Art and Museums
Rembrandt's The Night Watch Condition Is Being Investigated; The Painting Has Been the Highlight of the Rijksmuseum Collection Since 1808
Rembrandt’s group portrait of officers and other civic guardsmen of District 2 in Amsterdam under the command of Captain Frans Banninck Cocq and Lieutenant Willem van Ruytenburch has been known since the 18th century as simply The Night Watch. It is the artist’s most ambitious painting. One of Amsterdam’s 20 civic guard companies commissioned the painting for its headquarters, the Kloveniersdoelen, and Rembrandt completed it in 1642. It is Rembrandt’s only civic guard piece, and it is famed for the lively and daring composition that portrays the troop in active poses rather than the traditional static ones. more »
Scout Report Choices: It's Okay to Be Smart, Hidden Brain, LGBT Materials in NY Public Library, Trevor Project and Others
It's Okay to Be Smart has videos exploring all manner of curiosities and scientific topics, such as why cereal tends to either clump together or stick to the edges in your cereal bowl, whether it's true that everyone has a doppelganger, and how fire ants became so widespread in the southern US; Hidden Brain "reveals the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, and the biases that shape our choices;" LGBTQ Materials in the New York Public Library is a super-collection, composed of hundreds of documents, photographs, post cards, and more. The Trevor Project, a national organization whose mission is "to end suicide among gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer & questioning young people." more »
The Morgan Library's Maurice Sendak Set and Costume Designs Exhibit: Props, Costumes, Preliminary Sketches, Storyboard, Finished Watercolors and Painted Dioramas
Beginning in the late 1970s, Sendak embarked on a second career as a designer for opera and ballet. Drawing the Curtain brings together nearly one hundred and fifty drawings from more than 900 by Sendak in the Morgan’s collection. This is the first museum exhibition dedicated to Sendak’s set and costume designs, offering new insights into the artist’s inspirations and creative process. The exhibit presents a wide selection of works from five of his most important productions: Mozart’s Magic Flute, Janáček's Cunning Little Vixen, Prokofiev’s Love for Three Oranges, Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker, and an opera based on Where the Wild Things Are. more »
Collection of 20th Century Souvenir Buildings at the National Building Museum: A Reminder of Travel and a Record of Popular Architecture
These pocket-sized buildings are at once a reminder of travel, and a record of popular architecture. Included in the collection are iconic tourist destinations, like the Tower of Pisa; Empire State Building; the Parthenon; the Space Needle; the Alamo; the Eiffel Tower; and the Temple of Heaven. Also included are more modest buildings, like dozens of suburban American banks, grain silos, and football stadiums, as well as souvenirs from places with less architectural, but nonetheless popular, pedigrees: Lincoln’s log cabin; Elvis’ Graceland; and the Disneyland Castle. After decades of display in museums and private residences, the entire collection was donated to the Museum in 2019. more »