Editorials
536 results
Page 47
Collectors, artists and Albert Barnes
The test that Albert Barnes failed
Set aside the legal issues surrounding the Barnes Foundation's coming move. The more fascinating question isn't legal but philosophical: Ultimately, whose vision should take precedence— the artist's, or the collector's?
Editorials
6 minute read
The pointless search for Barnes villains
Who appointed Richard Glanton? (and other questions for Barnes conspiracy buffs)
The Barnes Foundation's move from Merion to the Parkway may be an artistic tragedy, but the relentless search for villains is a misguided distraction. If there's any villain in this saga, it's Albert Barnes himself, who imposed so many restrictions on his Barnes Foundation that no sane philanthropist would help rescue the place until his trust was broken.
Editorials
6 minute read
Priestly sex abuse: Why Catholicism?
The Catholic elephant in the room
Given the onerous requirements of the priestly vocation, the remarkable thing about Roman Catholic priests is not that so many of them are sexual abusers, but that so many of them aren't.
Editorials
4 minute read
"Annie' without the Depression
Updating Annie: Just one slight problem…
Annie wasn't much of a show to begin with. Now its original target audience is dying out. Does that mean its setting— the Great Depression of the '30s— should be scrapped?
Editorials
4 minute read
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A Governor's Romance (song)
A Governor's Romance
When a governor is caught with his pants down, who will defend him? Where is the Bellini or Verdi who can do justice to such tragedy? BSR's gonzo lyricist Dan Rottenberg rushes in where others fear to tread.
Editorials
2 minute read
J.D. Salinger and the cult of the recluse
For whom J.D. Salinger's bell tolls
Why are we so indulgent toward our society's gifted hermits? If Salinger or Glenn Gould suddenly decides to stop doing what he's doing, why do we let them off the hook? Didn't these allegedly great minds ever read John Donne, or St. Luke?
Editorials
4 minute read
China: Threatening, or threatened?
Perpetually threatened China
Americans may hate or fear China's rising economic power. But most of us have bought into the notion that China's leaders really know what they're doing. China's leaders themselves, I suspect, know otherwise.
Editorials
4 minute read
Peggy Amsterdam: A '60s woman
A '60s girl who grew up
Peggy Amsterdam galvanized Philadelphia's organized arts community in the first decade of our century, as her obituaries duly noted. But where did this remarkable woman come from? That is the most interesting question of all.
Editorials
5 minute read
Up (too) close to Eagles heroes
My afternoon with Leonard Tose, or: Macho sports whiners of yesteryear
Our contributor Bob Ingram recently attacked the current corporatized Philadelphia Eagles management, expressing his preference for the flesh-and-blood blue-collar owners and coaches of yesteryear. But has Ingram actually met any of his heroes? I have, and therein lies a lesson.
Editorials
6 minute read
The Pew grants: Method or madness?
What the Pew's new guidelines tell us about very large foundations
The grant process recently adopted by the Pew Fellowships in the Arts could be an ingenious experiment in building artists' character through adversity. More likely it betrays a profound ignorance of what art and artists are all about.
Editorials
3 minute read