Philanthropic tyranny at the NYPL
by Michael J. Lewis
The Central Library Plan’s renovations to the New York Public Library will hurt both scholars and average users.
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Features
Bernard Berenson revisited
by Marco Grassi
On the art historian Bernard Berenson’s life and influence
Bursting the Hirshhorn’s bubble
by Bruce Cole
The folly of Richard Koshalek and the dire financial situation of the Hirshhorn museum
The overexposed museum
by Eric Gibson
On how camera technology and the iPhone are changing the museum experience.
Grape vines & chrome bumpers
by Anthony Daniels
Contrasting an exhibition of El Labrador at the Prado and a hyperrealism show at the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza
Enigmatic Venetian paintings
by Dan Hofstadter
Finding meaning in art that defies understanding
Motherwell’s magical collages
by Karen Wilkin
Review of “Robert Motherwell: Early Collages” at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
The art of controversy
by Daniel Grant
Censoring offensive art blinds us to history and misses and important teaching opportunity
The widening Gulf
by James Panero
On the explosion of Middle Eastern investment in Western art and an exhibition of Iranian art at the Asia Society
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Theater
The last good time
by Kevin D. Williamson
Reviews of Snow Geese, Big Fish, and A Time to Kill
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Art
Léger & the city
by Mario Naves
A review of “Léger: Modern Art and the Metropolis” at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia.
Exhibition note
by Christie Davies
On “Facing the Modern: The Portrait in Vienna 1900” at The National Gallery, London.
Exhibition note
by Franklin Einspruch
On “Balthus: Cats and Girls—Paintings and Provocations” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Exhibition note
by Leann Davis Alspaugh
On “Forrest Bess: Seeing Things Invisible” at the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles.
The media
The truth will set you free
by James Bowman
President Obama, Russell Brand, and the notion of truth
out of interstitials
Music
New York chronicle
by Jay Nordlinger
Recent performances at Carnegie Hall, the New York Philharmonic, the Metropolitan Opera, and more
out of interstitials
Verse chronicle
Seeing the elephant
by William Logan
Reviews of Westerly by Will Schutt, The Boss by Victoria Chang, 3 Sections by Vijay Seshadri, Nefertiti in the Flak Tower by Clive James & Marvelous Things Overheard by Ange Mlinko
out of interstitials
Manners & Morals
Glamour’s false charm
by Emily Esfahani Smith
On glamour’s conflict with reality and the deception of nostalgia.
Notes & Comments
The New Criterion on art
by The Editors
On our special art issue and the death of Arthur Danto
Alvin Eisenman, RIP
by The Editors
Remembering the graphic designer Alvin Eisenman
The future of MOOCs
by The Editors
The outlook of Massive Open Online Courses and their impact on higher education