
Modernism is a term the art and design community of our contemporary western world has adopted to describe a diverse range of architectural and interior decorative styles, as well as applied and graphic arts created between approximately 1880 and 1940 on an international scale.

Monet’s garden at Giverny, renowned for the divine flowers that herald the arrival of each season, will be on show at The New York Botanical Garden from May 19, 2012

On May 20 at Sydney Mossgreen Auctions will offer for sale a collection from Thomas Hamel Interiors and Martyn Cook Antiques of art antiques and decorative arts

What is an Antique? An antique is something made in a previous era. However, according to antique dealers, their associations and the tax man, it is not really that simple at all.

Claude Monet (1840 – 1926) celebrated the real art of gardening in the creation of his now world famous garden at Giverney, in Normandy. Monet’s painting of Spring at Giverny (1886) is a vision of the village clothed in the softest pinks. It is a first impression of a region full of magic light and charm the country that seduced and held him captive for the rest of his natural life.

It would be safe to say we have today gained an impression that a garden is a timeless expression of man’s relationship with nature. Just as our world is constantly changing to accommodate man’s overpopulation of it, so must our minds remain open to new ways of exploring how that relationship can, and will continue.

The art of the Impressionists became popular because people from all walks of life, nationalities and cultures understood that its message was all about celebrating life

Growing beds of flowers is part of the delights of gardening and only one aspect of an ever evolving story that satisfies the human spirit to a profound degree.

The exhibition The Horse from Arabia to Royal Ascot at the British Museum starting on May 24th is sure to attract great crowds. It is FREE to the public, who historically owes a great debt to this most noble of animals.

The tomb of Pharaoh Psusennes 1 is one of the most underrated discoveries in the scheme of things at Egypt, at least in regard to its jewellery and objects.

Throughout his life Thomas Jefferson was continually putting his house Monticello up or pushing it down as his knowledge and experience of life and architecture expanded.

Wine was made before history was recorded. For thousands of years it has given comfort, pleasure and evoked high spirits among man people in many different countries and cultures.

The agricultural depression of the late nineteenth century removed land as the chief source of wealth in England. By 1901 money to pay for a country house had to be made in urban centres of trade or, in the countries that made up the British Empire. Building a house in the country made to appear as old and as venerable as the countryside itself was the ideal. Stylistically they looked back to the English vernacular tradition, which had been modified in response to the differing requirements of affluent clients. In this creative climate of possibilities architect Edwin Lutyens (1869-1944) and gardener Gertrude Jekyll (1843-1932) became names well known.

Josiah Wedgwood was a trend setting potter, manufacturing innovator and marketing genius. He fulfilled the dream, going from being an apprentice tradesman in a tough industry, to becoming a world famous tycoon. He built a business empire, founded a famous family dynasty and gained for himself a favourable reputation against all the odds and in harsh and physically demanding conditions.

The Bodleian Libraries at Oxford are safeguarding and showcasing outstanding texts and ephemera so we can all enjoy the benefits of 21st century enlightenment

Eugene von Guérard: Nature Revealed currently on show at the National Gallery of Australia is a traveling exhibition of works by arguably Australia, and certainly Victoria’s most important colonial landscape painter