Category: AJBlogs

Clive James recently filled out the Guardian’s “Books That Made Me” questionnaire. I was so struck by his answers — as well as the questions themselves — that I decided to play along. – Terry Teachout

Part of the reason we think so is Sidney Poitier’s depiction of Porgy in the Otto Preminger movie. – Joe Horowitz

Why is artist Angel “LA2” Ortiz not included when we’re discussing Keith Haring’s work? – Jan Herman

More than its disappointing 1985 predecessor, the Met’s vigorous new staging of Gershwin’s opera manages to vindicate a controversial cultural landmark whose reputation, still unsettled, feeds on the fraught racial sensitivities of the current moment. – Joe Horowitz

A friend of mine sent me this color photograph the other day, remarking that he suspected it was the only time that Louis Armstrong and George Bernard Shaw appeared in the same painting. – Terry Teachout

With virtually no public money flowing in, U.S. arts organizations have, understandably, been most concerned with the interests of those who fund the enterprise. This narrowness of attention, this “donor myopia” has created a system in which the broader population can be very nearly unseen. – Doug Borwick

The news that Darren Walker has been named as one of the National Gallery of Art’s five general trustees gave me pause. My misgivings arose from what struck me as his astonishingly clueless views on the current state of American museums. – Lee Rosenbaum

The process and the permanence of recording never seemed to entirely sit well with her. There are some likely treasures out there somewhere that we’ve never gotten to hear. – David Patrick Stearns

At the New York City Ballet’s Fashion Gala, premieres by Lauren Lovette (costumed by Zac Posen) and Edwaard Liang (costumed by Anna Sui). – Deborah Jowitt

Does anyone still wear – gloves? A lady’s elegant, elbow-tweaking white gloves? Or a gentleman’s svelte riding gloves? Spot these on stage, my friends, and you can rest assured that you are safely encased in the genteel past. Dickens World. Downton World. Best of all, Austen World. At least, that’s how it seems when The Watsons begins. – David Jays