Hitting the Big Four-Zero

For those of you out there currently under the age of 40 – what do you imagine your life to look like upon hitting the big 4-0? For those of you who have so far passed that age (congratulations!), are you where you expected to be at?

If someone were to ask me what my expectations or desires were about how my life would look at forty, I think I can honestly say that I have absolutely no idea. I’m not trying to use an easy cop-out, but I simply know that life has many surprises up its sleeve! For instance, my dreams of marrying Viggo Mortensen have not yet come into reality (hey – have you SEEN Lord of the Rings?! No judging!). However, I have been fortunate enough to travel extensively, and even live and work in a fair few different countries – which is definitely not what my eleven-year-old self would have envisioned for my  twenty-something self.

So, life is unpredictable. It is often strange. It is frequently absurd. It is equally delightful and sorrowful. But I like it. The mystery of what tomorrow will bring, or even what the next twenty years will bring, is something that I am looking forward to discovering. Hey, if life went exactly as planned, that wouldn’t be any fun, right?


Four Seasons

For the forty under-forties artists whose works are currently being displayed at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, I would bet that the majority could not foresee that they would one day have such a prestigious exhibit in their honour. The inspirational, impressive, and innovative work which is being displayed has been created since September 11^th, 2001, showing how both the artists and the world around them have evolved since that infamous day.

This made me ponder what my life will be like at 40. My challenge to you: Do something inspirational. Become the next artist under forty to be celebrated at a national gallery. Write the next big hit. Invent the next big invention. Train for the next Olympic Games. Win the next Olympic Games. Or, simply, make somebody smile. Help an old lady cross the road. Teach a child how to ride a bicycle. Big or small, do something that you can look back on when you are forty (or the next big -0 birthday) and be amazed. Go on, I dare you.

 


Classically simple, beautifully elegant

To celebrate the 40^th anniversary of the Renwick art gallery, these forty artists are being highlighted – with their works focusing on the theme of modern innovation, why not join in the celebration? You’ll need to hurry to catch the finale, as the exhibition “40 under 40” is being held at the Renwick Gallery  only until the 3^rd of February (2013). Textiles, fashion, industrial design, futuristic jewellery, and interactive displays await you! If, however, you don’t have quite enough time, why not check out Oscar Lovell Triggs’ work on The Arts and Crafts Movement?

Impressionnistes paparazzis

Les peintres impressionnistes étaient les photographes de leur temps. Intéressés bien sûr par les paysages, mais aussi par les femmes, les intérieurs intimes et les loisirs alors en vogue. Les cocottes parisiennes, vivant à Montmartre ou Montparnasse ne sont rien de moins que les Paris Hilton et Kim Kardashian du xix^e siècle. Elles dictaient la mode qui était copiée par toutes les femmes quelle que soient leurs classes sociales.


Claude Monet, Madame Louis Joachim Gaudibert (détail), 1868.
Huile sur toile, 216,5 x 138,5 cm.
Musée d’Orsay, Paris.

Les peintres voulaient capter l’air du temps et rendre compte du goût par la même occasion. Renoir ou Monet  pénètrent dans la vie intime, accordent beaucoup d’attention au corps féminin qu’ils tracent précisément sous des tissus délicats ou qu’ils montrent nus. Les accessoires de mode et les dessous féminins ne sont plus choquants mais deviennent des outils de séduction. Certaines toiles impressionnistes sont de réelles illustrations des mœurs du moment et s’approprient la vie privée des femmes, comme le sont les magazines people aujourd’hui. Jupons, corsets, bas et nudité ne sont plus cantonnés au privé et au scandale.

Compiler les toiles impressionnistes sur deux à trois décennies revient presque à regrouper des images de mode qui pourraient tout à fait fournir le matériel suffisant à la création d’un blog par une fashionista en herbe. Les impressionnistes, blogueurs du xix^e ?


Édouard Manet, Nana, 1877.
Huile sur toile, 264 x 115 cm.
Kunsthalle Hamburg, Hambourg.

Pour découvrir tous les dessous de cette thématique, vous pouvez admirer l’exposition très complète sur la mode et les impressionnistes du musée d’Orsay jusqu’à la fin du mois de janvier 2013 ou parcourir les pages de L’Impressionnisme.

Impressionably Fashionable

Where do you go when you are looking for the latest fashion designs? Or want to see what is à la mode on the High Street? Or perhaps, just want to see what’s going on in the city? Well, the internet.  Right?  Or a fashion magazine. 

 


At the Theatre, c. 1879. Pastel, 53.3 x 43.2 cm. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art , Kansas City, Missouri.

 

I think that if we were to be suddenly transported to the 19^th Century we would be in for a big culture shock! No internet, no modern conveniences...and yet, society of the 19^th Century, in some respects, is considered to be more cultured and sophisticated than our own.  More genteel, certainly!  Impressionists such as Renoir, Cassatt, and Monet: these were the people who were responsible for providing society with images of the latest fashion trends.  Cassatt, for example, painted theatre-goers.  The who’s who of Paris fashion attended these soirees, so it is not far out of the realms of possibility that these paintings would be consulted by the fashionably elite to check out what was being worn, where and by whom...remind you of any of our celeb magazines now? 

 


The Ball at the Moulin de la Galette, 1876, Oil on canvas, 131 x 175 cm, Paris, Musée d’Orsay

 

Pierre Auguste Renoir was busy capturing life in the moment – the lively scene in the ‘ball at the moulin de la gallete’ is so busy, you can practically see the movement and hear the buzz of conversation.  The impressionists were offering an alternative to the black and white photography of the day.  It was not a direct competition, but what they could do that the photographers couldn’t was to offer a subjective, colourful view of day to day life.

 


Woman with a Pearl Necklace in a Loge, 1879. Oil on canvas, 81.3 x 59.7 cm. Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia

 

Final thought before I finish:  In their day, the Impressionists were viewed contemptuously by the members of the jury of the Salon.  Their work was rejected and ridiculed due to the colours that they employed and the thick brushstrokes that they used.  Mary Cassatt was even criticised for painting her subjects too realistically to be flattering.  This makes me wonder – we now rely on the Impressionists’ work for a sense of the culture, fashion and way of life in the 19^th century.  In another couple of centuries, are today’s paparazzi going to be admired as much as we admire the Impressionists?  Because, let’s face it, they too offer a glimpse into culture, celebrity fashion and day-to-day activities.  They are also not highly regarded by many people in today’s society... so you see, there are links to be made between the two!

 

For a broader look into 19^th Century life and fashion, check out the ‘L’impressionisme et la mode’ exhibition at the Musée d'Orsay, being held between the 25^th September 2012 and 20^th January 2013.  Or, if you just want to be enchanted by a simpler time and appreciate the elegance and gentility of the 19^th Century from the comfort of your technologically advanced home, take a look at Nathalia Brodskaya’s Impressionism.

 

 

Angels à la mode

Close your eyes and picture an angel. Now open them again so you can read the rest of this blog. What did you imagine? I’m guessing a woman wearing a long floaty white dress, effortlessly hovering in the sky (though mysteriously not beating her wings), with a halo atop her long blonde hair and maybe strumming a harp.

Was I right? It is no coincidence that our imagined angels conform to the same stereotypes. In 2008, 55% of Americans, 67% of Canadians and 38% of Britons professed their belief in the existence of guardian angels, and for many they take the “classical” form (human appearance, exceedingly beautiful and blindingly bright), as this is familiar to us and comforting in times of great need.

Our ideas about angels’ appearances have been shaped over the centuries by their depiction in art. Originally, angels in early Christian art were based on their ancient Mesopotamian and Greek predecessors. Though the Bible never mentioned wings, angels suddenly sprouted a pair in the late 4^th century, and have worn them ever since. They started out wearing military-style uniform, with a tunic and breastplate, or in the style of a Byzantine emperor. In the Middle Ages they began to dress like a deacon, in long white robes similar to how we would imagine them today.


Edward Burne-Jones, An Angel Playing a Flageolet (detail), c. 1878.
Tempera and gold paint on paper, 74.9 x 61.2 cm.
The National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside, Liverpool.


Carlo Saraceni, St. Cecilia and the Angel, c. 1610.
Oil on canvas, 172 x 139 cm.
Palazzo Barberini, Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica, Rome.

The Renaissance introduced cherubs to us, and in the first half of the 18^th century, the angels’ dress became more effeminate and revealing, draping over the body like a badly-fitting bed sheet. Although angels were usually depicted as young men, female angels arrived on the scene.

This was the mainstream fashion for Christian angels, but how we view them can be very subjective and easily swayed by religious, cultural and fashion-related factors. One eccentric example can be found in the late 17^th to early 18^th centuries in Latin America: the ángel arcabucero, who would dress in the manner of the Spanish aristocracy, wielding a great big gun.

If the fashions through the ages have impacted so greatly on the representation of angels in art, what will angels of the future look like? I would like to think that my great great great great great grandchildren will be comforted by a hipster angel, or a 1970s disco dancing diva angel at their bedsides.

As angels have become disassociated with religion, the belief in them has increased, and references to them are rife in popular culture, from representations in Anime to a Robbie Williams song, and even selling out to front a deodorant marketing campaign.

All of this begs the question – what if the ancient Mesopotamians and Greeks had envisioned the winged messengers of the gods as, for example, winged hippos? Would we be visited on the eve of a loved one’s death by a stampede of bellowing hippopotami? Would Robbie Williams have sung an ode to them? It seems unlikely, but as the artistic representations of angels have impacted on the human psyche to the extent that we share one common vision... who knows what could have been?

The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, currently has an exhibition about these celestial beings called Divine Messengers: Angels in Art, until 3 November this year. You can also read more about angels and their representation in art through the ages in this ebook.

Fashion Passion

Fashion is not my thing. I’ve stated before that I am a neutral, solid colour kind of girl. Occasionally I’ll throw on something bright to mix it up, usually a pair of stilettos. Leading me to the point in which I must confess to my deep, inherent, undeniable love of shoes, and, more specifically, boots. (Cue in blaming my mother, who tried to get me to care about blouses, skirts, and dresses as well, but was less successful. Apologies and gratitude, mom!)


I shoulda been a contend…er, Musketeer
Musketeer boot, France, 17th century.
The International Shoe Museum, Romans-sur-Isère.


Where you goin’? Nowhere…
Mule, unsuitable for walking, in black kidskin and sky blue satin, small cabochon in porcelain, Vienna, c. 1900.
Height of heel: 20 cm.
Guillen Collection, The International Shoe Museum, Romans-sur-Isère.


Clothes like Audrey; shoes like Marilyn
“Low-cut” pumps of Marilyn Monroe decorated entirely with red Swarovski strass.
Created by S. Ferragamo for the film Let’s Make Love, directed by George Cukor in 1960.
Museo Salvatore Ferragamo, Florence.

Once upon a time my friends wanted to go out for the evening; I didn’t want to open my closet, because it can get very taxing as a 20-something, even if she doesn’t care that she’s seven years out of style. I sent a nearest and dearest to do my dirty work. She called out, “Do you want to wear black … or black?” Noting and making fun of the fact that my wardrobe was by and large black. I’m not Goth, not that there’s anything wrong with anyone that is, I just happen to think black is complimentary to everything else I’ve got going on.

All of that said, Jean Paul Gaultier the designer does not stir any excitement in my brain or gut. I do not feel the need to overcharge my credit card or make sure I grab the latest magazines with his newest lines in them. However, Jean Paul Gaultier the man is a man among men, a hero for anyone that’s ever tried to fit in, and for that, I salute him.

Persistently causing a stir from the mid 1970s until now, Gaultier keeps the world guessing as to which multicultural controversy he’ll strike next. Performing artists and film makers all vie for his talent and creative eye (Madonna, Marilyn Manson, and Luc Besson to name a few). And who could blame them? This enfant terrible stands up for what he believes in and is not ashamed to do so. Unlike Gaga, though, his outbursts do not irritate me to a point of soundless fury.

See all of his glory at the de Young Museum’s The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk through 19 August 2012. And while you’re envisioning yourself in his latest trends, grab The Art of the Shoe to try and coordinate colours and styles.

-Le Lorrain Andrews