“Again and again [in his astounding life story] what we see in Cervantes is that his wit, intelligence and optimism stepped in to save him. No one that I can think of has made lemonade out of life’s lemons as sweetly as he did.”
Tag: 05.25.16
Rediscovering A 19th-Century Black Female Novelist
“While looking through old British newspapers, I was astonished to read an 1893 announcement in The Daily Telegraph proclaiming Sarah E. Farro to be ‘the first negro novelist’ with the publication of her novel True Love. I wondered: who was this woman? And why didn’t we know about this reportedly groundbreaking novel?”
Actress Challenges L.A.’s 99-Seat Theater Plan With Suit Claiming Unpaid Wages
“Adding fuel to the long-simmering fire over whether actors working under the 99-Seat Theater Plan are ‘volunteers,’ ‘independent contractors’ or ’employees,’ actress Ann Colby Stocking has filed a complaint … against Odyssey Theatre Ensemble and its producer, Ron Sossi. Her demand is for over $6,000.”
Complete Set Of Shakespeare Folios Sells For $3.68 Million
“A set of the first four editions of William Shakespeare’s plays – dubbed the ‘Holy Grail of publishing’ by Christie’s auction house – sold Wednesday for almost 2.5 million pounds ($3.68 million). [The volumes]… were sold as individual lots but all bought by a private American collector.”
Wikipedia Is A Wonder. But It’s Also Dangerous…
The problem with Wikipedia is not so much its reliability – which is, for most purposes, perfectly OK – as its increasing ubiquity as a source of information. “Wikipedia, despite being noncommercial, still poses many of the dangers of a traditional monopoly, and we run the risk of living in an information monoculture.”
Read A Newly Translated Story By Pushkin
“To the question of whether he had ever fought a duel, he replied drily that he had, but did not go into the details, and it was clear that such questions displeased him. We supposed that some unfortunate victim of his terrible skill lay on his conscience. However, it never entered our heads to suspect him of anything like cowardice. There are people whose appearance alone removes such suspicions. An unexpected incident amazed us all.”
A Shocking Discovery Deep In A French Cave Raises Big Questions About Our Ancestors
“I think we have several lines of evidence showing that the cognitive abilities and behaviors of Neanderthals were complex. But we had no direct evidence of their ability to build. That changes the picture for me. It’s puzzling to find such structures so deep inside the cave.”
Donmar Warehouse To Build A Pop-Up Theatre For Its All-Women Summer Shakespeare Season
“The Donmar Warehouse is building a temporary theatre for an all-female Shakespeare trilogy that will see, on some days, Dame Harriet Walter performing the demanding roles of Brutus, Henry IV and Prospero back to back. … A quarter of the tickets will be free to under-25s in a new initiative called ‘young and free’.”
Why Museums Are Welcoming Google’s New Art Camera
“Google plans to send its 20-strong camera convoy to museums around the world … which means that Google is increasingly receiving and compiling a ton of data for free (it doesn’t pay the museums) – so we were curious: what are the benefits museums receive by showcasing their collections on another platform?”
How Van Dyck Created Modern Portraiture
“Van Dyck focused on the subject’s attitude toward being in the picture, a joint venture of artist and sitter that continues to this day as a model, or a foil, for artists like Kehinde Wiley, Elizabeth Peyton, and Cindy Sherman. We might include earlier practitioners as well, like Lucien Freud and Alice Neel, or, to cast a wider net, photographers Cecil Beaton, Irving Penn, and Richard Avedon.”