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Painting Falls Off Wall, Turns Out To Be Lost Rembrandt

The Adoration of the Magi hanging in a country house near Rome was assumed to be a copy. But, five years ago, the owners sent it to restorer Antonella di Francesco after it suffered an "accidental trauma" — and, as she worked on the canvas, she gradually realized that it was the real thing. - CNN

Lyric Opera Of Chicago Sees Reason, Will Have Intermissions

About six weeks after announcing that, as a COVID safety measure, it would eliminate intermissions when it resumes live performances — and just over a month after critic Chris Jones issued the cry "Let the people pee without missing a note!" — the company has reversed course. - Yahoo! (Chicago Tribune)

Philadelphia’s Annenberg Center Changes Name

"Penn Live Arts is the new moniker for the group and series long known as the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts. The switch comes as the major arts presenter evolves to become more closely integrated with Penn students, faculty, and curriculum, and as it plans to increase the number of presentations it does in locations beyond its campus...

Suffering Under The Weight Of Happiness

Wanting to copy the happiest people in the world is an understandable impulse, but it distracts from a key message of the happiness rankings—that equitable, balanced societies make for happier residents. - The Atlantic

No Surprise: How AI Is Choosing The Next Pop Stars

Musiio is just one of many hi-tech firms changing the way songs are categorised, playlisted and promoted, to eventually reach the ears of millions. They’re fast, efficient and get attention for unheard-of acts. - The Guardian

Philadelphia Museum Of Art’s Sleek New Gehry Makeover

Philip Kennicott: "The changes at the Philadelphia Museum are stunning". - Washington Post

Louis Menand Takes On O. Henry

In New York, he began producing at an astonishing rate. He contracted to write a story a week for the Sunday World, and he continued to write for magazines. In 1904 alone, he published sixty-six stories. - The New Yorker

Sudden Move: Oregon Ballet Theatre Ousts Artistic Director

“I was informed on Wednesday of this week that the board has decided to go a different direction in the AD role and that my resignation was required by . This was an unexpected development." - Oregon Arts Watch

In Praise Of The Meritocracy

Meritocracy, for all its flaws, may well be, like the democracy it has sometimes served, better than the alternatives. At the very least, we should be cautious about consigning it to the dustbin of history too soon. - Literary Review

A Social History Of The Asterisk

By the eighteenth century the asterisk was being deployed as a sort of censorship, covering up letters to represent a d**n vulgar word without actually b**y spelling it out. But, as W. Somerset Maugham points out, this has become somewhat outmoded. - Lapham's Quarterly

The Basic Tensions Between Individualism And The Greater Good

Do we want conflicting disconnected atoms or thriving autonomous individuals? And what role do culture and society have in their formation? - 3 Quarks Daily

Why Big Video Game Companies Keep Imploding

Dysfunction is baked into the video game production process, as it currently exists. The big-budget games industry is dominated by a few large companies, the publishers. - The New Republic

“Banksy: Genius Or Vandal” Raises Ire Of Banksy Fans

The exhibition will take over a “secret” location in L.A. to be disclosed to ticket holders in July. - Los Angeles Times

Emmy Nomination Voters Shouldn’t Miss These Shows

If the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences wants to avoid a Hollywood Foreign Press Association-style meltdown, it really has to prove itself with these nominations. NPR's Eric Duggans offers some institution-saving suggestions for the voters - and for the rest of us. - NPR

Jon Hassell, Trumpeter And Composer, 84

Hassell blended modern technology with ancient instruments and traditions to create what he called "Fourth World" music. "Hassell’s music floated outside the genre boundaries of classical music, electronica, ambient music or jazz. He described Fourth World as 'a unified primitive/futuristic sound combining features of world ethnic styles with advanced electronic techniques' and, elsewhere, as 'coffee-colored classical music of the future.'"...

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