Of fireworks and fear


The views of Nice are forever altered since tragedy struck last week, during Bastille Day, France’s national day of celebration.

Matisse loved Nice, and his still-life paintings from his time in the south of France were foundational to his vibrant artistic experimentations. This lively tableau—a vase full of anemones, an inviting demi-tasse, and a classic text of French philosophy—is suffused with lightness. But today, Nice is in the depths of mourning, as are France and the world, forced to confront the darkness that would propel a man in a truck to extinguish the light of so many celebrants.      —Diane Richard, writer, July 20, 2016

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Photo: Dmitry Kostyukov for The New York Times

News source: Alissa Rubin, “Terror Through the Eyes of Innocents: The Children in Nice,” The New York Times, July 18, 2016