Issue 9 is here!
Athenaeum Review publishes essays, reviews, and podcasts by leading scholars in the arts and humanities.
Time-Traveling with Line
The question of line depth and how it changes the viewer’s perception play out especially in the exhibition’s white gesso and clay reliefs.
Africa Rising
Although Sub-Saharan Africa holds 60% of the world’s not-yet-cultivated arable land, food scarcity is a top concern, particularly in view of the worsening climate crisis.
A Love For All Humanity
Hildegard Bechtler’s minimalist sets, centered around a revolving circular platform and high, unadorned walls, never distracted from the importance of the text and provided the opportunity for the nuns to be the center of attention. Her postmodern, industrial design felt vacant and made the cloistered nature of the convent palpable.
The Future of the Humanities and the Specter of Antisemitism
According to the sages, God begins with one and not two, so that no one can say to another, “My side of the family is better than your side of the family”: there is only one side of the human family, with all the ethical obligations that come to bear in being part of the human family.
The Thin Crust of Civilization
The ability to see patterns is predictive of a strong belief in them, which can easily become a faith in the unseen workings of power.
Four Sour and Stringent Proposals for the Novel
Valuing novels for the social information they contribute, as many literary prizes do, is like judging dogs for fetching.
Robert Adams, Beauty in Photography: Essays in Defense of Traditional Values. Aperture Foundation, 112pp., $17 paper.
Sigrid Undset, Olav Audunssøn I: Vows. Translated by Tiina Nunnally. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. 376 pp., $18 paper.
Grimaldi, Mario. The Painters of Pompeii: Roman Frescoes from the National Archaeological Museum of Naples. Mondo Mostre, 185pp., color ills., $60 cloth.