Free Republic

Flaming June triumphed at exhibition in 1895, but its moment in the sun was short. Leighton's death the following year heralded the end of an era. As Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, and abstraction gained prominence in Europe and the United States, the artistic vision that he proposed came to be seen by many curators, scholars, and critics as outmoded and sentimental. Flaming June seemed superficial and vapid, an invocation of sensibilities that no longer rang true; the painting fell into obscurity. We do not know where it was from 1930 until 1962, when it resurfaced on the art market without its original...

The Art Institute of Chicago announced that its director is expected to return to work after he was shockingly arrested for allegedly stripping down on a flight to Germany. James Rondeau is set to go back to work on Monday following an embarrassing display on a United Airlines flight to Munich from Chicago on April 18. Police were called as the flight landed following reports of Rondeau - the institute's highest-paid employee, making over $1million in 2023 - stripping off his clothes after drinking alcohol and taking prescription medication. Rondeau, who has since been on 'voluntary leave' from the museum,...

The collapse of a glacier in Switzerland resulted in the village of Blatten being buried in ice, mud, and rock, leading scientists to question climate change's possible role.

Over the decades, NASA has managed to capture a number of astonishing photos from space, showcasing how beautiful the cosmos really is. Take these unique details on Saturn’s moon Iapetus as the perfect example. Or how about an eerie snapshot taken by the so-called ‘most isolated man in the universe?’ These photos have a way of pulling you in and honestly, I could scroll through them for hours on end. I'm not alone; one social media user has re-shared two stunning photos of Uranus captured by NASA which have since gone viral. The US agency launched its James Webb Space...

Rick Derringer, the guitarist, songwriter and producer who wrote or contributed to a body of hits spanning decades, died on Monday at the age of 77. Derringer's caretaker, Tony Wilson, shared the news on Facebook, and Guitar Player later reported it. The guitarist's wife, Jenda Derringer, told TMZ he died "peacefully" in his sleep after being taken off life support following a medical episode. Born Richard Dean Zehringer on Aug. 5, 1947, in Celina, Ohio, and raised in the nearby Fort Recovery, Derringer began his burgeoning music career in earnest when he received his first guitar on his ninth birthday....

Lots of pictures.

KVVU reporter Molly McBride is OK after being accosted live on-air by a man who wanted a dollar. McBride had just started her standup about recent shootings in the area, when the man came running from behind asking for a dollar. He kept repeating the request until the camera panned off McBride and the Las Vegas Fox affiliate’s anchors moved on. News director Tom Bell told TVSpy, the man “briefly made contact with her then ran off.” “Molly was not hurt, just startled. The incident occurred in seconds. She said when she looked back at the tape, it looked scarier...

In his new memoir, Sonny Boy, Al Pacino describes how Shakespeare was central to his early development as a young actor. “I would bellow out monologues as I rambled through the streets of Manhattan,” Pacino writes. “If the hour was late and you heard someone in your alleyway with a bombastic voice shouting iambic pentameter into the night, that was probably me, training myself on the famous Shakespeare soliloquies.”... Pacino “always felt at home on a stage,” and an early performance in a school play literally brought his divorced parents “back together again,” if only for a post-show ice cream....

"I’m sincerely sorry to disappoint our audience," Joel says in a statement after revealing normal pressure hydrocephalus diagnosis Billy Joel is canceling every concert on his itinerary, 17 shows in total booked at stadiums across North America and England, due to a recent diagnosis of normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH). “This condition has been exacerbated by recent concert performances, leading to problems with hearing, vision, and balance,” reads a statement from Joel’s team. “Under his doctor’s instructions, Billy is undergoing specific physical therapy and has been advised to refrain from performing during this recovery period. Billy is thankful for the excellent...

🚨 #BREAKING: U.S. Attorney Alina Habba has officially CHARGED Democrat Rep. LaMonica McIver with assaulting, impeding and interfering with law enforcement. This carries up to EIGHT YEARS in federal prison. LOCK HER UP AND PERP WALK! 🔥

The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office returned eight artifacts to Peru during a ceremony at the Peruvian consulate in New York on May 15. The items returned included funerary items that were taken illegally from tombs in northern Peru during the 1960s and ’70s. The return marks the second time New York officials have repatriated a group of works to Peru. Also among the returned objects is a copper mask believed to represent a fanged Moche deity Ai Apaec, which has historically been associated with protection. The mask, which dates to approximately 300 BCE, is believed to have been taken from...

Rusty-spotted cat World's smallest cat 🐈- BBC | 1:57 BBC | 14.9M subscribers | 65,850,336 views | January 5, 2018

2,700 years ago, Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian empire. Researchers from the University of Heildelberg have made a spectacular discovery in the palace of King Assurbanipal. During excavations, they came across the first large-format depictions of two important Assyrian deities. German archaeologists have made a spectacular discovery in Iraq. During excavations in the ancient metropolis of Nineveh, a team from Heidelberg University came across large parts of a monumental relief. It shows King Assurbanipal (668 to 627 BC), the last ruler of the Assyrian Empire, accompanied by two important deities and other figures. The relief was found in...

The Aztec Empire once hosted an expansive trade network that brought volcanic glass to its capital from right across Mesoamerica, coast to coast. The largest compositional study of obsidian artifacts found in the ancient Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan has now revealed the far-flung influence of the Mexica culture – the largest and most powerful faction of the Aztec Alliance. The 788 precious obsidian objects analyzed include weapons, urns, earrings, pendants, scepters, and decorated human skulls. They appear to have been sourced from across the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, even from the lands of rival governments. The discovery speaks to the commercial...

Cannes (France) (AFP) – Hollywood heavyweights Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, Riz Ahmed and Guillermo del Toro have added their names to a letter condemning the film industry's silence on what it called "genocide" in Gaza, the organisers confirmed Friday. The petition, signed by more than 370 actors and filmmakers, also denounced Israel's killing of Fatima Hassouna, the young Gaza photojournalist featured in the documentary "Put Your Soul in Your Hand and Walk", which premiered at the Cannes film festival Thursday. The organisers of the letter said the French actor Juliette Binoche, who is chairing the jury at Cannes, also added...

Tattoos have become a more common sight in workplaces around the United States, even making appearances among members of the U.S. House and Senate. Amid this shift, a large majority of U.S. adults say society has become more accepting of people with tattoos in recent decades, according to a new Pew Research Center survey. And 32% of adults have a tattoo themselves, including 22% who have more than one....... Gender: 38% of women have at least one tattoo, compared with 27% of men. This includes 56% of women ages 18 to 29 and 53% of women ages 30 to 49....

Sotheby's famed auction room was filled with gasps followed by shocked silence after an iconic statue priced far too ambitiously failed to sell at auction. Billionaires descended on the New York City event on Tuesday in the hope of snagging a masterpiece created by the likes of Picasso, Monet or Matisse. But it was Alberto Giacometti's 1955 bronze bust, called Grand tête mince, that was billed as the auction's centerpiece by experts who gave it a $70 million guide price.

RIP to one of the greats. You're with Harambe now. NBC News @NBCNews An alligator that appeared in numerous TV shows and films over three decades, most notably the 1996 Adam Sandler comedy “Happy Gilmore,” has died at a gator farm in southern Colorado. Based on his growth rate and tooth loss, Morris the alligator was at least 80 years old when he died, the Colorado Gator Farm said in a Facebook post Sunday. He was nearly 11 feet (3.3 meters) long and weighed 640 pounds (290 kilograms). Here was Morris in his infamous Happy Gilmore role: Video at link.................

WASHINGTON — Actor Joe Don Baker, who starred as the rugged Sheriff Buford Pusser in the box office hit "Walking Tall," has died at the age of 89, his family announced. In an obituary posted online, Baker's family remembered him as "a beacon of kindness and generosity." "Throughout his life, Joe Don touched many lives with his warmth and compassion, leaving an indelible mark on everyone fortunate enough to know him," the obituary reads. Baker first became a well-known public figure in 1972, when he starred in Sam Peckinpah's "Junior Bonner," followed by a role the next year as a...

When word emerged last year that Nicholas Cage will take a break from making a nonstop string of movies to play John Madden in yet another movie, it was a curiosity. We didn’t know then what we know now. Christian Bale appears in the same film, as the legendary Al Davis. Cage has been in some things that, well, aren’t good. Bale’s work rarely lands in that category. The mere mention of Bale’s name gives Madden cachet. Up the ying yang. (If you’re never seen The Prestige, what are you waiting for? If you start now, you will have...