Category Archives: Commentary

Opinion or analysis concerning whatever’s on my mind.

“Storm With a Silent Mist”

Posted on September 5, 2019 by JMN

Isabel Toledo died last week of breast cancer at the age of fifty-nine. Judith Thurman pays tribute to this “designer’s designer” who described couture as a language which she had learned “as a child does, by immersion.” Self-possession is usually … Continue reading →

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“She’s Got It Down”

Posted on September 5, 2019 by JMN

The work of ninety-three-year-old artist Betye Saar will be shown concurrently this fall at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Her assemblages, illustrated in this article, are charming and compelling. … Continue reading →

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Do NOT Surprise Your Mom

Posted on September 5, 2019 by JMN

The mother said she… saw someone running into the bedroom, at which point she fired her .38 special handgun, hitting her daughter once… “If you realize someone has a gun for protection, and they’re not expecting you—announce yourself when you … Continue reading →

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Impacted

Posted on September 1, 2019 by JMN

Attorney General Paxton Statement on the Odessa Shooting AUSTIN – Attorney General Ken Paxton gave this statement after receiving news of the horrific shooting in Odessa, Texas: “I am horrified to see such a senseless act terrorize the fine people … Continue reading →

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“Reach Out from Within”

Posted on August 31, 2019 by JMN

Karen Rosenberg writes that this exhibition of Helen Frankenthaler’s work at the Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill, NY, “presents Provincetown [Massachusetts] as more of a psychic space, one of negotiation and self-discovery, with new family responsibilities but not too … Continue reading →

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The People’s Receiver

Posted on August 31, 2019 by JMN

Bret Stephens has commented on how the relatively new technology of radio was received enthusiastically in 1930s Germany. Effort was made to produce and distribute a cheap radio — the Volksempfänger, or people’s receiver — “that could bring the Führer’s … Continue reading →

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Rees-Mogging the Confecters

Posted on August 30, 2019 by JMN

“The candyfloss of outrage that we’ve had over the past 24 hours — which is almost entirely confected — is from people who never wanted to leave the European Union,” Mr. Rees-Mogg said in an interview with BBC radio. (Stephen … Continue reading →

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“Mornington Crescent!”

Posted on August 30, 2019 by JMN

I learn from Martha Gill that there’s a long-running game on British radio whose object is to be the first to reach the “Mornington Crescent” tube station on the northern line. Players cite routes over London’s transport system knowing and … Continue reading →

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The World We Mustn’t Live In

Posted on August 29, 2019 by JMN

Two thoughts slam me at once. They can’t be correlated, but mustn’t they? The first thought is that we live in a tired, busy world; a world of busy tiredness; a world of tired busyness. Such is our world: tired … Continue reading →

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Feminine He Ain’t

Posted on August 28, 2019 by JMN

This article describes Richard Serra as “the best-known living sculptor in America.” His medium is steel, in which he enshrines “abstract forms as maximalist feats of mass and scale.” At the Museum of Modern Art… a room-sized assembly of eight, … Continue reading →

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