Douglas McLennan
Doug is the editor of ArtsJournal
Will Christian Thielemann Be The Next Music Director Of The Chicago Symphony?
In the 1990s, Thielemann, now 63 and one of the world’s most acclaimed maestros — as well as one of the most divisive and...
Librarians Under Attack: Have We Forgotten What Libraries Are For?
This is what the censors refuse to grasp: Librarians are not trying to force your children to read material you don’t want them to...
French Museum Execs Are Going Private To Everyone’s Dismay. But…
To many in the French media, Silvie Patry’s move to Kamel Mennour’s 23-year-old gallery—with four spaces in Paris—is yet another blow to public cultural...
This Denver Dance Company Quit Social Media. Here’s What Happened
We've never seen a measurable connection between our activity on social media and ticket sales. And we have never had any measurable number of...
We’re In A Golden Age Of Fake Art
With little authority policing them, you’re basically on your own when determining if a work of art is fake or not. This is a...
Is Australian Opera Losing Its “Vibrancy”?
While COVID-19 was a box office disaster for every opera company, large or small, it did have an upside, said Mould. ‘COVID exposed and...
Opportunity Isn’t The Same as Equality
What we should want is to make outcomes more equal – not opportunity. Antiegalitarians resist calls for equality via the ideology that if people...
Cop Shows After George Floyd
Two years later, it is clear that rumors of the cop show’s demise were greatly exaggerated. “Cops” is back, now on the Fox Nation...
The Role Of Body Percussion
Clapping, stomping and striking body parts from head to feet in rhythmic or repetitive ways is a timeless means of human interchange, whether for...
“Seeing” Without Seeing: Perception and Consciousness
Blindsight is now a well-established clinical phenomenon. When first discovered, it seemed theoretically shocking. No one had expected there could possibly be any such...
The Curator Forced Out At The Guggenheim: A Scapegoat?
How did a simple offer, over a single painting, lead to such a spectacular destruction of someone’s life and career? The answer involves the...
We Each Perceive The World In A Different Way
We are strongly influenced by context. From the effect of shadows on how we perceive the brightness of a surface, to our tendency to...
Hollywood’s Big Art Collectors
As more and more celebrities are getting interested in collecting, LA galleries, like Various Small Fires, Sprüth Magers and M+B can barely meet the demand: “Some of...
Regal Cinemas Starts Closing Theatres
Many of the Regal Cinemas locations were run down, such as the Anaheim 14 in Anaheim, California. Others simply grew too expensive as leases...
Why Does Canada Destroy Its Architectural Heritage?
Buildings fall for a host of reasons, and their variety is on display here. Fire is a common leveller, as is urban renewal. Why...
Why Book Covers Matter
The reading world is divided between those who care about covers (specifically paperback covers) and those who find this odder than worrying what packaging...
Who Owns The Internet? (It Matters)
It is now a common belief that something has gone horribly wrong with the Internet, but as with anything so hard to define, the...
How Did “Utopia” Become A Bad Word?
For the Victorians the word “utopian” did not carry the negative connotations of impossibility, naïveté, and dunderheadedness that it does for us now—the writers...
Pakistan Cultural Sites Devastated By Historic Monsoons
“The area and number of sites involved are vast; priorities will have to be set and financial and logistical assistance sought.” - The Art Newspaper
Why Fear AI-Generated Art?
The idea that art is only art when it shows evidence of the artist’s handicraft is, at this point, so ludicrous that it barely...
Former Cleveland Museum Of Art Director Katharine Lee Reid, 80
Reid’s accomplishments at the museum included launching an 8-year, $320 million expansion and renovation, designed by architect Rafael Vinoly, that transformed the institution by...
As Live Events Return, The Streams Are Being Turned Off, Leaving An Audience Behind
The arts is celebrating going back to normal – live events are back on; streaming is being turned off – but for many of...
Let’s Protect The Piano From Conductors!
What harm is done by letting conductors into our chamber music? More than you’d suspect. Collaborative pianists — we only recently stopped calling them...
How Did “Laureate” Come To Define Excellence?
The Greeks used Laurus nobilis, or “bay laurel,” as a remedy for rashes from other plants and boiled it down for antiseptic and first aid applications....
Workers Strike At The Philadelphia Museum Of Art (Signs Of Unrest At Other Museums)
Since the Philadelphia union was formed, organizing efforts have succeeded at the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Brooklyn Museum of Art in New York, as well as the...
