Interior Design
Chinese Ceramics – ‘Knowledge Comes from Seeing Much’
Chinese ceramics became known to the wider world from the Tang Dynasty (618- 907) onward; the word ‘China’ eventually became the generic name for porcelain
Le Corbusier – The International Style
Swiss born Charles-Edouard Jeanneret (1887-1965) was 29 when he went to Paris. Soon after his arrival he adopted his maternal grandfather’s name, Le Corbusier, as a pseudonym. He changed his persona from Jeanneret the small-town architect to Le Corbusier the world’s next visionary artist. He expressed a view that architecture had lost its way. He was convinced the bold new industrial age dawning required an audacious style of architecture. Who better to design it than himself. “We must start again from zero,” he proclaimed.
Arts & Crafts Movement – William Morris the Art that is Life
In England, during the second half of the nineteenth century, painter, writer, textile designer and social activist William Morris (1834-1896) became the spiritual leader of a revival in arts and crafts that encompassed all the visual arts, including architecture and interiors.
Fashion, is it more than a Frock?
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?
A ‘Compleat’ Gentleman, more than a leader of style
In London much of the development in the eighteenth and early nineteenth century was in the hands of aristocratic landowners. But were they ‘compleat’ gentlemen?
La Casa di Villa – Dwelling under the Tent of Heaven
The precise location of heaven on earth has never really been established, but it could very well be a villa designed to cultivate the head heart body and soul
What is a Mirror, more than just Glass?
The mirror, more than just glass, has occupied a unique place in his imagination as a site of the divine or demonic, of lucidity or madness. It is the ‘matrix of the symbolic’ and accompanies the human quest to know and understand our identity.
All That Glistens is Glass – Phoenecia and The Portland Vase
No one really knows when, or where glass was first made but since antiquity, as a material, it has had an important place and impact on many different cultures. It has also been utilized in many different forms. From exotic Egyptian jewellery to a product for vanity at Venice or for toasting exalted beauties and life in eighteenth century England. More lately in our own time in industry its properties and uses in medical science and space research are extending its properties, which only adds to the mystique surrounding it.
Adam in Georgian London, investing in the future of style
18th century Scottish architect Robert Adam was ambitious and planned to perfect his knowledge of architecture on his Grand Tour by examining outstanding monuments from antiquity. He also wanted to refine his social graces so that he would be able to move in the highest possible elevations of society, conversing easily with any member of the aristocracy that had formed and refined their taste in Italy.
Downton Abbey & Castle – Stylish Dramas Capturing our HeArts
Art, the skill and technique involved in producing visual representations… or the creation of beautiful or thought provoking works, is very evident in two very stylish television dramas currently being created on each side of the Atlantic – Downton Abbey in England and Castle in America. Their characters are capturing our heArts.
Antique & Art Dealers Association Show @ Sydney in Spring
The Australian Antique & Art Dealers Association (AA&ADA) Show is on at Royal Randwick Racecourse at Sydney from the 7 – 11th September. It is the leading industry body representing antique and art dealers in Australia today. Their Code of Practice is surety that your investment in the past is also an investment in your future.
Pavlovsk – A quest for beauty in a forever disordered world
The Palace of Pavlovsk was built on the hilly banks of the Slavianka within the environs of Tsarskoe Selo. It became well known originally because of the splendour of its neo-classical architecture, incredible interiors, great art collections, and the beauty of its spacious park, which covered around 1500 acres. However it is the story of its destruction and incredible resurrection twice that is at the heart of its fame today.
Civilised: At the Beginnings of Art – Threads of Destiny
Textiles are a transmitter of both wealth and status and a measure for the development of a society from its primitive or early beginnings in ancient societies. By the second half of the fourteenth century weaving textiles and producing needlework had both become a highly important aspect of England and Europe’s societies and economies.
The Power of Art and Design in the Modern Age at Vienna
In 1898 The Vienna Secession with youthful idealism, spirit of sacrifice and willingness to work hard siezed the day leading Vienna into the age of modernism
English Country Style – Understated Georgian Grace
After World War II English Interior Designer John Fowler extracted the very essence of elegance out of eighteenth century interior style, added nineteenth century concepts of comfort, convenience and associations with home, hearth and family, to create an all new ‘eclectic’ English Country Style. It found favour the world over because of its comfortable connotations and understated Georgian grace.
The Block, a Renovating Nightmare or, a Restoration Delight
Do the protagonists on television’s real estate renovating reality show, The Block at Melbourne in 2011 face a renovating nightmare, or a restoration delight?
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Shanghai Scenes
Explore the delights of the burgeoning Shanghai arts scene, including the visual arts music, dance and literature.
