Philip Kennicott
@philipkennicott.bsky.social
Senior Art and Architecture Critic at The Washington Post, author of Counterpoint: A Memoir of Bach and Mourning (Norton).🐕🎹
https://www.philipkennicott.com/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/philip-kennicott/
https://www.philipkennicott.com/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/philip-kennicott/
Reposted by Philip Kennicott
Read @philipkennicott.bsky.social’s heartbreaking, infuriating piece
“The impact will go beyond the usual horsemen of the authoritarian apocalypse: suspicion, cynicism and apathy. At stake is our openness to the world, our engagement with others, our willingness to associate freely and…“
“The impact will go beyond the usual horsemen of the authoritarian apocalypse: suspicion, cynicism and apathy. At stake is our openness to the world, our engagement with others, our willingness to associate freely and…“
The demolition in the museum, arts and culture sector is happening more slowly than at the White House, but will be just as profound. A look back to 9 months of threats, surveillance and intimidation. www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
Column | Trump’s pressure on museums won’t stop at the Smithsonian
The administration began with cultural institutions that rely on federal dollars. But it’s bigger than that.
www.washingtonpost.com
October 25, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Read @philipkennicott.bsky.social’s heartbreaking, infuriating piece
“The impact will go beyond the usual horsemen of the authoritarian apocalypse: suspicion, cynicism and apathy. At stake is our openness to the world, our engagement with others, our willingness to associate freely and…“
“The impact will go beyond the usual horsemen of the authoritarian apocalypse: suspicion, cynicism and apathy. At stake is our openness to the world, our engagement with others, our willingness to associate freely and…“
The demolition in the museum, arts and culture sector is happening more slowly than at the White House, but will be just as profound. A look back to 9 months of threats, surveillance and intimidation. www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
Column | Trump’s pressure on museums won’t stop at the Smithsonian
The administration began with cultural institutions that rely on federal dollars. But it’s bigger than that.
www.washingtonpost.com
October 25, 2025 at 2:17 PM
The demolition in the museum, arts and culture sector is happening more slowly than at the White House, but will be just as profound. A look back to 9 months of threats, surveillance and intimidation. www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
It’s all about speed, and the projection of power. wapo.st/3Whz4OX
Column | Demolition is part of Trump’s master builder image
By Thursday, the White House’s East Wing was gone. The speed of destruction, and the projection of power, are part of the strongman playbook.
wapo.st
October 23, 2025 at 9:51 PM
It’s all about speed, and the projection of power. wapo.st/3Whz4OX
Reposted by Philip Kennicott
Trump wants to be a master builder. Master builders demolish. From @philipkennicott.bsky.social www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
Column | Demolition is part of Trump’s master builder image
By Thursday, the White House’s East Wing was gone. The speed of destruction, and the projection of power, are part of the strongman playbook.
www.washingtonpost.com
October 23, 2025 at 9:16 PM
Trump wants to be a master builder. Master builders demolish. From @philipkennicott.bsky.social www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
Don't miss the astonishing cut-paper works of Johanna Koerten at the National Museum of Women in the Arts exhibition, "Women Artists From Antwerp to Amsterdam: 1600-1750." They are miraculous, fragile and rare, with only about 15 surviving. Three are on view. www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
Review | The Dutch Golden Age was women’s work, too
A new show at the National Museum of Women spotlights major talents “from Antwerp to Amsterdam.”
www.washingtonpost.com
October 6, 2025 at 12:24 AM
Don't miss the astonishing cut-paper works of Johanna Koerten at the National Museum of Women in the Arts exhibition, "Women Artists From Antwerp to Amsterdam: 1600-1750." They are miraculous, fragile and rare, with only about 15 surviving. Three are on view. www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
Reposted by Philip Kennicott
Review of a new show on "Women Artists From Antwerp to Amsterdam: 1600-1750" at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington DC, by @philipkennicott.bsky.social: wapo.st/4o25hFw [gift link] #earlymodern
Review | The Dutch Golden Age was women’s work, too
A new show at the National Museum of Women spotlights major talents “from Antwerp to Amsterdam.”
wapo.st
October 5, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Review of a new show on "Women Artists From Antwerp to Amsterdam: 1600-1750" at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington DC, by @philipkennicott.bsky.social: wapo.st/4o25hFw [gift link] #earlymodern
More than a cheap metonym, deeper than a swamp... The Washington Post offers its 101 essential things (music, art,architecture, movies...) of, about or from Washington D.C. www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
The 101 greatest movies, songs, books, artworks (and more!) about Washington, D.C.
Introducing the D.C. Canon, starring Chuck Brown, Olivia Pope, George Washington, Leonardo da Vinci, Duke Ellington, Rites of Spring and — who could forget? — Gort.
www.washingtonpost.com
September 25, 2025 at 1:13 PM
More than a cheap metonym, deeper than a swamp... The Washington Post offers its 101 essential things (music, art,architecture, movies...) of, about or from Washington D.C. www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
Reposted by Philip Kennicott
@philipkennicott.bsky.social's astute observations on the Smithsonian's recently-ended exhibition, “The Shape of Power: Stories of Race and American Sculpture.” This show, singled out by the Trump administration for its ideas on sculpture and race, was an extraordinary success. wapo.st/4nJuDbo
Column | An exemplary survey of race portends trouble for the Smithsonian
President Donald Trump singled out “The Shape of Power” for criticism, but the show was a success.
wapo.st
September 22, 2025 at 9:14 PM
@philipkennicott.bsky.social's astute observations on the Smithsonian's recently-ended exhibition, “The Shape of Power: Stories of Race and American Sculpture.” This show, singled out by the Trump administration for its ideas on sculpture and race, was an extraordinary success. wapo.st/4nJuDbo
Reposted by Philip Kennicott
Resonant essay by @philipkennicott.bsky.social in today’s WaPo. Great opening line:
“Leni Riefenstahl remains a problem to be solved, not because there’s any doubt about who she was, but because we are uncertain as to who we are.”
www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
“Leni Riefenstahl remains a problem to be solved, not because there’s any doubt about who she was, but because we are uncertain as to who we are.”
www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
Column | More than two decades after her death, Leni Riefenstahl is still lying
A new documentary offers bracing lessons about demagogues and the people who serve them.
www.washingtonpost.com
September 21, 2025 at 2:48 PM
Resonant essay by @philipkennicott.bsky.social in today’s WaPo. Great opening line:
“Leni Riefenstahl remains a problem to be solved, not because there’s any doubt about who she was, but because we are uncertain as to who we are.”
www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
“Leni Riefenstahl remains a problem to be solved, not because there’s any doubt about who she was, but because we are uncertain as to who we are.”
www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
The Smithsonian's Shape of Power exhibition, about race and American sculpture, was a particular target of the Trump administration. It was also exemplary as public education, history and curation. www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
Column | An exemplary survey of race portends trouble for the Smithsonian
President Donald Trump singled out “The Shape of Power” for criticism, but the show was a success.
www.washingtonpost.com
September 21, 2025 at 1:43 PM
The Smithsonian's Shape of Power exhibition, about race and American sculpture, was a particular target of the Trump administration. It was also exemplary as public education, history and curation. www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
The eternal present of political narcissism, the way lies don't matter because there is no past to hold you to account and no future to judge the consequences. Riefenstahl tried to outrun her legacy, and she's running still. www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
Column | More than two decades after her death, Leni Riefenstahl is still lying
A new documentary offers bracing lessons about demagogues and the people who serve them.
www.washingtonpost.com
September 21, 2025 at 1:27 PM
The eternal present of political narcissism, the way lies don't matter because there is no past to hold you to account and no future to judge the consequences. Riefenstahl tried to outrun her legacy, and she's running still. www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
Reposted by Philip Kennicott
Cannot recommend Philip Kennicott's article enough (in today's Style section of the Washington Post) on the history of a chilling, celebrated photograph and the government's possible attempt to remove it from display
That anyone in the administration could even broach the idea of censoring this image is stunning. Audacious and ignorant. This is extraordinarily worrying when it comes to the "content review" at the Smithsonian and other institutions. www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
Column | Erasing this indelible image of slavery is a terrifying idea
The Trump administration’s reported effort to censor one of the iconic images of American history is a five-alarm fire.
www.washingtonpost.com
September 19, 2025 at 12:44 AM
Cannot recommend Philip Kennicott's article enough (in today's Style section of the Washington Post) on the history of a chilling, celebrated photograph and the government's possible attempt to remove it from display
Reposted by Philip Kennicott
Trying to erase this photo is a terrifying idea, writes @philipkennicott.bsky.social in a powerful column www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
Column | Erasing this indelible image of slavery is a terrifying idea
The Trump administration’s reported effort to censor one of the iconic images of American history is a five-alarm fire.
www.washingtonpost.com
September 17, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Trying to erase this photo is a terrifying idea, writes @philipkennicott.bsky.social in a powerful column www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
That anyone in the administration could even broach the idea of censoring this image is stunning. Audacious and ignorant. This is extraordinarily worrying when it comes to the "content review" at the Smithsonian and other institutions. www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
Column | Erasing this indelible image of slavery is a terrifying idea
The Trump administration’s reported effort to censor one of the iconic images of American history is a five-alarm fire.
www.washingtonpost.com
September 17, 2025 at 12:38 PM
That anyone in the administration could even broach the idea of censoring this image is stunning. Audacious and ignorant. This is extraordinarily worrying when it comes to the "content review" at the Smithsonian and other institutions. www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
The administration's argument with art, playing out in its campaign against Smithsonian independence, also seems to be an argument with tradition, empathy and the core values of Christianity. www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
Column | His art is inspired by Rubens and Velazquez. Trump says it’s woke.
His art is inspired by Rubens and Valazquez. Trump says it’s woke.
www.washingtonpost.com
September 1, 2025 at 2:32 PM
The administration's argument with art, playing out in its campaign against Smithsonian independence, also seems to be an argument with tradition, empathy and the core values of Christianity. www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
Experts I asked about the Oval Office ornamentation and gilding mostly just laughed. But there are serious issues at stake, not least: What will the new 90,000-square-foot ballroom look like, and will the process be open and transparent? www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
Column | When it comes to gilding the White House, Trump is just getting started
Ostentatious and anachronistic Oval Office changes don’t bode well for a 90,000-square-foot addition to the executive mansion.
www.washingtonpost.com
August 27, 2025 at 4:16 PM
Experts I asked about the Oval Office ornamentation and gilding mostly just laughed. But there are serious issues at stake, not least: What will the new 90,000-square-foot ballroom look like, and will the process be open and transparent? www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
Thinking about conspiracy theories, actual conspiracies and the troublesome problem of distinguishing between them. www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
Column | This 1848 painting has uncanny insight into American conspiracy thinking
Can a country born in conspiracy theories find the fine line between suspicion and paranoia?
www.washingtonpost.com
August 22, 2025 at 12:03 PM
Thinking about conspiracy theories, actual conspiracies and the troublesome problem of distinguishing between them. www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
Paranoia, trauma, ghosts and uncertainty: The Turn of the Screw at the @santafeopera
philipkennicott.substack.com/p/brittens-t...
philipkennicott.substack.com/p/brittens-t...
Britten's "Turn of the Screw" at the Santa Fe Opera
We have options when it comes to Benjamin Britten’s "Turn of the Screw." We can let it be simply a ghost story, and set aside any concern with real-world verities and logic.
philipkennicott.substack.com
July 30, 2025 at 1:40 PM
Paranoia, trauma, ghosts and uncertainty: The Turn of the Screw at the @santafeopera
philipkennicott.substack.com/p/brittens-t...
philipkennicott.substack.com/p/brittens-t...
Reposted by Philip Kennicott
If people haven't been to the James A Garfield Memorial in Cleveland I highly recommend it. Architect George Keller designed a lavish and frankly bonkers Byzantine castle in the middle of a Cleveland cemetery, all to commemorate a president who's been completely forgotten by modern Americans
For your Fourth of July amusement, a look at how the United States commemorates its dead presidents. First, with modest grave markers, then with sumptuous mausolea and memorials, and now with giant theme parks cum libraries. www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
Column | How assassinations and war changed how the U.S. remembers its presidents
The new book “American Shrines: The Architecture of Presidential Commemoration” surveys the history of presidential memorialization, a complicated tale.
www.washingtonpost.com
July 4, 2025 at 8:34 PM
If people haven't been to the James A Garfield Memorial in Cleveland I highly recommend it. Architect George Keller designed a lavish and frankly bonkers Byzantine castle in the middle of a Cleveland cemetery, all to commemorate a president who's been completely forgotten by modern Americans
For your Fourth of July amusement, a look at how the United States commemorates its dead presidents. First, with modest grave markers, then with sumptuous mausolea and memorials, and now with giant theme parks cum libraries. www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
Column | How assassinations and war changed how the U.S. remembers its presidents
The new book “American Shrines: The Architecture of Presidential Commemoration” surveys the history of presidential memorialization, a complicated tale.
www.washingtonpost.com
July 4, 2025 at 8:07 PM
For your Fourth of July amusement, a look at how the United States commemorates its dead presidents. First, with modest grave markers, then with sumptuous mausolea and memorials, and now with giant theme parks cum libraries. www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
The Met reopens its Michael C. Rockefeller Wing. www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
Review | The Met opens a dazzling wing of non-European art
The nation’s preeminent museum returns a stunning collection to view.
www.washingtonpost.com
June 28, 2025 at 2:44 PM
The Met reopens its Michael C. Rockefeller Wing. www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
Reposted by Philip Kennicott
Why you should always read @philipkennicott.bsky.social www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
Column | Trump wanted a military spectacle. Instead, he got a history lesson.
The parade must go on, and the Army sidestepped a major crisis of image and messaging.
www.washingtonpost.com
June 15, 2025 at 11:11 PM
Why you should always read @philipkennicott.bsky.social www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
The Army dodged a crisis of image and messaging yesterday. www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
Column | Trump wanted a military spectacle. Instead, he got a history lesson.
The parade must go on, and the Army sidestepped a major crisis of image and messaging.
www.washingtonpost.com
June 15, 2025 at 7:05 PM
The Army dodged a crisis of image and messaging yesterday. www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
So good to have the Frick back, with more to see in a more congenial home. www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
Review | At the Frick, a grand Gilded Age collection shows its intimate side
A five-year, $220-million expansions has transformed the Frick, without changing anything fundamental to the experience.
www.washingtonpost.com
June 14, 2025 at 3:00 PM
So good to have the Frick back, with more to see in a more congenial home. www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
Speaking with the PBS Newshour about the Smithsonian and the Trump administration's efforts to fire the director of the National Portrait Gallery. www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...
Smithsonian board rejects Trump's attempt to fire top leader
The Smithsonian’s board of regents issued a statement on Monday declaring that “all personnel decisions are made by and subject to the direction of the secretary, with oversight by the board.” It come...
www.pbs.org
June 11, 2025 at 1:24 AM
Speaking with the PBS Newshour about the Smithsonian and the Trump administration's efforts to fire the director of the National Portrait Gallery. www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...