Art and Fashion Museum Exploration, Europe

My priority art and fashion history museum destinations, selected after many hours navigating museum sites online, researching, and reading reviews were:

London

• Victoria and Albert
• National Portrait Gallery London
• Museum of London
• Tate Modern London

Ghent and Bruges - MIAT Museum Ghent
(In these two cities, my primary focus was the visible cultural history, the setting, the historic buildings - I chose to walk and absorb the outdoor scenery, rather than spending time inside.)

Paris

• Musee d'Orsay
• Centre Pompidou National Modern Art Museum
• Versailles: The Queen's Hamlet
• Musee des Arts et Metiers 
• Musee d'art Moderne de la Ville de Paris

At my Toile La La blog, you'll find three posts with details from each destination and lots of photos.  If you select the city links above, you'll be transported to the corresponding Toile La La post. The camera was with me at all times - on the Thames, the canals of Ghent and Bruges, the Seine, in the museums, up the steps of the Notre Dame Cathedral to the rooftop, up the steps of the Ghent and the Bruges belfries, and all through the city streets.  

Centre Pompidou National Modern Art Museum - photo Toile La La 2015

Musee d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris - photo Toile La La 2015

at Musee d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris - photo Toile La La 2015

at Musee d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris - photo Toile La La 2015

Sonia Delaunay at Centre Pompidou National Modern Art Museum - photo Toile La La 2015

at Musee de la Toile de Jouy - photo Toile La La 2015

Gargoyle View, Notre Dame Cathedral Paris - photo Toile La La 2015

view from Notre Dame Cathedral rooftop, Paris - photo Toile La La 2015

the Queen's Hamlet, Versailles - photo Toile La La 2015

at Victoria and Albert, London - photo Toile La La 2015

view from Bruges Belfry - photo Toile La La 2015

Bruges Chocolatier, lovely - Photo Toile La La 2015

Train Station, Belgium - photo Toile La La 2015

view from Ghent Belfry - photo Toile La La 2015

MIAT Museum Ghent, Photo Toile La La 2015

MIAT Museum Ghent - Photo Toile La La 2015

Vestment at St. Bavo's Cathedral, Ghent - Photo Toile La La 2015

Victoria and Albert Museum, London - Photo Toile La La 2015

 

at National Portrait Gallery London - photo Toile La La 2015

Auto Time Travel

79 Chevrolet Corvette

64 Studebaker Avanti

57 Ford Custom 300

35 Plymouth

56 Ford Victoria

84 Ford 302 Mustang GT 350

60 Impala Sport Sedan

60 Impala Sport Sedan with green 68 Ford Fastback

52 Ford Half Ton Truck

68 Ford Fastback

57 Ford Thunderbird Baby Bird Convertible

54 Ford Pickup

56 Chevy Bel Air 350

56 Chevy Bel Air 350

63 Studebaker Avanti

67 Ford 100 Truck

62 Ford Falcon Futura

56 Pontiac Station Wagon 350

56 Pontiac Station Wagon 350

55 Ford Fairlane Club Sedan

55 Ford Fairlane Club Sedan

66 Ford Mustang Coupe 302

40 Ford 2-Door Sedan

40 Ford 2-Door Sedan

54 Pontiac Wagon

54 Pontiac Wagon

41 Chevy Custom Coupe

55 Willis Jeep

72 Jaguar XKE E-Type

46 Chevy Hot Rod

56 Dodge Royal

56 Dodge Royal

59 MG

67 Chevrolet Camaro

49 Chevy Pickup

56 Ford Thunderbird

56 Ford Thunderbird

39 Ford 4-Door Sedan

41 Chevy Custom Coupe

During this quick journey, consider the lines and personalities of the vehicles you pass and realize how cinematic and architectural influences of previous years are evident in the design. Buckle up - and perhaps consider some protective headgear - as you flicker-ricochet-think your way through this rushing river stream-of-consciousness:

Grease, the mods, the British Invasion, 50s sci fi, Marilyn Monroe, pin-up girls, Clark Gable, silver screen Hollywood glamour, Art Deco, Chrysler Building, futurism, jazz age, aeronautics, Star Wars, space travel, rocket age, bullet bra, torpedo, prohibition, Thunder Road, James Dean, denim, rock and roll, Yves Saint Laurent, disco, hard rock, synchronism, orphism, simultaneity, organic form, Frank Lloyd Wright, Le Corbusier, modernism, George Jetson, technicolor film, color field painting, punk, steampunk.

all photos Toile La La
 

Time Travel Suit

time travel suit for Beistegui's rooftop terrace

Intricacies of time travel mastered, Number One, and name on the guest list, Number Two, wouldn't I shine shine shine in this ensemble - suddenly appearing in 1930s Paris.  To see and feel Charles de Beistegui's Champs Elysees rooftop experience - deemed a hodgepodge of "modernism, mechanism, and surrealism" by the great Beaton. My ascent up the white spiral staircase all sparkle and flash,with one press of a button I'd activate the rolling glass wall to access the terrace. Then, on a carpet of grass beneath a ceiling of sky, I would dance dance dance, reflecting and refracting the lights and traffic below - reflected and refracted by the many mirrored surfaces past, present, and futuristic - ooh la la!

If you like the idea of futuristic 1930s, here's one of my earlier posts.
If you like a bit of fiction spotlighting imaginative decor, here's an illustrated quick fiction. 

note: image (clipped, altered and filed in my journal) from Purple Fashion S/S 2016, p.256. Pants - Loewe, skirt - Olympia Le-Tan, top - Marni. Photographer - Casper Sejersen, Stylist - Camille Bidault-Waddington, Model - Heather Kemesky.

The Glass of Fashion

Cecil Beaton's The Glass of Fashion allows a long look into some of the most fashionable lives.  There's Gabrielle Ray - a "small work of art" whose macquillage takes a cue from Pointillism's dots of color and whose self-presentation is as studied as the selfie. There's Madame Eugenia Huici Errazuriz, constantly transforming her surroundings into a work of art - deeming a house dead if it does not alter. "Elegance means elimination," says Madame E, as she - with sleight-of-hand magic presents a ladder and coat hangers, painted grey, into objets d'art points of interest. Shielding her eyes from the appearance of clutter, Errazuriz presents her photographs, knick knacks, and bric-a-brac mounted within the drawers of a cupboard. And wouldn't you like to accompany Beaton to Charles de Beistegui's Champs Elysees rooftop terrace - a hodgepodge of "modernism, mechanism, and surrealism". Let's go there now, to that terrace. Up the white spiral staircase. Now press the button to activate the glass wall, which rolls away to reveal a view of the lights and traffic below - reflected and refracted by many mirrored surfaces past, present, and futuristic - Napoleonic and Louis XV furniture painted white under the open sky - on a carpet of grass!

Odd to think these personalities and their places occurred close to a century ago! Perhaps not so odd, considering Beaton's observation:

Literature, parties, pastimes, flowers, scent, clothing, decor - all, says Beaton - "reflect the same continuum of change that rides through any given age and are, indeed, related in the sense that they often express, in their different media, the tone of an epoch." He continues - "It seems obvious that changes in fashion correspond with the subtle and hidden network of forces that operate on society - political, economic, and psychological factors all play their part. In this sense fashion is a symbol.... In art as in fashion, new styles or forms seem only a ceaseless and urgent search for some ultimate form of expression."

Women Artists, Early Twentieth Century.

Women peer from a photo of Matisse's 1909 Les Invalides Paris studio.  It seems a rarity to find a photograph of women of that era present as artists in the studio.

Women among Matisse's students - early twentieth century.

I gratefully found this photo among the pages of Gilles Neret's comprehensive and excellent book - Matisse - Konecky and Konecky 1993, p. 263.

Silence in the Noise: Mail Art.

Beneath a vintage dryer bonnet, this lady - in search of pretty looks - appears to be in a zone of quietude. The moment I found this in my mail, I knew it was one of my favorites!  E, the mailer, was unaware of the memories her mail art would evoke.  Memories of:

• hours of my own beneath these humming bonnets - reading and awaiting transformation
• the look of my mother and grandmother and many other women beneath the bonnet
• my grandmother in this exact type of house/salon dress
• that exact relaxed look - beatific - on the face of anyone beneath these humming, warm-air-blowing bonnets 

As loud as they were - and maybe still are - a bit of heaven can be found beneath these dryer bonnets, in the same way that the come and go of waves can lull you to sleep at the beach.

Around the pasted image of this lady sitting primly beneath her bonnet, E used rubber stamps to create a scalloped pattern on the brown paper envelope. And around her head, E affixed "thoughts" and images.  E added color to the black and white image... I especially love the thick 60s eyelashes and the delicate colors she chose! But I wanted to free this lady from her thoughts and give her the peace so many women have found beneath the bonnet.  

It took a bit of work, as E's mail art was of course a real envelope.  Opening it in a hurry to get to the written contents, I tore the edge unevenly.  To fix this, I separated the front and back of the envelope - using parts of the paper to repair the torn edge.  E's stamps are always the greatest, vintage and/or interesting graphics, so I saved those.  Then - to create an atmosphere of tranquility around the seated lady, it was necessary to paint over the thoughts E had given her.  E's stamped scallops reminded me of clouds, so I painted white all around the lady under the bonnet. 

And finally, to firmly attach the added layers of paper, I machine-stitched a few lines.  And now, the mail art - mailed from E to me - is ready for a place on the wall of my studio... to remind me to take a moment to relax from time to time.  Thank You E.