Thursday, May 30, 2013

Layers






The actual layers of clothing George 
Mallory was wearing when his body was discovered in 1999


Andrew Irvine and George Mallory in 1924
just before climbing Mt. Everest



Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Ma viande rouge




Vintage French butcher charts



Sunday, May 26, 2013

Now, go stand in the corner






Corner portraits by Irving Penn



Marcel Duchamp

Joe Louis

Truman Capote


Georgia O'Keeffe



Igor Stravinsky

Spencer Tracy


Marlene Dietrich




Saturday, May 25, 2013

Deep blue







Ethereal images by Daniel Balda










Thursday, May 23, 2013

Studies




I especially love when a painting is exhibited with its studies. This almost never happens.





Herbert James Draper, Ulysses and the Sirens 1909






Homer's description of the sirens was rather vague. Draper depicts them as mermaids and young women. We see a crew of virile sailors apparently terrified by three nude girls. As they boldly climb aboard the vessel,  the sirens change from mermaids into women.






Herbert James Draper, The Sea Maiden 1894 



Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Inspired lighting








Erich Ginder glass pendant light





Devo energy dome headgear



Monday, May 20, 2013

Laugh riot










How many of these sold over all the years since they were first created?





Sunday, May 19, 2013

Who can it be now?







French poster for Sorry, Wrong Number, 1948





Poster for Dial M for Murder, 1954



Vintage packaging for Western Telephone, circa 1940's


Friday, May 17, 2013

Light delight






Bedroom: A Merry Mishap






Wednesday, May 15, 2013

A deep homesickness



Debbie Millman on starting now...

















Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Disposable





Circa 1968




A rare set of graphic designer Harry Gordon's paper dresses is available for 
purchase on 1stdibs.  Originally priced at $3.00 each, be prepared to pay a bit more.



Monday, May 13, 2013

Looking good on paper





This latest acquisition leaves me grinning.




Circles, check.

Numbers, check.

Black, white and red, check, check, check!



Friday, May 10, 2013

Night vision




I cannot walk through the suburbs in the solitude of the night
without thinking that the night pleases us because it suppresses
idle details, just as our memory does.

—Jorge Luis Borges




Le cigne noir, 1895



La maison aveugle, 1892



Nocturne au Parc Royal de Bruxelles, 1897


Magical night paintings by Belgian artist William Degouve de Nuncques  (1867-1935)



Thursday, May 9, 2013

Eros and Thanatos







In 1951, photographer Philippe Halsman posed 7 models to form a human skull for his 
portrait of artist Salvador Dali. The title, In Voluptas Mors, roughly translates
to the voluptuous death. In Greek mythology, Voluptas was the goddess
of pleasure.










It took hours for Halsman to arrange the models
as Dali had envisioned in his drawing. Hours of direction,
contortion and prodding seems to have eliminated any
eroticism. In the behind-the-scene photos, the models look exhausted and bored.


Freud theorized that two instincts motivate people: Eros- sexuality and the drive for life, and Thanatos-aggression and the will for destruction.  The conflict of both impulses (pleasure/death) appears in nearly every episode of this season's Mad Men.