ART FROM 1st CENTURY BC INDIA

I went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Friday to see the new exhibition "Playing with Pictures: The Art of Victorian Photocollage" which was fascinating but not quite as exciting as I thought it would be. The collages on view were all examples made for intimate viewing in a private album rather than the tours de force made for public display. Nevertheless I highly recommend checking it out. While at the museum I took a stroll through the Indian art galleries and discovered some incredible things. The first gallery displays the art of 1st century BC India and includes the remarkable pair of earrings and the relief sculpture shown below. The gold earrings are described as "the largest, finest and best preserved examples of early Indian jewelry." The plaque illustrates a royal family with their dog in incredible detail. Check out those fantastic hairdo's!

COOL ZINES

As a young hipster and budding historian growing up in New York I acquired and saved a lot of magazines, newspapers and zines. As a result I now have a pretty extensive of publications like New York Rocker, SoHo News, The Face, i-D, Non-LP B Side, Short News, Mouth of the Rat, ZG and other titles that may be familiar to cool folks who hung out in the East Village and Soho circa 1979-1983. Back then the entire hip community seemed to consist of less than 1000 people--much less. While organizing my collection I discovered I had doubles of a few things and have put them up on eBay. Check out my listings for a rare copy of punk zine Mouth of the Rat and three early issues of The Face.

CUNEO MUSEUM AND GARDENS

Via the Art Newspaper comes this item about the Cuneo Museum and gardens in Vernon Hills, Illinois:

Loyola University Chicago has received the largest gift in its 140-year history from John Cuneo Jr, his wife Herta, and the Cuneo Foundation. The $50m gift includes the family mansion, which opened to the public as the Cuneo Museum and Gardens in 1991. It brings the museum just $100m shy of its $500m capital campaign goal. The university has a longstanding relationship with the Cuneos, after whom the Stritch School of Medicine’s main building is named, after the couple gave $13m to the university in 2000 to support education.

This gift will be used to support student scholarships, a new academic building on the Lake Shore Campus to be named Cuneo Hall, and for operational support at the mansion and gardens. The mansion is currently used mainly for private events, such as wedding, but plans for future programming include art performances, lectures and classes and artist residencies. According to the family, it was John Cuneo’s Sr’s wish that his home, estate, and collections be used as an educational institution for the public.

The Cuneo Mansion houses the family collection of antiques, paintings, tapestries, sculptures, silver, and porcelain, as well as murals by Czech-born artist John Mallin, who painted the interiors of more than 100 Chicago churches. Constructed in 1918, the coral pink villa was designed in the Venetian style by architect Benjamin Marshall for Samuel Insull, the original founder of General Electric Company. The gardens were designed by landscaped architect, Jens Jensen, who was also responsible for Lincoln Memorial Park.

LIBRARY THING

I ran into my friend Laren Stover, the author of the Bombshell Manual of Style, the other night at Sally Randall's fabulous and fun holiday party. I asked her if she was on facebook and she responded "no but I'm on LibraryThing!" She and a number of other friends of mine who embody style as well as substance. So I finally decided to join LibraryThing also. It's yet another internet timewaster but at least a highbrow one that also has some practical benefits. You enter the titles of the books in your collection into LibraryThing and it creates a catalogue of your personal library. A few of my favorite rarities from my collection are shown below and you can see the beginnings of my catalogue on the site (these books are in my permanent collection so none of them are for sale). Plus LibraryThing has social networking features: you can see the profiles and catalogues of people who have the same book that you do, etc. Check out Laren's profile.

              I Am A Cliche, 1979:                     

Les Lalanne, 1975:

Improbable Memories by Sarah Moon, 1981:

Oscar Niemeyer: Works in Progress, 1956:

Bjorn Weckstrom, 1980

The World of Carmel Snow, 1962:

Your Home and You, 1963

BOOKSTORE

Please visit my new online bookstore:
http://alanrosenbergsbooks.blogspot.com/
Some of my favorite books are shown below. Full descriptions and prices can be found at the bookstore.

Quant by Quant:

Glow of Candlelight:

La Decoration:

The Fountains of Rome:

Inside Design:

Charas: the Improbable Dome Builders:

House &; Garden's Complete Guide to Creative Entertaining:

Bureaux et Bibliotheques:

The Beautiful People:

My Years and Seasons:

PEDRO FRIEDEBERG

I haven't seen it yet myself but just thought I'd spread the word that there is a Pedro Friedeberg exhibition here in New York at Henaine Fine Art (until 11 December) and, if you happen to be in Mexico City, another at the Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes (until 17 January). In 1966 Crafts Horizons magazine (precursor to American Craft) published an an exquisitely composed autobiographical poem/manifesto by the artist. An updated version is on his website and my transcription of the original is below, and a picture of his famous hand chair, shown above in situ in the home of fashion designer Arnold Scaasi, circa 1965. The hand chairs are just one motif in the artists extensive iconography.

I was born in Italy

during the era of Mussolini
who made all trains run on time.

Immediately thereafter

I moved to Mexico

where the trains are never on time,

but once they start moving

they pass pyramids.

My education was first entrusted

to a Zapotec governess

and later to such brilliant mentors as

Mathias Goeritz

who taught me murals,

Jose Gonzales who taught me carpentry,

and Gerry Morris

who taught me to play bridge.

I have invented several styles of architecture

as well as one new religion

and two salads.

I am particularly fond of social problems

and cloud formations.

I am an idealist.

I am certain that very soon now

humanity will arrive at a marvelous epoch

totally devoid of Knoll chairs

or Danish coffee tables,

and the obscenity of Japanese rock gardens

5,000 miles from Kyoto.

At present I work in a circus.

I live on the left bank

of the Paseo de la Reforma

where I pursue my deliciously futile

but absolutely useless existence.

FRIEND's DESIGN 2 - WALLPAPER BY ADRIENNE NEFF

My friend, interior designer Adrienne Neff, has just debuted her sensitively designed line of wallpaper, available to the trade in New York at Holland and Sherry. The Uzu collection is "inspired by ancient decorative arts" and "the universal symbols of organic growth, rejuvenation and renewal: water, earth, clay, rock, and vegetation." Although the nature inspiration is evident there is a strong geometric component that makes the patterns look like mod for the new millenium. Depending on the colorway the patterns would look equally lovely on the walls of a quiet country retreat or a hip urban habitation. There are seven patterns with an almost infinite number of custom colors available. I'll let the designer describe the story of each pattern:

Uzu (spiral water in Japanese) pays
homage to 17th century Japanese ceramics

Jagged Agate is an abstract interpretation of the patterns formed by cut agate rock

Yamanoma (hillside in Japanese) evokes the spirit of 16th century Japanese screens

Renjyu (spiral repeat in Japanese) is inspired by Japanese Neolithic pottery designs circa 2,000 B.C.

Giant Onion is an abstract geometric celebration of the
humble onion.

Acoma This lively pattern is inspired by Pueblo Indian ceramic water jars circa 1,000 A.D.

The wallpapers are hand-block-printed in Brooklyn (where the blocks were hand carved) in water-based inks on recycled and renewable paper.
Adrienne collaborated with photographer Don Freeman and stylist Becky Hubbert on the images below for which they bound books with her new wallpapers (the bindings were done in a traditional Japanese technique).

DECLUTTERING

I am decluttering again and editing my collection of books and magazines. I dropped off a donation of a big bag of books at the Zabar Art Library at Hunter College (I'm a Hunter alumnus) and then spent the rest of the afternoon at the Modernism show at the Armory. In the process of sorting through my books and magazines I decided to let go of the copies that I had accumulated of the "Tresors de la Rive Gauche," a lavish annual promo compiled by the art and antiques dealers of Paris' chic left bank. The annuals were filled with images of the fantastic treasures on display in the galleries but nothing was quite as splendid as this 23 inch wide block of amethyst mounted in gilt bronze offered by Babylone International. The mount was created in 1919 by Bachruch, a jeweler with workshops in Vienna and Budapest. Another reason to get myself over to Paris.

STAN HYWET in AKRON, OHIO

Just came back from a trip to Ohio to see my 94 year old aunt Dolores. In Akron we visited Stan Hywet, which is not a person but a marvelous house surrounded by lovely gardens (stan hywet--pronounced STAN HEE-WIT--means "stone quarry" in Old English). Stan Hywet was built for the Seiberling family, of Goodyear Rubber fortune, in 1912-1915. The architect was Charles Sumner Schneider of the Cleveland offices of George B. Post. The Stan Hywet website credits the interiors to a long list of outstanding designers and craftspeople:

Interior Decorator ~ The H.F. Huber Co. of New York City
Woodwork & Paneling ~ The Hayden Co. of New York City
Plaster Ceilings ~ The Hayden Co. Of New York City & McNulty Brothers Company of Chicago
Leaded Glass ~ Heinigke & Bowen (later known as Heinigke & Smith)
Stained Glass ~ Thorton Smith & Otto Heinigke
Iron Work ~ Samuel Yellin
Rugs ~ Beloochistan Rug Weaving Company of India, Wilton Royal Factory of England
Tile Work ~ Mary Chase Stratton, Pewabic Pottery, Michigan & The American Encaustic Tile Company, Zanesville, Ohio General Contractor ~ The W.B. McAllister Co., Cleveland, Ohio

Tudor revival is not usually my thing, but the interiors were unusually lavish for that style with richly layered Chinoiserie and baroque undertones, more eclectic than strictly baronial. Much of the furniture was reproduction when it was installed but those pieces are antiques in themselves now and have acquired a fine old patina. Also lavish but refreshing were the large potted plants throughout the interiors that are carefully nurtured in the estate's own greenhouse--I have rarely seen such large and carefully tended potted plants. The estate originally comprised more than 1000 acres but is now reduced to 70, beautifully landscaped by Warren Manning with a walled garden by Ellen Biddle Shipman. Unfortunately I didn't take too many pictures and none inside and mysteriously there aren't too many on the estate's website. I did get a great picture of the brick-walled service court.

AMERICAN BEAUTY at FIT

There is a fascinating new exhibition at the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology. American Beauty: Aesthetics and Innovation in Fashion examines "the relationship between the “philosophy of beauty” and the technical craft of dressmaking in the United States." Beauty as examined by curator Patricia Mears is expressed in line, cut, color and form. Ornament, embellishment and printed pattern are minimized. One treat in the exhibition is a two-piece evening dress by Mainbocher that was worn by the Duchess Windsor and in which she was photographed by Horst (see below). There are several amazing pieces by the late Pauline Trigere who, though legendary among the fashion-informed, never really was as appreciated as her masterful work warranted. To use a cliched fashion phrase, her work was "as good as Paris haute couture." That description is often applied to James Galanos (also represented in the show by a few magnificent pieces) but Trigere is definitely up there and her work has a recognizable signature (to the knowing eye) that is sometimes lacking in Galanos' diversity of design. Dare I say that Trigere was often as good as Balenciaga?

Mainbocher:

Duchess of Windsor
Three 1940s suits by Adrian:

Pauline Trigere:

Galanos, left; Trigere, right:

A fabulous lady at the opening at FIT: