Acquaint Yourself With The Writings of Arendt Hannah. There was never a better time.
Review:
1881-1973
Today, when we think of the way we understand modern art, it is important for us to consider the work of so many great artists who have made tremendous contributions in the past. One such artist was Pablo Picasso, whose paintings today still seem to glow and be relevant.
In her book; “ Who Was Pablo Picasso,” True Kelley’s flowing narrative hewn together the historical background of Pablo Picasso’s lifetime . The author includes an entire outline of Picasso’s struggles, his birth and naming, and the eventual arrival to fame.The author describes the prodigy as a 9 year-old, when he started to draw like a talented adult artist. The senior Picasso was so impressed by the genius of his young son that he had to abandon painting altogether and gave all of his brushes to Pablo.
Towards the middle, Kelley- in keeping with her theme- describes how Pablo’s paintings identified with the blinds and beggars and the prisoners of his time. Pablo would continue to depict very sad scenes in this way in his paintings for some time. This time might have been referred to as the “Blue period “ in Picasso’s life, as art historians like to call it. But then, given Pablo’s own humble background—that he had to grow up in Spain, under the dictatorial government run by general Franco -- and that, because his family was far from being rich, may help explain the inspiration behind some of Picasso’s saddest paintings. But whatever may be the reason, we should have no doubt in our minds that Picasso saw something special in the poor and destitute.
Throughout Picasso’ career as a professional artist and a family man, he drank heavily, and may have even dabbled into doing drugs. But he didn’t allow himself to become victimized by these things. And he refused to be influenced by the public opinion of his generation. Richard Appignanesi, in his book on ‘postmodernism,” describes the kind of tension that can arise between the commercial Art
——-This is a summary, and at the same time, my reactions to Max Hastings' book; The Abyss. The book is huge, and for this reason I have had to leave out many good parts, as should be the case with any summarization!
The year was 1962, and president Kennedy, who had recently succeeded Eisenhower, was now in the White House. But the clock was ticking! One of the crucial moments in history was just about to unfold during the Cold War. This will be known as “The Cuban Missile Crisis,” which was also a tense dispute over National Security concerns between the two superpowers. The dispute began with Fidel Castro, the flamboyant dictator, who had fought his way to power after ousting his predecessor; Fulgencio Batistas. This crisis will suddenly take over center stage in U.S. foreign policy.
The author’s narrative in the first half of the book is about how the exiled Cuban counter revolutionaries known as Brigade 2506, under the direct influence of the United States, landed at The Bay of Pigs and were quickly defeated by Castro’s forces. This defeat at the hands of Castro’s army didn’t discourage the U.S. Instead it forced the Kennedy’s administration to hatch a new plan, and named it Operation Mongoose, with American generals at its top echelon.
I have read for a bit here and there about Russian dictators . But to substantiate some of these claims, I decided to check with what was being published in the New York Times during this period on Nikita Khrushchev. In a June 5th, 1956 New York Times article, the story that day portrays Nikita Khrushchev as an idealist and perhaps as being too bold, which was in part because of his shocking attack on Starlin during a speech.
Indeed in many ways the Russian leader was a - no nonsense guy. For instance; Khrushchev casually demonstrated this by his willingness to seize upon what he saw as an opportunity to stand up to the United, though this would have been suicidal. In Williams L Shirer's October, 19
