Coming To Terms With Degas

A century after his death, we are just about coming to terms with Degas’s achievement, with his position as the modern artist. His work was entirely about contemporary life – even more so than Manet’s. In his entire career he only ever showed one painting with a historical or biblical theme, the early Scene of War in the Middle Ages. Edmond de Goncourt recognised in 1874 that ‘among all the artists I have met so far, he is the one who has best been able, in representing modern life, to catch the spirit of that life.’

Is The Renovation Of The Old Corcoran Gallery Literally Making The Students There Sick?

“When the Corcoran failed as an institution in 2014, George Washington University absorbed the school and its [120-year-old] building at 17th Street and New York Avenue NW. The university soon after launched an unprecedented renovation, and decided to keep the school open to studios and classes for the duration.” The disruption caused by the construction was bad enough, but now students are complaining of headaches, nausea, rashes, breathing problems, and even fleas.

Egyptian Pop Singers Arrested For ‘Inciting Debauchery’ In Their Music Videos

“Leila Amer will detained for four days, according to reports, while authorities investigate her video for the song ‘Boss Oumek’ (‘Look At Your Mother’), which includes ‘suggestive’ dancing and gestures.” (The complaining attorney called it a “moral disaster” and “an attack on society and the destruction of the state.”) “Ms Amer’s case occurs less than a month after a fellow singer [called Shyma] was sentenced to two years in prison over a raunchy video.”

The Getty’s Pacific Standard Time Has Been A Hit. Here’s What PST Should Do Next

Christopher Knight: Pacific Standard Time should underwrite full retrospective exhibitions of artists with significant histories of working in Los Angeles, beginning in the late 19th century and continuing to the present. Not project shows. Not young or emerging or new artist surveys. Not a phalanx of partial looks at a segment of an established artist’s output. Instead, I mean full, rigorous accountings of historical figures, as well as artists beyond mid-career who have been in it for the long haul — a generation or more.

Debate Over Museum Admissions Is An Existential One

The debate over what or if to charge admissions is part of a larger debate over what museums should do and be. The model of the past century for museums, Feldman said, is “build, grow and acquire,” which is expensive and demands that no source of revenue be overlooked. The newer conception of museums involves ideas about what should be done with the existing collections in order to improve access and increase understanding, which is why a growing number of institutions are putting their collections online and trying to make the museum experience more interactive. The largest museums in the country are attempting to pursue both models, but the result has been that their actions on the one hand work against the increased access they hope to achieve.

Big Tech Looks At The Brain And Sees Opportunity – Ethicists Aren’t So Sure

“As uses move to the augmentation of abilities, whether for military purposes or among consumers, a host of concerns will arise. Privacy is an obvious one: the refuge of an inner voice may disappear. Security is another: if a brain can be reached on the internet, it can also be hacked. Inequality is a third: access to superhuman cognitive abilities could be beyond all except a self-perpetuating elite. Ethicists are already starting to grapple with questions of identity and agency that arise when a machine is in the neural loop.”

What’s The Legacy Of A 15-Year Alternative Art Space Experiment In Los Angeles’ Echo Park?

There’s a lot to remember, a lot that the Machine Project inspired. “Machine Project leaves behind a vibrant legacy. Over its existence, the organization collaborated with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art on a series of strange-funny performances, and it once organized an architectural tour of L.A. led by artist Cliff Hengst channeling the ghost of Whitney Houston. ‘It was this heavily researched architecture tour,’ says Allen. ‘But it was also this heavily researched story about Whitney Houston.'”

The Wikipedia Rabbit Hole We All Fall Down After Watching ‘The Crown’

Well, this is fun to know: “Traffic to the queen’s Wikipedia page peaked on Dec. 10, when the second season of ‘The Crown’ started streaming. The entry about Princess Margaret (played by Vanessa Kirby) spiked on the same day, and hit No. 37 on the list, just behind Melania Trump. (“I haven’t watched ‘The Crown,’ so I can’t really comment on the version of Princess Margaret that is drawing viewers to this site,” one Wiki editor wrote.) Prince Philip‘s page hits its peak in May when Buckingham Palace announced his retirement in real life, though he’s also played by Matt Smith in ‘The Crown’; he’s No. 44, between ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ and ‘Star Wars.'”