Art & Culture | WPN World People News

Weissman Center Director Brenda Bernier (from left) and four curators from the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, — Natalia Laitar, Evgenia Glinka, Natalia Avetyan, and Tatiana Sayatina — examine volumes of photographs.

We'll kick off this morning with a couple of items about Oscar campaigning. Deadline has this roundup of the "final stretch" of each campaign, confirming that even though most of the ten Best Picture nominees have no real chance of winning, they're determined to stay in the hunt until the end.

The palette (oil on wood) used by artist John Singer Sargent is included in the exhibit “Tangible Things,” one part museum exhibit and one part treasure hunt.

Academy Award®-nominated actor Robert Downey Jr. will be a presenter at the 83rd Academy Awards ceremony, telecast producers Bruce Cohen and Don Mischer announced today.
Downey earned Oscar® nominations for his leading performance in “Chaplin” (1992) and his supporting role in “Tropic Thunder” (2008). He is currently filming the sequel to “Sherlock Holmes” and was recently seen in “Due Date.” His other film credits include “Iron Man” and “Iron Man 2,” “Sherlock Holmes,” “The Soloist,” “Good Night and Good Luck.,” “Wonder Boys,” “Restoration” and “Less than Zero.”

Nominations for the 83rd Academy Awards were announced today (Tuesday, January 25) by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Tom Sherak and 2009 Oscar® winner Mo'Nique.

A full house, seen from the rear of the stage, at the Metropolitan Opera House for a concert by pianist Josef Hofmann in November 1937. (The old Metropolitan Opera House was demolished in 1966.)

The decorated nest of an 11-year-old black kite. At this age, kites typically decorate their nest exuberantly.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced that seven films remain in the running in the Visual Effects category for the 83rd Academy Awards®.