Churchill's 1943 painting, given to Roosevelt and later bought by Brad Pitt

I can hardly believe anyone paid $12 million for this Churchill painting. Then again, one remembers Andy Warhol, and belief comes at once. Especially given its provenance: painted in January 1943 after a meeting with the US President Franklin Roosevelt in Casablanca, presented to Roosevelt that same year, acquired in 2011 by Brad Pitt as a gift for Angelina Jolie, and put up for auction by Jolie after the divorce.

Report a translation error

September digest: archaeological finds, exhibitions, museums, theatre and the Church

In the finale of the Strugatskys' Roadside Picnic, the Golden Ball is told: "Happiness for everybody, free, and let nobody go away unsatisfied!" I do not promise to offend nobody, but the digest really does come free of charge. So, here is the main business of the

Frederic Leighton

Frederic Leighton. “Daedalus and Icarus”, 1869 Daedalus warns his son not to climb too high: the heat of the sun may melt the wax, but Icarus is already gazing into the distance, and the lamentations of a foolish old man interest him not in the least

Churchill's 1943 painting, given to Roosevelt and later bought by Brad Pitt

Read more

September digest: archaeological finds, exhibitions, museums, theatre and the Church

Frederic Leighton

Attempts to resolve the problems of many years of uncontrolled mass migration

Characters from Gogol's "Petersburg Tales" on the pedestal of the monument to Nikolai Gogol on Nikitsky Boulevard, photograph of the 1960s