As he was founding the Ballets Russes, Sergey Diaghilev had an aesthetic and political problem to solve: which Russia to present to an international audience? More than a century later, there remains a distinction between artists who intend their work for a Russian audience and those with an eye on the rest of the world. The contemporary painter Andrey Remnev knows this history well, and is unafraid to plant his brush in the former category. READ ON

Peer into the miniaturized splendor of any of the Thorne Rooms and I dare you not to swoon. The near-hypnotic lure of these mini mundi comes from their magical intersection of scale and skill. When shrunk, even the most quotidian object—a vase, a lamp, a copper pot—is transformed into a precious talisman that inspires fascination and awe. READ ON