Architecture · Faith · Museums · Observations · Heritage · Mores
Visited the town of Volokolamsk, one of the oldest in the Moscow Region, with its ancient kremlin on a 17-metre rise on the left bank of the little River Gorodnya, where the year of foundation (in fact, of first mention) is laid out on the slope: 1136. Inside the
Museums · Observations · Mores
But you have surely seen, in one or other of the small museums of southern Italy or Greece, similar exhibits made in a simpler technique. The people of the eighteenth century, too, adored adorning their homes and were not strangers to design inventions. I remember a splendid specimen of a
Art · Observations
Why have I suddenly become interested in the ceramics of Simon Porte Jacquemus? First, because they are beautiful) But in general these works refer us to the European ceramic tradition of the 17th and 18th centuries. Compare, for example, this faience dish with asparagus by the major French ceramicist Jacques
Cinema · Observations · Humour
Many of the costumes from Joseph Mankiewicz's "Cleopatra" were bought for the filming of "Carry On Cleo". So Mark Antony swaggers about in the very same outfits in both films. Who wore them better, Richard Burton or Sid James, may be judged from these
Cinema · Observations · Humour
For everyone who loves Elizabeth Taylor's Cleopatra of 1963, I recommend comparing her with Amanda Barrie's Cleo in the 1964 comic film "Carry On Cleo", from the long-running Carry On series, made in the wake of the film classic. It must be said
Architecture · Art · Moscow · Museums · Observations · Society Pages
Towards the close of the day, in the manner of a "farewell tour", I looked in on the opening of the Rosizo exhibition "Trin-trava" at the Turgenev-Botkin mansion in Petroverigsky Lane. There are some interesting interpretations of the Russian style, but on the whole
NB! · Moscow · Museums · Observations · Society
Photographs from the exhibition on the letter Ё at the Slovo pavilion, VDNKh. A very atmospheric and coherent picture. It is a pity that we shall soon be deprived of public cultural life altogether, though visiting museums is, of course, hundreds of times safer than going to shops and restaurants,
Art · Cinema · Books · Observations
If you can afford the luxury of four hours of very beautiful film, watch the screen version, or rather variation, of Balzac's exquisite novella "The Unknown Masterpiece", about the painter Nicolas Poussin. In the leading male role of Jacques Rivette's "La Belle Noiseuse&
Coming Up · Moscow · Museums · Observations
And yet, at the main building of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, a new season of the festival "Fridays at the Pushkin" has begun, due to run until 25 December. This year the friends of the museum have been offered a poetic collaboration with the actors
Interviews · Books · Moscow · Observations · Society Pages
The shocking news of the ban on cultural events in Moscow from 13 November caught me quite literally at the presentation of Sati Spivakova's new book "Nescuchnaya klassika" [Classics Without the Boredom] at the Dostoevsky bookshop and reading club. The number of guests was incredible, and
Cinema · Observations · Society
The plot of the 1947 film "New Home" is built around a disputed plot of land, Zarechnye Dubki, which a former partisan, chairwoman of the "Young Guard" collective farm, wants to sow, while an old partisan, chairman of the "Forward" collective farm, wants to
Art · Museums · Observations · Education · People
At university, in philosophy classes, I positively loathed Rousseau and metaphysics in general, considering it meaningless chatter that stole time from proper authors like Kuhn and Popper. But, all things considered, Jean-Jacques is a rather agreeable fellow. Especially in the guise of a citizen of Geneva in this portrait