Problem: The following article contains an answer for the question: How many different countries did Saint-Saens visit? , can you please find it? For a French composer of the 19th century, opera was seen as the most important type of music. Saint-Saens's younger contemporary and rival, Massenet, was beginning to gain a reputation as an operatic composer, but Saint-Saens, with only the short and unsuccessful La princesse jaune staged, had made no mark in that sphere. In February 1877, he finally had a full-length opera staged. His four-act "drame lyricque", Le timbre d'argent ("The Silver Bell"), to Jules Barbier's and Michel Carre's libretto, reminiscent of the Faust legend, had been in rehearsal in 1870, but the outbreak of war halted the production. The work was eventually presented by the Theatre Lyrique company of Paris; it ran for eighteen performances.The dedicatee of the opera, Albert Libon, died three months after the premiere, leaving Saint-Saens a large legacy "To free him from the slavery of the organ of the Madeleine and to enable him to devote himself entirely to composition". Saint-Saens, unaware of the imminent bequest, had resigned his position shortly before his friend died. He was not a conventional Christian, and found religious dogma increasingly irksome; he had become tired of the clerical authorities' interference and musical insensitivity; and he wanted to be free to accept more engagements as a piano soloist in other cities. After this he never played the organ professionally in a church service, and rarely played the instrument at all. He composed a Messe de Requiem in memory of his friend, which was performed at Saint-Sulpice to mark the first anniversary of Libon's death; Charles-Marie Widor played the organ and Saint-Saens conducted. In December 1877, Saint-Saens had a more solid operatic success, with Samson et Dalila, his one opera to gain and keep a place in the international repertoire. Because of its biblical subject, the composer had met many obstacles to its presentation in France, and through Liszt's influence the premiere was given at Weimar in a German translation. Although the work eventually became an...

A: 27
Problem: Given the question: The following article contains an answer for the question: What are the last names of the two individuals who were convinced to purchase Spring Ice? , can you please find it? In March 1916, Thomson exhibited four canvases with the OSA: In the Northland (at that time titled The Birches), Spring Ice, Moonlight and October (then titled The Hardwoods), all of which were painted over the winter of 191516. Sir Edmund Walker and Eric Brown of the National Gallery of Canada wanted to purchase In the Northland, but Montreal trustee Dr. Francis Shepherd convinced them to purchase Spring Ice instead. The reception of Thomson's paintings at this time was mixed. Margaret Fairbairn of the Toronto Daily Star wrote, "Mr. Tom Thomson's 'The Birches' and 'The Hardwoods' show a fondness for intense yellows and orange and strong blue, altogether a fearless use of violent colour which can scarcely be called pleasing, and yet which seems an exaggeration of a truthful feeling that time will temper." A more favourable take came from artist Wyly Grier in The Christian Science Monitor: Tom Thomson again reveals his capacity to be modern and remain individual. His early picturesin which the quality of naivete had all the genuineness of the effort of the tyro and was not the counterfeit of it which is so much in evidence in the intensely rejuvenated works of the highly sophisticatedshowed the faculty for affectionate and truthful record by a receptive eye and faithful hand; but his work today has reached higher levels of technical accomplishment. His Moonlight, Spring Ice and The Birches are among his best. In The Canadian Courier, painter Estelle Kerr also spoke positively, describing Thomson as "one of the most promising of Canadian painters who follows the impressionist movement and his work reveals himself to be a fine colourist, a clever technician, and a truthful interpreter of the north land in its various aspects".In 1916, Thomson left for Algonquin Park earlier than any previous year, evidenced by the many snow studies he produced at this time. In April or early May, MacCallum, Harris and his cousin Chester Harris joined Thomson at Cauchon Lake for a canoe trip. After MacCallum and Chester left,...
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The answer is:
Brown
[Q]: The following article contains an answer for the question: What is the last name of the person who won the Mayor's Award of Honor for Arts and Culture in New York? , can you please find it? Toward the end of 1961, Kertesz broke his contract to Conde Nast Publishing after a minor dispute, and started doing his own work again. This later period of his life is often referred to as the "International period", when he gained worldwide recognition and his photos were exhibited in many countries. In 1962 his work was exhibited in Venice; in 1963, he was one of the invited artists of the IV Mostra Biennale Internazionale della Fotografia there and he was awarded a gold medal for his dedication to the photographic industry. Later in 1963, his work was shown in Paris at the Bibliotheque nationale de France. He later visited Argentina to see his younger brother Jeno for the first time in years. Kertesz experimented with color photographs, but only produced a few. In 1964, soon after John Szarkowski became the photography director at the Museum of Modern Art, he featured Kertesz in a solo show. With his work critically acclaimed, Kertesz gained recognition in the photographic world as an important artist. The work of Kertesz was featured in numerous exhibitions throughout the world in his later life, even into his early nineties. Due to his newfound success, in 1965 Kertesz was appointed as a member of the American Society of Media Photographers. His awards rapidly accumulated: 1974, Guggenheim Fellowship; 1974, Commander of the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres; 1977, Mayor's Award of Honor for Arts and Culture in New York, 1980 the Medal of the City of Paris, and the first Annual Award of the Association of International Photography Art Dealers in New York; and 1981, honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from Bard College, and the New York Mayor's Award of Honor for Arts and Culture that year.During this period, Kertesz produced a number of new books. He was able to recover some of the negatives he had left in France decades before. Despite his successes, Kertesz still felt unrecognised as a photographer. His last years were spent travelling to various locations around the globe for his exhibitions,...
****
[A]:
Kertesz