Since the beginning of civilization humans have sought to adorn and decorate themselves, and the Chinese were no exception. Inspired by the beauty and variety of the birds and animals around them they sought, from the very earliest times to emulate these seemingly perfect creatures by first adorning themselves with their pelts and plumes. Then with increasing sophistication to embellish the clothes and accessories they wore, finally establishing by the time of the Qing dynasty (1644-1911) a highly-stylised and visible social and political hierarchy. This was based upon their perception of the intrinsic characteristics of these creatures and famously epitomized by the bird and animal rank badges of that era.

Unsurprisingly perhaps, headgear and hairstyles evolved in the most spectacular manner, and the crests and head plumes of the birds the Chinese encountered provided inspiration over the centuries for an astonishing variety of hats, crowns, tiaras, hairstyles and hair ornaments. Drawn by their iridescent beauty, many races and peoples have used feathers as adornment or accessory, and the earliest humans, including the Chinese, probably initially sought to decorate themselves using entire feathers from the bird; we are all familiar with pictures of races right up until modern times such as the Papua New Guinean tribes, which continue to do so.

It is only the Chinese however who evolved beyond this to discover a way to incorporate the colour and sheen, which they so admired in the beautiful feathers, into something far more wearable, sophisticated and elegant (Hartman, R., 1980, p80). The most highly-prized of all as seen in the short poem above were the flashing iridescent turquoise and blue feathers of the little halcyon, or kingfisher bird, at that stage plentiful in China and in fact, in most of Asia. As can be deduced from the date of Ch’en Tzu-ang’s poem, the use of kingfisher feathers appears well-established at that stage and they were clearly already highly valued as much, if not more, than gold.

Excavations of T’ang dynasty (A.D. 618-906) tombs have revealed tiny kingfisher jewellery pieces which were probably used more in the manner of gems or decorative items, and there are descriptions of a dying king from the Han dynasty (206 B.C.-A.D. 220) detailing his private chamber in which there were “kingfisher hangings on jasper hooks” and “bedspreads of kingfisher all seeded with pearls”(Hartman, R., 1980, p76), apparently from the manner of their description not necessarily unusual objects for the time.

Beverley Jackson in her extensive book on the subject of the use of kingfisher feathers recounts a marvelous episode where the indefatigable English author Oswald Sitwell is musing upon the glory that was Angkor Wat, and concludes, somewhat amazed, that such glories in a country with few resources such as ancient Cambodia must have been provided by one thing only – the enormous trade in kingfisher feathers for the insatiable Chinese market (Jackson, B., 2001, p5). This rather startling observation provides some insight into the ubiquity and popularity of the exquisite objects, and certainly no museum collection of Chinese dress is without at least one or two examples of this art

Indeed kingfisher feathers were employed with dazzling effect in a large variety of items for personal adornment including not only hair ornaments but crowns, wedding head-dresses, bracelets, nail guards, brooches, earrings, pendants and occasionally even larger objets d’art such as screens and tableaux. Although it is evident that kingfisher decorative items had existed for many centuries, they were at their most spectacular when used to decorate women’s hair ornaments, and this was an art form whose artistic culmination was reached in the Qing dynasty when the Manchus took control of Imperial power.

Although they sought to enforce Manchu customs and language from the beginning of their reign in 1644, by the time of the Qianlong Emperor (c 1736-95) the ruling Manchus were increasingly concerned that not only were the ethnic Han Chinese continuing with their own style of dress, they were also influencing Manchu style. Subsequently in 1759, the “Illustrated Precedents for the Ritual Paraphernalia of the Court” (Huangchao liqi tushi) was published, ostensibly in an effort to unify the country but in reality of course to control and impose their rule upon the Han(Garrett, V., p10). Under this system, clothing was divided into official and non-official wear, seasonal wear, styles, and colours, all based on rank. As women held no official role in the court (other than occasionally acting as regent, most notably the Empress Dowager Cixi) their rank was determined by their husband’s⁴.

Subsequently their dress, hairstyles and even their hair ornaments were very formalised so combined with the immense wealth and leisure time these women enjoyed, the art of dressing the hair and ornamenting the subsequent confection reached new heights – literally in the case of Manchu women, who sought to develop increasingly towering styles. Combined with her extra physical height, floor-length robes and 4-6” platform shoes, the Manchu court female was an imposing figure, and made the shorter-statured, bound-footed Han Chinese woman look girlish and doll-like by comparison(Johnson, B., 2001, p61).

Naturally in this era no woman of rank or wealth, Manchu or Han, did her own hair; in the case of the Manchu woman if a hat was not being worn for an official occasion, the preparations for this coiffure could take some hours, especially with the higher ranking princesses and empresses of the court(Princess Der Ling, 1911, p67). In order to keep the elaborate structure in place, a gel-like substance was used called pao bua, derived from soaking fine wood-shavings from a special tree in hot water until a sticky jelly was obtained. This was then combed through the hair which was then styled. In the case of Han women, unless their husband was a mandarin at the Imperial court this style would have simply been in the fashion of the day, often a simple coil or two braids at the nape of the neck; very few ornaments were used, often just fresh flowers or a couple of small pins.

In the case of Manchu women however it was a much more complex process and the gelled and combed hair was then wound around elaborate frames made of horsehair; according to the dictates of her rank a number of different types of styling followed, the best known of which is the liangpa tou “two handle ends” seen in many portraits of the day including the Empress Dowager. Against this towering backdrop (further augmented in the late Qing by a similar structure made of black satin), numerous beautiful objects such as sheng (combs), zan (hair slides), chai (hair pins) and buyao (hair ornaments) could be displayed, along with fresh and artificial flowers, pompoms and tassels (Garrett, V, 1997, p76, Hartman, R, 1980, p90, Jackson, B, 2001, pp61-63)

The hair ornaments themselves could be functional or decorative, serving to either help hold the hair in place in the case of the very large hair slide known as bianfang which essentially supported the two side buns and was often decorated on one side with a large hanging tassel which swung as the wearer walked, or in the case of smaller pins and ornaments be displayed entirely for their beauty and workmanship. The variety of materials used along with the kingfisher feathers included gold or silver (depending on wealth and rank), pearls, precious and semi-precious stones notably unfaceted rubies and sapphires, tourmalines and carnelians, the highly-valued Peking glass, coral, jade or jadeite, mother of pearl, and sometimes in the case of dangling hair ornaments (liusu) brass figures such as fish.

The ornaments themselves came in a huge variety of shapes including birds, animals, insects, flowers and other plant life including fruit and gourds, children or small figures, auspicious symbols including the shou “long life” and shuangxi “double happiness” symbols, shapes such as the Eight Precious Objects and even in the case of larger crowns and tiaras, small still life scenes depicting court life or famous scenes, however the most popular themes were butterflies, bats, dragonflies, grasshoppers, fish and gourds(Garrett, V, p19-35, Hartman, R, 1980, pp76-80, Jackson, B, 2001, p97) The reason for these choices was several-fold, for apart from their intrinsic charm and beauty these motifs held another type of significance. The Chinese language is rich with homophones, words that sound like one another but have different meanings, with the result that saying one thing can evoke something entirely different, sometimes humorous or for the superstitious Chinese, auspicious.

Well-known examples of this include “happiness” fu and “bat” bianfu, “prosperity” yu and “fish” yu, or interesting combinations such as “butterfly” and “gourd” guadie mianmian creating a rebus meaning “offspring for eternity”. Other motifs had their own inherent meanings, such as peaches and pomegranates (fertility), paired ducks (marital happiness) cranes (immortality) and lingzhi mushrooms (longevity). Because of this there resulted a strong visual vocabulary, almost a type of ‘visual shorthand’, so that the use of certain animals, insects or symbols would result in a piece that was not only able to be admired for its exquisite workmanship, but also had great meaning for the wearer and all those around her and usually connoted her wish for a happy and fulfilled life, preferably with many sons (Hartman, R, 1980, pp76-80).

It can be understood in the light of this that the Chinese of this era wore jewellery for different reasons to us today, usually more for aesthetic reasons or the enjoyment of the wearer, or as a practical means of storing their assets, rather than actually showing off wealth. In addition, the choice of background metal was again stipulated by formal decree, and gold was generally only permitted for ornaments for the ladies of the Imperial court or the very wealthy.

Whatever the metal it was wrought into an astonishing variety of shapes, often three-dimensional, and was frequently worked as filigree; quite frequently design elements such as stems, branches and leaves were fashioned with a springy copper ball so that they trembled when the wearer moved or walked, adding to the charm and beauty of the final picture(Jackson, B, 2001, p85).

While it is certainly acknowledged that the art of working with kingfisher feathers is one of China’s traditional handcrafts (Yuan, H, 2006, p97), the actual construction of the pieces themselves has been the subject of some conjecture. What is known is that thin sheets of gold or silver were formed into the desired shape with the appropriate ridges in the design being fashioned with a tiny hammer and a surrounding lip then being attached, much in the fashion of cloisonné(Hartmann, R, 1980, p76). The pieces of feather were then painstakingly laid in place and then affixed with adhesive or glue.

The method of fixation may have been variable depending on the way the piece was constructed and has been variously describedas eithercovering the entire finished product with a glue-like substance(Jackson, B, 2001, p53-54) or affixing each piece individually, as in a fascinating eye-witness account of the timedescribing how individual feather filaments were dredged through the glue before being laid flat upon the metal surface(Jackson, B, 2001, p50) What is agreed upon is that the glue must be invisible, and not discolour the feathers at all.

The exact composition of this glue is not precisely known although it was most likely a combination of adhesives derived from both animal (hide) and plant (seaweed) sourceswhich would have been plentiful and readily available at the time. The feathers themselves also appear to have been used in a couple of different ways to create the jewellery. One technique, by far the slowest and most painstaking and most likely that used for the Court jewellery, involved the method described above whereby individual feather filaments were laboriously attached side by side until the piece was covered and a solid lacquer-like effect was achieved.

Alternately and possibly as demand for these objects grew, a different and no doubt slightly more efficient technique was employed with larger sections of actual feather being attached. This may also have been used for larger pieces. What is certain is that with the inevitable intermingling of the ruling Manchus and the Han Chinese women, demand for these pieces grew as every women in China wanted one of these covetable and fashionable items. In addition the increasing influx of Western visitors combined with the aesthetic of the Art Nouveau movement in Europe made these pieces desirous beyond Chinese shores, and demand eventually outstripped supply with the eventual hunting to extinction of the little kingfisher bird in China.

Fashions then changed and with the advent of the sweeping social changes that were to befall China, this art, like so many others, was lost. The last factory producing these items commercially closed in Canton in 1930(Hartman, R, 1980, p78), and although reproduction items are still produced in China and the Philippines today, the items are generally inferior and do not use genuine kingfisher feathersbut rather dyed feathers from other birds(Jackson, B, 2001, p53).

What is so remarkable then is that the appreciation of, and delight in these beautiful little objects endures in both China and the West, and even in such a changed world as ours the fact that we can still admire and desire these little gems, and the very fact that so many pieces of this extraordinary art form still survive today is a tribute to both the skill of the artisans and the timeless beauty of the pieces themselves.

Guest Author: © Dr Sheena Burnell Shanghai 2009 – 2012 **Ch’en Tzu-ang (661-702)

Translation by Paul W. Kroll Dr Sheena Burnell is an anaesthetist currently living in the East. She began collecting Chinese objet d’art and Japanese ukiyoe (wood block prints) in the 1980s. Her shift in focus to Chinese dress accessories dates from her first visits to Hong Kong in the early ‘90s. This led to an expanding interest in women’s and children’s dress accessories in general and more recently kingfisher hair ornaments. Sheena appeared on the Australian ABC program ‘Collectors’ in 2007, with her collection of bound feet shoes and related objects.

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Roman fresco with banquet scene from the Casa dei Casti Amanti (IX 12, 6-8) in Pompeii

In western society we are inheritors of a legacy from Ancient Greece and Rome that despite the passing of over 2500 years is still potent. Through their ideas the desire to capture the essence of fine living was born. Today that art of living has evolved since the development of the domus in European antiquity to a residence in America and Australia, through a diverse and special mix of peoples and their cultures.

Ancient Greek gastronomy developed out of a practice of sacrificing domestic animals to a variety of gods. Afterwards, as one would expect in a democracy, the carcasses were equally proportioned and sold at market. During the fifth century before the Christ event herbs, spices and honey were added to heighten taste.

As documented in the literature of this period, cookery was considered a very important skill, because the Greeks understood it to be one of the basic arts that sustained human life. Romans of the first century embraced Greek ideas and art forms with great passion. Roman orator Cicero [106 BC -43 BC] believed that ‘to style the presence of guests at a dinner table’ lay at the heart of Roman civilised life ‘because it implied a community of enjoyment, a convivium, or ‘living together’.

Reconstruction of the Octagonal Room - Emperor Nero's Domus Aurea

Following the decline of the Republic and ascent of the Empirical system at Rome a shared meal became a vehicle for display, ostentation, rank, hierarchy and for flattering and influencing people, in a setting they could exercise the art of conversation. Roman Emperor Nero (37-68) enjoyed fine living with great gusto. When he entered his just completed residence, the Domus Aurea (or Golden House, built in 64 AD, he is said to have proclaimed, as he gazed upon its many splendours, words to the effect, ‘now at last I can live as a human being’.

Author of a first century best seller Satyricon, Gaius Petronius (27-66 A.D.), was Nero’s advisor in all matters of luxury and extravagance (his unofficial title was arbiter elegantia). He described guests arriving at a banquet as being requested to remove their shoes at the door, have their hands washed in iced water, no mean feat prior to refrigeration, while their toenails were trimmed to the sounds of a chorus singing. Perhaps today we may consider the last just a little excessive.

We do know that Nero’s guests reclined, along with their host, on couches enjoying conversation and cuisine prepared by chefs, who achieved some fame. His vast banqueting hall revolved in harmony with the rhythms of day and night, the ceiling opening to reveal the heavens as perfume and gifts showered onto guests.

The advent of Christianity created a challenge for those at the top because by now there was a well-established tradition of fine living throughout the Roman world.

The Apostle Paul struggled to attend gatherings where rich men and their friends were served different food and drink to those of a ‘lower status’. It was a dilemma he felt he could not resolve so in the end he decided the wealthy had better eat privately.

Paul advised the Corinthians [1 Corinthians 8: 9, 10] when asked should they eat meat sacrificed to idols by suggesting they should be careful about exercising freedom of choice in case it became a ‘stumbling block to the weak’. And, that if what he ate caused his brothers to fall into sin then for his part, he would never eat meat again. Powerful words with a meditative deep inner meaning that reflect Paul’s strength of mind and purpose.

There is a huge gap of reliable documentation from the fall of the Roman Empire in the fourth century, when the demise of eating in a reclining position also came about, until about the fourteenth century in Europe. Communal living by Christian monks and nuns meant communal eating, often to strict rules of silence, with an aim of feeding the soul.

Prolonged periods of peace also meant the aristocracy gentry and merchants could establish great houses in the countryside and along with it invented the concept of ‘eating outdoors’ or, having picnics, which became something new and exciting as described by fourteenth century French nobleman Gaston Phoebus Gaston III of Foix and Gaston X of Béarn (1343-1391).

He summarized his life’s achievements: “I have delighted all my days in three things. The one is arms, the next is love, and the other is hunting.” He added, “There have been far better masters of the two former than I am.” Such humility, is definitely to be applauded.

For Kings and noblemen of the fourteenth century hunting was so much more than just a sport. It was a game of chance in which the thrill of the chase was far more important than the desire to put food on the table.

An artful aristocratic diversion, the hunt ended with man proving he held power and sway over the animal kingdom. A complex event involving strategizing for success with highly valued, well trained dogs and fighting fit falcons hunts were often held on religious days.

They started with a feast for breakfast, as well as an analysis of the droppings of the potential prey to ensure it was both fit and worthy to be hunted at all. Then the hunt was on. The glorious day ended with everyone joining together in a celebratory meal and fittingly Phoebus himself died, as he should, during a bear hunt.

Fifteenth century Florentine author and philosopher Marsilio Ficino 1433 – 1499 revealed his thoughts about a meal that it ‘embraces all the parts of man, for it restores the limbs, renews the humours, revives the mind, refreshes the senses and sustains and sharpens reason’.

Throughout the fifteenth century in Italy dining at table was strongly symbolic of a good society one in which strong social relationships were forged, ideas exchanged and mutual respect established.

In England by the sixteenth century the head of a powerful household sat at the head of his table facing a fanciful portal crowned with trumpeters who heralded the exact moment the food, led by the marshal of the hall carrying a white staff appeared.

At the grandest banquets, a household officer on horseback emerged from underneath a screen that protected guests from draughts from the doorway and rode into the hall to announce that dinner was served. What fun.

At Hatfield House, home of the famous Cecil family, the ornately carved screen was crowned with the Cecil crest and family motto Sero Sed Serio “late, but in earnest’, surely one of the best mottos of all time.

Its painted decoration and a great panoply of decorative devices had been plundered from Turkish rugs and old Medieval manuscripts imposing a visual richness.

If a house during the Tudor period in England, included a Long Gallery hung with portraits of the family, famous patrons or friends it was the mark of a settled and civilized house; an Elizabethan magnate could contemplate their character or otherwise be inspired by their virtues. Owning such a house became important to practicing the art of fine living.

By the beginning of the seventeenth century the French court changed its philosophy from an ideal based on chivalry to one of refined manners.

The most influential teacher of architects in France during this period was Germain Boffrand. He revealed ‘the character of the master of a house…can be judged by the manner in which it is arranged, decorated and furnished’.

By now the art of fine living embraced a well-planned sophisticated garden as well. At Vaux le Vicomte Louis La Vau 1612-70 [architecture] Charles Le Brun 1619-90 [interiors] and Andre Le Notre 1613-1700 [gardens] spent five years building a chateau designed by the three for the glory of one, their patron and illustrious client the Minister for Finances, Nicolas Foucquet. It is at his Chateau, Vaux le Vicomte, that the French classical style was born.

Le Vau, Le Brun and Le Notre created this extraordinary ‘palace of the sun’ as described by the ancient Latin poet, Ovid for his patron, Apollo, The Sun King.

Here at last was the perfect place for a man of substance and his family to dwell; large, imposing, but not huge; with painted wood panelling, colourful carpets, painted illusionary ceilings, carved and gilded furniture, fabulous ceramics, superb textiles all made for the most splendid of man-made environments.  I know that when I visited to view its splendours I could have easily moved straight in. It was not over ambitious, but comfortable, cleverly disposed and in keeping with its times.

At Vaux le Vicomte Foucquet practiced the art of fine living well, eating his meat from a service that included a new fancy fangled invention called the fork, without fearing the accusation of depravity still associated with that practice only a few years earlier.

The publisher Charles de Sercy described Vaux’s gardens in 1652 as the place where ‘Foucquet made art and nature engage in a pleasant contest’. The genius of Le Notre lay not only in his invention of a new style, but in his absolute mastery of a repertoire widely used, at least in its many parts.

It was bringing them together in a controlled harmonious form that was not only pleasing but also a perfect place in which to practice the art of seduction.

Vaux was built for the enjoyment of the countryside while not giving up the pleasures of the city…something England did not emulate at this time as they concentrated on building country houses for sport and display, rather than as a place to practice the art of conversation.

The Baroque style from Vaux le Vicomte became a potent force that influenced the whole of the western world when guided by Louis XIV, he began expanding his father’s hunting lodge nearby the village of Versailles using the combined talents of Le Vau, Le Brun and Le Notre.

The Kings of France lived in the chateau of Versailles, which became a centre for political life from 1682 until 1789. It is today an amazing place to visit with its some 2,300 rooms and over 60 staircases. In its day it cost the equivalent price of what we would pay now for a modern city airport. It was an object of universal admiration in its time, enhancing French prestige on the world stage.

France’s appearance and way of life changed forever during the reign of Louis XIV the Sun King. Many great towns throughout France underwent metamorphosis and the landscape altered forever as Louis XIV devoted himself energetically to all his building projects. Today little remains of his other splendid palaces at Saint-Germain and Marly?

Well cursed as an extravagance when it was under construction, and accused of having ruined the nation at the time of the revolution, the chateau at Versailles stands today as a monument to French achievement and the many milestones reached in its historical and cultural journey.

Over the years since it was finished the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles has reflected many great moments in the history of the world. At the time Colbert, Louis’ 1^st Minister and master of ceremonies used it to launch the Royal Mirror Company. Its success gave considerable momentum to the glazing industry in France and increasingly the public became aware of the decor possibilities of a mirror. They enhanced the art of living well.

Despite all of the work Louis was to complete at Versailles it was always called le Chateau, (which means Gentleman’s seat) never le Palais, remaining the home of a young man, grand without being pompous, full of light, air and cheerfulness just like a large country house.

According to the Oxford Dictionary the term enlightenment means to be free of prejudice, ignorance or superstition. Grand Tourists of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in Europe were busy discovering the ruins at Rome and an expansion of knowledge revealed that ancient artists and writers had been accustomed to free expression, with religion and honour paramount to society’s daily existence.

This revelation affected the social and moral values of many European societies who were travelling in ever increasing circles in ‘search of the truth’. They began striving for aesthetic perfection wanting to emulate a new ideal; classical perfection.

As a result small temples in a landscape became focal points for those wanting a place of ease and repose.

By the turn of the nineteenth interiors as described by Jane Austen in her novels, presented an image of a sublime world. China, glassware and silverware displayed the family coat of arms proving to those who sat at table with you that your lineage was not only important, but also could be traced to ancient (the inference was more important) times.

Simple white starched linens with drawn thread work were surmounted by elegant vases made of glass, filled with fresh flowers picked from the garden loosely, but consciously arranged and placed on great tables. These were made from the new rage timber, mahogany with their elegantly fluted legs inspired by the columns from a Greek classical temple.

Women’s dresses emulated Greek statuary although some, endeavouring to appear like the goddesses on Greek temples by wetting their dresses, succumbed to pneumonia… because by now death was preferable to not being seen as part of a fashionable scene involved in the art of fine living.

William Morris (1834-1896) self-professed leader of the modern movement said ‘If I were asked to say what is at once the most important product of Art, and the thing most to be longed for, I should answer, a beautiful House’.

Building a house in the country made to appear as old and as venerable as the countryside itself, was what everyone was striving for. If you couldn’t build one you clamoured to be acquainted with those who owned a wonderful old pile. The aim was to affect an invitation to join a country house weekend where the art of pleasure was a very serious business and the art of fine living practiced with confidence and style.

‘Life without industry is guilt, and industry without art is brutality’ said English author and art critic John Ruskin 1819 – 1900. He resented social injustice and the squalor that was a direct result of the ‘greed is good’ mentality that accompanied the unbridled capitalism of the Industrial Revolution. His influence on the next generation of artists and craftsmen who led the way toward establishing Le Style Moderne was to be profound.

The agricultural depression of the late nineteenth century removed land as the chief source of wealth in England and by 1901 the money to pay for a country house had to be made in urban centres of trade or, somewhere else in the Empire, like Australia, where the English style and way of life had been transported. World War 1 marked a great divide in the age of the moderns bringing artists face to face with an alternative; either a clean sweep or hope of a reformed society, or alternatively the retention of a privileged art in the service of an elite and moneyed class.

After WWII a focus on art and design coming together again was rejuvenated. At Sydney, the unofficial capital of Australia, a quiet revolution in the art of living well has meant that its interior designers have finally come into their own. Stunning textiles instead of paintings are appearing on the very best walls. Smart eye-catching antique carpets are teaming brilliantly with wide plank nailed timber floors.

Despite the GFC, storm and tempest, floods and fire most owners remain optimistic. Good old Petronius, with his eye for detail and best in life, would have loved the whole concept of a one stop shop and having access to a fabulous design resource like Residence Australia.

During the last decade those who have set the scene for an art of fine living have reinterpreted late nineteenth century European Modernism with great enthusiasm, making it appear all brand new.

Great interiors today are innovative, convenient, comfortable, aesthetically pleasing, technology savvy and above all energy efficient. Sustainability, recycling and quiet elegance have become hallmarks of an interior that will both inspire and nurture its occupants, so that they can enjoy an art of living well.

Carolyn McDowall, ©The Culture Concept Circle 2011, 2012

*Quote by Aristotle (384 – 322 BC)

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Gustave Klimt, leading artist of the Vienna Secession - Judith 1901 Oil on Canvas

The industrial revolution of the nineteenth century as it progressed rapidly changed the face of the western world. By the beginning of the twentieth century in Europe, England and America immense wealth generated a youthful society, one who had very different priorities and objectives than their parents or grandparents. They were clamouring for the best that life could offer. Their aspirations and expectations were different, their views less dogmatic, manners much smoother, prose lighter and morals and codes of conduct easier. At the time England was indisputably the greatest and richest nation in the world with no rivals seriously threatening its trade and industry. The upper and middle classes were enjoying supremacy.

Life without industry is guilt, and industry without art is brutality author and art critic John Ruskin 1819 – 1900 declared. A moral guide or prophet, if you like during the latter years of the nineteenth century in England Ruskin resented social injustice and the squalor that was a direct result of the ‘greed is good’ mentality that accompanied the unbridled capitalism brought about by the Industrial Revolution. His influence was profound on his both his contemporary colleagues and the next generation of artists and craftsmen. They would lead the way towards establishing Le Style Moderne.

Window from Hill House by Charles Rennie Mackintosh

Vienna’s art world in the latter years of the nineteenth century, finally accepted the leadership role of the United Kingdom. in the world of innovation and design. Arts and Crafts leader William Morris and Scottish creative Charles Rennie Mackintosh fought to combat goods produced by machines by championing hand manufacturing. Charles Rennie Mackintosh cultivated a rigorous formal economy of design, which appealed to members of the newly established Viennese Secession.

They were a group of primarily young artists, painters, sculptors and architects in Vienna who seceded from the prestigious Kunsterhaus (Artists House) to set up a Society of Austrian Artists – the Vienna Secession. in I897. It included painted and illustrator Gustav Klimt. His brilliant individualism would dominate the era and his paintings set a stylistic tone that would resonate in far off places. His paintings lining the grand ascending staircase of Vienna’s Kunsthistorisches Museum reveal his movement towardthe hallmarks of a style that would become known as Art Nouveau.

The Secession staged their first exhibition in March 1898. Their aims were purely aesthetic and founded in Coffeehouse culture and the decorative arts magazine The Studio, which was devoured in all the capital’s stylish cafes.

Detail of the Secession building in Vienna, constructed by Joseph Maria Olbrich. It is one of the best known examples of Secessionist style of modern architecture.

Members of the Secession Otto Wagner, Josef Hoffman and Josef Maria Olbrich were so impressed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s austere aesthetic they invited him to come to Vienna and exhibit at the eighth Vienna Secession exhibition, which he did to critical acclaim.  Secession artists by their very nature were all fierce individuals striving to create a new style, one that would inform and help to imagine the future.

Vienna was struggling to leave behind its reputation for conservatism and the impact of the repressive political climate of their immediate past. Its citizens eagerly sought to embrace contemporary ideas and change under the influence and leadership of its artists, intellectuals and scientists.

Josef Hoffman in 1905-11 designed the Palais Stoclet in Brussels for Belgian industrialist Alfred Stoclet. It was a Villa built for a private financier who ‘wanted a large house, he loved the arts and gave us an entirely free hand’ said Hoffman.

It has been described as a universal, complete, flawless masterpiece of a thousand years of architectural history.

Gustav Klimt and Josef Hoffman combine to produce the design and style of the Palais Stoclet's Dining Room

Modernism demanded a distinction between interior architecture and decoration and a preference for open planned living.

Modernist interiors were meant to be devoid of applied decoration. They seek to concentrate solely on geometry, uninterrupted lines and form.

At the Villa Stoclet the Dining Room contained murals by Gustav Klimt and furniture by Josef Hoffman. Harmony governed every facet of this total work of art and it became the extreme statement of Viennese avant-garde design.

It was ambitious, an accomplished achievement of the Wiener Werkstatte, (Vienna Workshops) founded by Hoffman in 1903. A strange astonishing edifice it might have come from another planet, it was in fact transposed far from the city of its conception to a setting, which is still alien to it. It exemplified in embryo the major features of the coming Art Deco movement of which it was one of the great founding monuments.

During the late nineteenth and early twentieth century rivals America, Germany and Japan threatened Britain’s manufacturing power. At home industrial unrest, growing feminist and socialist movements were part of a general, and protracted crisis. The population of the United Kingdom was 41.5 million in 1901, twenty percent living in poverty. Emmelline Pankhurst founded the Women’s Social and Political Union in 1903 and it gained an international focus for militant action in the campaign for women’s suffrage. In Britain the Children’s Act of 1904 finally banned employment of children between nine at night and six in the morning.

A most profound influence in the UK and in America would be that of the long established system of French education in design and architecture at the Ecole des Beaux Arts at Paris. Its style of education was introduced into Britain amid scepticism, resentment and open hostility early in the twentieth century. Rejected previously, the Ecole’s approach to architecture laid heavy emphasis on distinct, formalized planning.

This is a school of design education founded that had no parallel in any other European country. It aimed at being and became a centre for intellectual debate about architecture during the eighteenth and nineteenth century. Its teaching program was conceived as a preparation for the design of public buildings.

Tutors taught architects to work up their designs through a series of project stages. They employed the classical orders in the required ‘correct proportions’, but only once the plan was fully developed. The aim of every student was to win the prestigious Grand Prix de Rome established by Napoleon through the Academie des Beaux Arts, so they could spend a year studying in that city.

In England the Ritz Hotel on Picadilly is in the ‘Beaux Arts’ style. In America, the Biltmore Estate (pictured) was designed by the first American educated at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts at Paris, Richard Morris Hunt. His ‘French Chateau’ style house for George Washington Vanderbilt II, ate up much of the family fortune, installing such new innovations as electricity, which at the time was not even in the area.

The population of Britain in 1800 was 10 million. In 1881 it was 31 million and by 1911 there would be 11 million more to house, and the resultant prosperity was enjoyed most of all by the affluent middle classes. Within the years from 1895 to 1906 more buildings were built than ever before in Britain’s history. Speculative developers, who employed both run of the mill, designed houses, hotels, offices and factories and talented architects in an attempt to invent a new sought after British style. They were the ones who held sway.

Idealists such as William Morris in the latter part of the nineteenth century had championed good design for the poor and had been overwhelmed by the fact it was only those of affluence who could afford to buy what he had to offer. Would that he was in Inala at Brisbane in 2002, to see part of his vision achieved in the revamping of 50′s housing commission bungalows.

The King Edward VII Galleries at the British Museum are the most elegant of all the Beaux Arts influenced Edwardian classical buildings at London. They won a knighthood for their architect Webb J.J. Burnet. While great public buildings were passing through the decade of the High Baroque the Neo Georgian style in architecture was also being revived heavily in the suburbs.

This was a decade where the expansionist and imperialist features of the previous century were displayed to excess, one in which the political tensions and economic frailties of the present century before World War I became apparent. Radical change was required.

Spanish draughtsman, painter and sculptor Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) was a dominating figure of early twentieth century French art. He, with French painter Georges Braque (1882-1963) founded classical Cubism. Braque working with Picasso from 1908 to 1914 to explore cubism thorough its various phases. When their association ended Picasso designed costume and sets for Diaghilev’s Ballet Russes. He was above all an innovator.

His portrait of Olga avoided illusionist realism, which he achieved by flattening the figure against its background. Picasso’s first wife Olga Stepanovna Khokhlova was a Ukrainian-Russian dancer.

She is one of the many women who shed their restricting corsets, cut their hair, raised their hemlines and set out to find what feminine freedom and being modern was all about following World War I.

World War One marked the great divide in the age of the moderns. The upheaval of war brought artists face to face with an alternative, either a clean sweep or hope of a reformed society, or alternatively the retention of a privileged art in the service of an elite and moneyed class. The streamlined success of the style Art Deco would be one answer, at least until World War Two, which would change the face of the world forever.

At London in the year of the second Olympic Games held in England the Victoria & Albert Museum, undoubtedly the world’s greatest museum of art and design, is hosting an important exhibition that encompasses the period between the first ‘austerity’ games held in London in 1948 and the games of the all new austerity age in 2012.

Innovation in the Modern Age (31st March – 12th August 2012) will explore British design in the interim and the tension in England between tradition and modernity, conservatism and contemporary design and the economic, political and cultural forces that have shaped its evolution.

Vienna also has many plans for 2012, namely to inspire its guests from all over the world with harmonious diversity.

They have announced 2012 is their Gustav Klimt year and there are two exhibitions of his works opening in February.

Klimt´s key paintings will set the stylistic tone for his world-famous work from about 1900 onwards. They are at the center of a show “Gustav Klimt at the Kunsthistorisches Museum“.

“Klimt: Up Close and Personal. Images, Letters, Insights” at the Leopold Museum will focus on the artist´s numerous travels as well as the the fact that he incorporated his impressions and observations during his travels into his paintings.

The styles that made up the Modern Movement are known as:
Arts and Crafts 1875-1915
Art Nouveau (1880-1910)
Wiener Werkstatte (1903-1933) and Bauhaus (1919-1933)
Art Deco (1920-1940)

Carolyn McDowall, The Culture Concept Circle 2012

NB: The dates are but a guide as all styles, as they rise and fall, overlap each other.

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   Course Outline
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Visual artist Kathryn Brimblecombe-Fox regularly exhibits in Australia. She has also exhibited in London, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Seoul. She has a B.A majoring in Art History from the University of Queensland. A keen blogger, Kathryn writes weekly about her love of painting

Kathryn’s book will be officially launched by Scott Emerson Member of Parliament for Indooroopilly and Shadow Minister for the Arts.

The thirty original paintings that inspired the publication are on show from 22 – 25th February and the book itself will be launched on Thursday 23rd February at the opening 6 (6.45) – 8:30 pm at the Fireworks Gallery, 52A Doggett Street, Newstead, Brisbane All Enquiries : (07) 3216 1250 Gallery Hours Tuesday to Friday 10am – 6pm, Saturday 10am – 4pm.

Carolyn McDowall, The Culture Concept Circle 2012

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A portrait of Spencer Joshua Alwyne Compton, 2nd Marquess of Northampton (1790-1851) by Sir Henry Raeburn

London during the second half of the eighteenth century was a place where extremes met. It was full of things to do and see, of people, of excitement and, it was at the heart of affairs both great and small. By 1800 the population had passed the million mark, and provincial industrial cities, although growing fast, were all under a 100,000 people. The British Navy controlled the seaways; industry was flourishing; the new manufacturing class was prospering;  In London sensibility was flourishing, politeness was valued and there was a distinct elevation of interior sentiment, feelings of the heart and a value of intimacy. The city’s environment was being reshaped, new streets, new squares with open vistas and clear classical lines that were pleasing to the eye. As well there was a great variety of both public and private gardens.

England, Europe and America in the early years of the nineteenth century was entering a period of extraordinary political change, of reform and revolution, scientific and botanical discovery, dazzling artistry, literary excellence, military milestones and political and social scandal. London was now the largest city in western Europe. Not only more populous, it offered a different quality of life. Nowhere else in Britain was so urban; no other city so exciting or so shocking! This was an era dominated by men and also an age of paradox, one in which serious government reforms were achieved, including the abolition of black slavery with Amazing Grace through the extraordinary efforts of William Wilberforce (1759 – 1833)

A portrait of Spencer Joshua Alwyne Compton, 2nd Marquess of Northampton (1790-1851) by Sir Henry Raeburn was exhibited in a show the Royal Academy at London in 1821. It is full of concentrated energy, its intensity suggesting that while we are in the presence of a quieter hero, he is nevertheless acquainted with the reality of drama as the red lining of his cloak suggests. The subject is a man western history may not have celebrated very much, but one who contributed much to its growth, intellectually, socially and practically.

British politician, philanthropist and leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade William Wilberforce, who was convinced of the importance of religion, morality and education

Born in 1790 by the 1820’s, having completed his obligatory grand tour of Italy, Compton was a respected connoisseur of the arts and literature, particularly poetry. He was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he graduated M.A. 1810, and was created Doctor of Law in 1835. The Member of Parliament for Northampton 1812-20 he involved himself in both politics and cultural life. He sat in the House of Commons where he held an ‘honest independence, and was often called impracticable and crotchety’ by his colleagues. He was connected with Sir James Mackintosh a criminal law reformer and also supported his parliamentary colleague William Wilberforce for the abolition of the slave trade. In his lifetime Compton campaigned vigorously for law reform because he believed in liberty and justice for all.

Our understanding of the meaning of both liberty and justice is at the very heart of the establishment of today’s modern western culture. Justice has many guises and in reality its theory is constantly challenged. It constantly changes its shape based on contemporary societies mores and concerns.

At its essence Justice embraces moral righteousness and truth. Its theories were originally based on ideas and values inherent in concepts of ethnicity, nationality and religion. It ardently believes in punishing those who breach the ethics of society.

Liberty, the freedom to think or act without being constrained by necessity or by force is about freedom from captivity or slavery and the political, social and economic rights belonging to citizens of a state. It is one of the most potent of all western democracies ideas.

Both concepts were honed and refined during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, especially when Spencer Compton was an active advocate for the law in England. This was when society demanded that everyone who had committed crimes against the people and the state be brought to trial and judged for their misdeeds by a jury of their peers.

For centuries Continental monarchs had ruled absolutely, whereas in England for both good, and not so good reasons, the King’s council had always attempted to circumscribe monarchical power by parliamentary institution.

Visiting Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure wrote of his experience at the court of St James’s early in the century where he found the first of the Hanoverian sovereigns, George 1 (1714 – 1727) was only acknowledged at his morning celebration the gentleman’s ‘levée’ by the inclination of the head rather than the sort of grovelling that went on at the French King’s morning rising ceremony.

Artist William Hogarth's London

The London Saussure encountered on his visit was one of great contrasts. With a population bordering on ¾ million he also found that many an English merchant was richer than the sovereign princes of Europe.

…malice, rapine, accident conspire.
And now a rabble rages, now a fire;
Their ambush here relentless ruffians lay,
And here a fell attorney prowls for prey;
Here falling houses thunder on your head,
And here a female Atheist talks you dead.

London was at this stage of its cultural development not a place to be ambushed by thugs or diddled by lawyers.

French author Francois Marie Arouet de Voltaire (1694 – 1778) after a short spell in the Bastille for daring to challenge a French nobleman, lived in England from 1726 to 1729 where he was totally astonished by its people and their many freedoms. He found it completely amazing Englishmen were able to virtually say and publish what they liked without fear of prison or exile. He was further astounded there was no torture or arbitrary imprisonment and that noblemen and priests were not exempt from certain taxes.

Debate, a formal framework in which people, without violence, can discuss and determine their differences and disputes as part of a democratic system of government

In England he discovered it was the poor who enjoyed exemption from taxation whereas at the same time in France it was the rich.On top of all of that he discovered that different religious sects were allowed to flourish.

In France Louis IV in 1685 had revoked the Edict of Nantes, a document put in place by his predecessor Henry IV The Great (1553-1610) that granted religious toleration to Protestants living in Roman Catholic France.

Meanwhile in England the Toleration Act of 1689 allowed Protestant non-conformists their own places for worship and teachers etc. They were subject to swearing certain oaths and declarations that ensured they would not act against the crown or Parliament. Any further restrictions in place for Roman Catholics were finally removed in England in 1829.

Gaining enlightenment...

The so-called Enlightenment is one of those rare historical movements that managed to name itself. Certain thinkers and writers, primarily in London and Paris, believed they were far more enlightened than their compatriots. So armed with only self-confidence they set out to enlighten everyone else.

They believed that human reason, the power of intelligent and dispassionate thought, or of conduct influenced by such thought, should be used to combat ignorance, superstition, and tyranny in order to build a better world. Debate, to deliberate about differences and consider someone else’s point of view was honed in the parliament.

In the main they were very successful. Their principal targets were religion, embodied in France in the Roman Catholic Church, and the domination of society by a hereditary aristocracy in both Europe and England.

The wider expertise and experience that Voltaire gained while he was in England meant that his works and ideas became the embodiment of European ‘enlightenment’. Although he died some time before it was established, he irrevocably laid the foundations for the French revolution in the minds of his peers.

He wrote in his Travel Notes about England that it was ‘the freest country in the world’. He made no exception and called it free because the sovereign, whose person is controlled and limited was unable to inflict any harm on anyone.

George III was the third of the Hanoverian Kings and the first to speak English. He had a sense of duty to his country, moral family life, was sincere in his Christian faith, held a diverse range on interests, and was about charitable giving. His life was marred by mental illness.

During the reign of George III (1738-1820) in England the reign of the monarch was altered dramatically. In the second half of the seventeenth century the Whig junto, a self-appointed committee with political aims whose members constantly surrounded and supported the King. They had gradually assumed positions of power distributing the resources of the crown in the form of places, pensions and perquisites and further circumscribing the power of the monarch.

Ultimately the monarchy became about being skillful in managing delicate political and social situations, the embodiment of national morality and a role model for the people.

By the second half of the eighteenth century the King at London was being treated as a human being. Once that had happened something quite unique began to take place, high culture, an integral aspect of the court began to move out of its narrow confines to become an attribute of its people.

During the lifetime of Spencer Joshua Alwyne Compton, 2^nd Marquess of Northampton’s England’s so-called Westminster system of government honed through debate and experience became by the end of the nineteenth century, the envy and admiration of both European and American people, philosophers and thinkers. It was about dispensing justice and preserving liberty under the law.

Carolyn McDowall, The Culture Concept Circle 2012

* Heraclitus, Greek philosopher (540 BC – 480 BC)

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During the seventeenth century at France King Louis XIV ordered architect Louis le Vau and gardener Andre le Notre to produce a tiny pleasure pavilion in the grounds of Versailles near the artificial lake. Built to practice the arts of seduction, the so-called Trianon de Porcelaine was lavishly embellished with ceramics in the Chinese taste. It was pulled down when Louis’s mistress Mme de Montespan fell from favour. In its place the Grand Trianon was built for the King to entertain family and friends.

By the eighteenth century in Europe and England all things Chinese had assumed incredible proportions. Fashionable society sought to transmit their ideas about the magical land of Cathay through a multiplicity of imagery. It manifested itself in intimate interiors, where mirrored rooms reflected scenes of frivolity well. It draped itself delightfully with sumptuous silk textiles that recorded scenes of fashion and folly. The admiration of all things Chinese also led to the ultimate cross over of cultural influences. Fans were among the earliest imports of the English and Dutch East India Companies and perfectly reflected the femininity associated with this movement, which combined flirtation with fantasy and frivolity.

On the scale of things a very few people in England or Europe had ever seen someone who was Chinese, so their vivid imagination took over. When combined with a great layering of charm, Chinoiserie was a design style that was very fetching. It was the European evocation of the Chinese. Our divine teapot is from from the Saxon porcelain factory Meissen, who invented European porcelain. Their Chinoiserie designs were all at once fun, fantastical and frivolous, yet quite sophisticated and enchantingly pretty.

Chinoiserie had a complete lack of pomposity and used clear bright colours, which had both amusing and fantastic qualities and displayed a preference for asymmetrical design. This aspect offered everyone a rest from the formality and relentless perfection demanded by the classical legacy of ancient Greece and Rome. It was about having fun.

In a little Salon in the Chateau de Craon the scenes painted delicately on the interior walls and ceiling in a delightful circular chamber were typical of the work of the French designer Jean Baptiste Pillement (1728-1808). Many of his designs were used on the newly popular small-scale feminine furniture and placed the emphasis on Chinoiserie as a style of luxury and refinement.

A beautiful Prussian blue vernis martin writing desk with Chinoiserie decoration was made for King Louis XV’s mistress Madame de Pompadour’s for her Chateau at Bellevue. The artist she patronized Francis Boucher delighted in rendering designs for her, including a painting of the sophisticated pleasures of the beau monde who are disported in a park as members of a pleasure seeking Parisian society.

Chippendale Frame on Painted Mirror on Chinese Wallpaper at Saltram

In England Thomas Chippendale and John Linnell both master craftsmen, were inspired by Chinese symbolism and motifs in the development of styles of chairs.

Chippendale’s mirrors in the Chinese taste were also highly sought after, their delightful whimsical decoration was delicate and had great charm.

Fabrics were imported from the East, satins and embroideries from India; painted silks from China were treated like wallpaper and lined an alcove. They were costly, but popular with those who could afford them.

Toile de Jouy

Less expensive was Toile de Jouy a cotton fabric produced in France and decorated with engraved copperplates of little vignette Chinoiserie scenes. Shops were filled with all sorts of delights for men and women of fashion to choose from as the style was taken up all over Europe.

In the Green Salon at Drottingholm and in the Oranienbaum, the summer palace of the Czars of Russia Chinoiserie reigned supreme. Catherine the Great remodelled an enfilade of rooms so that her guests could stroll through a sequence of Chinoiserie interiors.

A love of things oriental fitted into both the French and English garden genres at this time. There is a Chinese Tent preserved at Boughton House, which is a unique example of a collapsible garden pavilion made of oilskin, produced in London in the mid eighteenth century. It was also used in the garden of the London house of the Montague Douglas Scott family and can be seen in that place in a painting by Venetian artist Canaletto entitled View of the Thames.

Surprise was the key to the success of Chinoiserie pavilions and follies. On your journey your pulse would quicken as you came across some delightful building in which, unlike the house you lived in that had to conform to a conventional life style and its demands, you could allow your imagination to run free and create a total fantasy. The love affair with the exotic orient with its tales of a Forbidden City and exotic splendour provided a focus for tales of the fantastic. In an ancient Chinese Garden one of the most important characteristics to observe was the laying out of paths in curves and counter curves with circular moon gates.

Rare example of Chinese enamelling on a Royal Worcester white blank plate by Chinese artist Po Hing, courtesy Martyn Cook Antiques, Redfern Sydney

The Chinese House at Harristown in County Kildare in Ireland was built before 1738 for the garden at Stowe in Buckinghamshire. It is one of the earliest such pavilions in Great Britain. It was taken away in 1751 to Wooton House nearby until the 1950’s when it was taken across the Irish Sea to County Kildare.

Chinese enameling on porcelain eventually became so desirable in 1870 the Royal Worcester factory brought to Britain a Chinese enameller called Po Hing to England so that he could complete an especially commissioned dinner service for them. Po Hing was Cantonese and painted the tableware in his native style.

Now and then a plate from this service turns up on the international antique market. They are a reminder of time when the east was still a mystery to many and confirmed the idea that it was not only exotic but also difficult to access.

Unlike other styles that deteriorated to be replaced by another, Chinoiserie has never really left us. The western fascination for the east and its abiding images has endured although it continues to change to suit fashionable trends and politically correct poses.

These days it is more about a focus on food and the merriment enjoyed as it is shared in a mingling of the various traditions of a peaceful western multicultural society.

Plant hunter Robert Fortune recorded in his 1847 publication Wanderings in China ‘but the curtain, which had been drawn around the celestial country for ages, has now been rent asunder; and instead of viewing an enchanted fairyland, we find, after all, that China is just like other countries…’

Carolyn McDowall, The Culture Concept Circle 2011 – 2012

I went to dine
With a friend of mine
Who dined off porcelain plates
Of a kind so rare
That it stirred your hair
To think of their possible fates

For some were Ming
and others were Ch’ing
(Whatever those names may be)
And the food was divine
And the wine, the wine
Intoxicated me.

There were ices – those
Were of famille rose,
and coffee of famille noire,
and a choice dessert
of famille verte
Preceded a choice cigar.

But alas for the end
Of dinner and friend
For he happened his eyes to raise
As I started to rub
The burning stub
On a bit of his finest glaze.

He was perfectly nice,
But as cold as ice,
As he rang for my coat and hat,
For Ming is a thing,
And so is Ch’ing,
That mustn’t be used for that.

This delightful poem signed S.D.C. was found on a scrap of paper in a book on second hand glass….

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When Condé Nast folded its monthly men’s magazine covering fashion for guys, Men’s Vogue in 2008, many believed it was all over for men of style. Who else was going to provide the perfect platform for design, art, culture, sports and technology to flourish that both empowered and enabled men through knowledge, without sacrificing their feelings or making them feel like fools. The male version of the famous woman’s magazine featured plenty of profiles of men who dressed to impress, especially highlighting respected actor role models from Hollywood and abroad. Smoking hot, actor George Clooney was on the first cover.

From the days of backstage action, and sometimes bad behaviour of the boys upstairs and down in TV’s ‘Downton Abbey‘, where middle class solicitor Matthew Crawley (Dan Stevens) refuses to compromise or change, to the suave well suited urbane advertising man Don Draper, surviving among other Madmen on Madison Avenue, or the White Collar con-man kid himself, the slim, stylish, ever clever Neal Caffrey (Matt Bomer pictured), men of style who are in vogue have always looked both sharp and sensational.

Historically male garb reflects the wearer’s power, his wealth, his youthful joie de vivre or joy of life, as well as his sporting prowess, smouldering sex appeal and, even his beauty. Over the years, fashionable male iconic images have reflected changes in society, culture,  economics, technology, politics and, morality. Styles have gone from being mature, serious and conservative to conceited, youthful and sexy in cyclical patterns.

Men of style include Matthew Crawley, heir to the Earl of Grantham’s Estate in the TV series Downton Abbey, a period drama full of drama, intrigue and wonderful acting, is part of a tradition that has courted both women and history. The costumes men worn then, just as now, provide an expose on the plush private worlds in which a man may plot a path to power on the political scene or otherwise live quietly while sponsoring others and worthy causes. It explains the diversity and humanity attached to men of action, who worked hard for the common good and commerce. We can also gain an insight into the sometimes complex world of ‘boys and their toys’ so that we can praise their prowess, capture their visionary advice, or follow their successes in both love and life.

For men in a certain social sphere the late nineteenth and early twentieth century was about being ‘bespoke’ or tailor made. It was all about peerless cut and precision, not ‘peacockery’, produced by the tailors of Savile Row, at London.

The term “bespoke” is understood to have originated on Savile Row when cloth for a suit was said to “be spoken for by an individual customer “.

The talented ‘bespoke’ tailors on Savile Row today are still sought after, and continue to survive changes in fashion, the expansion of well made ‘off the rack’ suits and, an assault on their competitiveness and competency, which will always be associated with taste, fashion, elegance, sophistication and timeless attitudes

British actor Dan Stevens plays Matthew Crawley in Downton Abbey, which is currently receiving lots of well deserved accolades. Stevens, one of the main characters, is no stranger to playing men of style or to looking dashing in period dramas and wearing bespoke suits.

In Downton Abbey his character refuses the help of a valet assigned to him, until he realizes it’s not just about him. The Earl points out to him that as the prospective head of a great estate he needs to understand the valet’s role, which for him is as important as is his own.

When he discovers he is putting the fellows livelihood on the line by sacrificing him on the altar of his pride thankfully he turns his previously priggish remarks into well earned praise. This change of attitude also changes his perspective on life and re-defines him as a man.

The costume he wears while dapper, neat and smart, is quietly confident and in line with the preferred quiet taste of an English lawyer and man of business attempting to take over the world by degrees. He wears lightweight linen suits with straw hats for summer, echoing the Earl of Grantham, played so competently by Actor Hugh Bonneville, a man of great elegance and style. Crawley wears wool suits and coats with bowler hats for business and the rest of the year.

For the boy who studied English Literature at Cambridge before bursting onto stage and screen Dan Stevens has become one of the 21st centuries everyday stylish, successful men, who inserts himself well into the Downton Abbey milieu upstairs while empathizing and sympathising with the boys from downstairs.

Despite being just a bit greedy and ambitious, while giving us a fabulous ‘I don’t give a damn’ look, Thomas the Footman, played suitably by actor Rob James-Collier, looks very dashing in his suit.

What everyone wore in a house, like that of an Earl like Grantham was important. It reflected to all the people who visited the Earl ‘at home’ his status, commonsense approach, honour, valour and integrity, all important attributes for a peer of the realm.

Whether upstairs or downstairs, men were looked up to as leaders not only of taste and style, but also of the society they kept and so they needed to make doubly sure that they got it right.

Securing your station in life certainly depended on just how able you proved yourself to be. Looking the part too was important, because it was about perceptions.

Don Draper, single handedly has put the E back into Esquire. He is one very urbane, suave, stylish dude. A sixties adman played superbly by American Actor Jon Hamm.

Instead of a pre-war period drama, this television series is about the new modern man, the one who inhabited the fashionable late fifties and sensational sixties in America, the decades the current generation seem to have gone ‘mad’ for.

The setting is Madison Avenue, Manhattan, New York NY, where ‘Madmen’ of the all new and exciting advertising industry that grew up following World War II, gained a reputation for being Martini-sodden, Manhattan cocktail swilling, womanising, capitalist princes. They were sometimes ballsy, sometimes dark and always in charge. They made Madison Avenue into one of the most powerful, innovative and creative places in the world for decades.

The series of Madmen has gained nine Emmy’s, four Golden Globes and the GQ Men Of The Year award. Certainly one of the most handsome men in the room, Hamm has, through Don Draper, also put the S back into status, sophistication and style by not only wearing his tailored suits well, but also hats, one of the most powerful expressions for all men of perception at that time. My Dad sure never left home without one.

Jon Hamm aka Don Draper manages to bring a reflective sadness to his character that is palatable. While we know he certainly looks successful, we can see that deep inside despite his stylish suits, it is really his soul that is in jeopardy. Without the suit Hamm pretty much wears shorts more suited to a former football star and sports fan that he is. How Hamm manages to ensure that Draper, his ’60s adman is much more than a design element on the Mad Men’s cleverly curated creative set is not yet clear.

He’s to me like a young handsome Gregory Peck, the actor who actually played diverse and dashing roles back in the sixties wearing his pin striped suits well too.

During the Presidential campaign there was a picture in a New York Times Magazine depicting the interior of Barack Obama’s campaign jet, with in the background a DVD box set of season one of Madmen on a table. This was seen as a very cool cultural penetration by its producers – but the best was yet to come. President Barack Obama came out as a “Maddict” and totally surprised Matt Weiner, head Mad Men man, by sending a handwritten note to say how much he enjoyed the series. Certainly the act of a gentleman who is also at home in a suit.

Hot on Draper’s heels is Neal Caffrey aka. the very handsome Matt Bomer. His character Caffrey is one likeable rogue, oozing confidence, a cool contemporary con man working for the FBI, alongside one of its best agents, Peter Burke played by Tim DeKay, nick named The Suit by Caffrey’s best friend, confidante and conspiracy theorist freak, the loveable Mozzie (Willie Garson).

Caffrey is a creative expert in art, a forger of fine art, securities thief, counterfeiter and racketeer, who not only extricates himself from difficult situations, but also helps the FBI catch other ‘White Collar’ criminals.

He is very dapper and certainly has put the C in conman back into confidence by wearing suits with a slim silhouette that suit his svelte shape so very well. He proves the statement ‘Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society’ by American humourist, novelist, author and wit Mark Twain (1835 – 1910).

Caffrey in contemporary culture is so far, the naughty cheeky boy who manages to get away with being a crook stylishly and celebrates the tradition of men in Vogue. In fact he’s become so highly regarded as reflecting and being a role model for stylish elegance in February 2011 he was invited to be a presenter at the 13th Annual Costume Designers Guild Awards in America.

With its contemporary themes and stories, that include treasure hunts and races to find an inheritance and to save the life of a kidnapped heiress, White Collar is a cat and mouse game played out by Caffrey by working with and sometimes against, his new best friend, mentor and nemesis, Agent Peter Burke. He is aided by Mozzie, his foster home raised flaw ridden friend, while Burke is ably helped by his lovely event planner wife Elizabeth (Tiffani Thiesssen), who can’t help but admire Neal’s witty demeanour and refined elegance. She’s my kind of girl, she tends to always look on the bright side of life and unwillingly and unwittingly gets herself into scrapes on behalf of them both.

Neal Caffrey’s rise to fame and fortune is really only down to one woman June, an elderly widow 75 years of age who Neal meets in a thrift store while he’s looking for clothes and trying on old hats. June is played deliciously by former singing star and sensation of the sixties herself, Diahann Carroll.

Inevitably falling for his bad boy charms June offers Neal her rooftop guest room complete with a sensational intact Art Deco Kitchen, fabulous Library and stunning view of the 20′s Deco Chrysler building from its attached Terrace, which comes complete with decorative art and great gargoyles.

Caffrey the artist makes the designer clothes, that once belonged to June’s husband and came along with the flat, his own. Some would say art may well help Neal make and suit his clothes: but it is nature that must first produce the man. In White Collar Caffrey is turning out to be a quite a man for all seasons. As my daughter in law has said, “wow, all these men, in their suits and hats – well they are all definitely my sort of eye candy, and on a grand scale”.

Carolyn McDowall, The Culture Concept Circle 2011, 2012

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The greatest artist of the Renaissance era in Italy, and perhaps the most famous painter the world has ever seen was Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519). Most people would understand today that he was truly a genius as believed by those in his own time including Francois 1 of France who provided him with work and a home in the last years of his life. Da Vinci was brilliant, curious and created a new idea of beauty, one that was all at once subtle, enigmatic and completely captivating. His skill and craftsmanship were without peer. Considering how few of his paintings remain, about fifteen in all scattered around the world, his reputation and fame has been established based on drawings and sketches made for details in his paintings, of nature and for his inventions, which were truly miraculous in his time. They prove both his vision and insight.

An exhibition at the National Gallery of London until February 5, 2012 concentrates on work produced during the period of his life spent in Milan when Ludovico Sforza sponsored him (1482 – 1499). This is the only time the majority of his finest painting works have been brought together to put on show, and probably the last time it will ever happen, because moving them is dangerous, difficult and costly. As would be expected the Mona Lisa at Paris and the original fresco of the Last Supper at Milan are not included. This is the first time his work has been on show with a focus on paintings supported by studies and sketches. They reveal his supreme ability to render in paint images that draw us in, hold us and never let us go.

The ‘Lady with an Ermine’ painted about 1489 – 1490, is very special and on loan from the National Museum of Cracow in Poland. The subject was 15 year old Cecilia Gallerani (1473-1536), mistress of Leonardo’s patron Ludovico Sforza. She is caught in a pose clutching to her breast an ermine, which was a symbol of purity and moderation and an emblem for pregnancy and childbirth.

Her lovely face is caught in an enigmatic gaze in a portrait about power and sex. Her beauty is unmistakable, flawless in many ways, while still subtle and completely alluring. The hands gently caressing the ermine are superbly rendered, their tiny veins, tendons, bones and muscles visible in close up. Painted in the all-new oil paints, the colours too are important. The blue is ultramarine, the most expensive pigment made from grinding up the semi-precious stone lapis lazuli, which was shipped to Europe from Afghanistan.

Supreme among the works on show is the recently found and restored treasure Salvator Mundi, Christ as Saviour of the World.  Its story is amazing. Dianne Modestini an art restorer, together with dealer and art historian Robert Simon in New York, discovered it. They were given the job of bringing back to life what was thought to be a copy of a painting lost for centuries. You can imagine their excitement when it was finally authenticated as a Da Vinci.

These days a great deal of technology can be employed to examine a work such as this, to ensure that it is genuine. All the experts, having looked at the evidence gathered and the restored work itself are completely convinced. The work had been known about for a long time from drapery study sketches currently in the English Royal Collection. X rays have revealed that Leonardo changed the position of the thumb, one of the pieces of evidence that led to its being declared original. One can only imagine the reaction of the owners when the copy, which last sold for 45 pounds in 1958, suddenly became worth in the vicinity of 125 million pounds. It is an engaging and powerful image whose spiritual quality shines out, much like the enigmatic smile of Leonardo’s most famous work the Mona Lisa, whose slight hint of a smile has intrigued millions. The rendering of the rock crystal ball in Christ’s left hand is breathtaking.

Leonardo da Vinci was a true Renaissance man, one whose thirst for knowledge was only exceeded by his desire for more. He was a painter, sculptor, architect, musician, engineer, inventor, and scientist and eloquently answered the question was painting a science in his treatise on Painting the Codex Urbinas Latinus published in 1270.

At the heart of his understanding of the material world art and science were joined. Man’s eyes were not only the windows to the soul but also to the universe beyond one in which the image became greater than the word; the visual joy of nature reflected exultantly through the painter’s joy of capturing it. He insisted on representing emotion, for him a painter had to note the real thing, real anger, real laughter, and real pain. Da Vinci believed emotions needed to reflect the nature of man’s inner impulses, while his attitude needed to demonstrate his real intent.

His famous Last Supper Fresco at Milan is today in poor condition with only 20% of its original paint showing.

Many however do not know that their is an exact contemporary copy on canvas, thought to be rendered by a pupil of Leonardo. It is attributed to Giovan Pietro Rizzoli, called Giampietrino ca 1495-1549 or, Marco D’Oggiono ca 1467 – 1524.

Thought to have been painted around 1515, it usually hangs in one of England’s sacred destinations, Magdalen College (pronounced “Maudlin)  at Oxford in the ante-chapel on loan from The Royal Academy.

Wonderfully, it provides us with a great sense of what the faded original looked like.

Also on display are pages from his notebooks that reveal the painstaking lengths he went to record the proportions of the arm, the exact make-up of the skull and studies of the human nervous system, all of which helped his work.

Leonardo was also foremost among the Italian flower illustrators, whose interest can genuinely be called scientific.

The earliest surviving plant studies record ‘many flowers copied from nature’ and mentioned in his list of works from c1482. As catalogues of medicinal plants were created in the sixteenth century a need arose for exacting drawings. Leonardo’s hand in these drawings becomes a vehicle for the energies embodied in the spiral forms and motions of nature. He dissected plants just like he did human bodies to observe how they were formed …his curiosity was insatiable, repeatedly writing in his notes ‘who will tell me if anything was ever finished?’.

His drawings were so accurate that his keen and informed eye helped show the way for future illustrators of botany and send a loud and clear message to us that for him direct observation was the only path to truth.

Leonardo da Vinci: Painter at the Court of Milan
Sainsbury Wing, National Gallery of London
9th November 2011 – 5th February 2012
Timed Tickets – sold out – only limited tickets available on a daily basis
Expect to queue all night if you want one

Carolyn McDowall, The Culture Concept Circle 2012

Watch a Video about the Exhibition

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9voMcIEV6I

*Austrian neurologist and psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud

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Classic means of renowned excellence. The Ukrainian born award winning Australian pianist Alexander Gavrylyuk, fits the bill like a glove. He has performed the classics in many of the great concert halls of the world, including at New York in 2005. This was when a New York Times critic said of him that he was a ‘world class pianist performing at his absolute best’. A supreme talent, Gavrylyuk was Gold Medal Winner of Israel’s Artur Rubinstein Competition in the same year and critic Lawrence Budman said “From his remarkable playing and artistic insight, it was easy to see what impressed the competition jury.” He won it, the Horowitz and Hamamatsu competitions – all by the age of 20. Since then he has played with the Russian National Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic, Tokyo Symphony, Osaka Philharmonic, Warsaw Philharmonic, Israeli Chamber Orchestra, Kev Philharmonic, Melbourne and Western Australia Symphony and at the Moscow Conservatorium among others. “…such blow-your-socks-off virtuosity is complemented with a dark, intense, ferociously concentrated essence and nature…said Bryce Morrison, Deutsche Gramophone in June 2006

In the first concert of the Medici series Alexander Gavrylyuk will perform

Robert SCHUMANN (181- – 1856) Fantasy in C, Op 17
Claude DEBUSSY (1862 – 1918) Two Arabesques
Franz LISZT (1811 – 1886) Tarantella (Venezia e Napoli) and Dante Sonata from Années de pèlerinage
Sergei RACHMANINOV (1873 – 1943) Sonata No 2 in B flat minor Op 36

Of all of these exciting challenges the Franz Liszt pieces from Années de pèlerinage should provide some virtuosic fireworks and have many a heart racing. Composed in his maturity, Liszt the most famous technician of his day, aimed to stir emotions deep within the soul. Liszt was reacting to his travels in many new countries at the time of composing his Tarantella and Dante Sonata. He combines history, poetry, drama and harmony all in perfect tune. His lively self-expression and impressions establish a wonderful rapport immediately between the player and the audience.

Behzod Abduraimov is from Uzbekistan and winner of the 2009 London International Piano Competition aged 18 years. Since then his career has taken off like a rocket. It includes signing an exclusive recording contract with Decca Classics. The London Daily Telegraph’s critic described his winning performance of Prokofiev’s Third Concerto as the “most enthralling roller-coaster ride … imaginable. Recalling it my knuckles still go white.” Renowned already for his willingness to take on technical challenges such as works composed by Liszt and Saint-Saëns, Abduraimov is a very refined showman. He made his debut when he was only eight with the Uzbek State Symphony Orchestra and has not looked back since. He has toured with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and given recitals in London, Brussels and Milan, as well as Germany and North America. He will present

Guiseppe Domenico SCARLATTI (1685 – 1757) Four keyboard Sonatas
Ludwig van BEETHOVEN (Bap 1770 – 1827) Sonata No 7 in D major Op 10 No 3
Johannes BRAHMS (1833 – 1897) Variations on a theme of Paganini, Book 1
Camille SAINT-SAËNS (1835 – 1921) Danse macabre arr. Liszt/Horowitz
Franz LISZT (1811 – 1886) Bénédiction de Dieu dans la solitude Mephisto Waltz No 1

Like Gavrylyuk, Abduraimov also loves technical challenges. He will play the completely diabolical Paganini Variations, which should see many sitting on the edge of their seats as he is well up to the task.

Piers Lane almost needs no introduction, he is so well loved and admired at Brisbane town, and in Australia where he regularly performs to sold out seasons. Artistic Director of the Australian Festival of Chamber Music his successful international concert career must certainly keep him on his toes. His is a most wonderful sophisticated maturity of style.

His legendary status has been earned through a continuing celebration of Polish composer Chopin, whose works he innately understands and brilliantly interprets. He presents them like rare jewels to be treasured. As well as Chopin he will also perform works by Liszt, the composer seemingly linking this series together. He will present

Frédéric CHOPIN (1810 – 1849) The Complete Waltzes
Franz LISZT (1811 – 1886) Two Arabesques
Jardins sous la pluie
Reflets dans l’eau
L’isle joyeuse
Franz LISZT (1811 – 1886) Venezia e Napoli, S162

The Debussy gems are a homage to the French composer, who developed a musical language of his own. A central figure of European music at the turn of the 20th century Debussy also enjoyed celebrating ‘conversations at the piano’ with Ernest Guiraud his teacher. The piano language of Piers Lane, like Debussy’s, is most eloquently spoken

Eldar Nebolsin will close the 2012 series in November.

Known to ‘caress the keys’, Nebolsin has appeared with leading orchestras around the world and has collaborated also with some of the world’s most renowned chamber musicians. His program includes

Ludwig van BEETHOVEN (Bap 1770 – 1827) Sonata No 4 in E flat major Op 7
Frédéric CHOPIN (1810 – 1849)Andante spianato and Grande polonaise brillante
BEETHOVEN/LISZT Song from An die ferne Geliebte
SCHUBERT/LISZT 3 Lieder: Das Wandern, Wohin, Der Mu?ller und der Bach
Franz Peter SCHUBERT (1797 – 1828) Fantasia in C major, Op 15, D 760 ‘Wanderer’

In an interview with Naxos he revealed that his love for passionate, magical Romantic music began when he was very young.  Its constant colour and emotion touched his heart and stirred his desire to play.

Expressing his thoughts and feelings as his fingers fly across the keyboard, the reality of his performances are that he is able to explore the exquisite harmonic dimensions of what is a sublime realm of music.

His choice of Schubert’s Fantasia to end the program will provide a memorable finish to a wonderful series of amazing music presented by great musicians.

The four movements are played through without a break from fanfare to finale. This was one of the pieces of music composer Franz Liszt most admired, and he transcribed it for piano and orchestra and two pianos.

Schubert was a musician’s musician. In 1905 Duncan Edmondstoune in his publication about the life of Schubert remarked that Schubert himself had said about his Fantasia that “the devil may play it“, referencing his own inability to do so properly.

Ann Thompson has in true "Medici' fashion gathered a wonderful group of sponsors around her to support her 10th Anniversary concert series

Ann Thompson OAM, Director of Medici Concerts has worked tirelessly to bring this splendid program to fruition. She is celebrating twenty years of providing wonderful musical experiences to thousands of people.

This is a recital series for all those who love the beauty and challenges provided by great composers for great musicians. It is also for all those seeking to know and understand just how much they have contributed to the social and cultural growth of many nations. Today fine classical music such as this is treasured by millions in both western and eastern cultures. It is not just about the notes or the playing,  which do matter, but also the harmony they can provide.

Great concert series like these provide a continual opportunity to bring together many different people from all walks of life and all backgrounds. They celebrate and encourage communication and intercultural conversations and also help contemporary citizens to better understand the nature of cultural difference; to grow an appreciation and respect for many cultures, so that we can all learn how to better deal with our differences and with each other.

Bravo Ann, what a fabulous anniversary series you have put together – it has been very well done and deserves to be sold out.

Carolyn McDowall, The Culture Concept Circle 2012

MEDICI CONCERTS

2012 International Piano Masterworks Series

ALEXANDER GAVRYLYUK Sun 12 Feb 3pm ——- @ $62 ——- @ $55
BEHZOD ABDURAIMOV Sun 18 Mar 3pm ——- @ $62 ——- @ $55
PIERS LANE Sun 12 Aug 3pm ——- @ $62 ——- @ $55
ELDAR NEBOLSIN Sun 25 Nov 3pm ——- @ $62 ——- @ $55

www.mediciconcerts.com.au

BOOKINGS

Mail: Medici Concerts PO Box 3567 South Brisbane 4101 Phone: qtix 136246 (Mon-Sat 9.00am-8.30pm)
In Person: QPAC Cnr Melbourne & Grey St South Brisbane (Mon-Sat 9.00am-8.30pm)

SUBSCRIPTIONS

4 Concerts——- @ $210 Adult
4 Concerts——- @ $190 Concession

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Sher….hmmmm…my best friend Sherlock Holmes…he’s dead

Sherlock, a detective in a deerstalker - but just who is it being hunted?

The only water falling in this episode of Sherlock, the last in the second series, is falling silently at the beginning not the end. It is running down the glass window behind Dr Watson as he sits talking to his psychiatrist endeavouring for the first time to speak about, and come to terms with the tragedy and terror associated with the demise of his wonderful friend Sherlock Holmes.

Sherlock – The Reichenbach Fall is the last of three in the second series of the brilliant contemporary take on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s fictional detective. It is truly sophisticated entertainment. The episode starts with a series of flashbacks in which Sherlock is being thanked and rewarded for all the good deeds he’s now doing in helping the police to fight crime in modern day London.

One is just having returned one of two early nineteenth century paintings by the Romantic landscape Painter J.M.W. Turner to the people after it had been stolen. Yes, and you have guessed it, the painting  is of the Reichenbach Falls, a spectacular series of waterfalls on the River Aar in central Switzerland where Holmes nineteenth century counterpart had plunged over holding onto Moriarty in Conan Doyle’s The Final Problem.

This episode was ‘wordily’ written by Steve Thompson, who as a guest writer of creators Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat, also wrote the second in the first series, The Blind Banker. This story has so many twists and turns we have to keep alert and stay on target to keep up with all of them as Moriarty and Sherlock vie with each other and reveal a tale that is definitely very ‘Grimm’. The kidnapping of two children from their beds at boarding school with only a breadcrumb trail to follow to where they are being offered a death by chocolate, is a ghastly tale.

Moriarty is he King, or does Sherlock outwit him to solve The Final Problem in the RB 'Fall'...

Andrew Scott as James Moriarty, Master Criminal and Holmes nemesis proves a brilliant adversary for Benedict Cumberbatch’s always erudite Sherlock. Scott is chilling in his ability to met morph into the different caricatures of the psychotic character he’s playing. This is the episode where he has had the most to say and do, while still endeavouring to stay alive to that terrific tune by the Bee Gee’s. He certainly proves he has talent to burn. A measure of his ‘star quality’ is in the fabulous few minutes where he pulls off bringing three major British institutions on their knees by pressing three icons, a royal insignia, a piggy bank’ and a portcullis all of which are apps on his iPhone. It is wonderfully contrived and presented by the creators.

Moriarty springing the security breach at Pentonville Prison, the Bank of England and The Tower of London all on the same day is beautifully resolved. He has his own ‘Silence of the Lambs’ triumphal moment in front of the huge glass case containing England’s Crown Jewels just before he blasts it open to the tune of the wonderful composition The Thieving Magpie by Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868). It ends with Moriarty sitting on the throne wearing the royal crown with the orb and sceptre in his hands waiting to be arrested.

Just what is he up to now?

The attention to detail throughout this series has been truly delightful. Moriarty is sporting his own trendy “London” cap, as a wonderful foil for Sherlock’s new Deerstalker, which he is forced to don on demand.

Sherlock is furious once again, when this is the only photo the press use of him. He thinks he looks far cooler with his collar turned up on his ‘Bellstaff’ Milford coat. To be sure the tradespeople involved in tourism will lap all the attention to headwear and both caps must be selling like hot cakes all over London.

Sherlock’s brother Mycroft, his friends Mrs Hudson, Molly Hooper from St Bart’s Hospital morgue, le Strade as well as his trusted right hand Dr John Weston are all helping him to reach a solution to The Final Problem. Sherlock’s side kick Dr Watson is superbly played by Martin Freeman. He is truly finding his own feet and momentum. Along with Benedict Cumberbatch as Holmes, they must both give the writers a great deal of inspiration just by the sheer excellence of their performances. They are a dynamic duo par excellence.

After Holmes is called to give evidence at court Watson tells Sherlock “Don’t try to be clever. Intelligent is fine, but let’s give smart alec a wide berth.” Holmes responds “I’ll just be myself.” to which Watson retorts “Are you listening to me?”.

Watson is truly a great friend because he constantly tells Sherlock what it is he doesn’t want to hear. Love it though how the writers help him to pass blissfully over clues placed either right under his nose or in his hand and still he does not ‘get it’. One who does get it is Molly, Sherlock’s contact in the morgue at St Bart’s Hospital Molly, who would do anything to help her brilliant friend.

Mycroft, well he is in disgrace in this. Played with great subtlety by Mark Gattis, with Mycroft as a brother Sherlock is definitely handicapped. He has revealed much too much about his famous brother to Moriarty in exchange for information about criminal activities. Betraying one’s brother in such a despicable way surely must have him hanging his head in shame, especially when Sherlock seemingly does a swan dive off the roof of St Bart’s.

At the end to save his friends from certain death Sherlock must give his own life otherwise the assassins Moriarty has retained to kill them all will act if Sherlock doesn’t jump.

This is the show when the actors rise up and reveal all their strengths, delivering their scenes and words brilliantly. The interplay between Cumberbatch and Freeman has become seamless, and so superbly done.

This is a story about trust and doubt, about faith and hope and people’s perceptions. It reveals just how easily people can be manipulated by fear and particularly by a gutter tabloid press, as headlines have proved this year. It is also about the pedestals other people put us on and how we can put ourselves at risk, often without knowing it. It plugs into uncomplimentary aspects of our human behaviour, how we can admire someone for a while and then become bored by it all and seek to tear them down.

You told me once you that you weren’t a hero… says Watson at Sherlock’s graveside. You were the best man and the most human, human being that I have ever known and know one will ever convince me that you told me a lie ….I was so alone and I owe you so much ….

…hopefully there is one more thing Sherlock – one more miracle just for me, don’t be dead -  just for me don’t be dead, stop it, stop this…

In Series 3, which was commissioned at the same time as Series 2 let’s hope the writers will give Dr Watson someone else to love, other than just the man with whom he always seems to have such a hell of a good time, that high functioning sociopath Mr. Sherlock Holmes. The final problem for us is just how long we will all have to wait for their return?

Preview: Sherlock – The Reichenbach Fall

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MimV42deNMA

Carolyn McDowall, The Culture Concept Circle 2012

*This post contains details of the plot of Sherlock – The Reichenbach Fall so if you don’t want your viewing pleasure spoiled, don’t read it until after the event.

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