intense screen beauty and her many marriages (eight of them, two to Richard Burton). But at least as central to her life were her close and enduring friendships with men.’

By Bee Wilson

Arts & Literature, Culture, Homes, Magazines, Previews, Reviews

Previews: Country Life Magazine – Nov 8, 2023

November 7, 2023 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

Country Life Magazine – November 8, 2023: The latest issue features The King’s milestone celebration, Amie Elizabeth White reveals 75 fascinating things you may not know about Charles III; Exclusive access to St James’s Palace in London; the British passion for country-house portraits; the astonishing hidden gardens of bohemian Tangier in Morocco and more….

We can be rural heroes

Julie Harding meets a model, a comedian, a farmer, a hedge-layer and a former retail boss, all united in their praise for The King’s Royal Countryside Fund

A nursery palace

Simon Thurley chronicles the remarkable story of the modern home of the Court, as Country Life is afforded exclusive access to St James’s Palace in London

Elegy in a country churchyard

War memorials on British soil are a poignant means of ‘bringing home’ those who fell in foreign fields, reveals Andrew Green

A right royal ruff

The regal King Charles spaniel once won favour with the nobility — and owners are still falling for this loving and loyal breed, as Katy Birchall discovers

Martha Lytton Cobbold’s favourite painting

The Historic Houses president chooses a captivating work that proved to be an inspiration for her love of art and structure

Native breeds

Sheep are an instrinsic feature of the Welsh landscape — Kate Green introduces the breeds that populate the principality

Home is where the art is

Michael Prodger investigates the British passion for country-house portraits, a craze that started back in the 16th century and shows little sign of abating

Interiors

Arabella Youens marvels at the transformation of an Edwardian sitting room, as Giles Kime revels in the luxury of a daybed

Tangerine dreams

Kirsty Fergusson explores the astonishing hidden gardens of bohemian Tangier in Morocco

It’s only natural

Turning woodland finds into art is a labour of love for Jane Bevan, discovers Natasha Goodfellow

Still standing after all these years

A 188-year-old avenue of beech trees forms a guard of honour for Fiona Reynolds in Dorset

Turbot-charged

Nothing less than perfection will do for Tom Parker Bowles as he savours the most regal of fish

A bundle of energy

Could hydrogen-powered cars be the future? Jane Wheatley motors to Wales to investigate

The good stuff

Hetty Lintell seeks a bit of fluff from some feathery confections

Dare to be square

Mary Miers meets the talented craftspeople reinventing the ancient art of mosaic making

And much more

Art, Art Galleries, Arts & Literature, Collections, Reviews, Videos

Art Collection Tours: ‘Living The Avant-Garde’

Video November 6, 2023 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

Phillips Art Auction House (November 6, 2023) – In this four-part series, Jean-Paul Engelen — Phillips’ President, Americas and Worldwide Co-Head of 20th Century & Contemporary Art — and Miety Heiden — Deputy Chairwoman and Head of Private Sales — explore what makes ‘Living the Avant-Garde: The Triton Collection Foundation’ so unique.