Opinion: In today’s pages
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Thomas Hoving, a former director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, dissects the influence and appeal of Picasso’s ‘Les Demoiselles d’Avignon’ for its 100th birthday this spring:
It is a deliberate throw of the gauntlet, a ‘screw you’ to the entire history of art. And ‘screw you’ it is. Every aspect of the painting is at war with every preceding work of art. A more complete denunciation of accepted humanity, accepted beauty and every artistic style that preceded the work cannot be imagined. The thing is disturbing, loathsome in some respects, abhorrent, repellent and at the same time magnetic, unforgettable and lyrical.
Scott Darrell explains why Disneyland isn’t getting along with its lower-income neighbors in Anaheim. Sara Catania lists the IQ levels that will save a prisoner from execution in various states. Columnist Jonah Goldberg critiques the Democrats’ attempt to mimic Republican netroots activism.
On the editorials page, the board asks the Police Commission to wait to deliver its verdict on Police Chief William J. Bratton. It also requests patience from the EU as it considers Turkey’s admission to the organization. Finally, the board is glad that universal medical insurance is winning support from unusual places.
Readers write in about Paris Hilton’s jail sentence. Sherman Oaks’ Lola Gerard offers sincere thanks to the prosecution ‘for relieving us, for 45 days, of the ubiquitous tedium that is Paris Hilton.’