By Nina Heyn For world travelers Warsaw is becoming one of the hottest tourist destinations with over 20 million tourists a year. Many visitors come for extremely good food, both in grocery stores and at a plethora of gastropubs, food courts, breakfast markets, street food areas, and restaurants of all levels that specialize in anything…
By Nina Heyn Director Christopher Nolan does not let his audiences down. Every few years, he makes that one “must-see” film of the year: The Dark Knight in 2008, Inception in 2010, Interstellar in 2014, Dunkirk in 2017, Oppenheimer in 2023. This year, his movie The Odyssey is such a film. Tickets to IMAX shows…
By Nina Heyn Every two years, Venice hosts the Art Biennale (art alternates with architecture)—a showcase of exhibitions from various countries as well as individual artists’ presentations. The latest 61st edition, titled “In Minor Keys,” includes entries from 110 participants—countries, organizations, art collectives, or individuals. The Biennale’s curator, Koyo Kouoh, passed away in 2025, but…
By Nina Heyn The latest film from Steven Spielberg, Disclosure Day, brings forward his trademark theme of alien visitations. He explores the issue through a race between scientist Daniel Keller (Josh O’Connor), a whistleblower who stole archival footage of the U.S. government’s encounters with extraterrestrials (starting from the Roswell incident in 1947), and the said…
By Nina Heyn Imagine that it is 1871 in Paris. The city, and in fact the whole country, are recovering from a brutal Franco-Prussian war as well as a revolt of Communards that has destroyed many Paris streets and buildings. In the art world, the paintings considered most prestigious are historical and mythological tableaux that…
By Nina Heyn When we think of Henri Rousseau (1844-1910) we evoke his paintings of jungles and monkeys, which are indeed what made him immortal, but this self-taught painter started with something else. He embarked on the path of an artist when he was a middle-aged man holding the mundane job of tax collector at…
By Nina Heyn This is the time of year when spring is in full force in Paris—trees are green (after months of gray emptiness), people sit outside in cafés (after months of bundling up), and museums are brimming with new art shows. Here is a sampling of the latest offerings at principal museums in the…
“No work from classical antiquity, either Greek or Roman, has exerted such a continuing and decisive influence on European literature as Ovid’s Metamorphoses.” ~ Ian Johnston By Nina Heyn Sometimes it is good when an art exhibition is not reduced to a predictable subject like “masterpieces of xx artist” or “the art of xx period.”…
By Nina Heyn Rapid changes in social and material status can create a social group called the nouveau riche—people who suddenly gain wealth and influence but lack the refinement that comes with generations of elevated social position. Even though the term itself is from the 20th century, the phenomenon has existed for much longer. In…
By Nina Heyn If you want to learn about fine art, sometimes it is best to start with the basics. Getting familiar with Raphael (Raffaello di Giovanni Santi, 1483-1520) constitutes just such a “basic” because, alongside a dozen other artists throughout history, his works are not only some of the most alluring but also seeded…