“The aesthetic experience is a simple beholding of the object . . . you experience a radiance. You are held in aesthetic arrest.” - Joseph Campbell
Aesthetic Arrest: Mid-Week Libation
Wildstar’s Wednesday Libation: Portofino Spritz with Andy Baraghani
Reading: The Lies of the Artists: Essays on Italian Art, 1450-1750 by Ingrid D. Rowland
“Luminous essays on artists of the Italian Renaissance by one of our most inspired writers on the history and making of art. In the three centuries from 1450 to 1750 painters, sculptors, and architects emerged from the medieval craft guilds of Italy to claim a new social status as creators, whose gorgeous handiwork, now called ‘art,’ expressed lofty inspiration as much as manual skill. In The Lies of the Artists, Ingrid Rowland takes us into the world of these artists, and into their seemingly miraculous ways of transforming transcendent ideas into tangible works of art that challenged and redefined reality, ‘lies’ with the power to reveal a deeper truth.” [Source]
Listening: Audience With the Queen by Galactic and Irma Thomas
“Crescent City’s chameleonic funk-rock-pop vets Galactic reunite with the ‘Soul Queen of New Orleans’ Irma Thomas for an album of new music on Audience With The Queen — an uplifting joint effort that shines new light on the Grammy-winning singer’s timeless sound. Now 84, Thomas has contributed era-defining hits to New Orleans’ R&B golden age, earned worldwide acclaim for her blues masterpiece After The Rain and remains among the city’s most celebrated gospel singers. With Galactic at her side across eight high-energy, groove-laced originals and a dazzling revamp of Nancy Wilson’s How Glad I Am, Thomas sounds more vibrant than ever. This unique full-length LP featuring two of New Orleans’ most beloved music acts is a must-have for fans of any genre.” [Source]
Looking: Renaissance, Baroque & Rococo Art featured in Ingrid D. Rowland’s The Lies of the Artists: Essays on Italian Art, 1450-1750
“As the great art patron Daniele Barbaro wrote: ‘bisogna aprire gli occhi,’ or ‘you have to open your eyes.’ And this is precisely what Rowland does in these essays, bringing her knowledge, keen perception, and singular wit to bear on the art and lives of Renaissance masters, including Michelangelo, Caravaggio, Bernini, Raphael, Titian, and El Greco, as well as some overlooked artists of phenomenal talent, such as Antonello da Messina, Andrea del Sarto, and Bertoldo di Giovanni. In dazzling prose, as luminous and versatile as the painterly effects she describes, she shows us the work of these artists in eye-opening, thought-provoking ways, recreating the delight and insight that the discovery of great art evokes.” [Source]
1) Antonello da Messina, Virgin Annunciate (1474–1475); 2) Raphael, Ezekiel’s Vision (c. 1518); 3) Tintoretto, The Miracle of St. Augustine (c. 1560); 4) Caravaggio, The Calling of Saint Matthew (1600); 5) Caravaggio, Adoration of the Shepherds (1609); 6) El Greco, The Disrobing of Christ (1577–1579); 7) Artemisia Gentileschi, Jael Killing Sisera (1620); 8) Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Anima dannata (Damned Soul) (1619) [CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons]; 9) Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Neptune Offering Gifts to Venice (before 1758)
Viewing: The Return directed by Uberto Pasolini, starring Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche
“Uberto Pasolini’s reworking of The Odyssey shuns spectacle to craft a potent, grown-up character study that mines the emotional core of Homer’s epic. Adapting just the poem’s second half, The Return depicts Odysseus’s reappearance on Ithaca after two decades away and explores the effects of war on those who fight in them and those left behind. … Binoche and Fiennes are both imperious. … Pasolini’s film is built around their dynamic. It’s their interplay in spartan rooms and amid the chiaroscuro of flickering firelight that elevates The Return to a nuanced psychological drama that is both unflinching and gripping.” [Source]
‘At 60, the bulk of your life is lived. What’s left now?’ Ralph Fiennes and Uberto Pasolini on their ripped and radical take on The Odyssey (via The Guardian)
The Return review – Juliette Binoche and Ralph Fiennes bring fierce class to elemental Odyssey adaptation (via The Guardian)
Tasting: The Cook You Want to Be: Everyday Recipes to Impress by Andy Baraghani (with a special shout-out to his mouthwatering recipe for Vinegar Toast!)
“Andy Baraghani peeled hundreds of onions at Chez Panisse as a teenage intern, honed his perfectly balanced salad–making skills at Estela in New York, and developed recipes in the test kitchens of Saveur, Tasting Table, and Bon Appétit. It took him all those years to figure out the cook he wanted to be: a cook who is true to his Persian heritage, a fresh-vegetable lover, a citrus superfan, and an always-hungry world traveler. In The Cook You Want to Be, Baraghani shows home cooks on how to hone their own cooking styles by teaching the techniques and unexpected flavor combinations that maximize flavor in minimal time.” [Source]
Now let’s talk about Andy Baraghani’s simple recipe that’s going to change your life: Vinegar Toast!
“VINEGAR TOAST! Even if I make a huge spread, this is the item that gets asked about the most. When I want toast, I want a big, fat, crunchy piece of it. And the best method for making it that way is to fry it. The bread soaks up the oil and gets a deep char and incredible crunch, and yet retains a cushiony center. Once fried, stab it all over with a paring 🔪🔪🔪, and then poured in this herby vinegar mixture. I promise you’ll have a hard time not thinking about how good it is after you’ve made it.” — Andy Baraghani [Source]
Click here for the full recipe! (via Pamela’s Cooking with Love)
Click here for more great recipes from Andy Baraghani, including Juicy Tomatoes With Italian Chile Crisp, Fennel Salad with Spicy Green Olives, Charred Eggplant with Turmeric Tahini & Crispy Plum and Olive Oil Cake!
So that’s it for this week! But we’d like to end with this week’s words of wisdom, a quotation from the great Charlie Chaplin, who was born today in 1889. This quote comes from Chaplin’s final speech in The Great Dictator, a film that is sadly just as relevant today as it was back in 1940.
This Week’s Words of Wisdom: Charlie Chaplin (April 16, 1889 – December 25, 1977)
Read a transcript of the full speech here. Or watch the full speech below:
Thank you for joining us for Season 3 of Aesthetic Arrest!
Cheers to that!
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