Museums
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The Met Breuer Shows Off its Quirky Side
Pablo Picasso, Spanish, Malaga 1881-1973 Mougins, France. Portrait of Olga, 1921. This work is one of several female heads that Picasso rendered during a summer stay in Fontainebleau with Olga and their newborn son. Have you been to The Met? The Met Breuer, I mean.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s modern and contemporary art program have expanded their artful wings by including a new series of exhibitions, performances, artist commissions, residencies, and educational initiatives in a building designed by Marcel Breuer on Madison Avenue and 75th Street. The museum official opened to the public on March 18, 2016. However, High End Weekly™ was fortunate enough to attend the press preview on March 1st. The Met Breuer is a strikingly contemporary building that provides additional space to explore the art of the 20th and 21st centuries through the global breadth and historical reach of the Met’s unparalleled collection. Their exhibition Unfinished: Thoughts Left Visible opened on March 18th, and will end on September 4, 2016. With over 190 works dating from the Renaissance to the present—drawn mainly from the Museum’s collection, supplemented with major national and international loans—the exhibition demonstrates the type of groundbreaking show that can result when the Museum mines its vast collection and curatorial resources to present modern and contemporary art within a deep historical context.
Located on the 3rd and 4th floors, at Madison Avenue and 75th Street, this exhibition is undoubtedly one of the finest museum show I’ve seen so far this year. Other programs featured as part of the inaugural season of The Met Breuer include the largest exhibition to date dedicated to Indian modernist Nasreen Mohamedi; and a month-long performance installation, by Resident Artist Vijay Iyer. Upcoming exhibitions include a presentation of Diane Arbus’s rarely seen early photographic works (July 12-November 27, 2016), and the first museum retrospective dedicated to Kerry James Marshall (October 25, 2016-January 30, 2017).
Opening remarks from Thomas P. Campbell, Director and CEO of the Metropolitan Museum during The Met Breuer Press Preview 
An unfinished Pablo Picasso painting showcased at Marcel Breuer’s iconic building on Madison Avenue. 
Press day at Marcel Breuer’s iconic building on Madison Avenue which now housed The Met Breuer. 
Urs Fischer, Swiss, born Zurich, 1973. Cast bronze, oil paint, palladium leaf, clay bole, chalk gesso, rabbit-skin glue. “Many of Fischer’s works court the tension between permanence and impermanence. Some are designed to self-destruct, while others only appear to be disintegrating; 2, 2014 falls into the latter category.” 
Pablo Picasso, Spanish, Malaga 1881-1973 Mougins, France. Harlequin, 1923. “Unfinished is a cornerstone of The Met Breuer’s inaugural program and a great example of the Met’s approach to presenting the art of today. Stretching across history and geography, the exhibition is the result of a cross-departmental collaboration, drawing on the expertise of the Met’s outstanding faculty of curators. We hope the exhibition will inspire audiences to reconsider the artistic process as they connect to experiences shared by artists over centuries.” Thomas P. Campbell, Director and CEO of the Metropolitan Museum.
A collection of unfinished old masters are now in view at The Met Breuer until September 4, 2016. 
Leonardo da Vinci, Italian, Vinci, ca 1452-1519 Amoise. Head and Shoulders of a Woman (La Scapigliata), ca. 1500-1505. Oil, earth, and white lead pigments on poplar. 
Portrait of Mariana de Silva y Sarmiento, Duquesa de Huescar (1740-1784), 1775 by Anton Raphael Mengs. 
Kerry James Marshall speaking to the audience during Press Day at The Met Breuer. The artist uses painting, sculptural installations and photography to comment on the history of black identity in the US. 
An utterly striking, yet unfinished work by Alabama-born artist Kerry James Marshal. In Marshall’s powerful allegory of painting, an artist sits holding her oversize palette, turned away from an unfinished self-portrait on her easel. The painting within a painting – or, more precisely, the painting about painting – is a time-honored motif taken up by many of the greatest artists in the Western tradition to which Marshall now contributes. 
George Romney, British, Beckside, Lancashire 1734-1802 Kendal, Cumbria. George Romney, 1784. Oil on canvas. This unfinished self-portrait was begun for the artist’s friend and biographer William Hayley during a trip that Romney and the artist John Flaxman made to Hayley’s villa. The painting was both praised for its vivacity and questioned for its incomplete state by those who knew the story of its making. 
Sir Joshua Reynolds, British, Plympton 1723-1792 London. A Young Man, ca. 1770. The sitter may be a man who worked for the artist and appeared in other paintings by him, but precise identification is difficult. 
Alice Neel, American, James Hunter Black Draftee, 1965. Oil on canvas. 
Vincent van Gogh, Street in Auvers-sur-Oise, 1890. 
Gustav Klimt, Posthumous Portrait of Ria Munk III, 1917-18. Oil on Canvas. Death stands at the beginning and at the end of this work’s history. The young woman, Maria (“Ria”) Munk, committed suicide on December 28, 1911, after the writer Hanns Heinz Ewers called off their engagement. Klimt, the most sought-after portraitist in Vienna at the time, was commissioned to paint her posthumous portrait. He struggled with the task ,and the first two portraits did not meet the family’s approval. While still working on this third portrait of Ria, Klimt himself died. -
Friday’s Art Muse: Kehinde Wiley
Shantavia BealeII, Kehinde Wiley Kehinde Wiley: A NEW REPUBLIC is now at the Seattle Art Museum. The exhibit showcases the powerful and poignant work of one of America’s leading contemporary artists. Composed of approximately 60 works—including paintings, sculptures, videos, and stained glass windows—the exhibition provides an overview of Wiley’s prolific 14-year career, prominently featuring his signature figurative canvases of black men in which he ingeniously reworks the grand portraiture traditions of Western culture. During a residency at the Studio Museum in Harlem in the early 2000s, Wiley found inspiration in the assertive and self-empowered young men of the neighborhood. He engaged subjects for portraits, asking them to pick a pose and dress themselves as they would like to be seen. Wiley then recast these photographic studies in the style of traditional history painting. Like the mashup or remix in hip hop, Wiley combined details from diverse sources—aristocratic portraits of 18th-century Europe, bucolic 19th-century wallpapers, electric contemporary colors, and the presence of his contemporary subjects—to present something provocatively new. This process allows him to reenter the established history and power structure, reaching back in time to imagine a different future – a new republic.
Kehinde Wiley shows the artist’s progression as he began to work in various mediums and deepened his explorations of race, gender, sexual innuendo, and the politics of representation. The exhibition includes a selection from Wiley’s ongoing World Stage project, which he initiated in 2006 by establishing a satellite studio in Beijing followed by cities in other countries including Nigeria, Brazil, India, Israel, Jamaica, and Haiti. The series touches on the commonalities found across nations and cultures with a history of colonialism and diverse populations.
The Two Sisters, Kehinde Wiley 
Colonel Platoff, Kehinde Wiley. THE SEATTLE ART MUSEUM. 
Napleon Leading the Army Over the Alps, Kehinde Wiley at The Seatle Art Museum “Kehinde Wiley’s work is absolutely gorgeous and fascinating. Moreover, it engages with timely issues in a very compelling way. The Brooklyn Museum has been a wonderful partner in organizing this exhibition, and I’m thrilled to bring these vibrant and necessary works to Seattle. Prepare to be wowed.” Kimerly Rorschach, SAM’s Illsley Ball Nordstrom Director and CEO.
Portrait of a Venetian Ambassador, Aged 59, II, Kehinde Wiley 
Randerson Romualdo Cordeiro, Kehinde Wiley 
Saint George and The Dragon, Kehinde Wiley Kehinde Wiley: A New Repblic is at the Simonyi Special Galleries at The Seattle Art Museum from February 11 – MAY 8 2016.
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The Dawn of a New Architecture
Toyo Ito. Sendai Mediatheque, Miyagi, Japan. 1995–2001. © Naoya Hatakeyama The Museum of Modern Art announces A Japanese Constellation: Toyo Ito, SANAA, and Beyond, an exhibition focused on the work of architects and designers orbiting Pritzker Prize winners Toyo Ito and SANAA, on view from March 13 to July 4, 2016.
Providing an overview of Ito’s career and his influence as a mentor to a new generation of Japanese architects, the exhibition offers a retrospective of recent works by three generations of internationally acclaimed designers, including Kazuyo Sejima, Ryue Nishizawa, Sou Fujimoto, Akihisa Hirata, and Junya Ishigami. Displaying models, drawings, and images of more than 40 architectural designs, the exhibition highlights the renewed prominence and innovation of contemporary architecture from Japan since the 1990s.
As many of the featured architects have been involved in the reconstruction of Japan after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, the exhibition will also reflect how the architecture field is responding to current societal change with a combination of strong aesthetic positions and a commitment to users’ emotional needs.
Junya Ishigami. Kanagawa Institute of Technology Workshop, Kanagawa, Japan. 2005–08. © Junya.Ishigami + Associates 
Kazuyo Sejima. Nishinoyama House, Kyoto, Japan. 2010–14. © Kazuyo Sejima & Associates 
Ryue Nishizawa. Hiroshi Senju Museum, Nagano, Japan. 2007–10. © Daici Ano 
Ryue Nishizawa. Teshima Art Museum, Kagawa, Japan. 2004–10. © Office of Ryue Nishizawa 
Junya Ishigami. House with Plants, Japan. 2009–12. © Junya.Ishigami + Associates Given the experimental and avant-garde character of these architects’ work, the exhibition will confront the current role of architecture in a context in which mainstream practices are increasingly constrained by economic, legal, and functional considerations.
Toyo Ito. Sendai Mediatheque, Miyagi, Japan. 1995–2001. © Naoya Hatakeyama 
Ryue Nishizawa. Towada Art Center, Aomori, Japan. 2005–08. © Office of Ryue Nishizawa 
SANAA. 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Japan. 1999–2004. © SANAA 
Sou Fujimoto. House NA, Tokyo. 2007–11. © Iwan Baan -
Eileen Gray’s Extraordinary Exhibition at Centre Pompidou
The Eileen Gray Exhibit in ParisPhoto courtesy Sarah Boutinon-Tharse for High End Weekly™The Modernist LegacyThe Eileen Gray exhibit opened in Paris at the Centre Pompidou on February 20th and is due to close on May 20th. If you are unable to make it, don’t worry, I basically have (almost) the entire exhibit here to show you. This is by far one of the most comprehensive show on the iconic Irish designer who lived in Paris for most of her life, and consequently was adopted by the French people. At the age of 76, with the help of local architect, Eileen Gray (1878 – 1976) embarked upon her last architectural project: the restoration and extension of a country house which she owned since 1939. In the heart of a vineyard, not far from the Chapelle Saite-Anne and just south of Saint Tropez, Lou Perou would be her last summer refuge.
Centre Pompidou, ParisThe sobriety of the site, the simplicity of the volumes, the rustic nature of the materials and the proximity to nature all appeal to the designer who wishes to construct a modest and discrete project. In a clearly vernacular style, the basic architecture established a discourse with the gardens and the layout of the terraces. Interior and exterior spaces intermingle and echo one another with simplicity and elegance!
Eileen Gray, six-panel screen, circa 1922 – 1925Private Collection
Eileen Gray (1878 – 1976)
Eileen Gray, Lampadaire, circa 1925 (Standard Lamp)
Private Collection
Eileen Gray Rugs, Tapis, 1926-1929, Laine/Wool
Les Arts Decoratifs, musee des Arts decoratifs, Paris
Eileen Gray, Tapis circulaire, projet de tapis, circa 1920
Private Collection
Top Images: Rug Project, undated
Gouache on cardboard, Private Collection
Left: Meuble d’arhitecte, 1924
Sycomore, chrome-plated metal, Joe et Marie Donnelly
A 1920s black lacquer “Brick” screen, by Irish-born designer Eileen Gray
Above: Eileen Gray, Transat Lounge Chairs
Eileen Gray, Chair: Laminated wood, painted, with canvas, 1938Private Collection
Eileen Gray, Panneau laque a double face, circa 1915 (Lacquered double-sided panel)
Mixed technique lacquer, wood one side, lacquered on the other side with a squared pattern
Galerie Doria, Paris
View from the top: Centre Pompidou overlooking Paris
Written by Sarah Boutinon-Tharse for High End Weekly™ -
Romare Bearden: America’s Greatest Collagist
Romare Bearden, Three Women, LithographPhoto via pegalstonfinearts.comThe SotrytellerOne of the most memorable moments in art last year was the centennial celebration of Romare Bearden’s body of work at various museums and galleries exhibitions throughout the world. Often referred to as this nation’s greatest collagist, Romare was a visual artist whose works went through many phases and styles, through a wide range of media. As a native son of Charlotte, North Carolina, this talented African-American artist, modernist, citizen of the world, left us with an impressive body of work that tells a unique, diverse, and evolving story.“Romare Bearden is one of, if not the greatest, American visual artist of the20th Century and should be celebrated as such.”Russell Goins, a friend and collaborator of the famed Harlem artist Romare Bearden
Romare Bearden, Casting the Net, 1987. Collage and Watercolor on PaperPhoto via Jerald Melberg Gallery
Romare Bearden, Conjur Woman, 1964Photo via Nonsite.org
Romare Bearden – Time Magazine Cover, 1968Photo via Dailyartfixx.com
Family Dinner by Romare BeardenPhoto via Artspace.com
Romare Bearden-Pittsburgh Memory-1964Photo via DailyArtFixx.com
Romare Bearden watercolor on paper, 1944Photo via Scadmoa.org
Romare Bearden, Mother and child, LithographPhoto via pegalstonfinearts.com
Romare Mearden, Near the Watering Hole Collage and Watercolor on PaperPhoto via Jerald Melberg“Artists like Bearden see what ought to be, look at what is, and then, through their work, try to remove the contradition.”Sarah Lewis, author and curator
110th Street Harlem Blues by Romare BeardenPhoto via Artnet.com -
Ahae’s Stunning Photographs at The Louvre
The Natural
The Ahae experience continues. Following the opening of the Ahae De Ma Fenêtre at the Louvre Pavilion at the Jardin des Tuileries in June, a memorable concert was held on July 4th.Hello World: Grey Heron (2010) / © Ahae PressA review followed: Under clearing skies on a warm July 4th evening in Paris’s Tuileries Garden, the famed Orchestra Lamoureux played a concert of French classics and new compositions while two enormous screens showed images by Ahae, the Korean-born photographer whose exhibition De ma fenêtre (From My Window) is currently on view in the Louvre’s garden. Pieces by Debussy, Saint-Saens and Offenbach were played on a stage specially built for the concert. Ilan Eshkeri’s De ma fenêtre was given its world premiere to generous applause.
Mother Nature: Spectacular entrance to Ahae’s Show at Musée Du Louvre,Jardin Des Tuileries Bespoke Exhibition Pavilion in ParisFrom My Window is an exceptional show of photographs taken from the vantage of just one window in Ahae’s house. The landscape, photographed throughout the year, reveals the subtle changes of the seasons as well as a great sensibility to life in all its forms. Painstakingly photographed and printed, the show is already a popular success. Revealing a tranquil sensibility in the midst of the chaos of nature, it features some of the largest reproductions ever mounted.
Flock of Magpies (2009)
Azure-winged Magpies (2010)Sold in the Ahae Pavilion bookstore is the new Assouline collectors title, AHAE: Through My Window. Scenes pastoral and comic, dramatic and tragic, dynamic and serene, enchanting and breathtakingly beautiful are revealed through his lens. With introductions by the director of the Louvre, the former director of Prague’s National Gallery, and the director of the Institute of Contemporary Art in Moscow, and featuring poetic texts by the photographer, this beautiful hardcover volume of inspiring imagery is presented in a luxury slipcase (available August 14th, $200, through Assouline). The exhibits ends on Sunday, August 19th, 2012.
Captivated: Museum goers marvel at the wonders and simplicity of nature
Water Deer (2009)Images courtesy © Ahae PressAll Rights ReservedContributing Story by Joan Parker
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J.J. Lally: Silver and Gold in Ancient China
This slender curving handle of half-round form with flattened back, tapering to a simplified duck’s head terminal at one end and flattened out to a lotus-petal-shaped very shallow curving scoop at the other end.Top: A Silver long-handled tea scoop (Ze)Early Tang Dynasty, A.D. 7th century – Length 9 3/4 inches.Bottom: A gilt-silver wine cup and stand, fromthe Northern Song Dynasty (A.D. 960-1127) Diameter of cup stand 5 1/8 inches, Diameter of cup 2 3/4 inches,The flower-shaped wine cup with gently rounded and slightly flaring sides divided into ten petal-lobes, chased on the exterior with ten demi-florettes in a band below the lipped rim, the saucer-shaped stand also divided into ten lobes enclosed by a flat foliate rim of conforming outline with squared edge and raised on a high hollow ten-lobed foot, chased in the center of the stand with an undulating band of composite floral scroll, and the splayed edge of the foot chased with a border of pendant petal lappets enclosing demi-florettes, the gilded surface showing a soft luster and scattered dark tarnish, the patination and tarnish more concentrated on the underside of the cup stand where surface has not been as thoroughly cleaned.
A parcel-gilt silver ‘Musical troupe’ Ewer and CoverLiao – Northern Song Dynasty, A.D. 10th -11th CenturyHeight 10 inchesThe hexagonal vessel of tall slender form decorated with six gilded figures in high relief including a dancer, a drummer and four different musicians playing Chinese instruments centering each of the six flat tapering sides, further decorated with a ring-matte punched ground embellished with incised foliate and cloud motifs above and below each figure, and with incised borders of overlapping petal motifs framing each panel, the sloping shoulders and tapering narrow neck also decorated with floral motifs on ring-punched grounds within petal-borders and the upright cylindrical spout and high arch-form handle similarly decorated, standing on a plain splayed hexagonal ring foot and with a small stepped cover with incised foliate decoration surmounted by a large gilded flame-shaped finial.
A clam shell box and chased silver coverTang Dynasty, A.D. 8th-9th CenturyWidth 4 inchesThis shell-shaped silver cover with domed surface finely decorated with a fenghuang bird with fan-shaped crest and long luxurious tail feathers shown walking with wings displayed, surrounded by exotic blooms and lush foliage borne on long curling stems, the decoration all freely incised in outline and with fine stippling and linear details, reserved on a dense ring-punched ground, and enclosed within a narrow plain border around the rim and downturned narrow sides which are angled over the edge of the natural clam shell base, with a small silver ring at one side of the cover linked by a silver chain to a similar ring on a peg drilled through and attached to the shell.
A set of early gold headdress ornamentsNorthern Dynasties – Early Tang Dynasty, circa A.D. 5th-7th Century(Approximately 50 pieces)Length of the repoussé bands 11 7/8 inches; 8 5/8 inches; 3 inchesLength of florette tassels 2 3/4 inchesLength of sequins 3/8 inchLength of beads 3/8 inchThis breathtaking set comprised of nine repoussé decorated bands, five florette tassels, six hollow beads, and twenty-nine sequins, the largest band decorated in shallow relief with a frieze of round-faced boys wearing lotus-petal skirts and bead necklaces shown grasping the strands of an undulating foliate scroll sprouting palmette motifs between beaded borders punched with tiny holes for attachment. The shorter two narrow bands each decorated with similar undulating foliate scroll sprouting palmette motifs in a continuous pattern between beaded borders, the six small bands decorated with overlapping undulating ropetwist pattern between beaded borders. The five tassels each in the form of an eight-petal florette pierced through the center to receive a thin pendant gold strip of tapered form, and the twenty-nine sequins all of teardrop shape, slightly convex on one side and concave on the other, pierced at the top for suspension. Finally, he six beads thinly cast with a mould line across the waist; all the elements showing a higher polish on the front and slightly matte on the reverse, one of the medium-size narrow bands with an ancient repair visible only on the back.
A parcel-gilt silver chrysanthemum-form cup from theSong Dynasty (A.D. 960-1279)3 3/8 inchesThe deep flower-form bowl with two tiers of twenty-four slender petals each recessed on the interior and convex on the exterior, rising to a scalloped rim with inset gilt-edged lip, the domed center of the interior imitating the center of the flower, with rows of rounded bosses above a collar of gilded leaf tips, raised on a hollow tapered foot also petal-lobed and flaring to a scalloped edge.Exhibition and Sale March 16 – April 14, 2012‘Asia Week’ is a great opportunity for everyone interested in Asian art to gather and exchange ideas while feasting their eyes on the best Asian art exhibitions in museums and specialist art galleries. At J.J. Lally & Co. we have spent several years hunting for and gathering together the rare ancient Chinese silver and gold works of art which we will be exhibiting March 16-April 14, and many of the other 33 Asian art galleries participating in ‘Asia Week’ have made an equal or greater effort. Asia Week’ is a scholarly event, a social event and a great art market event which draws aficionados from all around the world. – Mr. Jim LallyThe minute I walked through the doors of J.J. Lally, I was immediately struck by the warm and enthusiastic welcome of their gallery’s director, Ms. I-Hsuan Chen. She knew it was my first time there, and wasted no time to introduce me to their upcoming exhibit, Silver and Gold in Ancient China – a splendid show which many of you will get to see during Asia Week New York. As a young girl, I’ve always been fascinated by Asian art, not just because of its sheer, intense beauty, but I had a penchant for Asian gold because of its allure, and mystical quality. And when it comes to decoration, Asian art holds its own, and compliments modern and traditional interiors extremely well. During my tour, it became evident that this gallery embodied some of the finest Chinese works of art of every kind, particularly the arts of ancient China. I’ve also learned that J.J. Lally boasts an amazing collection of some of the most extremely rare body of works throughout the year. Some of which have been purchased by The Metropolitan Museum here in New York, The British Museum, the Shanghai Museum, and the Harvard University Art Museums.
Chinese silver of the Song dynasty (960-1279) is very well represented in this exhibition. Look for a rare piece of Song silver – an elaborate Openwork and Repoussé-Decorated Buddhist Stupa-Form Reliquary, formerly in the collection of J.T. Tai, which bears a dedicatory inscription including a Chinese reign date corresponding to A.D. 986. And what does the girl who have everything (I am not referring to myself) wish for when she visits J.J. Lally? A clam shell box and chased silver cover from the Tang Dynasty, of course! This piece is truly exquisite, and the fine details of the silver metal is so intricate that you’ll be mesmerized just by looking at it. J.J. Lally is located at 41 East 57th Street, 14th Floor New York, NY 10022. Opening Preview Saturday and Sunday, March 17–18 from 10am–6pm
www.jjlally.com.You May Also Like
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The Weekender: The Winter Antiques Show & The Bard
The Importance of Being FashionableA couple of days before I went to a Press Preview at the Bard Graduate Center, I had no idea who Jane Harding was. Although the actress was not so well known here in the United States, back in France, she was all the rage. It is said that during her lifetime, Ms. Harding was one of the most photographed women in the world. Enter Staging Fashion, an “absolutely required” exhibition for fashionistas, and those who are so enthused by the celebrity culture.Woman’s Hat by Joseph G. Darlington and Co. Philadelphia, circa 1908 – 10.Straw, silk flowers and leaves.
The show is mostly about how celebrities like Jane Harding, Lily Elsie, and Billie Burke dominated the fashion scene back in the early 20th Century. They managed to do so by one important medium – Photography. Carefully staged photographs represented a vital self-promotional tool by which the actresses asserted their status as Fashion Arbiters. Sound very much like our current culture right? Back then, the images by Harding emphasized an image of an attractive, elegantly dressed, and poised woman, who offered herself for admiration and at the same time, scrutiny. A close collaboration between photographers and actors was crucial back then as it is today. The promotional interest between the media to its public is phenomenal and is ever increasing. In this sophisticated exhibition, Fashion and Theater came together beautifully to form a brilliant and lasting marriage.January 18 – April 8, 2012The Bard Graduate Center18 West 86th StreetNew York City
Left: Reutlinger Studio (French, 1850-1937). Postcard of Jane Hading in La Pompadour, ca. 1901. Hand-colored photograph with glitter. Private collection. Photographed by Bruce White. Right: Foulsham & Banfield (English, 1906–1920). Postcard of Lily Elsie in The Merry Widow, ca. 1907. Private collection.
Photographed by Bruce White.
Advertisement for Rogers & Thompson’s Soirée Silk featuring Billie Burke. Photograph by Sarony Studio. From The Theatre (September 1916): 165. Private collection. Photographed by Bruce White.
Jane Hading: Paul Boyer. Jane Hading in Plus que Reine. Cover of Le Théatre (May 1899). Private collection.Photographed by Bruce White.
Postcard of the Théâtre du Vaudeville and the Boulevard des Italiens, ca. 1905. Hand-colored photograph. Private collection. Photographed by Bruce WhiteAll photos courtesy of the Bard Graduate Institute.© All Rights ReservedThe Winter Antiques Show 2012The illustrious Winter Antiques Show opens today at the Park Avenue Armory for the 58th Year in a row. This year, be prepared to get reacquainted with old dealers and meet new ones. Jonathan Boos is displaying an impressive collection of Alexander Calder’s standing mobiles.Originally gifted by the artist to a family who cared for his mother in the 1950’s, these pieces were kept there for over 50 years and now are ready to embrace a new home. Highlights from the show included a rare and important African-American Pictographic Plantation desk, ca. 1870, from Madison, Mississippi. This particular desk is attributed to “Willie” Howard, a favored slave at Kirkwood Plantation, owned by pre-Civil War Governor McWillie. Art Deco dealer, Maison Gerard, have several new acquisitions from Leuleu. They are exquisite and offer themselves as perfect additions to any art deco collector. Another exciting dealer to look for is Keshishian. Mr. Eddy Keshishian, a carpet dealer from London, is exhibiting a jaw-dropping Art Deco carpet made for the Maharajah of Indores palace. This magnificent piece demonstrates the widespread appeal of Art Deco design, which was originated in France and quickly spread as far as India. Go inside the show, by visiting us on Facebook, for more photographs. The Winter Antiques Show benefits the East Side House Settlement which was founded in 1891 to help immigrants and lower income families on the East Side of Manhattan. In 1962, it moved to the South Bronx where it serves 8,000 residents annually within one of America’s poorest congressional districts, the Mott Haven section of the South Bronx.
My Fair LadiesQuintessential Victorian fairies from the 19th Century
Clockwise: From Nicholas Grindley Works of Art, Ltd. A ceremonial fan of circular leaf shape made of three boards crudely joined together and carved on the face with radiating ribs with an incurved lip at the top. Thai, 18th – 19th Century. Egyptian gilded and painted cartonnage mummy mask. Ptolemaic Period, c. 4th – 3rd century BC, from Rupert Wace Ancient Art. Foreground – One of three remarkable series of Alexander Calder standing mobiles (untitled) from Jonathan BoosPhotos property of High End Weekly™ -
Stephen Jones at the Bard
Hats: An Anthology by Stephen JonesThe Bard Graduate Center: September 15, 2011 to April 15, 2012“I was honored when the V&A asked me to curate an exhibit about hats. I had so much fun finding unique head decoration in the most interesting of places. This exhibition draws on millinery collection world-wide and is truly an eclectic and exciting anthology of hats from the last millennium to the present day.”
Givency: Ostrich Feather In order to show the universal appeal of wearing hats, Stephen Jones has chosen a wide variety of styles such as motorcycle helmets, turbans, berets, ad a child’s plastic tiara. Also on display at the exhibit are the works of contemporary New York milliners: Ellen Christine, Rod Keenan, Rod Keenan, Eugenia Kim, Lola, Jennifer Ouellette, Albertus Swanepoel, and Patricia Underwood. You will discover hats worn by celebrities such as Madonna, Brad Pitt, and Keira Knightley. Estee Lauder’s turban, Halston bunny ears worn by Candace Bergen to Truman Capote’s Black & White Ball. Divine!
Caroline Reboux: Empress Eugenie Stephen Jones spearheaded the fashionable revival of British millinery in the early 1980s. Using unusual materials and daring designs, his exquisitely crafted hats have pushed the boundaries of hat design forward for more than three decades. Jones has collaborated with many leading fashion designers including Marc Jacobs, Comme des Garçons, and Christian Dior.
Bonnet – circa late 1800s 
Gordon: Kiss Of Death
Extravagant!
It was so very hard to pick a favorite from one display after another. But if I had to make a few choices, I would say that the English Bonnet, and this “hat” from Gordon made the list for me, as well as some other eye catching favorites from Stephen Jones.
Balenciaga Spiral HatThe exhibit consist of hats ranging from a twelfth-century Egyptian fez to a 1950s Balenciaga hat and couture creations by Jones and his contemporaries.
Christian Dior Haute Couture Last weekend, my husband and I went to see The Stephen Jones exhibition at the Bard Graduate Center on the Upper West Side. It was extraordinarily beautiful, and we were delighted to discover the exhilarating world of Mr. Jones. Personally, I simply cannot wait for the next opportunities to visit the show again, and again. What’s so exciting about a hat exhibition, I mean what is the fuss all about? For one thing, I adore good looking hats, and the history behind these was too good not to have a mention here.
This collaboration is between the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and Stephen Jones, the world’s foremost hat designer. An array of 250 exquisite hats (some dating back more than 300 years ago right into the 21st Century’s top fashion power houses) have been chosen with the expert eye of the master milliner. The BGC is offering a special series of lectures, study days, gallery talks, and conversations in conjunction with the exhibit. For further information, please call 212-501-3011 or e-mail them at programs@bgc.bard.edu
Don’t forget THE book!
Honestly, this is one of the most notable fashion page turners. Penned by Stephen Jones and Oriole Cullen, curator of textiles and fashion at the V&A, and published by V&A Publishing, this book draws on Jones’ unparalleled body of work and the V&A’s extensive collection of hats. Also featured are key pieces from international hat collections and design houses. Lawrence Mynott’s specially commissioned illustrations preface chapters that examine the milliner’s inspiration, the creation and process of making, how to buy a hat, and the etiquette of hat-wearing.The Bard Graduate Center
18 West 86th Street
Between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue
Gallery hours are: Tuesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
and Thursday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. -
Marie Antoinette: The Trendsetter and Her Domain
The Petit Trianon, Marie Antoinette’s former domain, is a masterpiece neoclassical architecture situated in the grounds of the magnificent Chateau Versailles. Whenever I visit this part of France, I’m reminded how this charming piece of architecture is as celebrated today as it was hundreds of years ago. It is an exemplar of the history of taste and of the arts in the 18th century as a page of France social and political history that went through a glorious renovation in 2006, with the help of a generous $6 Million donation from their sponsor Montres Breguet. I can talk quite a bit about this little gem of a place.
Marie Antoinette whose full name was Josepha Johanna von Habsbourg-Lothringen, Archduchess of Austria, Imperial Princess, Royal Princess of Hungary and Bohemia, Dauphiness of France, Queen of France and Navarre
Where do I start? How about the château itself, which was designed so that the royals could avoid the presence of their servants, or the troupe l’oeil wood panelling which were used for the less important rooms as a cost-saving measure? Everything about the Petit Trianon embodies the pefection of an era and society, its style and technical expertise. While Versailles represents power and splendor, the Petit Trianon represented serenity and privacy.Let’s talk briefly about the lady who once occupied this house, Marie Antoinette. So much has been written about her, but little ever mentioned about how as a member of royalty, she was without a doubt THE trendsetter of her time. She was a lady who valued her privacy, and dressed skillfully but casually for a woman in her position. She craved independence and often dressed like a maid or shepherdess. Whether she was with her close friends and sometimes in front of her real maids, she imitated lives that were so different from her own. Her straw hats adorned with flowers was so different from the demands of traditional fashion that they appeared scandalous to those who would have certainly liked to see less of a simple woman and more of a Queen. This kind of defiance certainly didn’t help her case, and she began to slowly lose favor with the French people. Marie Antoinette’s quest for beauty and her aspiration to reach a form of authenticity and purity eventually led her to develop a lifestyle that would leave its mark on the history of trend setting.
Le TrianonNOTE: Please notify us directly, if you believe that certain images on this post are alleged to infringe upon the copyrights of others, according to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Thank you.
