Pre-Raphaelite Cartoons

Thanks to Art Magick for letting me post these wonderful Victorian cartoons parodying the art of some artists we may know around here.

Scene at a Hot-Whisky-and-Water House. "Now then, altogether, my piping bullfinches!" Chorus---

A caricature of Waterhouse's 'Circe' taken from an 1891 edition of 'Judy'. 'Judy' was a 19th century satirical magazine, a rival to the better known 'Punch'

A lamentation from the satirical magazine Punch upon reviewing an exhibition at London's Grosvenor Gallery.

From "The G.G.G., or Grosvenor Gallery Guide"

"Once more on our "Gee-Gee," and "yet we are not Hobby!" which might be what the kettle in the fender said to the fire-irons. Now for the G.G. (occasionally) Guy'd. We burn - burn-jones - with excitement to see what that eminent Pagan Aesthetic has to show us. We dash at the Catalogue. We rush at the Busy "B.'s" in the Index. Heavens! From "BALL" to "BYWATER" without a BURNE-JONES. Stay! Is he modestly under "J."? No. JACKLING and JOPSON - I beg their pardons, I should have JOPLING and JACKSON exhaust that portion of the alphabet between them. "What, no JONES! So he died, and she very imprudently," &c., &c.

O where, and O where is my little BURNE-JONES?
O where on earth can he be?
With his tinsel and gold and his sage-green tones,
He's not in this Galleree!

From 'Punch', June 25, 1881


Never fear, Punch found Burne-Jones the following year and came up with another pun:

'Take me, Take my trunk". By E. Burne-Jones, or 'Ty-Burn Jones' for the deadly liveliness of the figures.

Punch, May 20, 1882

Raimon Bundo's Gowns

Thanks to Merle, who sent me info on this amazing designer.

Raimon Bundo is a bridal fashion company, and boy, is their work amazing. Well, most of the work I admire the most seems to be done by the designer, Ivonne Ruiz. According to the website, in slightly awkward English translation:

"They are pioneers in the use of prints on wedding dresses, which they have been doing for several collections, of which we should highlight the one inspired by the Renaissance (Renacer). His designer Ivonne Ruiz insists on illustrating some of her gowns using images of the various pre-Raphaelite painters, thus invoking the spirit of Romeo and Juliet. This group of painters (1848) were great at evoking antiquity by adopting the techniques and styles of the painters who were predecessors of Raphael."

In a recent fashion show, the influence of the Pre-Raphaelites was inarguable. First there is this gown, sent to me by Merle:



It may be hard to see, (click all pictures to enlarge, as always!!) but the bodice features Waterhouse's Windflowers.

But that's not all. The same fashion show featured a gorgeous backdrop of Burne-Jones' Last Sleep of Arthur in Avalon, seen below:


And the above gown also features what looks to me like a print of Rossetti's The Beloved on the bodice:

And this one looks like Rossetti's A Sea Spell:

The runway also featured gorgeous gowns not screened with images:


And elsewhere on the site, one can see other amazing fabric art gowns featuring Botticelli and other artists:

I also loved the gowns more directly inspired by Art Nouveau jewelry (especially since I just saw the exhibit featured in the last entry). These gowns below look like they could be from a Mucha painting directly:




The grand finale, however, is to view the video that plays on this page. Each gown (and jewelry!) that walks down the runway takes my breath away a little bit more, until I'm positively lightheaded from beauty.

Thank you, Merle, for sharing this dose of incredible gorgeousness with us!!

Imperishable Beauty

This past Saturday, two friends and I made a return pilgrimage to the Cincinnati Art Museum for the Imperishable Beauty exhibit of Art Nouveau jewelry. I had wanted to visit this exhibit in Boston in 2008 when we were there for my honeymoon, but it didn't work out. Then the MFA Boston brought the exhibit to me! Cincinnati was the only other location for this amazing collection of exquisitely detailed jewelry.

No photographs were allowed at the Cincinnati museum, but I did catch this photo of a pearled dog collar before I realized:

Can you imagine how a dog collar like that survived to be shared today?

I also found these images from the exhibit on Flickr.



The event also featured a few Mucha posters, which my friends and I enjoyed:

(Note: These posters were in an area of items owned by Cincinnati, so photography was allowed)

But the highlight of the exhibit by far to me was my viewing of my first Morris & Co. / William Morris textile. I was giddy to see his handiwork in person for the first time.


I even posed next to my favorite pattern, Peacock and Dragon. I had no idea the pattern was so HUGE on this one! The stand said that it was made for a wall covering. If only....

Salon Romantique

Recently, I noticed a few of my friends on Facebook joining a group with an intriguing name. This morning, one of the two co-founders of the group sent me a friend request, and I was able to talk to him a little more about the group.

I speak of The Salon Romantique, a group with the manifesto to...

• Redefine art today with an apropos of logic
• Create a new cultural movement in fine art.
• Challenge the rethinking of the romantic period in a cyber realm of thought.
• Bring artists together in a harmonious measure enwtined with a new spirituality of grace and form, music and light.

Or, as Francis Willey summarizes, "I am trying to bring back a new romanticism in art-create culture and grace in a cgi realm."

I'm quite enthusiastic not only about the quality of the work presented, but the concept of a new group of artists rebelling against the status quo, as we all know the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood did. The quality in the group is outstanding, featuring gorgeous art.

The group was co-founded by Francis A Willey and Mark Sink. Some of Francis' beautiful photographic work is seen below.

Host of Empyrean

Ode

A Sigh From Rosebud

The below photograph by Mark Sink still blows me away. I know it isn't a period photo, but part of me still cannot believe it.

Textile Blog's May Morris Article

Thanks to Lady Hawthorne for drawing my attention to this article from the Textile Blog discussing May Morris' contribution to the textile arts.

Coming soon, a post on the Imperishable Beauty exhibit I caught in its next-to-last day at the Cincinnati Art Museum!

A Poem to Burne-Jones

The Golden Age was with us while he stayed:

For the Seven Angels knew him, and their wings

Were stilled for him to paint; the Wizard Kings

Showed him the Orient treasures, which they laid

At the Infant's feet; the Courts of Love obeyed

His incantations; every Myth which brings

Light out of darkness seemed imaginings

Of God, or things that God himself had made.

O Painter of the Golden Age--return!

Earth is less fair without thee. Our sad eyes

Are wearing of a dreamless day--and night,

Duller than darkness, lit by lamps which burn

Only at earthly shrines--while Paradise,

Lost for the second time, slips out of sight.

Found in Five Great Painters of the Victorian Era, opening the section on Edward Burne-Jones. Authorship unknown.

Victorian Trading Co.

The Victorian Trading Co. has offered "Pre-Raphaelite gowns" before, but I believe this style is new? Too much for my budget, but a pretty gown nonetheless.

Give Me Liberty of London

Thanks to Robin for letting me know about this! MAC's new line of cosmetics is called Give Me Liberty of London, named after the famous textile house, and all items in the line feature a charming design...based on William Morris' Strawberry Thief! When the line comes to the U.S., I definitely want to get something...perhaps a makeup bag or a lipstick.

New Year, New You, Old Art

I have a small handful of post ideas brewing for TBN, but sometimes something jumps up to the top of the pile. One of my unspoken (well, not anymore!) New Years Resolutions is to be more bold in my appearance, be willing to be the 20 year-old again who wasn't afraid of anyone's opinion of what she wore. So when I was cataloging magazines today and came across this article in the current Oprah Magazine, I was inspired.

I had a hard time making myself look like Cheryl Tiegs on the cover of Seventeen magazine: Unlike Tiegs, I had flappy ears, chubby cheeks, tiny lips, and virtually no eyelids or eyebrows—all of which made me look more like the Parisian ladies of the evening in a 1930s Brassaï photograph than a California-blonde cover girl.

The gulf between the reality of my looks and the cultural ideal only widened when I began to work in the fashion industry. Early on, I decided to ignore the industry's dictates—so stifling, unattainable, judgmental—and make my own rules. I had long admired women with strong signature looks—Anna Piaggi, Diana Vreeland, Isabella Blow—for whom the fashion world seemed to make an exception. And I found myself reaching far outside the box for role models: to the women in Pre-Raphaelite paintings (those floaty clothes suited my physique far better than jeans and a T-shirt); to silent-movie heroines (their pale complexions were easy for me to replicate); even to Victorian dolls (whose round faces and rosebud mouths reminded me of me).

Inspired, I started experimenting. The copper henna I threw on my head to give my hair a quirky tint was a miracle—coating my limp bob and making it bouncier than I'd ever dreamed possible. And maybe there was nothing to be done for my abbreviated lids, but I could work wonders with my lips, exaggerating them into a dark Kewpie-doll shape that, unlike eyeshadow, suited me to perfection.

People have asked how I get the courage to walk the streets in, say, a shredded Comme des Garçons coat over a tutu, with metallic orange hair. I owe my confidence at least in part to my parents, who were convinced I was the cutest thing on Earth and told me so every single day. (Recently, seeing my reflection at a party, I could almost hear my mom saying, "Lynnie, you look so pretty!")

Though some of my more extreme choices have provoked laughter or incredulity, I also get more compliments than I could have imagined. This may be because I live in New York City, where a certain level of eccentricity is appreciated. But I like to believe that no matter where I lived, people would come to respect—maybe even like! admire!—the steps I've taken to create my own nutty, undeniably unique, and for me, deeply satisfying, look.

Antoon Van Wely

A recent post on a Live Journal group for Art Nouveau made me aware of this artist. In the post, brotherinbeauty writes:

"Arts & Crafts, and the Pre-Raphaelites were the breeding ground of Art Nouveau.
The serene and ethereal look of the women painted by the pre-Raphaelites Dante Gabriel Rossetti or Edward Coley Burne-Jones echoed in the expressions of Art Nouveau women in the next decades. A Dutch painter who was very much influenced by the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was Antoon van Wely. His qualities were international recognized, exept (typical Dutch) in his own country. Here are some examples of his work."

Bluebeard: A Fairy Tale

This past Tuesday, my friend Roger (who plays Bluebeard) and photographer Frank Tuttle and I gathered at the Viking-themed carriage house of photographer Eddval. I thought it would be fun to do a few fairy tale - themed photo shoots, and when I dropped by Sur La Lune for inspiration, I thought of Roger as soon as I saw Bluebeard on the list. So we did these pictures.

One major source of inspiration was the fairy tale tile work of Edward Burne-Jones. And of course the Pre-Raphaelites in general!!

Click here to see the entire fairy tale set of images.