Opinion & reviews

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• Titian's Venus of Urbino: Masturbation or Marital Foreplay? opinion-review

  Beaux Arts Magazine explores the enigma surrounding Titian's 'Venus of Urbino' (1538), pondering whether the positioning of her left hand on her lower abdomen implies…

• China's View of Trump's America: From Alarm to Indifference opinion-review

  According to a Chinese scholar's perspective, China's perception of US President Donald Trump's second term has shifted from initial alarm in 2017 to a more indifferent stance…

• Art World Crisis: The Bitter Joke of Ruthless Capitalism opinion-review

  In an opinion piece for Artribune, Christian Caliandro contends that the contemporary art sector is undergoing a fundamental crisis rather than a mere temporary slump. He asserts…

• Lenin and Trotsky's 1918 Skepticism on World Peace Revisited opinion-review

  Ingar Solty's recent article in der Freitag revisits the skepticism of Lenin and Trotsky regarding Germany's peace intentions in 1918. The piece explores the ethics of arms…

• Designers must prioritize judgement over technique in the age of AI opinion-review

  In a recent opinion piece for It's Nice That, Andrew Shea, associate professor at Parsons School of Design and co-director of the Lab for AI, Ethics, and Creative Labor, argues…

• Katie Cadwell on Measuring Creative Progress: 'We Are in Sales' opinion-review

  In the recent edition of Creative Career Conundrums, a weekly column by If You Could Jobs, branding specialist Katie Cadwell tackles the issue of assessing professional…

• Holger Friedrich: Eastern Germany's Media Rebel Takes on the West opinion-review

  Holger Friedrich, the controversial publisher behind the Berlin daily newspaper, has become a prominent figure in Germany's media landscape by challenging the dominance of the…

• California's Decline: LA's Unfinished Airport Train Symbolizes State's Malaise opinion-review

  In a piece for Monocle, Colin Nagy contends that California is experiencing a managed decline, exemplified by the postponed Skylink airport train in Los Angeles, which was…

• FASO Founder Clint Watson Decries AI Slop, Urges Artists to Embrace Counterculture opinion-review

  In "Their Problem Is That We Have Taste," Clint Watson, CEO of FASO, expresses concern that the emphasis on quantity in AI-generated content and by major tech companies poses a…

• Drake's 'Janice STFU' Soundtracks a Summer of Resentment opinion-review

  In a New Yorker essay, music critic Amanda Petrusich reflects on the ubiquity of Drake's song 'Janice STFU' from his album 'Iceman,' released alongside 'Habibti' and 'Maid of…

• Milano sotto il caldo: riflessioni tra arte, cinema e urbanistica opinion-review

  Nell'estate più calda di sempre, Milano affronta un'afa soffocante che spinge a riflessioni su clima, urbanistica e arte. L'articolo di Carla A. Bordini Bellandi, pubblicato su…

• Meghan und Harry kehren nach England zurück: Die Geschichte zeigt, das dürfte Ärger geben opinion-review

  Meghan Markle und Prinz Harry planen eine Rückkehr nach England, was laut einem Kommentar in der Neuen Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ) voraussichtlich zu Spannungen führen wird. Der…

• CIA's Covert Funding of Abstract Expressionism: A Cold War Cultural Weapon opinion-review

  During the Cold War, the CIA secretly promoted Abstract Expressionism as a cultural weapon against Soviet Socialist Realism, funneling millions through front organizations like…

• One Night Only: RomCom Meets Totalitarianism in New Film opinion-review

  The German weekly newspaper der Freitag reviews the comedy film "One Night Only," which presents a dystopian premise where unmarried individuals are permitted to have sex only…

• Gratitude in the Gallery: Should Artists Thank Their Dealers? opinion-review

  A gallery professional reflects on the value of artists thanking their galleries after sales, drawing on personal experience and industry practice. The author recalls receiving a…

• Beyond 'Inestimable': Proposals for Measuring Cultural Value opinion-review

  Following the high-profile theft from the Museo di Messina, Stefano Monti's article in Artribune critiques the use of the term 'inestimable' for stolen artworks. He argues that…

• Jane Schoenbrun on Horror, Sex, and Alienation in Film opinion-review

  In an interview with the Financial Times, acclaimed filmmaker Jane Schoenbrun discusses how horror tropes, particularly the slasher genre, can express contemporary fears about…

• Mauro Portello's Therapeutic Gaze: Wittgenstein, Jung, and Visual Clarity opinion-review

  An essay by Moreno Montanari and Anita Romanello, published on doppiozero, explores the work of artist Mauro Portello through the lens of Wittgenstein's philosophy and Jungian…

• Class Struggle in the Art World: From Bienal de São Paulo to Documenta and Beyond opinion-review

  This essay, part two of a critical series, argues that the art world's progressive rhetoric masks deep class exploitation and that artists and workers must organize collectively.…

• The Visual Grammar of Digital Reward: How Screens Learned to Show Winning opinion-review

  An essay published on FAD Magazine on August 21, 2026, analyzes the visual grammar used to depict winning on screens. It identifies five recurring elements: color intensity spikes…

• A Broken Ankle, a Sinkhole, and the Philosophy of Chance opinion-review

  In a personal essay for The New Yorker, the author recounts breaking their fibula after riding an electric scooter into a sinkhole on a residential street near their home in…

• Sex Recession Cinema: Two Films Offer Contrasting Visions of Desire opinion-review

  An article in New Yorker delves into two films that tackle the issue of the "sex recession." This phenomenon has seen the percentage of adults aged 18-64 engaging in weekly sexual…

• Art Historian Bari Hooper on Writing a Van Dyck Detective Novel opinion-review

  In a comment piece for The Art Newspaper, art historian Bari Hooper discusses her transition from non-fiction to fiction with an art historical novel set in 1630s London. Hooper,…

• Why Americans Stopped Reading Books: A Post-Literate Era opinion-review

  A new analysis by Jared Henderson, presented in a video titled "Why Everyone Stopped Reading," explores the decline in book reading among Americans. The video, featured on Open…

• LVMH Watches CEO Jean-Christophe Babin on the Future of Watchmaking Ahead of Geneva Watch Days opinion-review

  Jean-Christophe Babin, CEO of LVMH Watches, shared his predictions for the future of watchmaking in an interview published on the eve of Geneva Watch Days, which runs from…

• Rethinking Human Exceptionalism: The Animal Within opinion-review

  In a recent article on doppiozero, Maurizio Corrado explores the philosophical and scientific shift in understanding humans as animals. The piece, published on August 21, 2026,…

• Beachwear Brands Overlook Men's Tops, Says Monocle's Asia Editor opinion-review

  In a recent opinion article for Monocle, Asia editor James Chambers expresses his discontent with menswear brands that overlook stylish upper body beachwear. He points out that…

• Chefs Debate Gen Z's Impact on Fine Dining opinion-review

  In a CULTURED magazine roundtable, five chefs—Dominique Crenn (61, Atelier Crenn), Matthew Kammerer (37, Harbor House Inn), E.J. Lagasse (23, Emeril's), Flynn McGarry (27, Cove),…

• China's Path Challenges Western Assumptions on Capitalism opinion-review

  An editorial featured in the South China Morning Post suggests that China's approach to development challenges the post-Cold War belief that Western liberal capitalism is the sole…

• Thomas Biebricher on AfD as a Class Project from Above: Elites Set the Agenda opinion-review

  In a recent interview with the German newspaper der Freitag, political scientist Thomas Biebricher discusses the rise of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) and similar right-wing…

• Trump's Anti-Alliance Stance Extends to South Korea opinion-review

  President Donald Trump has expressed discontent with South Korea, accusing it of benefiting from the US military's presence without contributing to the Iran conflict, while…

• Dance Critic Gia Kourlas Compares Champion Surfer Caitlin Simmers to Ballet opinion-review

  In an article from the New York Times on August 19, 2026, dance critic Gia Kourlas compares the elegance of ballet to the skill of high-level surfing, spotlighting champion surfer…

• Seeßlen Analyzes Weidel, Meloni, and Le Pen as Postliberal Fascists opinion-review

  In a recent article for the German weekly newspaper Der Freitag, film critic and author Georg Seeßlen examines the rise of right-wing female politicians Giorgia Meloni, Marine Le…

• Did Smartphones Really Kill Reading? A Historical Perspective opinion-review

  A recent article on LitHub challenges the common assumption that smartphones are responsible for the decline in reading. The piece argues that while it is tempting to blame…

• French Culture Budget Cuts Threaten Shared History, CFDT-Culture Warns opinion-review

  In a recent op-ed for Le Monde, Alexis Fritche, Secretary General of CFDT-Culture, argues that cultural funding is not merely an economic or artistic concern but a central…

• Should Artists Display Prices on Their Websites? A Contrarian Gallery Owner’s Take opinion-review

  A gallery owner argues that artists should display prices on their websites, challenging the traditional secrecy around art pricing. The article, published on RedDotBlog, presents…

• Pompeo Micheli on Antonello da Messina Theft: Museum Security and the Challenge of Recovering Masterpieces opinion-review

  In an article for Artemagazine, Pompeo Micheli, a Luogotenente Carica Speciale of the Comando Carabinieri Tutela Patrimonio Culturale, reflects on the theft of two paintings by…

• AI Art Challenges Chelsea Galleries: Authenticity and Authorship in Question opinion-review

  Generative AI is increasingly capable of producing sophisticated visual art that is difficult to distinguish from human-created works, raising urgent questions about authorship,…

• Geetanjali Shree's 'Our City, That Year' Reviewed: A Tale of Religious Identity opinion-review

  Mark Rappolt reviews Geetanjali Shree's novel 'Our City, That Year', translated by Daisy Rockwell and published by Tilted Axis. The book, inspired by the 1992 destruction of the…

• Edgar Selge Calls for Radical New Approach in Democracy Debate opinion-review

  In a recent opinion piece for Süddeutsche Zeitung, actor Edgar Selge argues that the current strategies of democratic parties in addressing major crises—climate change, the rise…