Ever find yourself daydreaming or doodling only to feel guilty for not paying attention? Well, maybe your guilt has been misplaced. The New York Times recently published an article called “Discovering the Virtues of a Wandering Mind” with the premise that daydreaming might not be so bad for you after
Although photography has been around since the late 1800s, its prevalence in today’s society has been a recent rise. With the advent of digital cameras and a more celebrity-oriented society, everyone can be paparazzi. Exposed, a collection of photographs by Sophie Calle, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Walker Evans, Andy Warhol and many
Earlier this month the UK publication Jewish Quarterly awarded Adina Hoffman with the Wingate Prize 2010 for her new book, My Happiness Bears No Relation to Happiness. Given out annually to an author whose work “stimulates an interest in themes of Jewish concern while appealing to the general reader,” this
This morning the NYTimes arts section had an article on Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival, held in Chicago this past weekend. Celebrating the profound musicianship and influence of blues-based rockers from Buddy Guy to Derek Trucks, the festival underscored the importance of the guitar in in an age when the
For many, Shakespeare is synonymous with summer (or vice versa), with performances nationwide filling outdoor stages and parks for productions of his most popular plays. The Shakespeare Center in Los Angeles may have cancelled their summer show this year, but in New York, Central Park is the location of choice
This summer, the Yale Center for British Art is presenting the exhibition Art for All: British Posters for Transport. The show is based around Henry S. Hacker’s collection of promotional posters designed in the primarily 1930s for the London Underground and British Railway system. The works are exceptional examples both
Last Sunday, theater lovers tuned into the Tony Awards, Broadway’s famous awards show. Many of the plays and musicals we regard today as classics have won Tony awards, and many of the theater professionals involved in their creation have had storied careers. Two of these artists are the composer and
The German artist Sigmar Polke, celebrated as an “early and astute adopter of American Pop art,” died last Thursday in Cologne, Germany. He was 69. A refugee from East Germany, Mr. Polke grew up in Dusseldorf, where he began his career as an artist in the early 1960s. Sharply critical
For the past few summers, the literary world appears to have been seized by a storm: literature translated from different languages. This summer’s huge hit was a Swedish thriller called The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, the third in author Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy, and the result was readers
This month, the music world celebrates the 200th anniversary of the birth of one of its most intriguing, mysterious, and undeniably talented figures, Robert Schumann. Yet for many, Schumann’s legacy of greatness is clouded by the oft-propagated legends of his crippling depression and mania. For generations, any interest in