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| Image of the Imperial Ballet’s original production of The Nutcracker at the Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg, Russian Empire. December 1892. Stanislava Belinskaya danced the role of Clara and Vassily Stulkolin danced the role of Fritz. Photographer unknown. |
We are still reveling over our lovely Nutcracker weekend! The truth is, we have been going to see the Nutcracker at Lincoln Center for more years than we can count and New York City Ballet never disappoints with their nearly 60-year-old production, first performed on February 2, 1954. It is always glorious. All agreed that this year’s highlight was Megan Fairchild’s performance as Dewdrop — absolute sublimity. However, the afternoon was really made perfect by a very thrilling and generous post-performance backstage tour — thank you James! — a dream come true for a certain teenage ballerina in our tribe.
The weekend culminated with our favorite three-year-old dancing the part of an angel in a toddler production of the Nutcracker on the Upper West Side. Despite the magnificence of the ballet the day before, this was, without a doubt, the most divine and unforgettable moment of the weekend. So sweet.
One of our favorite daily reads is Remodelista, a fantastic blog that features the very best and most inspired design content on an international scale. It also has some pretty great city guides as well. Remodelista’s gorgeous new book, Remodelista: A Manual for the Considered Home, was published just last month. Well edited, beautifully photographed, relevant and accessible. WE LOVE IT. Design books don’t get much better than this.
Remodelista: A Manual for the Considered Home by Julie Carlson (Artisan, 2013)
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| Exterior view of the Futurama exhibit at the 1939/40 New York World’s Fair designed by Norman Bel Geddes and sponsored by General Motors. It occupied approximately 35,000 square feet and received some 30,000 visitors each day. |
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| Norman Bel Geddes (1893-1958), “Motor Car No. 9 (without tail fin),” ca. 1933 Photograph Edith Lutyens and Norman Bel Geddes Foundation / Harry Ransom Center |
Norman Bel Geddes was among the first and most significant American industrial designers, a celebrity group that included such luminaries as Russel Wright, Donald Deskey and Henry Dreyfuss. And it was the dawn of industrial design in the United States in the 1920s that essentially started the momentum and significance of American design, in all its forms, that still exists to this day. Norman Bel Geddes: I Have Seen the Future at the Museum of the City of New York is the first major exhibition devoted solely to the work of Bel Geddes, and it is about time. Bel Geddes was an extremely diverse and prolific designer whose work transcended a number of fields and this show clearly reflects that. He started out designing theater and film sets and went on to introduce a futuristic streamlined vocabulary in the design of everything from automobiles to household objects to architecture and urban planning, the latter as evidenced by his greatly celebrated Futurama exhibit at the 1939/40 New York World’s Fair. Bel Geddes’ impact on and contribution to American modern design was tremendous and this fascinating show at MCNY is a most fitting tribute.
Norman Bel Geddes: I Have Seen the Future is on view through February 10, 2014.
www.mcny.org
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| French Happy Birthday Card, Rifle Paper Co. www.riflepaperco.com |
THE BATON turns one year old today! You might remember our very first post on December 3, 2012, an interview with our great friend, photographer and video artist Yuko Edwards. It seems like just yesterday! THE BATON has been a wonderful ride so far and we want to thank all of the interestings in our lives who agreed to be interviewed and those yet to be interviewed, the amazing City of New York that provides so much inspiration for us and all of our subscribers who follow us so loyally. We also want to thank our lovely families and friends — our biggest fans and supporters. We are so excited about the year ahead! We will have some design changes, many more interviews and a lot of travel and events that will provide some fantastic content. Please stay close and stay tuned.♡
Our favorite find this past weekend? Mrs. Meyer’s Iowa Pine Liquid Hand Soap. We love it so much we are actually looking for excuses to wash our hands. It smells like winter and happiness. It fills us with joy. ‘Tis the season for simple pleasures.
www.mrsmeyers.com
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| Marc and Bella Chagall, 1923 Photograph by Hugo Erfurth |
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| Bella and Marc Chagall, sketchbook, 1942-1965 Photograph Sotheby’s |
I have always been a big fan of Marc Chagall, as much the artist as the man. I find his large-scale works particularly impactful including the murals for the Metropolitan Opera House (1966), the ceiling of the Paris Opera (1964) and the sets and costumes for The Firebird (1945). Chagall’s life and art were inextricably intertwined which is, of course, clearly evident in his work — especially his deep love for his wife and muse, Bella. Chagall: Love, War and Exile at The Jewish Museum is a brilliant testament to this, and an exhibition very much worth seeing. Among the vast number of beautifully chosen paintings, works on paper, photographs and ephemera on view, there is one piece I continue to really think about. In 1942, when Bella and Marc fled Paris for New York during World War II, she started to translate poems from French to Yiddish in a hardcover sketchbook. Upon her unexpected death just two years later, the artist began to illustrate the book, no doubt as a way to stay connected to her. He continued to do so for the next twenty years. His adoration and reverence for Bella exudes from simply the two facing pages on display and I cannot think of a more intimate or loving gesture.
Chagall: Love, War and Exile runs through February 2, 2014.
www.thejewishmuseum.org
Our lovely bride this past weekend chose this gorgeous Yves Saint Laurent metallic patent leather Belle de Jour clutch as her something blue. Coupled with her sublime Reem Acra gown and Corbin Paris white rabbit fur cape, the effect was stunning. It was indeed a most stylish marriage.