Claude Monet, the French Impressionist painter born in Paris in 1840, is the subject of an exhibition at the Heritage Museum in Sha Tin that will last until July 11. A perfectionist, if he wasn’t satisfied with how a painting was turning out, he would simply paint over it. Monet suffered from cataracts, which, scientists claim, account for his distinctive blurry style. The 2004 documentary Monet’s Palate: A Gastronomic View from the Gardens of Giverny examined the connection between fine art and fine cuisine, and was narrated by Meryl Streep …
The American actress received her first Oscar in 1980, for a supporting role in Kramer vs Kramer, and was so happy about the win, she left the golden statue in a toilet during the ceremony. Having nailed a variety of accents – Bronx, Polish, Irish, Australian, Yiddish – one of her biggest challenges came when she had to learn to play the violin for the lead role in Music of the Heart (1999). Streep has also impressed on Broadway, not least in 1977, when she took on the role of Dunyasha in The Cherry Orchard, by Anton Chekhov …
The Russian playwright and story writer is considered one of the greatest creators of short fiction in history. In 1890, Chekhov undertook an arduous journey by train, horse-drawn carriage and river steamer to the Russian Far East and the katorga, or penal colony, on Sakhalin Island, north of Japan, where he spent three months interviewing thousands of convicts and settlers for a census. Chekhov’s writing on Sakhalin is the subject of brief comment and analysis in the novel 1Q84, by Haruki Murakami …