March 23, 2024
The Best
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The
News
from
Abroad
No. 245
Weekend
Edition
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In This Week’s Issue
THE SCARLET LETTER

Inside the turmoil that rocked Artforum after its editor was fired over an open letter supporting Palestine and hundreds of staff and contributors quit in solidarity …

LOST IN TRANSLATION

English words are permeating Continental European languages, from Italian to French to German, at an unprecedented rate. Franglais, anyone? …

HOLY HASHTAGS

The missionaries of yore have nothing on today’s Christian social-media superstars, whose religion comes wrapped in Insta-friendly packaging …

SHE’S SELLING, BUT WHO’S BUYING?

In the midst of King Charles’s and the Princess of Wales’s health issues, Meghan Markle has struck upon the perfect time to launch a lifestyle brand, a puzzling mix of the Tig and Goop with an even more baffling name …

TIME TO SHINE

At only 25 years old, Jean Arnault, the youngest of the billionaire LVMH patriarch’s five kids, has taken the timepiece world by storm—and surprise—reports Nicholas Foulkes …

LESS IS MORE

More than two decades after the opening of San Francisco’s Quince, Christine Muhlke reveals how the owners are responding to tasting-menu fatigue with a newly renovated, hyper-intimate dining room and shorter menus …

BENT OUT OF SHAPE

In a review of Judith Butler’s latest book, Who’s Afraid of Gender?, James Kirchick asks whether contemporary debates over gender ideology have gone too far …

BUT, WAIT, THERE’S MORE!

American Fiction’s Percival Everett kicks off our Imperfect Ending questionnaire with a few of his least favorite things … the Andrew and Fergie diaries, continued … Frida Kahlo, cultural icon? … the former banker who sells Lego sculptures for hundreds of thousands … a wildlife sanctuary in Tanzania … Who’s this week’s biggest Attention Whore? …

But First …
Issue No. 245

The View from Here It’s ein shitstorm! English is taking over the European languages, and there’s not much anyone—be it linguists or prime ministers—can do about it

By Elena Clavarino
Read On
Barry Blitt’s Sketchbook
Artistic License

State of the Artforum In his first sit-down interview since getting fired as the editor of Artforum over an open letter condemning Israel, and as a new editor prepares to take the reins, David Velasco tells his side of the story

By Louis Cheslaw
Read On
Megxit Follies

Royal Jelly Calling her lifestyle brand “American Riviera”—a term nobody in her area uses—the Princess of Wails pivots to Gwyneth Paltrow and Martha Stewart’s turf

By Hilary Rose
Photo illustration by Chop Choppish Shop
Read On
Small Talk

Randy Andy Goes Postal The grubbing and wheedling correspondence of Prince Andrew and Fergie

as told by
Craig Brown
Read On
Air Supply

The Constant Gardener

Spring is in the air, and AIR SUPPLY’s latest collection is ripe for the picking. Hone your green thumb with these botanical offerings, including floral accents, Japanese pruners, and clogs that can be worn in—and beyond—the backyard
Shop
Photo: Jarry Tripelon/Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images (garden)
Guest Edit

My Favorite Things Isabel Ettedgui, the owner of the British heritage brand Connolly, shares her must-have contemporary classics, from timeless shoes to understated silverware

By Isabel Ettedgui
Shop
Small Talk
“All right, all right—I promise I won’t get a second opinion.”
“All right, all right—I promise I won’t get a second opinion.”
Social Studies

21st-Century Missionary Style How Christian social-media influencers, from Hailey Bieber to Ballerina Farm, made their faith—and the trad-wife trappings that come with it—palatable to the mainstream

By Sarah Ditum
Read On
Landing Gear

Swinging into Spring An electric Mini that will make you feel like a Beatle! Leica’s latest camera will make a professional snapper out of you yet! Folding headphones you can’t afford to pass up! And more …

By Jonathan Margolis
Read On
The Watchman

First Place for Seconds The Louis Vuitton Watch Prize celebrates dazzling innovations in watchmaking, as well as the irresistible rise of Jean Arnault

By Nicholas Foulkes
Read On
T.G.I.S.

The Attention-Whore Index Kim Kardashian is polluting, Elon Musk is brooding, and Donald Trump is feuding. (Surprise!) Plus, the strangest news from across the world

Read On
Best
Shop Stella McCartney x Veuve Clicquot Champagne and Stella McCartney make a very nice pairing. Now there’s really something to toast:… Visit “Tiffany Wonder” Like Paris,Tokyo is always a good idea, and now it’s an especially intriguing destination for jewelry-lovers. Tiffany & Co.’s newest… Watch Hands on a Hardbody Quentin Tarantino called it “one of the greatest documentaries ever made,” Robert Altman was… Listen Ceol na nGael AIR MAIL’s very own Michael Hainey recently told me that he enjoys listening to French radio, not because he understands… Visit G&T Garden Tours Aficionados of English gardens, pack your valises for one of G&T Garden Tours’ week-long trips to the West Country. The objective:… Watch Messi’s World Cup A couple of nights ago, at dinner with my boyfriend, J.P., and some Air Mail colleagues, we decided to play a rather dangerous game:… Shop Stella McCartney x Veuve Clicquot Champagne and Stella McCartney make a very nice pairing. Now there’s really something to toast:… Visit “Tiffany Wonder” Like Paris,Tokyo is always a good idea, and now it’s an especially intriguing destination for jewelry-lovers. Tiffany & Co.’s newest… Watch Hands on a Hardbody Quentin Tarantino called it “one of the greatest documentaries ever made,” Robert Altman was… Listen Ceol na nGael AIR MAIL’s very own Michael Hainey recently told me that he enjoys listening to French radio, not because he understands… Visit G&T Garden Tours Aficionados of English gardens, pack your valises for one of G&T Garden Tours’ week-long trips to the West Country. The objective:… Watch Messi’s World Cup A couple of nights ago, at dinner with my boyfriend, J.P., and some Air Mail colleagues, we decided to play a rather dangerous game:…
Toy Story

Block Head Nathan Sawaya left his Wall Street law firm to play with Lego. Now his painstaking brick creations sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars

By Matt Rudd
Read On
Listen

Lunch with Matt Bomer On this week’s episode of Table for Two, Hollywood’s “most handsome man” discusses getting his start in a Chuck Norris movie, auditioning for The All New Mickey Mouse Club, and much more …

Read On
Film and Television

Underworld Toff He broke out in The White Lotus, and now he’s the lead on Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen. There’s also Bond chatter—but Theo James isn’t buying it

By Tim Lewis
Read On
Small Talk
The Restaurant World

Fruit of the Boom For more than 20 years, the restaurant Quince has been at the center of San Francisco’s social life

By Christine Muhlke
Read On
Books
Matthew Gurewitsch On

Where Rivers Part: A Story of My Mother’s Life

by Kao Kalia Yang
Read On
James Kirchick On

Who’s Afraid of Gender?

by Judith Butler
Read On
Art and Commerce

Kahlo Incorporated How did Frida Kahlo go from being a little-known artist to a feminist icon to a global brand?

By Rosie Millard
Read On
Highlight
Le Baiser (The Kiss), by Constantin Brancusi, 1907–8.

Brancusi’s Magnum Opus

In his memoir, The Romanian, winner of the 2004 Prix de Flore under the title Autobiographie Érotique, the American writer Bruce Benderson recounts his obsession with a scrappy young Romanian male prostitute. His infatuation leads him to immerse himself in work by another Romanian, the sculptor Constantin Brancusi. Benderson focuses on The Kiss, first created in 1907–8 and depicting “an embracing couple as a single block of stone, fused eternally in hermetic union.” READ ON

Le Baiser (The Kiss), by Constantin Brancusi, 1907–8. Read On
Close-up

Mary Elizabeth Winstead In A Gentleman in Moscow, the actress beguiles the hero, played by her real-life husband, Ewan McGregor

By Andy Meek
Read On
Open Book

Spring Breakers A new book of photographs evokes the sun-and-booze-soaked days of British holidayers in southern Spain during the 60s and beyond

13
Vacationers in Portals Nous, a quaint fishing town just south of Palma, on Majorca.
Trevor Clark captured the touristic boom in color Ektachrome film.
The photographer captured tourists lounging in new hotels.
According to Deputy Prime Minister Alfonso Guerra, “the first tourists to arrive in bikinis did more for the transition [to democracy] than political speeches.”
Duty-free cigarettes and late-night dancing—what’s not to love?
Brits taking in the Spanish sunshine.
Vacation can’t be all play …
… but even exercising was done in style.
Swapping out Guinnesses for Estrellas.
Children were invited, too.
An all-inclusive fortnight getaway to Continental Europe could go for $96, or less than the cost of a standard return flight.
By 1972, more than a third of all British tourists holidayed in Spain.
Better remember the sunscreen!
Read On
Small Talk
“I got napkins, family photos, and the strongest lip balm in the city.”
“I got napkins, family photos, and the strongest lip balm in the city.”
Listen

Who’s Killing the Great Languages of Europe? On this week’s podcast, Elena Clavarino reports on why—from Italy to Germany to France—English is now on everyone’s tongue

Read On
The Planet

Where the Wild Things Are At Chem Chem, in Tanzania, conservation has become the driving force of tourism—and the safari experience has never been better

By Mary Holland
Read On
Small Talk
“Leave the shaker.”
“Leave the shaker.”
The Imperfect Ending

Percival Everett

The author, whose comic novel Erasure became the Oscar-winning American Fiction, kicks off our new questionnaire by revealing a few of his least favorite things
Read On
Pip Carter’s Sketchbook
3
When working in my studio, I often listen to jazz. And while creating this piece, Cat Life—composed of painted paper cut freehand—I felt like the music was shaping the forms that emerged. (A soft scattering of paw prints here, a quick whip of a tail there … )
As the piece was coming together, I made sure to scan some of the elements so that I could translate it all into a reimagined record cover later. (Jimmy Smith’s album The Cat seemed like a no-brainer.)
While I was creating this piece, our cat, Rocco, snuck into my studio and, after I snapped this, quickly skulked away with a cutout pair of blue whiskers in his mouth. He was thrilled with his kill; me, less so.
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In Memoriam

Peter Bogdanovich Duncan Hannah Douglas McGrath Richard David Story André Leon Talley

Issue No. 245
March 23, 2024
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Issue No. 245
March 23, 2024
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