Books
As the American critic Jed Perl points out in his new book, Magicians & Charlatans: Essays on Art and Culture (Eakins Press Foundation, 2013), a collection of essays about subjects in the fields of Renaissance, modern and contemporary art, today the forces of “art as money” have vanquished those of
Opinion
When ebooks and ereaders caught on, they brought about the indomitable rise of a once-languishing genre: romance novels. But they're not alone; other titles in other genres are benefitting from the anonymity of ereader packaging. One book that's seen a big boost? Hitler's Mein Kampf.
News
Arsonists torched a historic and beloved library in Tripoli, while the Canadian government has gutted its science libraries.
News
The Italian government has unveiled a master plan for attracting foreign investment, and for some reason, it includes a tax rebate for people who buy books!
Books
2013 was a great year for art-related books from publishers of all stripes …
News
Another day, another depressing story about the deterioration of cultural patrimony in Italy. The subject this time? The Biblioteca dei Girolamini, a 16th-century library in Naples that was systematically looted by its director.
Books
The 1920s in Russia weren't exactly what people had hoped they would be. After the 1917 Russian Revolution brought down the old regime and the Soviets took over, there was a swelling sense of hope in a potential egalitarian Communist future. Yet only a few years later, censorship was curtailing art
Books
Lucian Freud, as presented in the gossipy new biography, Breakfast with Lucian by Geordie Grieg, lived for 88 years entirely guilt-free, which is a remarkable bit of pathology in itself, but especially so for the grandson of the man who tagged guilt as the glue holding civilization together.
Books
“Is this relationship built on trust?” Nigel Nolan asks in a caption directed at FeD, one of his “Argentine boys for sale.” The relationship in question is structured on commodity exchange: FeD’s image in exchange for a cut of the sales from it. Argentine Boys for Sale, a 500-page ebook with accompa
Books
CHICAGO — Simone de Beauvoir once said, "Buying is a profound pleasure." To shop, to consume, to purchase a new look even if it's temporary — an air of satisfaction accompanies that moment of credit card swiping, or handing over that stack of Ben Franklins.
Books
One mind-stumping sensation a reader is likely to glean from Ron Padgett’s Collected Poems (Minneapolis: Coffee House Press, 2013) is that the poems wrote themselves, and that he just happened to be in the room when they showed up. There is even a substantial section in Collected Poems that Padgett
Interview
Anyone who's chosen to live a creative lifestyle — not just artists — knows what it means to worry. Rather than gun for the safety of a monthly paycheck, most of us (this writer included) have to find a way to put food on the table, without sacrificing our proverbial souls.