President’s second major ‘Supreme’ victory is picturesque

Obama’s ‘Dewey Defeats Truman’ Moment

The big mistake was to characterize a Constitutional law professor as a ‘community organizer’. And from said action a critical error in judgement was set into motion, leading to the gross underestimating a formidable adversary. Championing the causes of the American people is a responsibility he doesn’t take lightly. Thus, two recent Supreme Court victories in sweet succession, adding serious points to the score, artfully demonstrates the power, depth and majesty to what is commonly referred to in learned circles as ‘the long game’. Word to the wise: ‘You can choose to demonize. You can  choose to minimize. But either way, you and you alone are responsible for your own delusions.’ Reality check, please!

LeRoy Neiman Dies at 91; Artist of Bold Life and Bright Canvases

Quite consciously, he cast himself in the mold of French Impressionists like Toulouse-Lautrec, Renoir and Degas, chroniclers of public life who found rich social material at racetracks, dance halls and cafes.

Mr. Neiman often painted or sketched on live television. With the camera recording his progress at the sketchpad or easel, he interpreted the drama of Olympic Games and Super Bowls for an audience of millions. READ MORE

Available: ”Leroy Neiman:  Hand Painted 5th Dimension Music Group 1972 Tour Book Prototype”1972 SEE PRICE + PROVENANCE

12 Excellent Graphic Novels to Read This Summer

When people think of comics, and by extension graphic novels, they think of men in tights swinging from buildings on homemade webs.  Superhero comics are included on the list, but so are works of historical fiction and magical realism on par with the novels of Madison Smart Bell and Gloria Naylor.  The authors and artists below cover the epic of the Diaspora in Africa, the Caribbean and the United States in inventive and imaginative ways. READ MORE

‘Black Panther’ movie roaring forward for Marvel Studios

A report from the movie website Latino Review by writer El Mayimbe says Marvel Studios has committed to making one of its next projects a movie based on Black Panther, the leader of the fictional African nation and the character widely regarded as the first major black superhero. READ MORE

Is a Basquiat Painting Really Worth $16 Million?

This week in the magazine, Adam Davidson examines what’s really driving some art prices to record highs. In part, it’s because “the value of any artist’s work is determined by an insider world of cultural arbiters who coordinate with one another,” Davidson writes.

Sergey Skaterschikov, an art-market analyst Davidson consulted, has spent years studying how insiders shape the market — one “completely based on manipulation,” he told me. READ MORE