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Architecture · Faith · Art · Observations · Heritage
Plaster ghosts by Jakub Hadrava revive an abandoned church in the Czech village of Lukava
At one time I was surprised by the large number of abandoned churches in the Czech Republic. One fourteenth-century church, 200 km from Prague, had stood empty since 1968, when its roof collapsed and people were injured. That lasted until a young artist from the capital, Jakub Hadrava, took
NB! · Observations · People · Society Pages
Lyudmila Petrushevskaya receives the Golden Mask on 17 February at the age of 82
On 17 February Lyudmila Petrushevskaya received the Golden Mask, and everyone probably knows it by now. But just look how marvellous this 82-year-old girl looks 💞
Art · Observations · People
There is much talk about this portrait of Alexei Tolstoy by Pyotr Konchalovsky: about the accents the artist has placed, about the subtext, about Tolstoy's reaction to the still life that had sprung up around him, whether it is mockery and derision or rev
There is much talk about this portrait of Alexei Tolstoy by Pyotr Konchalovsky: about the accents the artist has placed, about the subtext, about Tolstoy's reaction to the still life that had sprung up around him, whether it is mockery and derision or reverence, whether it is proper
Archive · Books · Mores · Humour
"On Wednesday he called them hangmen, And on Thursday, tempted by their victuals, He was polishing their boots at «Nakanune»
"On Wednesday he called them hangmen, And on Thursday, tempted by their victuals, He was polishing their boots at «Nakanune». That service did not go unrewarded: A count, a landowner and a bourgeois squared, He is now being published by «Gosizdat»" Literal translation Sasha Chorny, A.N. Tolstoy,
Cinema · Observations · Humour
The rank of commodore in the film “Gentlemen of Fortune” and its Western equivalent
Remember that scene in "Gentlemen of Fortune" where Yevgeny Leonov, as the kindergarten head Troshkin, tells the children: "Today breakfast is cancelled! We are flying to Mars in a space rocket. Igorek is appointed commander. Take up your space spoons. Fortify yourselves thoroughly. The rocket will not
Art · Moscow · Observations · Pop Culture · Society Pages
Pavel Pepperstein’s exhibition “Visions of Stars” on three floors of the Ekaterina Foundation
I went to Pavel Pepperstein's exhibition "Visions of Stars" at the Ekaterina Foundation. I must say it has been a long time since an exhibition project pleased me so thoroughly from beginning to end. One would think that Pepperstein is always highly recognisable and even somewhat
In the Press · London · Monarchies · Pop Culture · Humour
The Mirror reports that the Queen and Kate Middleton are planning a special TV show on the very day Meghan Markle is to be interviewed by Oprah
The Mirror reports that the Queen and Kate Middleton are planning a special TV show on the very day Meghan Markle is to be interviewed by Oprah. Well, well, what scheming minxes. But here is how it really is. The Queen and Kate will appear in a programme in place
NB! · Aristocracy · Archive · Mores · Pop Culture
Lee Radziwill (1933-2019), Janet Lee Bouvier (1907-1989), Jackie Kennedy (1929-1994)
Lee Radziwill (1933-2019), Janet Lee Bouvier (1907-1989), Jackie Kennedy (1929-1994). Three women of the Bouvier family who in their day shone in the social firmament of the United States
NB! · Art
Not a Bad Portrait for the Sixteenth Century
NB! · Art · Museums · Humour
Mechanical monkey orchestra, probably late 18th century, in a gilded frame with a clock
Nothing special, just a monkey orchestra, supposedly of the late eighteenth century, though the ceiling paintings and candelabra point to the historicism of the nineteenth. The mechanism, alas, is broken
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