Astonishing (and beautifully photographed) whatsits from the Wellcome Collection’s permanent exhibit “Medicine Man.”
Archive for the ‘exhibits’ Category
Gewgaws and gimcracks
Friday, July 24th, 2009Festival Pattern Group
Monday, July 6th, 2009The Festival of Britain was held in 1951 to celebrate the country’s emergence in the fields of science and technology. Britain’s Council of Industrial Design drew on scientists, manufacturers and designers to form the Festival Pattern Group. The group created decorative designs for furnishings and displays, based on the structures of crystals, atoms and molecules.
All via the Wellcome Collection exhibit From Atoms to Patterns.
One of many delightful discoveries via Ancient Industries.
Pauline Trigere
Wednesday, May 20th, 2009New York fashioner Pauline Trigere (1909-2002) made top-quality, impeccably cut ready-to-wear for grown-up ladies. That she designed Patricia Neal’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s wardrobe should give you the general idea.
A friend of a friend worked for a PR firm in Manhattan in the 1980s. One day, Pauline Trigere came in and said to the boss, “You’ve got to help me. They think I’m dead!” Trigere is definitely one of those designers who always seemed to produce clothes that were for her to wear. When I started writing this post, it was a bit of snark about why designing for yourself in the 1950s might not translate into a successful business model in the 1980s. Then I started reviewing photos and thought, “WTF ever, she looked great. Always.”
So instead I say bravo to anyone with the confidence and self-awareness to sell her own look hard for 60 years.
The Fashion School at Kent State University has an enlightening, if mangled, online exhibit of Trigere’s illustrations.
Felice Beato
Monday, May 18th, 2009Another mysterious travel photographer (Corfiot, ca. 1830-ca. 1907). I posted some of his samurai photographs last month. Turns out he was the first to extensively photograph East Asia in the 1860s.
“The Ainos are a people inhabiting the Northern island of Yesso…Their origin is lost in a wild and fabulous tradition.”
“Our chief artist”
“Courier or postman”
“Out for a walk”via Wikimedia Commons, and online exhibit The World in a Frame: Photographs from the Great Age of Exploration, 1865-1915, Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology.
Field Museum on Flickr
Thursday, May 7th, 2009The Field Museum now has selections from its photo archive on Flickr, including these images of fancy stuff from the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition.
“View North, Between Manufactures and Electricity Buildings.”
“Mammoth and Devil Fish [or Giant Octopus]“
“The World’s Greatest Dynamo”
“The Mammoth Crystal Cave”
“Palace of Fine Arts, south facade with people on the stairs and lagoon”St. Louis, Part 4
Wednesday, May 6th, 2009I went to an event last week at the Missouri History Museum. My exhibit viewing time was limited, so I had to choose between quilts and Katherine Dunham. Guess who won?
All via Katherine Dunham’s Living Legacy, an online exhibition from the Missouri Historical Society.
Fore-edge book painting
Monday, April 20th, 2009Boston Public Library just launched an online exhibition of book fore-edge paintings. Stunning!
Be sure to watch the videos to see how these work.
Le vestiaire marin
Tuesday, April 7th, 2009The exhibition Les Marins font la Mode: Sailor Chic in Paris at the Musée national de la Marin has a nice online presentation, including the blog on the home page and a selection of le vestiaire marin (ability to read French a strong plus).
I wish all costume exhibits featured dissections:
Discovered via the mysteriously compelling Le Divan Fumoir Bohémien.