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Lookback: on joining the National Counncil on the Arts

From 2005: I went to my framer yesterday afternoon and picked up the presidential commission for my appointment to the National Council on the Arts. It’s a splendidly old-fashioned document, about twice the size of a college diploma, printed in copperplate script on thick cream paper by the Bureau of Engraving... Read more

Source: About Last Night Published on: 2021-01-26
Almanac: Thornton Wilder on hope

“Hope, like faith, is nothing if it is not courageous; it is nothing if it is not ridiculous.” Thornton Wilder, The Eighth Day Continue reading Almanac: Thornton Wilder on hope at About Last Night.... Read more

Source: About Last Night Published on: 2021-01-26
Almanac: Gore Vidal on the will to power

“To want power is corruption already.” Gore Vidal, The Best Man Continue reading Almanac: Gore Vidal on the will to power at About Last Night.... Read more

Source: About Last Night Published on: 2021-01-25
Just because: Gore Vidal talks about The Best Man

In an undated TV interview, Gore Vidal talks about Franklin J. Schaffner’s 1964 screen version of The Best Man, his 1960 play, and the ideas about politics on which it was based: (This is the latest in a series of arts- and history-related videos that appear in this space each... Read more

Source: About Last Night Published on: 2021-01-24
Joseph Conyers on Being an Artist Entrepreneur

Check out this week’s episode of my show Arts Engines with Joseph Conyers, The Philadelphia Orchestra bassist and entrepreneur, as he shares the passions that have fueled his success!... Read more

Source: Aaron Dworkin Published on: 2021-01-23
Looking for a Fugitive Rainbow—a Very Transient “Gift” to the Bidens

Laura Baptiste, the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s (SAAM’s) always helpful chief of communications and public affairs, found herself fielding misinformation disseminated in a number of news reports after Wednesday’s Presidential Inauguration festivities. She scrambled to set the record straight about Robert Duncanson‘s suddenly famous “Landscape with Rainbow,” after several published... Read more

Source: CultureGrrl Published on: 2021-01-22
Verbal virtuosity

In today’s Wall Street Journal drama column, I review Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey’s Shaw! Shaw! Shaw!. Here’s an excerpt. * * * Webcasts of the plays of George Bernard Shaw have been scarce during the pandemic. It’s a shame, for Shaw’s plays are for the most part comedies of ideas, political and... Read more

Source: About Last Night Published on: 2021-01-22
Jump-starting an arts revival

In today’s Wall Street Journal “Sightings” column, I talk about how to jump-start a post-pandemic revival of the arts in America. Here’s an excerpt. * * * As everybody with even the slightest interest in the arts knows, the coming of Covid-19 has had a catastrophic effect on creative institutions in every... Read more

Source: About Last Night Published on: 2021-01-22
Replay: Alfred Hitchcock talks to Dick Cavett

Alfred Hitchcock is interviewed by Dick Cavett on TV in 1972: (This is the latest in a series of arts- and history-related videos that appear in this space each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) Continue reading Replay: Alfred Hitchcock talks to Dick Cavett at About Last Night.... Read more

Source: About Last Night Published on: 2021-01-22
Almanac: Tolstoy on happiness

“Seize the moments of happiness, love and be loved! That is the only reality in the world, all else is folly.” Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace (trans. Louise and Aylmer Maude) Continue reading Almanac: Tolstoy on happiness at About Last Night.... Read more

Source: About Last Night Published on: 2021-01-22
Almanac: Ambrose Bierce on the President of the United States

“PRESIDENT, n. The leading figure in a small group of men of whom—and of whom only—it is positively known that immense numbers of their countrymen did not want any of them for President.” Ambrose Bierce, The Devil’s Dictionary Continue reading Almanac: Ambrose Bierce on the President of the United States at... Read more

Source: About Last Night Published on: 2021-01-21
Ominous Juxtaposition? Biden Flanked by Duncanson’s “Rainbow” & Statue of a Murdered President

In a jolting inauguration installation, marred by unintentionally dark symbolism that, hopefully, wasn’t discerned by the Bidens, this afternoon’s celebration after the joyful swearing-in of the new President and Vice President included a brief walk through the Capitol rotunda led by Missouri Senator Roy Blunt, chairman of the Senate Republican... Read more

Source: CultureGrrl Published on: 2021-01-20
Snapshot: FDR’s 1933 inauguration

Sound footage of the presidential inauguration of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933: (This is the latest in a series of arts- and history-related videos that appear in this space each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) Continue reading Snapshot: FDR’s 1933 inauguration at About Last Night.... Read more

Source: About Last Night Published on: 2021-01-20