the best of dandelion chandelier: culture and the arts

And now we are two. Our second birthday here at Dandelion Chandelier is August 1, and to mark the occasion, we’re sharing some of the top-performing posts in our short history. And also some posts that we’re just really proud of, or that were especially fun to write (and, we hope, fun to read). Join the party! We’ve been focusing on one topic per day as we count down to our big day. We’ve shared top posts in Travel and Adventure; Food and Drink; Fashion and Shopping; and Sports and Fitness. Next up? Culture and the arts.

If you’re just joining us, this will get you up to speed on what we’ve been talking about. And if you’ve been along for the entire ride, remember these? Feels like just yesterday when they were first published, right?

Wherever you may be in your journey with Dandelion Chandelier, we hope you’ll enjoy perusing these. And thank you, dear reader. You can devote your valuable time to thousands of magazines and content sources. We really appreciate your spending some of it with us, and we’re thrilled to have you as part of Team Dandelion-C.

These 10 posts about culture and the arts that have resonated well within our community and we hope they’ll inspire you to look, listen, dance, sing, paint or play – at home or abroad – in perfect harmony with your surroundings and your fellow culture mavens.

Majesty and folly in a powerful visit to Versailles. Paris is a glorious place, and if you can’t get there this year, you can experience at least a small measure of the loveliness and grandeur of the City of Light at the Metropolitan Museum in New York. The exhibit Visitors to Versailles 1682-1789 is a glimpse into the elegant, mysterious and decadent milieu of the famous French palace on the outskirts of Paris. If you’ve never visited Versailles, this is a nice introduction. And if it happens to be a favorite historical destination, this will remind you of all the reasons why.

The most important classical music festivals this summer. Summer music. Two of the best words in the English language! But where are the best concerts and the must-see venues? What to see, where to stay, and what not to miss – here’s a curated list of the most important classical music and opera festivals happening in summer 2018.

The luxury of spring at the lovely Gardner Museum. What’s the best place to experience spring? Somewhere with flowers, obviously. And perhaps art. A place that’s intimate, quirky, and joyful. Perhaps the home of someone with exquisite taste and a sharp sense of humor. And it would be nice if there were places to sit and daydream, either alone or with your inamorata. Problem solved. You’ll find all of those elements, and more, at the splendid Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.

The luxury of a stunning new ballet by Lauren Lovette. Have you ever met someone still in the early stages of their career who has the ineffable “X factor” that makes you certain that they’ll be one of the people shaping their chosen field for decades to come? If you have, then you know what a thrilling luxury it is. It’s as if you’ve been granted a glimpse into the future – and it looks really bright. That’s the feeling we had when we interviewed New York City Ballet Principal Dancer and choreographer Lauren Lovette about her latest work.

Vienna on the Hudson at the lovely Neue Galerie. The intimate, deeply civilized and charming Neue Galerie on Fifth Avenue in New York City’s Upper East Side is one of the many hidden gems of Manhattan that too many people miss in their rush toward the neighboring Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Guggenheim. If you haven’t visited yet – or haven’t been there in a while – you owe it to yourself to stop in. The current exhibit is deeply moving. And the sacher tortes are as delicious as ever.

The most unusual orchid show yet is all about sculpture. The annual Orchid Show at the New York Botanical Garden (NYBG), now in its 16th year, is one of the many harbingers of spring in the city. But spring is taking its sweet time arriving this year, and the lingering chill turns out to be a perfect match for this year’s exhibit. It’s far more cerebral, austere and architectural than any we’ve ever seen. These are not your usual hothouse orchids in prim pots – this is something really new. You may think you’ve seen a floral sculpture before – but we’re willing to bet that you’ve never seen anything like this.

Last chance to bid in a stellar auction of black art. We got a preview of the works for sale this spring at Sotheby’s from some of the most accomplished black artists of our time. Curated by Thelma Golden, Director and Chief Curator, the Artists for the Studio Museum in Harlem “Creating Space: An Auction to Benefit the Museum’s New Building” was a benefit for the construction of the museum’s new building in Harlem, designed by iconic architect Sir David Adjaye.

See luxury in a new light with: Anna Deavere Smith. We interviewed the playwright, actress, professor and journalist, who has delivered riveting theatrical performances in her one-woman plays, including Fires in the Mirror: Crown Heights, Brooklyn, and Other Identities; Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992; and Notes from the Field. She has served as a professor at Stanford and New York University. She is the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship “genius” grant and a National Humanities Medal, which she received from President Barack Obama. We had a fascinating conversation in which she shared her candid views on what luxury really means.

The best of the V&A museum London. We were recently in London and decided to make a long-delayed first visit to the magnificent V&A (Victoria & Albert) Museum of art and design in London. Like so many of life’s true luxuries, this one is free, and you could spend days here if you were inclined to see everything on display. The intention of the collection is to allow visitors to “journey through 5000 years of human creativity.” How could you not want to do that?

See luxury in a new light with: Wynton Marsalis. Always swinging, Wynton Marsalis blows his trumpet with a clear tone, a depth of emotion and a unique, virtuosic style derived from an encyclopedic range of trumpet techniques. When you hear him play, you’re hearing life being played out through music. He presently serves as Managing and Artistic Director for Jazz at Lincoln Center. On a bright late-October morning, we met in Wynton’s office at Lincoln Center for a conversation about jazz, luxury and and an incredible cup of coffee.

If you’re passionate about culture and the arts, check out our monthly report on the best visual and performing arts events, part of our monthly luxury events calendar.

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