{"id":117997,"date":"2022-02-01T10:03:42","date_gmt":"2022-02-01T10:03:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newcriterion.com\/2022\/02\/01\/the-critics-notebook-12379\/"},"modified":"2024-04-08T09:46:58","modified_gmt":"2024-04-08T13:46:58","slug":"the-critics-notebook-12379","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newcriterion.com\/2022\/02\/the-critics-notebook-12379\/","title":{"rendered":"The Critic\u2019s Notebook"},"content":{"rendered":"

This week: On art fairs, St. Ambrose, Paul Resika, Ricky Ian Gordon & more.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Paul Resika,\u00a0<\/em>Allegory (San Nicola di Bari) #1,\u00a02018 Oil on canvas. Now on view at the New York Studio School.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

<\/a>Nonfiction:<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Art Fair Story: A Rollercoaster Ride<\/em>, by Melanie Gerlis (Lund Humphries):<\/a>\u00a0Melanie Gerlis, the art-market columnist for the\u00a0Financial Times<\/em>, admits that the \u201chistory of art fairs has been littered with as many missteps and failures as success stories.\u201d Those stories make up the meat of Gerlis\u2019s book, at once anecdotal and analytical. Who knew that TEFAF<\/span>, the mega-fair in Maastricht, had the good luck to advertise on CNN<\/span> on the same day that Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait? Instructive and enjoyable,\u00a0The Art Fair Story<\/em>\u00a0should find an audience even beyond the art-world clique.\u00a0\u2014BR<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a>Nonfiction:<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Trace & Aura: The Recurring Lives of St. Ambrose of Milan<\/em>, by Patrick Boucheron, translated by Lara Vergnaud and Willard Wood (Other Press):<\/a>\u00a0Legend has it that shortly after his birth, the infant St. Ambrose of Milan was graced by a swarm of bees crowding on his lips\u2014apparent proof that this Doctor of the Church was destined to speak with a honey-sweet tongue. In\u00a0Trace & Aura<\/em>, the French historian Patrick Boucheron undertakes a historiographical study of Ambrose, tracing out the filaments that connect the man behind such legends with the individuals and communities that sought to remember him thereby, beginning with the Christian community he left behind in Milan at his death in 397 A.D.<\/small> In the English translation by Lara Vergnaud and Willard Wood, you can hear at once the voice of Ambrose and the eager buzzing of his followers.\u00a0\u2014RE<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a>Art:<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Paul Resika,\u00a0<\/em>Self-Portrait, 30 December #1, 1987, Charcoal on paper. Now on view at Bookstein Projects, New York<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cPaul Resika: Self-Portraits, 1946\u20132021\u201d at Bookstein Projects (through February 25)<\/a>\u00a0&\u00a0\u201cPaul Resika: Allegory (San Nicola di Bari)\u201d at the New York Studio School (through March 6):<\/a>\u00a0If the classical artist begins with the past, taking lessons from the Old Masters to advance to a modern style, the modern artist might as well go the other way. This has certainly been the case for Paul Resika. The nonagenarian painter began his training with the modern master Hans Hofmann and has been advancing to more classical styles in the eight decades since. This month, Resika\u2019s remarkable range, talent, and self-reflection are on full display with exhibitions spread across two venues. At Bookstein Projects, \u201cPaul Resika: Self-Portraits, 1946\u20132021\u201d brings together self-portraits painted between the ages of eighteen and ninety-three. Here the confluence of styles seems to span the centuries in a time-traveler\u2019s compendium of work. At the gallery of the New York Studio School, \u201cAllegory (San Nicola di Bari)\u201d presents new work \u201cderived from an obscure engraving made of a panel from an altarpiece predella (ca<\/em>. 1437) by Fra Angelico.\u201d Whether painting the quattrocento or the venticento, Resika reflects a timeless sensibility that always seems to be of the moment.\u00a0<\/em>\u2014JP<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a>Music:<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

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The Garden of the Finzi-Continis\u00a0at the\u00a0National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene, New York. Photo: Alan Chin<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

The Garden of the Finzi-Continis<\/em>, co-produced by New York City Opera and the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene (through February 6)<\/a>:\u00a0<\/em>In a co-production with the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene, New York City Opera is presenting a limited, eight-date engagement of\u00a0The Garden of the Finzi-Continis<\/em>, a new opera by the composer Ricky Ian Gordon and the librettist Michael Korie. The opera takes place in Italy on the eve of World War II<\/small> and tells the story of a Jewish-Italian noble family who carry on their lives behind the comfort of a garden wall, believing they are immune to the harrowing changes taking place just beyond. The plot, based on the 1962 novel of the same name by the Italian writer Giorgio Bassani (a student of the noted art historian\u00a0Roberto Longhi<\/a>, as it happens), bears some echoes of another great Italian novel, Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa\u2019s\u00a0Il Gattopardo<\/em>(The Leopard<\/em>), an elegiac tale of the twilight of the Sicilian petty nobility during the time of the\u00a0Risorgimento<\/em>. Fitting, then, that it was Bassani in his capacity as an editor who ensured\u00a0Il Gattopardo<\/em>\u2019s posthumous publication in 1957.\u00a0\u2014IS<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a>Dance:<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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Artists of the New York City Ballet in\u00a0<\/em>Walpurgisnacht Ballet. Photo: New York City Ballet.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cMasters at Work: Balanchine & Robbins\u201d by New York City Ballet at Lincoln Center (February 5, 8, and 10):<\/a>\u00a0The final act of Gounod\u2019s opera\u00a0Faust\u00a0<\/em>(1859) contains an often-omitted ballet sequence set during Walpurgis Night on the eve of May Day, when, according to German folklore, the souls of the dead are temporarily released to wander among the living. George Balanchine was called upon to choreograph several productions of\u00a0Faust<\/em>\u00a0in Monte Carlo (1925), New York (1935), and Mexico (1945), but his final 1975 version for the Th\u00e9\u00e2tre National de l\u2019Op\u00e9ra, danced by the Paris Op\u00e9ra Ballet, has become a New York City Ballet staple since the company premiered it as an independent work in 1980. Unlike Leonid Lavrovsky\u2019s earthy, Bacchanalian version for the Bolshoi (1941), \u00a0Balanchine\u2019s \u00a0Walpurgisnacht Ballet<\/em>, choreographed for twenty-four female dancers and a single male, is utterly feminine. The purple-clad ensemble spins and soars to Gounod\u2019s romantic music with increasing abandon, until the dancers let their hair down (literally) in a thrilling finale. See NYCB<\/span> dance\u00a0Walpurgisnacht\u00a0<\/em>and three other pieces by Balanchine and Jerome Robbins in the \u201cMasters at Work\u201d program on February 5, 8, and 10. \u00a0\u2014JC<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

By the Editors:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cNanny bait.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0On\u00a0<\/em>Mrs. Doubtfire\u00a0at\u00a0Stephen Sondheim Theatre.<\/em>
\nRobert\u00a0Erickson,\u00a0The Spectator World Edition<\/em><\/p>\n

New podcast:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cMusic for a While #58: \u2018I hate music\u2019?\u201d<\/a>\u00a0Jay Nordlinger,\u00a0<\/em>The New Criterion\u2019s music critic, talks music\u2014but, more important, plays music.<\/em><\/p>\n

From the archives:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cRoberto Longhi remembered,\u201d by Marco Grassi (December 2008).<\/a>\u00a0On the Italian art critic and scholar.<\/em><\/p>\n

Dispatch:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cBarber, Stoppard & more\u201d by Nathan C. Stewart.<\/a>\u00a0On a recital by Ren\u00e9e Fleming, the Emerson String Quartet, Simone Dinnerstein, and Uma Thurman at Carnegie Hall.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On art fairs, St. Ambrose, Paul Resika, Ricky Ian Gordon & more from the world of culture.<\/I><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2188,"featured_media":121332,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_eb_attr":"","advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","wds_primary_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[472],"tags":[647,635,732,3321],"dispatch-city":[],"acf":{"participants":{"simple_value_formatted":"","value_formatted":null,"value":null,"field":{"ID":0,"key":"field_65fb0bff29d65","label":"Participants","name":"participants","aria-label":"","prefix":"acf","type":"user","value":null,"menu_order":0,"instructions":"","required":0,"id":"","class":"","conditional_logic":0,"parent":"group_651c53615a3f7","wrapper":{"width":"","class":"","id":""},"role":"","return_format":"object","multiple":1,"allow_null":0,"bidirectional":0,"bidirectional_target":[],"_name":"participants","_valid":1}},"featured_image_credits":{"simple_value_formatted":"","value_formatted":"","value":"","field":{"ID":0,"key":"field_651c536113a8e","label":"Featured Image Credits","name":"featured_image_credits","aria-label":"","prefix":"acf","type":"wysiwyg","value":null,"menu_order":1,"instructions":"","required":0,"id":"","class":"","conditional_logic":0,"parent":"group_651c53615a3f7","wrapper":{"width":"","class":"","id":""},"default_value":"","tabs":"all","toolbar":"basic","media_upload":0,"delay":0,"_name":"featured_image_credits","_valid":1}},"enable_paywall":{"simple_value_formatted":"No","value_formatted":false,"value":0,"field":{"ID":0,"key":"field_66009169342f2","label":"Enable Paywall","name":"enable_paywall","aria-label":"","prefix":"acf","type":"true_false","value":null,"menu_order":2,"instructions":"","required":0,"id":"","class":"","conditional_logic":0,"parent":"group_651c53615a3f7","wrapper":{"width":"","class":"","id":""},"message":"","default_value":0,"ui":0,"ui_on_text":"","ui_off_text":"","_name":"enable_paywall","_valid":1}}},"author_meta":{"display_name":"The Editors","author_link":"https:\/\/newcriterion.com\/author\/the-editors\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/newcriterion.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/CNHeaderImage-49-300x100.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/newcriterion.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/CNHeaderImage-49.png","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["Dispatch<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Dispatch<\/span>"]},"tags":{"linked":["Art<\/a>","Culture<\/a>","Dance<\/a>","The Critic's Notebook<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Art<\/span>","Culture<\/span>","Dance<\/span>","The Critic's Notebook<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":0,"relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 2 years ago","modified":"Updated 4 weeks ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on February 1, 2022","modified":"Updated on April 8, 2024"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on February 1, 2022 10:03 am","modified":"Updated on April 8, 2024 9:46 am"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"mfb_rest_fields":["author_meta","featured_img","jetpack_sharing_enabled","jetpack_featured_media_url","coauthors","tax_additional","comment_count","relative_dates","absolute_dates","absolute_dates_time","featured_img_caption","series_order","jetpack-related-posts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newcriterion.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117997"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newcriterion.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newcriterion.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newcriterion.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2188"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newcriterion.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117997"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newcriterion.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117997\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":117998,"href":"https:\/\/newcriterion.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117997\/revisions\/117998"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newcriterion.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/121332"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newcriterion.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newcriterion.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newcriterion.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117997"},{"taxonomy":"dispatch-city","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newcriterion.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/dispatch-city?post=117997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}