I have just finished reading The Painted Girls — a great new work of historical fiction. Set in Belle Époque Paris, The Painted Girls tells the story of the Van Goethem sisters, students (les petits rats) at the Paris Opéra Ballet School. The middle sister, Marie, was the real-life model for Edgar Degas’ rather revolutionary sculpture, Little Dancer Aged 14. Degas, the Opéra, known criminals of the day and even Émile Zola are all characters in Buchanan’s rich, captivating novel. Her juxtaposition of the beauty of the ballet, the Paris Opéra and the entire era with the ugliness and despair of the daily lives of the Van Goethem sisters and the world from which they come and seemingly cannot escape is immensely powerful. Most profound though is the deep and quite exquisite relationship between these sisters.
The Painted Girls (Penguin Group, 2013)
I finally picked up a copy of How To Boil An Egg, Rose Carrarini’s newest cookbook just published in February! I love Rose Bakery in Paris and I love her first book, Breakfast, Lunch, Tea. How To Boil An Egg too has that simple, stylish design and is full of gorgeous recipes and exudes the freshness and particular sensibility that is Rose Bakery. And instead of photographs, this cookbook is illustrated with original paintings by botanical artist Fiona Strickland. Check out this lovely video about this lovely book.
How To Boil An Egg by Rose Carrarini (Phaidon, 2013)
I am delighted to be attending tonight the launch of my good friend’s newest inspiration, David Stark: The Art of the Party and the premiere of Paper Tales, a collection of one-of-a-kind art pieces created exclusively for Bergdorf Goodman. David continues to reinvent the obvious and never fails to surprise with innovative designs — I’m sure that tonight will be no exception.
Last week we were in the neighborhood and had a moment to walk past Bergdorf Goodman. As always, the windows are stunning — mounds of cascading feathers and black and white fashion gorgeousness. Oh my. And, if you haven’t yet seen Windows at Bergdorf Goodman Anniversary Edition by David Hoey and Linda Fargo you are in for a treat.
Bergdorf Goodman, 5th Avenue & 58th Street, New York City www.bergdorfgoodman.com
Windows at Bergdorf Goodman Anniversary Edition (Assouline, 2012)
Paris-based journalist and author Mary Blume last month released The Master of Us All: Balenciaga, His Workrooms, His World. This lovely book tells a really fascinating inside story of the great and intensely private Spanish fashion designer Cristóbal Balenciaga. A good deal of Blume’s research was primary source material — her name was Florette Chelot and she was a vendeuse at Balenciaga, one of the first he hired and who stayed on for more than thirty years until he closed his business in 1968. Blume first met Chelot as a young writer newly arrived in Paris, looking for an affordable suit at Balenciaga. Florette Chelot helped her find it. Decades later, Blume recorded Chelot’s memories of the designer, his fashion house and his life right up until her death at age 95 in 2006. After reading her book, I was reminded of the wonderful and very special 2010 exhibition — Balenciaga: Spanish Master — at the Queen Sofía Spanish Institute in New York curated by Hamish Bowles and conceived by Oscar de la Renta. Definitely a favorite.
The Master of Us All: Balenciaga, His Workrooms, His World by Mary Blume (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2013)
Like many of us out there, I often gravitate toward mid-century modern furniture. I don’t want (or have) an entire house full of it, but there are certain pieces and designers that I covet — like Norman Cherner’s molded plywood Armchair. I love it. It was designed in 1958 and manufactured by Plycraft until the early 1970s. I find such beauty in the proportion and material of this chair, and especially in its sculptural nature. It is now manufactured by Cherner Chair Company, run by his architect/designer son Benjamin Cherner. In addition to his housing and furniture design work, Norman Cherner taught industrial design at Columbia University and lectured at the Museum of Modern Art. And he wrote four books over the course of his career. I own a wonderful first edition of How to Build Children’s Toys and Furniture (McGraw-Hill, 1954) that is full of Cherner’s drawings of modern room settings and toy and furniture designs and also photographs of Cherner himself making said designs. It is fantastic.
IN YOUR UNIVERSITY TEACHING DAYS, YOUR MALE BORDER COLLIE YASHA WOULD ACCOMPANY YOU TO CLASS EACH DAY AND ASSIST IN TEACHING, INCLUDING MATH. YOUR FEMALE DOG CHASER KNOWS MORE THAN 1000 ENGLISH LANGUAGE NOUNS THAT YOU HAVE TAUGHT HER. DO YOU BELIEVE THAT ONE CANINE GENDER HAS A GREATER ABILITY TO LEARN OVER ANOTHER OR IS IT MORE DEPENDENT ON THE CANINE BREED?
An interesting question, but it depends on the breed. I’m not aware of any research where gender dictates ability. However, in 1984 there was a book published called “The Redundant Male: Is Sex Irrelevant in the Modern World”. Hum.
CHASER IS NOW THE SUBJECT OF YOUR UPCOMING BOOK AND SHE HAS APPEARED ON ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT, THE TODAY SHOW ON NBC, AND NOVA ON PBS. HAS ALL OF THIS FAME CHANGED HER?
(Laughing) No, she is still the same fun loving puppy we adopted in 2004. She does enjoy all the attention and is prepared for belly rubs and petting whenever offered. She has definitely become more independent and likes to think for herself, but I’m pretty sure that is due more to her coming of age and not a diva throw-down. Her ability as a con artist continues to grow as she can charm anyone into playing with her at any time.
NOW THAT THE BOOK IS COMPLETE AND CHASER IS EIGHT YEARS OLD, DO YOU CONTINUE TO TEACH HER NEW WORDS AND HAS HER ADVANCING AGE HAD AN EFFECT ON THE RATE AT WHICH SHE LEARNS?
Thankfully, we are just finishing the last chapter of the book slated for October release by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Written with Hilary Hinzmann. It is a “feel good” book similar to Marley & Me that tells the story of the science in a very organic and down to earth way. During the writing of the book, I have continued new research that I began several years ago with Chaser. I stopped formally teaching her new words at age 3 because she demonstrated that her capacity for learning & retaining nouns was rather limitless. I am happy to announce that our new research is being published in the Journal of “Learning and Motivation” which discusses our findings on successfully teaching Chaser syntax & imitation. We have been focusing on this for several years, and because learning builds on learning, as with children, she learns new words and concepts at a super fast rate. She is constantly listening to our conversations and picks things up without my even realizing it. If you were wondering, your dog IS listening to you.
WHAT BRINGS YOU JOY?
Discovery.
COMB OR BRUSH?
Comb for me, brush for Chaser.
DO YOU LIKE YOUR NAME?
Yes, it is my father’s name and as is typical in the south, family and friends simply called me JW.
FINISH THIS SENTENCE: MY AGE IS…………….
84, but I am like Merlin and aging backwards towards college age. I refuse to go back to teenage years, there are too many highs and lows there.
WHAT’S FOR DINNER TONIGHT?
Barbecue from the Rendezvous in Memphis and ice cold beer.
I have just picked up Dancing Around the Bride: Cage, Cunningham, Johns, Rauschenberg, and Duchamp — the catalog for an exhibition I very regrettably just missed at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Described in December 2012 by The New York Times as a “favorite museum show of the year,” it examined the intersections and collaborations among the composer John Cage, choreographer Merce Cunningham, and visual artists Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg with the great Marcel Duchamp at the center of it all. We are talking about, arguably, some of the most exciting, profound and pivotal years in New York and in American art. Conceived and presented by curator Carlos Basualdo and contemporary artist Philippe Parreno, the exhibition contained over 100 works in addition to live performances. The catalog is full of seriously interesting essays by and about these artists and features a truly masterful chronology. While it certainly doesn’t replace the experience of the exhibition, I have to say, I am completely enthralled.
Dancing Around the Bride: Cage, Cunningham, Johns, Rauschenberg, and Duchamp. (Philadelphia Museum of Art/Yale University Press, 2012)
A few years back, just about this time in the deep of winter, I received as a birthday gift Stéphane Reynaud’s French Feasts. It was love at first sight. I will admit that I love all things French. And, I have a particular weakness for great design, heavy paper, beautiful photographs of food, charming illustrations, simple recipes using minimal ingredients, and the importance of knowing where and from whom your food comes. This collection of 299 traditional recipes continues to surprise and delight. I have only scratched the surface here because I just can’t stop going back to my favorites which include moules marinières, tarte aux oignons and crème brûlée, among many delicious others — not a bad thing, of course.
French Feasts by Stéphane Reynaud (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 2009)
We here at THE BATON are avid collectors of vintage books. My favorite are vintage travel guides. Not limited at all to your standard Blue Guide or Fodor’s, titles in my growing collection include Paris is a Woman’s Town(1929) and Where Paris Dines (1929). I have found these books to be not only relevant historical documents of a city and its culture at the very moment they were written and published — a true representation of the zeitgeist — but also just really great reads.
In Where Paris Dines, Julian Street wittily described Le Select in Montparnasse as follows: “Of the four large cafés on the block this one is perhaps the sanest, though I did encounter there one evening an astrologer girl from Nebraska who was busy being a bohemian. Those things are, however, bound to happen, and I know, on the other hand, that the Select has among its patrons some painters who can really paint. Like its neighbors, this café has an American bar and serves cold suppers, Welsh rarebit, cheese fondue and special dishes. It is a pleasant place, not so exciting as the jazzed-up Coupole, across the way, but with better service and a more friendly air. An advertisement tells me it is open all night. I suppose the others are, too, but I never sat up to find out.” LOVE IT.
