Costume
WHAT IS: Fashion, more than a Frock?
Fashionable costume encompasses all that we wear, including the previously unmentionable undergarments. They have been on show, in the past few decades, on a scale far beyond those who founded the world of fashionable couture could have possibly imagined. From skinny self sacrificing super models to those demanding the use of ‘real people’, costume accommodates a desire to be noticed. It is the look at me, look at me syndrome, which has been in play for thousands of years. Today it collectively reflects a western society in which privacy has been stripped completely bare. But is fashion about more than a frock?
WHAT IS: Modernism
Modernism is a term the art and design community of the contemporary western world has adopted to describe a diverse range of architectural and interior decorative styles, as well as applied and graphic arts, which were created between 1880 and 1940 on an international scale.
Modernism demands that there is a distinction between interior architecture and [...]
Destiny, Fate and the Lady and Unicorn Tapestries
In the late medieval period of the fifteenth century the now famous millefleurs tapestries first appear characterized by their backgrounds made of hundreds of tiny flowers. The most well known in this style are known as La Dame á la Licorne, or the Lady & the Unicorn. A group of six tapestries they are woven from a combination of woolen, silk and gold thread and have exercised an almost universal fascination on all those who have encountered them for hundreds of years.
FREE – Six Online Videos – Evolution Art, Design & Style
We’re delighted to announce that for a limited time only, we’re offering the first six parts of our acclaimed course of study, the EVOLUTION OF ART, DESIGN & STYLE to you and your friends absolutely free. We invite your participation and welcome your comment. You can watch them on your computer and enjoy the sumptuous imagery and beautiful music.
Love Jewellery – Regency to Revival
England’s Prince Regent George, Prince of Wales, later George IV (1762 – 1830) scandalized the nation with his reckless and lavish living habits. He gave an impressive love gift a diamond riviére (a necklace of precious stones, generally set in one strand) to his mistress Elizabeth, Lady Conyngham, who reputedly received gifts of jewels valued at the time in the region of 80,000 pounds.
Threads of Destiny – Tapestry Tales
A commission of six tapestries for William Knox D’arcy’s Dining Room at Stanmore Hall in Middlesex illustrates the story of the Holy Grail quest, as told in Sir Thomas Malory’s Morte d’Arthur. They took five years to weave and are considered among the most significant works made during the nineteenth century when romanticism was at its height and they paint a beguiling picture of lovely maidens and dashing knights in a style that was very appealing.
Online Video Course
Adapted for Online Video Presentation, the groundbreaking course the Evolution of Art, Design & Style is illustrated by sumptuous imagery and backed by marvelous music. This unique course of study looks at how western culture its attitudes and philosophies, its fashions and passions developed for over two in relationship to historical events, intellectual and spiritual ideas, other cultural influences and societal change.
Women of Influence: Angelica Kauffmann
As far as women are concerned the Age of Reason in the eighteenth century was inappropriately named. This was a period when the role of women, especially in a professional sphere, took a retrograde step. Private salons hosted by wealthy and powerful women reached the height of their influence at this time with many voices raised in favour of women’s rights, but to no avail. An increasing emphasis was being placed on family life and the role of women was being re-defined all over Europe and England as one that ideally remained in the home.
Women of Influence: Marquise de Pompadour
French painter François Boucher (1703-1770) produced many of the images that we have of the enigmatic Jeanne Antoinette, Marquise de Pompadour, Maîtresse-en-titre, or the official Mistress of Louis XV of France.
Women of Influence: Empress Josephine
An impressive woman in her own right, Marie Joséphine Rose Tascher de la Pagerie de Beauharnais (1763-1814) or Josephine (as Napoleon decided she should be known) would aid, through her influence and abilities, Napoleon Bonaparte’s route to power and have a profound influence on the future of horticulture.
