Category Personalities

Which Japanese artist who is sometimes called ‘The Princess of Polka Dots’?

Yayoi Kusama is a Japanese artist who is sometimes called ‘the princess of polka dots’. Yayoi Kusama tells the story of how when she was a little girl she had a hallucination that freaked her out. She was in a field of flowers when they all started talking to her! The heads of flowers were like dots that went on as far as she could see, and she felt as if she was disappearing or as she calls it ‘self-obliterating’ – into this field of endless dots. This weird experience influenced most of her later work.

Yayoi was born in Japan in 1929. She loved drawing and painting and although her parents didn’t want her to be an artist, she was determined. When her mum tore up her drawings, she made more. When she could not afford to buy art materials, she used mud and old sacks to make art. This is a drawing she made of her mum when she was 10-years-old.

Eventually Yayoi Kusama persuaded her parents to let her go to art school and study painting.

In the late 1950s she moved to New York as lots of the most exciting art seemed to be happening there. It must have been a bit frightening arriving in a big city with such a different culture from what she knew. But she was determined to conquer New York. She later wrote about her feisty attitude: ‘I would stand up to them all with a single polka dot’.

She had the first of many exhibitions there in 1959. She met and inspired important artists including Donald Judd, Andy Warhol and Joseph Cornell, and her art was a part of exciting art developments such as pop art and minimalism. She was also one of the first artists to experiment with performance and action art.

As well as being an art pioneer, Yayoi Kusama put her creativity into other things including music, design, writing and fashion.

 

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What are the lesser-known facets of Anton Chekhov?

Russian author Anton Chekhov regaled generations with his short stories, which subtly blended humour and pain. His life was even more dramatic than his stories. Read on to find out..

Chekhov was born in 1860, in Taganrog, a provincial town on the shore of the Sea of Azov in Russia. The city often serves as a backdrop in his stories.

One day. Chekhov’s father, Pavel, who was running a grocery store, fled the country to escape bankruptcy, leaving behind his of six children in extreme poverty.

Chekhov, who had inherited his mother, Yevgeniya’s love for storytelling, started writing during this time to earn a living for his family and to pay for kiss nude studies. Making time between doses medical at the University of Moscow, he penned dramas with humorous and skits for theatres, along with short stories that he sold to magazines. In 1880, he published his first piece and treated his family to a cake bought with his earnings. By 1884, he had published 300 stories, sketches, jokes, and articles while also completing medical school.

A man of science

After graduating, he began to practise medicine in rural areas Dedicated towards working for poor families (as he had experienced poverty first hand), he did not take money from his needy patients. He even volunteered in public hospitals during epidemics. His love for the medical profession is evident from the fact that the central characters in many of his stories and plays are doctors. He often joked that “Medicine is my lawful wife and literature is my mistress.

SIBERIAN ADVENTURE

On one of his notable scientific excursions, he traversed 5,000 miles of the vast Siberian wasteland to conduct a census of the exiled prisoners on the remote island of Sakhalin. He used a buggy, a horse and even a boat to reach the island. His observations throwing light on the deplorable conditions of the inmates as regarded as important works of science even today.

Changing the literary landscape

While the large volume of his work made Chekhov a popular name, he was unhappy with the quality of his early works. “Oh with what trash I began he is known to have remarked. Thus began a second stage in his writing, in which he wrote with increased seriousness.

He privately printed his first book of short stories. “Tales of Melpomene in 1884, but it went unnoticed because it was mistakenly shelved in the children’s section. His next work, “Montley Stories” secured his reputation as a major Russian writer, and his short story collection “In The Twilight” won him the prestigious Pushkin Prize in 1888.

Chekhov’s Gun

Chekhov’s genius was not limited to his plays and stories. He was a prolific letter writer. Through his letters, he offered pieces of advice to other writers. Today. his advice has come to be widely regarded as important principles of writing. One of the most famous principles is what is known as Chekhov’s Gun. He defined it in a letter to his co-writer Lazarev-Gruzinsky in November 1889: “One should not put a loaded rifle onto the stage if no one is thinking of firing it. If in the first act you have long a pistol on the wall, then in the following one, it should be fired. Otherwise don’t put it there.

OH REALLY?

  • Compared to other writers of his time, Chekhov had an extremely short career. He wrote only four major plays – “The Seagull”, “Uncle Vanya”, “Three Sisters” and The Cherry Orchard”, but 800-odd short stories.
  • Chekhov once crossed 5,000 miles of Siberian wasteland on a buggy and horse to conduct a census of the exiled prisoners on the remote Sakhalin island.
  • He renounced the theatre following negative reviews to his play, “The Seagull” in 1896.
  • “The Lady with the Dog” is regarded as the greatest short story ever written.
  • Like the character Vanya in “A Classical Student”. Chekhov too failed an ancient Greek exam in school and had to repeat the year.
  • Failing health

In 1886, Chekhov experienced lung trouble, an early symptom of tuberculosis that would eventually kill him. He continued to practise medicine until 1898 although he could now support his family and himself on his writing. As his health deteriorated, Chekhov spent much of his time recuperating in health resorts in Germany. In 1904, he died at the age of 44 in Badenweiler. Chekhov left a lasting impact on Russian literature.

 

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Who was the 45th president of the United States of America?

Before becoming the 45th president of America, Donald Trump was a real estate mogul and a former reality TV star. In 1980, he opened the Grand Hyatt New York, which made him the city’s best-known developer. Though he was interested in politics and had voiced his opinions many times, it was in 2015 that he announced his candidacy from a Republican ticket.

His victory was remarkable for anyone’s first run. Also, Trump is the oldest ever first term president. Trump is proud about his country; he believes the United States has incredible potential and will go on to exceed even its remarkable achievements of the past. Trump withdrew from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade negotiations, the Paris Agreement on climate change, and the Iran nuclear deal.

It was Trump who moved the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. He also withdrew U.S. troops from northern Syria. He imposed import tariffs which triggered a trade war with China. Trump was criticized by many for his bold moves. For instance, his zero-tolerance policy to prevent illegal migration was criticized by many including the courts of the country. Many of his opinions and comments are also viewed as racist in nature.

Trump’s reaction to Covid-19 was scrutinized by the world. He downplayed the threat of the pandemic and chose to ignore or contradict many recommendations from health officials. In addition to that, Trump promoted false information about unproven treatments and the availability of testing.

Trump refused to admit his defeat to Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election. After a series of failed accusations regarding fraudulence in the election, he eventually acknowledged his defeat.

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Why is it said that Barack Obama made history when he was elected as the president of the USA?

When Barack Obama made his way to the White House, the country got its first president of African-American origin. Obama is proof of ‘the pursuit of happiness’ that Americans hold close to their heart. He was born in a middle-class family and had only education and hard work to help him. He believed that his life should be in the service of others.

After graduating with a law degree, Obama returned to Chicago to teach constitutional law at the University of Chicago. Obama came to the national spotlight in 2004. He was noted for his well-received keynote address at the July Democratic National Convention and his landslide victory in the election to the Senate in November. He was nominated for the 2008 elections. He won against Hillary Clinton and became the 44th president of America with Joe Biden as vice president.

During Obama’s term in office, the United States’ reputation abroad significantly improved. He enjoyed popularity in the beginning, but was criticized later for the slow pace of the economy and the high unemployment rates. Osama Bin Laden was killed by the U.S. Special Forces in Pakistan during his time as president. Obama’s decision to increase military force in Afghanistan was widely criticized. This was when the situation in Iraq was improving and the target date of ending US combat operations were approaching. He was re-elected in 2013 after defeating Mitt Romney.

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What do we know about George W. Bush?

George W. Bush was the 43rd president and the first person since Benjamin Harrison in 1888 to be elected president despite having lost the nationwide popular vote. It was one of the most controversial elections in which Bush won by a narrow margin of Electoral College votes. This happened in 2001.

Bush had a sound background in politics; his father George H.W. Bush had been the 41st president. His grandfather Prescott Bush had been a senator and his brother Jeb was a governor of Florida.

As president, Bush had a successful start. The government had a budget surplus from Clinton’s tenure and Bush got the Congress to reduce taxes. He also passed the No Child Left Behind bill; this bill increased funds for education. However, one of the most tragic events in the history of America also happened when Bush was the president- the 9/11 attack!

The airborne terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre on 11 September, 2001 killed nearly 3000 Americans. The attack was orchestrated by a terrorist organization called Al Qaeda led by Osama Bin Laden. Less than a month after the attacks, Bush sent U.S. troops to Afghanistan, where Bin Laden was thought to be hiding. He later sent forces to Iraq despite opposition from many quarters.

Bush was elected for a second term. The country was in the shackles of the Great Recession in 2007. After finishing his second term, Bush returned to Texas. Decision Points, his memoir was published a year later.

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Why is it said that the 42nd U.S. president once dreamt of becoming a musician?

William J. Clinton, popularly known as Bill Clinton dreamt of becoming a popular musician when he was in high school. He used to play the saxophone as well but fate had something else in store for him- to become the 42nd president of the United States.

As a student, Clinton had an excellent record. He was part of the Boys Nation (an organization imparting civic training) and once got a chance to meet President Kennedy in the White House Rose Garden. This incident changed his life and paved his way to public service. After receiving a law degree, his life in politics began in Arkansas, first as the attorney general and then governor.

Clinton became the president defeating George H.W. Bush. His tenure was considered as a new wave in American political leadership. Clinton presided over the longest period of peacetime economic expansion in the history of America. His budget plan increased taxes on the wealthy and provided tax cuts to high-tech companies to encourage their growth. He wanted to improve the economy and stop the government from spending more than it took in. His plan worked; he was able to create a surplus of money in the federal budget for the first time in thirty years!

Clinton became the first D Democrat since Franklin D. Roosevelt to be elected to a second full term. During his second term, though he was charged for some unethical behaviour, he was never found guilty. Clinton was the second president to be impeached; it was the result of issues surrounding personal indiscretions with a young woman White House intern. Despite this, Clinton continued to have unprecedented popular approval for his work as president. His autobiography My Life was a best-seller.

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