All posts tagged: Minimalism

Magnificent minimalism, sizzling Strauss, bracing Berlioz: Guardian critics’ top picks for Proms 2026 | Proms 2026

Magnificent minimalism, sizzling Strauss, bracing Berlioz: Guardian critics’ top picks for Proms 2026 | Proms 2026

Published by Sam Flores

Ecstatic baroque and early music If 19th-century repertoire thrives on scale and scope, baroque and early music is all about intimacy: the husk of bow on gut strings, the purity of an unaccompanied voice. It’s music that often struggles to find a place at the Proms, but clever choices make for an intriguing lineup this year. Lutenist Thomas Dunford’s Ensemble Jupiter is a period band with the swagger and spontaneity of a rock group. They’re joined by exciting young tenor Laurence Kilsby for a late-night programme of Purcell, Handel, and John Dowland (21 July). Cabaret vibes meet immaculate style. There’s further blurring of the edges in Notre-Dame organist Olivier Latry’s recital (26 July) – an all-Bach programme including transcriptions by Duruflé and Widor, and an improvisation by Latry himself on the letters of Bach’s name – as well as by the Swedish Chamber Orchestra (16 August), who trace the evolution of dance through works by Rameau, Bach and Handel, along with Beethoven. The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and a dream team of soloists …

8 ‘Normal’ Purchases Middle-Class People Justify — Even When They’re Wasting Money

8 ‘Normal’ Purchases Middle-Class People Justify — Even When They’re Wasting Money

Published by Jenni Sidey

Growing up, I’ve seen people around me obsessed with things that made no sense to me. Like cricket tickets, for example. It’s a guy hitting a ball with a stick and a bunch of grown men running around chasing it. Plus, you can barely see the action taking place if you’re not in the first few rows of the stadium.  You’d have a 10x better view of everything that’s going on watching it at home, on your TV set. Not to mention the privacy of your home, comfort of your couch, and reasonably priced concessions of your choice. A lot of the purchases I’ve seen people make, especially people my age, just feel like I’m watching them throw money away. Anyway, this list isn’t going to be about sports cars and luxury items; that would be too obvious. Most of us can already agree that they are a complete waste of money. Instead, I’m going to go through the ‘normal’ purchases middle-class people justify, even when they’re wasting money.  Here are the 8 ‘normal’ purchases …

Japanese minimalism meets family living in River Valley

Japanese minimalism meets family living in River Valley

Published by Sam Flores

Unifying the entire apartment is a consistent material and colour palette. Japanese oak covers the floor and cabinetry. It also clads a few walls, including the fluted columns. Lime wash paint is found in the backsplash of the kitchen and in the tatami mat area, while blackened steel serves as accents.  Illuminating all that effort is the careful, considered use of lighting. Working with Japanese brand Endo, Leong introduced ceiling coves for that ambient glow, while strategically placed downlights shine on the furniture and decor. Newly replaced double-glazed floor-to-ceiling windows and doors let in daylight. Several months after the owners moved in, Leong went back for a visit and was pleased that the integrity of the design had been retained. She was particularly enamoured of the calm, homely and highly curated sanctuary she had created. Given its size, it would have been easy for the owners to ask for a showy spectacle that ranked high on the luxe factor – but they chose otherwise..  “At K2LD, we have done several large apartment fit-outs and many …

GBSR Duo: For Philip Guston review – Feldman’s marathon minimalism rewards deep listening | Classical music

GBSR Duo: For Philip Guston review – Feldman’s marathon minimalism rewards deep listening | Classical music

Published by Sam Flores

Running to four and a half hours without a break, Morton Feldman’s late work For Philip Guston is long by any standards. Non-athletes can finish marathons in less time; even the apocalyptic final instalment of Wagner’s Ring cycle is shorter. Yet the most striking thing about the work is its economy. An opening sequence of four pitches played by three musicians provides the musical material that is transformed, transposed, stretched and compressed throughout. Notes and motifs are repeated and multiply, echoing across the ever-sparse texture. The tempo is consistently slow, the dynamic consistently quiet. Rhythms are complex, but subtly so, making the instances of absolute synchrony into passing miracles. Time is the only resource with which Feldman is profligate. Challenged on the work’s scale, Feldman once quipped, “it’s a short four hours!” I’m not sure all attending this rare performance in Kings Place’s Memory Unwrapped series would have agreed. Seats creaked constantly as people wriggled, late arrivals crept in and others trickled out. Coughs were half stifled. Phones buzzed. Someone near me went through an …

After Denouncing Tunnel Fits, Kyle Kuzma Has Embraced Minimalism

After Denouncing Tunnel Fits, Kyle Kuzma Has Embraced Minimalism

Published by Jenni Sidey

Kyle Kuzma is a man of many fits. The basketball star has never been afraid of a big sartorial swing, and there are years of NBA tunnel looks to prove it: red leather overalls, giant fur coats, and, of course, the giant pink Raf Simons sweater seen ’round the world. But that was before Kuzma—perhaps one of the league’s most adventurous dressers—essentially announced, in 2024, that he was stepping away from the supercharged pre-game catwalk. His declaration became major news in NBA fashion circles. And sure enough, since then, Kuzma has downshifted into a quieter mode of dressing—albeit one that’s no less intentional, or less packed with high-grade fashion. Over the past 12 months, Kuzma has embraced a more minimalist palette with ease. Relative to his kooky garments of yore, his outfits now read as calm, tonal, and deliberate. He favors monochrome looks and grounded shades: olive, brown, the minimalist classics of black and white. The luxury is still there, just stripped of excess flash. (Don’t worry, though, he still sneaks in splashy moments from …

Christie’s Offers Belgian Couple’s Million Collection, Led by Magritte

Christie’s Offers Belgian Couple’s $54 Million Collection, Led by Magritte

Published by Jenni Sidey

Christie’s London will offer a selection of modern and contemporary works from Belgian collecting couple Roger and Josette Vanthournout during its March marquee sales week. The couple collected for six decades, amassing holdings ranging from Symbolism, Belgian Expressionism and Surrealism to post war avant-garde, Minimalism, and modern and contemporary British art. The collection bears an overall estimate of £40 million ($53.8 million), and will come to the block in a March 5 evening sale, a March 6 daytime sale, and an online sale running February 25–March 12.  Related Articles Roger Vanthournout was trained in design and decoration and founded a furniture manufacturing business. Josette Vanthournout was a painter. They began to travel widely in the 1950s, at first collecting Chinese ceramics and Flemish Expressionism but later shifting to acquire Surrealism, Minimalism, and postwar art.  “Spanning multiple decades and movements, the collection reflects a bold and deeply personal vision of 20th- and 21st-century art,” says Oliver Cau, the house’s deputy chairman of Impressionist and modern art, in press materials. “Begun in the mid -1950s, it is …