Painter Henry Caseselli’s career has gone through several unusual phases, all of which are on view at this retrospective at the New Orleans Museum of Art. Casselli came from a blue-collar family in New Orleans but managed to find his way to art school. In the mid-1960s he joined the Army and was sent to Vietnam as a ‘combat artist’, which later led to involvement with the US space programme and selection as the official portraitist of Ronald Reagan. Casselli’s finely tuned images suggest comparisons with Andrew Wyeth and even John Singer Sargent. Whether he’s painting Marines at war, astronauts, mothers with babies or the segregated South of his childhood, Casselli approaches his subjects with a deeply felt tenderness and respect.
Henry Casselli
27 02 2010Comments : Comments Off
Tags: casselli, foreign, henry, j artist, ron ng, trip
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Guided Tours in English
23 02 2010Visitors to Rome have never had it so good. Museums have been restored, opening times extended and squares, bridges and ancient ruins expertly illuminated. Now free guided walks have been laid on in English for those who want something a little off the beaten track. There are tours of the churches and parks of the Aventine hill (Nov 12), a walk which takes in Caravaggio’s Roman masterpieces (Nov 18) and another one which uncovers the secrets of the ancient Jewish ghetto (Dec 10). Definitely worth the trek.
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Tags: 18 y and over, ancient roman, english, guided, idg, tours, wis
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Cavolo Nero
22 02 2010Trendy Oltrarno restaurant Cavolo Nero has just had a face lift. Out go the bright, rustic red walls and in comes warm yellow paintwork and cool white-covered chairs and table linens. The cooking is inventive but not fussy and makes good use of seasonal vegetables in dishes like courgette soufflé with basil sauce, pasta with pecorino cheese and broad beans, monk fish curry and roasted sea bass with peppers and tomatoes. There is a jasmine-filled terrace for al fresco dining.
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Tags: cavolo, foreign, nero, trip
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Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
17 02 2010In the Madrid Players’English-language pantomime, Snow White wins a talent contest organised by the wicked Queen’s press agent Dame Donna Deluxe. The Queen, informed by her mirror, is enraged and contracts Hollywood wannabe Gladiator and his sidekick Tigger to kill her. The comic duo cannot carry out the dastardly deed and let Snow White and Dame Donna free in the Forbidden Forest where they end up involved in a version of Big Brother in the dwarves’house. Dodgy jokes, Star Wars and Harry Potter references abound in this laugh-a-minute show.
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Tags: dwarfs, snow, white
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Karl Schmidt-Rottluff
16 02 201052 oils paintings and watercolours spanning over 60 years make up this important retrospective of Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, one of German expressionism’s most outstanding exponents. A founder member of the Die Brücke group in 1905, Schmidt-Rottluff experimented first with neo-impressionism and later re-created nature in his own fashion. In the pre-war years, he produced a large number of sensual primitivist nudes. Declared ‘degenerate’by the Nazis, Schmidt-Rottluff survived and continued painting until the 1960s.
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Tags: atu, domestic, group 5, group 6, holiday, karl, schmidt-rottluff, travel
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Saltimbanco 2000
15 02 2010Cirque du Soleil, the Montreal-based international company that has redefined the art of circus, arrives in Tokyo as part of a gruelling 13-month tour of Japan. Accommodated in a specially built big top near the Olympic Stadium in Yoyogi, for the next three months the company will be thrilling locals with its usual assortment of daredevil stunts, including impossible high-wire feats of daring and lots of fun with chainsaws. Tickets are already a hot item, so book early.
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Tags: 2000, flights, fun, saltimbanco, saw v
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Eldee Young Quartet
13 02 2010Eldie Young may be small in stature but in the jazz world he’s a giant. After winning legions of fans as the inaugural act at Shangri-La’s Blue Note last year, the bassist returns with his jazz quartet. He’s played with everyone from Dizzy Gillespie to T-Bone Walker and always adds a dash of humour to his accomplished performances. The venue is equally stylish, so sit back and listen to your Eldee.
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Tags: atu, eldee, quartet, young
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Jeff Foxworthy
9 02 2010Jeff Foxworthy may have once dreamed of becoming a preacher, but instead he followed his true calling, using his speaking skills to preach laughter rather than morals. In a triumph of what he terms ‘a glorious absence of sophistication’, Foxworthy’s schtick consists primarily of playing fun with the good ol’country bumpkins found in his own Southern backyard of Atlanta, Georgia. Since his rise to stardom, Foxworthy claims that redneckery has become a universal trait, hence his worldwide appeal.
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Tags: fol, foreign, foxworthy, jeff, sinc, trip
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Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg
6 02 2010Anyone who saw the documentary, ‘Speaking in Strings’, will be awed – and maybe a little repelled – at the extent to which Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg pours herself into her music. One of the most acclaimed violinists in the world, Salerno-Sonnenberg made her first appearance at Carnegie Hall while still in her teens. But a string of successes came to an abrupt halt when she accidentally cut off the tip of her finger, a near-tragedy that contributed to an attempted suicide. But Nadja is back – and as expressive as ever.
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