palimpsest

The discovery of the new/old painting by Old Dutch Master Johannes Vermeer (previously) has unfolded in a very captivating way that makes sleuths and amateur art historians out of us all.
Early, unauthorised x-ray examinations of his Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window (Brieflezend meisje bij het venster) among the trove of the then recently repatriated treasures of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen of Dresden—taken to the Soviet Union as spoils of war we returned to boost residents’ morale and curried the interest of Western scholars. The analysis revealed a Cupid (like these other famous putti who also reside in the Dresden galleries) walled over and painted out of the image, in what was assumed over the ensuing decades after the initial discovery was an example of regrettable pentimenti.
Recent re-examination conclusively determines that the over-painting was not done by Vermeer himself and approximately two centuries later, so conservators have chosen to restore (shown in progress with the unrestored version above) the artist’s original vision, confident that the visual vernacular of figure on the wall is in keeping with the artist’s style and contributes something to his overall message, interpreted as the girl hoping to expand her horizons outside of her domestic sphere.

#lovewon

The parliamentary vote coinciding with the International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia, established to mark the day in 1990 when the World Health Organisation struck alternative sexual orientation and identity from its register of diseases, Taiwan approved a bill that legalises same-sex marriage, becoming the first country in Asia to do so. Ceremonies will become legally recognised beginning on 24 May.

winkelcentrummuziek

Found among the latest selection of curated links from Pasa Bon! we’re treated to a rather taxing forty minutes of instrumental of mall muzak (previously) from 1974.
Long playing records were distributed as the shopping soundtrack suitable for almost any retail environment—see if you can identify the commercial classics covered such as “Restroom Retreat.” The title is the Netherlandish word for the phenomenon of such background music—muzak having become proprietary eponym or genericised trademark, like Q-Tips and Scotch Tape—and the language, championed by Philips in the 1960s, has a related concept, fumu, from functional music—targeted performances orchestrated to boost sales. I don’t know how scientific the later were but the former does not really put me in the mood for shopping.

m.arch

Though probably best known for the once abhorred but now treasured glass-and-steel pyramid in the courtyard of the Louvre, master modernist architect Ieoh Ming Pei’s (RIP, *1917 – †2019) first major commission in 1961—construction completed by 1967—a flagship laboratory for the US National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, also deserves appreciation.
The Mesa Labs and headquarters building, the cubist structure suggestive of exhaust vents or ship funnels, remarkably continues to serve its original function all these decades later, conducting crucial studies climate change and modelling, and earned I.M. Pei the industry recognition that would lead him to other projects, including the Dallas City Hall, bank buildings, libraries and galleries around the world.

jet set

The TWA hotel housed in an incredibly restored 1962 terminal designed by Eero Saarinen (previously) has just recently celebrated its grand opening and welcomes its first guests at the John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens, New York. Given the convenience and immersive atmosphere that perfectly captures all the best of Mid-Century modern glamour, lodging seems rather reasonably priced and it costs nothing to visit and walk through the main terminal. Learn more at CityLab at the link above.