Arts & Life

Mr. Fontein, a renowned scholar who had organized the important exhibitions “Zen Painting and Calligraphy” in 1970 and “Unearthing China’s Past” in 1973, put the museum on a new course almost immediately. Continue reading the main story Under his leadership, the museum presented a canny blend of challenging, specialized exhibitions …

Photo A scene from the 2016 “Macy’s Fourth of July Fireworks Spectacular.” Credit Craig Blankenhorn/NBC Fireworks light up the skies over New York and Washington, and American presidents, lawmakers and celebrities recite the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. What’s on TV MACY’S FOURTH OF JULY …

At a little more than 100 small-format pages, the book, which is structured as the narrator’s personal and creative diary, leaves little room for set-up, so we get it in quick succession: He and his wife fight, a lot. He’s writing “Besties 2,” a sequel to his most commercially successful …

Photo Paul Gauguin’s “Nafea Faa Ipoipo (When Will You Marry?),” from 1892. Credit Artothek/Associated Press A legal dispute has revealed that a painting thought to be the world’s most expensive artwork is not the most expensive one after all. Paul Gauguin’s 1892 oil painting “Nafea Faa Ipoipo (When Will You …

Photo Clay timbers in Oaxaca, Mexico, that will be used for Bosco Sodi’s installation “Muro.” Credit Via Studio Bosco Sodi A wall will go up in Washington Square Park on Sept. 7, but come down by the end of the day. Called “Muro,” this wall will be the artist Bosco …

Photo A giant statue of Azog, a character from “The Hobbit,” at Comic-Con in New York in 2014. Warner Bros. and the estate of the author J.R.R. Tolkien have settled a lawsuit over online merchandising. Credit Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times Warner Bros. and the estate of J.R.R. Tolkien …

Photo DJ Khaled’s latest album, “Grateful,” which is stocked with appearances by A-list stars, debuted at No. 1 on the album chart. Credit Chad Batka for The New York Times This week on the music charts, DJ Khaled beat Imagine Dragons to No. 1, and Prince returns to the Top …

Photo Veronika Part in American Ballet Theater’s “Don Quixote,” at the Metropolitan Opera in May. She is to retire from the company at the end of this season. Credit Hiroyuki Ito for The New York Times Veronika Part, the Russian-born ballerina who has been a principal dancer with American Ballet …

Photo Yu Junsang and Isabelle Huppert in Hong Sang-soo’s “In Another Country.” Credit Kino Lorber If sand and surf are not to be yours this holiday weekend, do the next best thing and stream a few of the summery tales in “Life’s a Beach.” Or sleuth alongside Marta Dusseldorp, one …

There was no respite. “One gets a picture of the president and several of his formerly most trusted aides circling each other, each of them in a position to put the knife to the others,” Ms. Drew writes. “It is the court of the Borgias. It is the government of …