Culture Canvas

A roundup of the week’s arts and culture headlines.

The nation of Qatar purchased a Paul Cezanne painting, “The Card Players,” for more than $250 million, the highest price ever paid for a work of art, via Vanity Fair.

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Uruguay’s first biennial art show will open next fall, via The Art Newspaper.

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Artists and intellectuals in Hungary are concerned about increasing tension between the government and cultural institutions, via The Art Newspaper.

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La Scala fired a ballerina for alleging high rates of anorexia in the company during an interview, via The Los Angeles Times.

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A nylon star designed to improve air quality was selected as the winner of the 13th Young Architects Program. The nylon is treated with a chemical spray that neutralizes pollutants in the surrounding air. The design, by architecture firm HWKN, will take its place in the courtyard of MOMA PS1, via The New York Times.

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Laura H. Kahn discusses the relationship between science fiction and public understanding of scientific ideas.

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The Eisenhower family objects to the designs of the forthcoming national memorial to the former president. Famed architect Frank Gehry designed the plans.

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Paintings, jewelry and fashion belonging to the late Elizabeth Taylor sold for more than $183 million, Christie’s auction house said Thursday, via the Associated Press. The most expensive item was Vincent van Gogh’s landscape “Vue de l’asile et de la Chapelle de Remy,” which sold for $16 million.

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John T. Sargent, who oversaw Doubleday & Company’s expansion from a family-controlled book publisher to an industry giant, died at age 87.

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British science fiction writer John Christopher, author of the popular “Tripods” trilogy, died at age 89.

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Spy novelist Dorothy Gilman, author of “The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax,” died at age 88.