Dear Readers

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I was delighted to discover during a recent short trip to Washington, D.C. that this city is reinventing itself yet again. The art galleries are moving and growing, and the museums are mounting important exhibitions that both train the eye and provide historical perspective.

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In our summer issue, we look at the work of two artists currently represented by major exhibitions in Washington, D.C.: Yves Klein at the Hirshhorn and Robert Ryman at the Phillips Collection. Robert Stalker gives us his reading of French artist Yves Klein, who died quite suddenly of a heart attack in 1962, at the age of 34. By that same year, in New York, Robert Ryman had given up on being a jazz musician in order to make paintings. While protecting modern masterpieces as a guard the Museum of Modern Art, standing in the museum for hours at a time, he spent his time really looking, which trained his eye and helped him develop his artistic voice. These two magnificent exhibitions more than justify a trip to D.C.

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Philip Auslander reflects on aging rock stars, particularly the Rolling Stones. Taking the question of why the Stones have been singled out as the objects of humor for being “too old to rock ‘n’ roll,” he addresses a number of issues concerning age, rock culture, and cultural narratives.

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Best,

Deanna

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