Facing Storm Of Criticism And Boycott Threats, France’s Motion Picture Academy Promises Reform

“The César Academy has been under fire since announcing the 12 nominations for Roman Polanski’s An Officer and a Spy, as well reportedly shutting out feminist personalities such as the [filmmaker] Claire Denis and author Virginie Despentes from one its gala events preceding the ceremony. Many in the industry have pointed out the lack of gender parity, diversity and transparency within the César’s voting body, as well as within the academy itself.” – Variety

Surprise: There’s Been A Rembrandt In Allentown, Pa. For 59 Years

The 1632 Portrait of a Young Woman was attributed to Rembrandt van Rijn when it was given to the Allentown Art Museum in 1961, but during the 1970s the attribution was changed to a student from the master’s studio. But after the painting was sent to a high-tech NYU lab in 2018 for “routine conservation,” scholars reconsidered. – Smithsonian Magazine

Baltimore Symphony Board Adopts Five-Year ‘Master Plan’ To Solve Its Financial Crisis

No details about money or the length of the season have been announced yet; the first will probably come out later this month, and the second will be addressed in this year’s contract negotiations. But there are plans to live-stream concerts and give performances in Baltimore neighborhoods and around Maryland. – The Baltimore Sun

Our Central Need: Meaning

Viktor Frankl argued that literature, art, religion and all the other cultural phenomena that place meaning at their core are things-unto-themselves, and furthermore are the very basis for how we find purpose. In private practice, Frankl developed a methodology he called ‘logotherapy’ – from logos, Greek for ‘reason’ – describing it as defined by the fact that ‘this striving to find a meaning in one’s life is the primary motivational force in man’. He believed that there was much that humanity can live without, but if we’re devoid of a sense of purpose and meaning then we ensure our eventual demise. – Aeon

Angela Hewitt’s $200,000 Piano Destroyed By Movers

She had just finished recording some Beethoven, and movers were taking her piano from the Berlin studio; they dropped it while trying to lift it onto a hand truck, and the instrument’s iron frame crashed and its lid split in two. The Fazioli F278, custom-made for Hewitt, was the only one of its model with four pedals; Paolo Fazioli himself examined it and called it “unsalvageable.” – The Guardian