HELLO MONDAY!
Jan
12
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| Burberry Prorsum, Autumn/Winter 2015-16 presented today at Kensington Gardens during London Collections: Men. Photograph: www.style.com |
BEE’S WRAP
Jan
9
After a very busy holiday season, I am just this week taking time to delight in all of the lovely gifts I received. One of my favorites: Bee’s Wrap. Handmade by women in Vermont, Bee’s Wrap is essentially a food storage alternative to plastic. It is made of organic cotton muslin coated in beeswax, jojoba oil and tree resin. When warmed in your hands it molds snugly around really everything and is completely waterproof. And it can be washed and reused for up to a year. Great design, BIG love.
www.beeswrap.com
VACATION MOVIES
Jan
8
Over the course of our divine two week holiday break we found ourselves to be serious patrons of the movie theater. It has been an amazing year in film and we still have a lot on our list (Selma, Birdman, Boyhood, Ida and Force Majeure). With the Golden Globes this weekend, I definitely have movies on my mind. Into the Woods was an absolute visual treat and the performances were great, as were those in Foxcatcher. However, the standout performance of the year for me so far is Eddie Redmayne as Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything, completely mind-blowing. Simply put, I loved everything about The Imitation Game, everything. And although it was released back in March, we should not forget the brilliance of The Grand Budapest Hotel, hands down one of my favorite films of 2014. Now I just have to make the very difficult decision on Sunday evening of whether to watch Downton Abbey or the Golden Globes…
PICASSO & JACQUELINE: THE EVOLUTION OF STYLE
Jan
6
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| Pablo Picasso and Jacqueline Roque circa 1957. Photograph by David Douglas Duncan. Estate of Picasso/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York, 2014. |
My weekend was made even better by Picasso & Jacqueline: The Evolution of Style, a terrific exhibition at Pace Gallery’s 25th Street and 57th Street locations. Included are some 140 works created by Picasso that depict his last wife Jacqueline Roque, in addition to over 50 photographs of the couple taken by the celebrated American photojournalist and close friend of the artist, David Douglas Duncan. It is absolutely fantastic to see these works presented together within the context of Duncan’s gorgeous photographs. This show represents the last twenty years of Picasso’s life and career and is the first to focus solely on Jacqueline as, arguably, his most important muse. And many of these pieces have never been on view to the public before now. The paintings in particular seem so personal and so loving — I honestly can’t recall even one in which she is distorted in any way. Quite illuminating!
Picasso & Jacqueline: The Evolution of Style is on view through January 10 — this Saturday! — at Pace Gallery, 534 West 25th Street and 32 East 57th Street, NYC
www.pacegallery.com
HELLO MONDAY!
Jan
5
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| I’ve just started reading this great little book — seems to me the perfect way to start out the new year! The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: the Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo (Ten Speed Press, 2014) |
HELLO MONDAY!
Dec
22
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| More good postage — Norwegian Red Cross stamp, 1948 |
GOOD POSTAGE
Dec
20
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I love postage stamps, not necessarily as a collector but most definitely as a consumer. I seek good postage. A package just arrived from Sweden covered with these fantastic Swedish design stamps. For me, just as brilliant as the gift inside.
DEATH BECOMES HER
Dec
18
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| Mourning ensemble, 1870-72, American, Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Gift of Martha Woodward Weber, 1930. www.metmuseum.org |
I am so pleased that the Costume Institute at The Metropolitan Museum of Art has once again presented a fall exhibition and that the lower level galleries are firmly back in use! Death Becomes Her: A Century of Mourning Attire is a fantastic installation and felt very much to me like a total work of art, with gorgeous period music in the background and a 19th-century female silhouette slowly moving along the wall. The years considered are 1815 to 1915 and the dresses are marvelous. I especially loved seeing a mourning dress worn by Queen Victoria herself which, of course, gave one a very real sense of her stature. There are three paintings on silk, one of which is a portrait with embroidery, that I found rather enchanting. But my favorite pieces, however, were the jewelry, stunning and so romantic — rings and necklaces with locks of hair or miniature portraits that quite intimately honored the departed.
Death Becomes Her: A Century of Mourning Attire is on view through February 1, 2015.
www.metmuseum.org
HELLO MONDAY!
Dec
15
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| Holiday postcard sent to my father in the United States from family in Norway, 1950. |
COOPER HEWITT
Dec
13
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum reopened yesterday after a major renovation and transformation. We were so happy to attend the (VERY CROWDED and VERY FESTIVE) opening reception on Thursday night — it was just great to be back in the mansion. And the space, by the way, looks amazing. I especially love that part of all of this renewal is a new typeface, Cooper Hewitt. Commissioned expressly for this occasion and designed by Chester Jenkins, it is the perfect way to honor this most significant and relevant institution. Take a look at this fascinating Design Talk about the creation of the new typeface.
www.cooperhewitt.org