Hollywood Is Going to the Dogs

Rudy Van Gelder: New Jersey Jazz Revolution

Rudy Van Gelder has been an engineer to the jazz greats, forever changing the way sound is recorded in the studio. On Saturday the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences will honor Mr. Van Gelder with a Trustees Award.

For R.E.M. Fans, Famous Trestle Faces Day of Reckoning

An old train trestle that appeared on the back cover of an R.E.M. album is crumbling, prompting some fans to try to preserve it—before its day of reckoning.

The Secret Appeal of 'Downton Abbey'

Why do we adore a celebration of British pecking orders? Because hierarchies are as American as apple pie.

The Master Builder of Towers of Flowers

As in-house florist for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Remco van Vliet creates arrangements that are usually 10 to 12 feet high. Those he does for parties sometimes reach 20 feet, making his arrangements perhaps the tallest in the city.

• Video: A Dutch Master Who Works in Flowers

In Paris, Islamic Art Under a Flying Carpet

The Louvre's new project, designed by Italy's Mario Bellini and France's Rudy Ricciotti, will debut in September.

When Artists' Kodaks Were Supercool

"Snapshot: Painters and Photography," looks at what seven late-19th-century European artists did with their new Kodak hand-held cameras.

Don't Miss: Feb. 4-10

Exhibitions listed this week include baseball cards featuring African-American pioneers in the major leagues, Eugène Atget's photos and Bill Traylor's drawings.

Invading Cuba, Packing Artworks

Ella Fontanals-Cisneros of Miami will bring part of her collection to Havana.

For the Love of a Fickle Woman

With his third feature film, François Truffaut injected the French New Wave with an exhilarating does of life in "Jules and Jim."

Ideas Calendar: Feb. 4-10

On the agenda: obsolete law in Washington, Harvard professors and the Ming dynasty in San Francisco.

Shaky Cameras, Glimpses of Menace

The makers of the "Paranormal Activity" movies bring their horror formula to TV.

Roberta Flack Puts Her Soul into the Beatles

The 74-year-old singer's new album, "Let It Be Roberta," is a soul-house reloading of Beatles hits.

Renoir at the Frick

Nine full-length paintings by Pierre-Auguste Renoir hang together for the first time at an exhibit opening Tuesday at the Frick Collection in New York.

Curt Schilling's New Pitch: A Fantasy Videogame

Curt Schilling, one of the most famous pitchers in recent Major League Baseball history, has a new career now as the head of a videogame company. His new game, "Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning," a single-player, role-playing videogame, will be released Tuesday.

The Short List: Steven Van Zandt Goes to Norway in 'Lilyhammer'

Netflix premieres a fish-out-of-water series; plus eerie new stories from Dan Chaon and a new album from Bahamas.

Surrealism's Startling Appeal

The greats of European Surrealism come under the hammer at auctions in London. Miró leads with monumental canvasses that are a rarity at auction. Other Surrealist artists on offer include Magritte, Dali, Tanguy, Picabia and Ernst.

Fénelon's Gnarled 'Orchard'

In director Georges Lavaudant's staging of "The Cherry Orchard" at the Palais Garnier in Paris, the new opera is a series of soliloquies, set to music that can't seem to find its way.

Successful Silliness

The National Theatre's new production of 1773 comedy "She Stoops to Conquer" offers a raucously enjoyable evening.

From Out of a Featureless Crowd

For centuries up until the Renaissance, portraits adhered to strict, near abstract conventions that smoothed over individual attributes.

Poland's Nobel Poet Szymborska Dies

Poland's 1996 Nobel Prize-winning poet Wislawa Szymborska, whose simple words and playful verse plucked threads of irony and empathy out of life, has died. She was 88.

El Capitan's Nose in a Day

In Yosemite National Park, no climb on El Capitan is more famous than the Nose. Michael J. Ybarra sets out to scale it in one day.

Michael Feinstein: Saving the Great American Songbook

Fighting to preserve America's 20th-century musical treasures.

Auction Houses Clean Up as Art Gains Appeal

Art prices swelled last year, lifting sales at Christie's to $5.7 billion last year, up 14% from the year before. Sotheby's said it auctioned off $4.9 billion of art last year, up 14.5% from the year before.

• Photos: Christie's Priciest Paintings of 2011