Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Ornamentation madness






Segaud, Armand -- Artist
Pluviôse : les poissons.
From Album de la Décoration. (Paris : Librairie des Arts Decoratifs,) Calavas, A., editor.

Art Nouveau door design
Kühnel, Richard -- Artist
Moderne Wanddekoration mit Kunstverglasungen (1889-1928)

Persian rug
From Das polychrome Ornament : hundert Tafeln, Gold-, Silber- und Farben-Druck . . . antike und orientalische Kunst : Mittelalter Renaissance, XVII und XVIII Jahrhundert : eine historische und praktische sammlung. (Stuttgart : Paul Neff, 1874.) Racinet, A. (Auguste) (1825-1893), author.

All at NYPL Digital gallery.

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

NYPL Digital again




Grüner, Ludwig, 1801-1882 -- Artist
Part of an ancient pilaster in the Villa Medici at Rome.
The French bean and the convolvolus from nature.

In: Specimens of ornamental art, selected from the best models of the classical epochs. (created 1850)

Studies in Design (1876)




More NYPL madness!


The NYPL Digital library continues to amaze. There are so many scans of ornamentation. This one looks absolutely three-dimensional.

Friday, November 24, 2006

Rockin



Just rediscovered this artist - "Let's go, let's go, let's go" (aka There's a Thrill on Hill), "Finger-Popping Time", "The Switcheroo", "Work With Me Annie."

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Dick Tracy


There was an article about surreal 1930s comic strips...where was it? I have to find it.

French Illuminated Manuscript



Here's a more colorful one.

Monday, November 20, 2006



Beautiful French illuminated manuscript images, hi-res, are at this site: http://www.moyenageenlumiere.com/. Most are more colorful than this, I just liked this one.

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Earlysound podcast


Just discovered this podcast on www.podcast.net. It's all early music, hosted by a genial British guy with what I think is a cockney accent. Check it out if you like music of the medieval, renaissance and early baroque.

The Age of Innocence


ntf
Originally uploaded by vidalia_11.

I'm listening to this as an audiobook read by Brenda Dayne. It is a wonderful book by Edith Wharton. Beautifully written, sad, moving, emotional. Highly recommended. The movie is also excellent.

This audiobook is available as a podcast and on this website: http://brendadayne.blogspot.com/.

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Henry Morton Stanley



I listened to an audiobook, Into Africa by Martin Dugard. First time I ever heard the real story of Stanley finding David Livingstone in central Africa. Livingstone was searching for the source of the Nile. He wouldn't leave Africa and died there. Stanley later returned to Africa and did a lot of exploration. [okay, it's more complicated than that.] This opens up a new area of interest for me. The explorers of Africa, South America, and South Pacific faced incredible dangers and illnesses. What made them go to these places and then conquer them?