(via Wikipedia) Ambilight, which is short for Ambient Lighting Technology, is a feature invented by Philips Electronics, generating light effects around the TV that correspond to the video content. The effect, the company claims, is a larger virtual screen and a more immersive viewing experience. In addition, Philips claims that it reduces viewer eye strain.
Useful link:
www.research.philips.com
I wonder if Ambilight technology could be modified for colored stones and jewelry for an immersive viewing experience.
Monday, April 07, 2008
Art Sources
I found Mark Hardens artchive + Nicolas Pioch's Webmuseum interesting. I liked it.
Useful links:
www.artchive.com
WebMuseum
Useful links:
www.artchive.com
WebMuseum
Beads
(via Diamond Cuts in Historic Jewelry:1381-1910) Herbert Tillander writes:
Diamond beads, unlike those made from other gems, are seldom completely spherical, but may have any shape from a sphere to a disc, such as a barrel, spindle, cylinder or ellipse. They are covered with small facets on all sides, often in steps. They have no girdle, table or culet. They were apparently always produced from dodecahedroid rough of an intermediate, near-spherical shape. A pair of exceptionally large diamond Beads from the late eighteenth century is in the possession of the Swedish Royal Family as part of the Bernadotte Foundation. They are set in a pair of earrings known as the Wasa Earrings. Fancy Cuts with all-round faceting are usually described as ‘rare’, so it is surprising to find so many of them in the inventories of the Hope and Brunswick Collections and in the Iranian Treasury.
Diamond beads, unlike those made from other gems, are seldom completely spherical, but may have any shape from a sphere to a disc, such as a barrel, spindle, cylinder or ellipse. They are covered with small facets on all sides, often in steps. They have no girdle, table or culet. They were apparently always produced from dodecahedroid rough of an intermediate, near-spherical shape. A pair of exceptionally large diamond Beads from the late eighteenth century is in the possession of the Swedish Royal Family as part of the Bernadotte Foundation. They are set in a pair of earrings known as the Wasa Earrings. Fancy Cuts with all-round faceting are usually described as ‘rare’, so it is surprising to find so many of them in the inventories of the Hope and Brunswick Collections and in the Iranian Treasury.
The Influence Of The Far East
(via The Outline of Art) William Orpen writes:
Strange that Ruskin did not remember that the selfsame phrase about ‘flinging a pot of paint’ had been used a generation earlier by a critic of one of Turner’s sunsets. Then Ruskin had been on the side of the artist, now he did not understand and stood with the Philistines. Time has avenged the insult to genius uncomprehended, and the ‘Nocturne—Blue and Gold—Old Battersea Bridge,’ which Ruskin in 1877 thought not worth two hundred guineas, was in 1905 eagerly purchased for two thousand guineas and presented to the nation.
Whistler’s exhibits brought him all the publicity any artist could desire—all London was taking of his nocturnes—but the hostility of the critics, and particularly the savage onslaught of Ruskin, scared away purchasers. When he exhibited for the second time at the Grosvenor Gallery in 1878, Whistler found that Ruskin’s denunciation was stopping the sale of his pictures and, after some hesitation, he decided to bring a libel action against him.
The case was heard on the 25th and 26th of November 1878 before Mr Justice Huddlestone and a special jury. It created a great sensation, but Whistler was ill advised to bring the action, because artistic questions can never be satisfactorily settled in a court of law. Popular sympathy was with the critic, who had so often been right in the past, and Whistler’s brilliant repartees in the witness-box did him no good, for they only tended to confirm the opinion that he was an amusing jester who was not to be taken seriously. In cross-examination the opposing counsel elicited the fact the the ‘Nocturne in Black and Gold’ had been painted in two days, and then said, ‘The labor of two days, then, is that for which you ask two hundred guineas?’ ‘No,’ replied Whistler with dignity; ‘I ask it for the knowledge of a lifetime.’
The point at issue really was whether the nocturnes were or were not works of art, and this was a matter obviously over the heads of the jury. Albert Moore, giving evidence for Whistler, praised his pictures highly and declared that they showed not ‘eccentricity’ but ‘originality’. William Rossetti also pronounced the nocturnes to be true works of art, but on the other side Frith declared they were not, and Burne-Jones agreed with him because, though he admitted that the nocturnes had ‘fine color and atmosphere,’ he considered that they lacked ‘complete finish’. Tom Taylor, the art critic of The Times, giving evidence for Ruskin, attempted to explain what Burne-Jones mean by finish, and for this purpose produced a picture of Titian. But when this was handed to the jury, one of them, mistaking it for a picture by Whistler, exclaimed, ‘Oh, come! We’ve had enough of these Whistlers,’ and they all refused to look at it!
In the end Whistler was awarded te contemptuous sum of one farthing damages. This meant that he had to pay his own law costs, and since nobody would buy his pictures now he was soon in money difficulties. He revenged himself by issuing a pamphlet, Art and Art Critics, in which his enemies were neatly and wittily put in their places, but this did not help him to live. To put an end to an untenable situation, early in 1879 he had to abandon his residence, ‘The White House,’ in Chelsea. He became a bankrupt and all his belongings were sold to satisfy his creditors.
The Influence Of The Far East (continued)
Strange that Ruskin did not remember that the selfsame phrase about ‘flinging a pot of paint’ had been used a generation earlier by a critic of one of Turner’s sunsets. Then Ruskin had been on the side of the artist, now he did not understand and stood with the Philistines. Time has avenged the insult to genius uncomprehended, and the ‘Nocturne—Blue and Gold—Old Battersea Bridge,’ which Ruskin in 1877 thought not worth two hundred guineas, was in 1905 eagerly purchased for two thousand guineas and presented to the nation.
Whistler’s exhibits brought him all the publicity any artist could desire—all London was taking of his nocturnes—but the hostility of the critics, and particularly the savage onslaught of Ruskin, scared away purchasers. When he exhibited for the second time at the Grosvenor Gallery in 1878, Whistler found that Ruskin’s denunciation was stopping the sale of his pictures and, after some hesitation, he decided to bring a libel action against him.
The case was heard on the 25th and 26th of November 1878 before Mr Justice Huddlestone and a special jury. It created a great sensation, but Whistler was ill advised to bring the action, because artistic questions can never be satisfactorily settled in a court of law. Popular sympathy was with the critic, who had so often been right in the past, and Whistler’s brilliant repartees in the witness-box did him no good, for they only tended to confirm the opinion that he was an amusing jester who was not to be taken seriously. In cross-examination the opposing counsel elicited the fact the the ‘Nocturne in Black and Gold’ had been painted in two days, and then said, ‘The labor of two days, then, is that for which you ask two hundred guineas?’ ‘No,’ replied Whistler with dignity; ‘I ask it for the knowledge of a lifetime.’
The point at issue really was whether the nocturnes were or were not works of art, and this was a matter obviously over the heads of the jury. Albert Moore, giving evidence for Whistler, praised his pictures highly and declared that they showed not ‘eccentricity’ but ‘originality’. William Rossetti also pronounced the nocturnes to be true works of art, but on the other side Frith declared they were not, and Burne-Jones agreed with him because, though he admitted that the nocturnes had ‘fine color and atmosphere,’ he considered that they lacked ‘complete finish’. Tom Taylor, the art critic of The Times, giving evidence for Ruskin, attempted to explain what Burne-Jones mean by finish, and for this purpose produced a picture of Titian. But when this was handed to the jury, one of them, mistaking it for a picture by Whistler, exclaimed, ‘Oh, come! We’ve had enough of these Whistlers,’ and they all refused to look at it!
In the end Whistler was awarded te contemptuous sum of one farthing damages. This meant that he had to pay his own law costs, and since nobody would buy his pictures now he was soon in money difficulties. He revenged himself by issuing a pamphlet, Art and Art Critics, in which his enemies were neatly and wittily put in their places, but this did not help him to live. To put an end to an untenable situation, early in 1879 he had to abandon his residence, ‘The White House,’ in Chelsea. He became a bankrupt and all his belongings were sold to satisfy his creditors.
The Influence Of The Far East (continued)
Eco-Conscious Jewelry
By reusing precious gems, metal scraps, and recycled packaging in production, designer Elizabeth Moore, has introduced something new from old for the jewelry industry and eco-conscious consumers. I think they look different and eye-catching + beautiful.
Useful link:
www.frootejewelry.com
Useful link:
www.frootejewelry.com
Sunday, April 06, 2008
The First $20 Million Is Always The Hardest
The First $20 Million Is Always the Hardest by Po Bronson is an interesting book + it highlights the asymmetrical business landscape and characters when entrepreneurs risk everything to start a company, and take it public + the impact.
I liked it.
Useful links:
www.pobronson.com
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0280674
I liked it.
Useful links:
www.pobronson.com
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0280674
Expanding Circular Table
I found the William IV Jupe expanding circular mahogany dining table @ http://www.economist.com/daily/columns/artview/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10989634 intriguing because they are beautiful and rare + the table looked very similar to the shape and patterns of fixed trapiche stars in emerald (Colombia) and rubies and sapphires (Burma)-- a collector's delight.
Useful links:
www.oscardelarenta.com
www.theodorealexander.com
www.dbfletcher.com
www.christies.com
Useful links:
www.oscardelarenta.com
www.theodorealexander.com
www.dbfletcher.com
www.christies.com
Renewable Energy
(via Economist) Q-Cells, based in Wolfen, just north of Leipzig, Germany, is the world's largest manufacturer of photovoltaic (PV) cells used in solar panels + according to the environment ministry's latest report on the state of the industry, renewables now account for 6.7% of energy consumption, up from 5.5% in 2006 and 3.5% in 2003 + I think renewable-energy equipment (s) will become a big part of Germany's manufacturing industry, alongside cars and machine tools + the renewable-energy law, now known as the EEG, adopted in 1991, which encourages investment by cross-subsidising renewable electricity fed into the grid may speed up the rapid expansion of new clean technology in Germany + with 160 or more institutions doing research on solar technology, Germany may become the clean-tech industry giant of the world.
Useful links:
www.qcells.de
www.bmu.de
www.worldfuturecouncil.org
www.iset.uni-kassel.de
www.ersol.de
Useful links:
www.qcells.de
www.bmu.de
www.worldfuturecouncil.org
www.iset.uni-kassel.de
www.ersol.de
How To Steal A Million
(via Wikipedia) How to Steal a Million (1966) is an art-heist movie, directed by William Wyler, starring Peter O'Toole as a suave art investigator and Audrey Hepburn as Nicole Bonnet, the daughter of genius art fraud Charles Bonnet (Hugh Griffith). The central theme of the movie is the recovery from a Parisian museum of a forged Cellini committed by Bonnet's grandfather, before its discovery and exposure as such, and is enlivened by the romantic angle between the characters played by O'Toole and Hepburn.
Useful link:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060522
It's an elegant movie and I liked it.
Useful link:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060522
It's an elegant movie and I liked it.
Beads, Briolettes And Rondelles
(via Diamond Cuts in Historic Jewelry:1381-1910) Herbert Tillander writes:
Beads, Briolettes and Rondellas have two features in common: a body covered all over with tiny facets, and the absence of a girdle by which gems are normally held in their settings (a few Girdled Briolletes do exist, but these are exceptions). The facets are usually triangular or squarish or, less frequently, long and narrow. Since they have no girdle, these diamonds are either drilled through from side to side or, in th case of Briolettes, downwards through the point. They are then threaded on wire or on a ring to hang on a chain. The type of piercing is dictated by the shape of the diamond and determines the use to which the stone will be put in a piece of jewelry.
The fashioning of diamond Beads, Briolettes and Rondellas was obviously inspired by the endless variety of such forms already in use thousands of years before Christ: ‘Perhaps the most convenient and welcome of all substitutes for currency was beads. Beads are the Adam and Eve of jewelry family and their countless progeny have spread over all the inhabited lands of the earth from the darkest jungles of Africa to the icebound countries of the far north. Beads were cherished in the magnificent courts of the Pharaohs, and they flourish today in the ‘five-and-tens’ of the New World. The jeweler of ancient times seems to have delighted in seeing how many different kinds of beads he could make. There were minute carved beads, balls of amethyst, and melon-shaped beads of limpid rock crystal, pale red carnelian beads shaped like an hour glass, and cynlindrical beads of green felspar....’
Beads, Briolettes and Rondellas have two features in common: a body covered all over with tiny facets, and the absence of a girdle by which gems are normally held in their settings (a few Girdled Briolletes do exist, but these are exceptions). The facets are usually triangular or squarish or, less frequently, long and narrow. Since they have no girdle, these diamonds are either drilled through from side to side or, in th case of Briolettes, downwards through the point. They are then threaded on wire or on a ring to hang on a chain. The type of piercing is dictated by the shape of the diamond and determines the use to which the stone will be put in a piece of jewelry.
The fashioning of diamond Beads, Briolettes and Rondellas was obviously inspired by the endless variety of such forms already in use thousands of years before Christ: ‘Perhaps the most convenient and welcome of all substitutes for currency was beads. Beads are the Adam and Eve of jewelry family and their countless progeny have spread over all the inhabited lands of the earth from the darkest jungles of Africa to the icebound countries of the far north. Beads were cherished in the magnificent courts of the Pharaohs, and they flourish today in the ‘five-and-tens’ of the New World. The jeweler of ancient times seems to have delighted in seeing how many different kinds of beads he could make. There were minute carved beads, balls of amethyst, and melon-shaped beads of limpid rock crystal, pale red carnelian beads shaped like an hour glass, and cynlindrical beads of green felspar....’
The Influence Of The Far East
(via The Outline of Art) William Orpen writes:
These poetic paintings of night represent the extreme point of originality to which Whistler went. Particularities of scene and landscape exist in these nocturnes only as accessories; the real subject is the limpidity of the atmosphere, water illumined by the pale rays of the moon, mysterious shadows, the great silhouettes of dark nights, the darkness intensified sometimes by a splash of fireworks against the sky. Today, though Cremorne is no more, we can recognize the truth as well as the beauty in ‘Cremorne Lights’, for Whistler has now taught us to use our own experience in looking at these pictures of moonlight and lights reflected in the water. But at the time of their first appearance these nocturnes were incomprehensible to most people, who looked in them for topographical details which the veil of night would naturally conceal. In an eloquent and moving passage in his lecture, known as the ‘Ten o’Clock,’ Whistler afterwards explained what he saw and painted by the Thames at eventide:
When the evening mist clothes the riverside with poetry, as with a veil, and the poor buildings lose themselves in the dim sky, and the tall chimneys become campanili, and the warehouses are palaces in the night, and the whole city hangs in the heavens, and fairyland is before us—then the wayfarer hastens home; the working man and the cultured one, the wise man and the one of pleasure, cease to understand as they have ceased to see, and Nature, who, for once, has sung in tune, sings her exquisite song to the artist alone, her son and her master, her son in that he loves her, her master in that he knows her.
But in 1877 Whistler’s views on the poetry of night were unknown, and the magic of his brush could not immediately convert the public to appreciation of pictures the like of which had never before been seen in Europe. Something approaching them had been seen in Japan, as we may see by comparing Hokusai’s bridge pictures with those of Whistler, but Hokusai and Hiroshige were not known then as they are today. Whistler’s nocturnes were regarded by the majority as a smear of uniform color in which no distinct forms could be considered. The painter was looked upon as a charlatan and buffoon, and among those who attacked him, sad to relate, was the stout defender of Turner and the Pre-Raphaelites. John Ruskin, no wiser in this respect than the others, permitted himself to write the following in Fors Clavigera on July 2, 1877:
For Mr Whistler’s own sake, no less than for the protection of the purchaser, Sir Coutts Lindsay ought not to have admitted works into the gallery in which the ill-educated conceit of the artist so nearly approached the aspect of wilful imposture. I have seen, and heard, much of cockney impudence before now; but never expected to hear a coxcomb ask two hundred guineas for flinging a pot of paint in thte public’s face.
The Influence Of The Far East (continued)
These poetic paintings of night represent the extreme point of originality to which Whistler went. Particularities of scene and landscape exist in these nocturnes only as accessories; the real subject is the limpidity of the atmosphere, water illumined by the pale rays of the moon, mysterious shadows, the great silhouettes of dark nights, the darkness intensified sometimes by a splash of fireworks against the sky. Today, though Cremorne is no more, we can recognize the truth as well as the beauty in ‘Cremorne Lights’, for Whistler has now taught us to use our own experience in looking at these pictures of moonlight and lights reflected in the water. But at the time of their first appearance these nocturnes were incomprehensible to most people, who looked in them for topographical details which the veil of night would naturally conceal. In an eloquent and moving passage in his lecture, known as the ‘Ten o’Clock,’ Whistler afterwards explained what he saw and painted by the Thames at eventide:
When the evening mist clothes the riverside with poetry, as with a veil, and the poor buildings lose themselves in the dim sky, and the tall chimneys become campanili, and the warehouses are palaces in the night, and the whole city hangs in the heavens, and fairyland is before us—then the wayfarer hastens home; the working man and the cultured one, the wise man and the one of pleasure, cease to understand as they have ceased to see, and Nature, who, for once, has sung in tune, sings her exquisite song to the artist alone, her son and her master, her son in that he loves her, her master in that he knows her.
But in 1877 Whistler’s views on the poetry of night were unknown, and the magic of his brush could not immediately convert the public to appreciation of pictures the like of which had never before been seen in Europe. Something approaching them had been seen in Japan, as we may see by comparing Hokusai’s bridge pictures with those of Whistler, but Hokusai and Hiroshige were not known then as they are today. Whistler’s nocturnes were regarded by the majority as a smear of uniform color in which no distinct forms could be considered. The painter was looked upon as a charlatan and buffoon, and among those who attacked him, sad to relate, was the stout defender of Turner and the Pre-Raphaelites. John Ruskin, no wiser in this respect than the others, permitted himself to write the following in Fors Clavigera on July 2, 1877:
For Mr Whistler’s own sake, no less than for the protection of the purchaser, Sir Coutts Lindsay ought not to have admitted works into the gallery in which the ill-educated conceit of the artist so nearly approached the aspect of wilful imposture. I have seen, and heard, much of cockney impudence before now; but never expected to hear a coxcomb ask two hundred guineas for flinging a pot of paint in thte public’s face.
The Influence Of The Far East (continued)
Saturday, April 05, 2008
Heard On The Street
The best way to learn about market (s) is to be in a financial crisis like today's + the simplest answer to why market (s) went up yesterday is... they went up......and went down today is......they went down + markets are efficient, but not all the time, and we are living in such a time.
Interesting Facts
I found the information via Earthtrends very interesting:
- The most densely populated country in the world: Singapore, with 6,699 people per square kilometer (the global average is 51!).
- Country with lowest life expectancy: In Swaziland, the average person lives only 31.2 years.
- Country producing the most coal: China produces over one billion toe (tonnes of oil equivalent) of coal each year, nearly twice that of the second largest producer, the United States.
Useful link:
www.wri.org
- The most densely populated country in the world: Singapore, with 6,699 people per square kilometer (the global average is 51!).
- Country with lowest life expectancy: In Swaziland, the average person lives only 31.2 years.
- Country producing the most coal: China produces over one billion toe (tonnes of oil equivalent) of coal each year, nearly twice that of the second largest producer, the United States.
Useful link:
www.wri.org
Kevin Roberts
Kevin Roberts works with one of the best and famous advertising agency in the world, Saatchi & Saatchi + he is highly-regarded for his deep insight and creative mind + I have always liked his attraction-concept about people and marketing in business + connecting consumers through emotion--I think they are brilliant.
Useful links:
www.saatchikevin.com
www.saatchi.com
www.krconnect.blogspot.com
www.sisomo.com
www.lovemarks.com
Useful links:
www.saatchikevin.com
www.saatchi.com
www.krconnect.blogspot.com
www.sisomo.com
www.lovemarks.com
Middle Of The Market
I found the article @ http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/5898.html interesting because there is a lot of useful info + lessons for the gem and jewelry industry.
Useful link:
Marketing Know: How
Useful link:
Marketing Know: How
Loans For Art Buyers
(via BBC) I was intrigued by the French government's measures to boost its flagging art market by providing interest-free loans to modest buyers to purchase works + according to the French Culture Minister Christine Albanel, the idea was to bring private individuals closer to this act of buying a work of art adding that the loan was the price, for example, of a flat-screen television.
Brilliant idea!
Useful links:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7328012.stm
www.artprice.com
Brilliant idea!
Useful links:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7328012.stm
www.artprice.com
Ileana Sonnabend Collections
Carol Vogel writes about the largest private sale of art collections belonging to Ileana Sonnabend, known to the art world as the world's most powerful dealer (s) in the 1960s and '70s + other viewpoints @ http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/04/04/arts/04vogel.php
Useful links:
www.gagosian.com
www.acquavellagalleries.com
www.lmgallery.com
www.gpspartners.com
Useful links:
www.gagosian.com
www.acquavellagalleries.com
www.lmgallery.com
www.gpspartners.com
Modern Spread Cuts
(via Diamond Cuts in Historic Jewelry:1381-1910) Herbert Tillander writes:
The old Spread Cut Brilliants were the successors of the early Mirror Cuts and, like these, were inspired by the demands of fashion. If good proportions were possible, then of course the diamond would not be spread. But otherwise, depending on the irregularity of the rough, the final result might by anything from an overspread Brilliant to a mere trinket. Today most Brilliant Cut diamonds are Spread Cut, emphasizing brilliance at the expense of fire. Since they are produced commercially, the saving of weight is of major importance, even though this means that the light effects are considerably reduced, and despite the fact that a well-proportioned stone can be worth far more than a Spread Cut one, not to mention Fish-Eye.
Basil Watermeyer gives a splendid example of a Spread Cut. He states that such a diamond ‘will produce an equal flow of reflected light through table and crown facets.’ This total balance of light reflection can fool the eye into believing that the stone has life. When these proportions are used it is stressed that the stone is very sensitive to any change in the base angle of 41°. A 40¾° base angle will immediately produce a Fish-Eye and a 41¼° angle will produce a dull ‘inner circle.’
Another equally Spread Brilliant Cut was proposed by Parker in 1951. These figures conform with a crown angle of 25.5° and a pavilion angle of 40.9°. Oldendorff believed that Paker Cut might be quite attractive but ‘somewhat lax.’
Parker’s Spread Cut
Table size: 66.1%
Crown height: 8.1% - Angles: 25.5°
Pavilion depth: 43.35% - 40.9°
Watermeyer’s Spread Cut
Table size: 66.66%
Crown height: 11.5% - Angles: 33 - 34°
Pavilion depth: 43.5% - 41°
The old Spread Cut Brilliants were the successors of the early Mirror Cuts and, like these, were inspired by the demands of fashion. If good proportions were possible, then of course the diamond would not be spread. But otherwise, depending on the irregularity of the rough, the final result might by anything from an overspread Brilliant to a mere trinket. Today most Brilliant Cut diamonds are Spread Cut, emphasizing brilliance at the expense of fire. Since they are produced commercially, the saving of weight is of major importance, even though this means that the light effects are considerably reduced, and despite the fact that a well-proportioned stone can be worth far more than a Spread Cut one, not to mention Fish-Eye.
Basil Watermeyer gives a splendid example of a Spread Cut. He states that such a diamond ‘will produce an equal flow of reflected light through table and crown facets.’ This total balance of light reflection can fool the eye into believing that the stone has life. When these proportions are used it is stressed that the stone is very sensitive to any change in the base angle of 41°. A 40¾° base angle will immediately produce a Fish-Eye and a 41¼° angle will produce a dull ‘inner circle.’
Another equally Spread Brilliant Cut was proposed by Parker in 1951. These figures conform with a crown angle of 25.5° and a pavilion angle of 40.9°. Oldendorff believed that Paker Cut might be quite attractive but ‘somewhat lax.’
Parker’s Spread Cut
Table size: 66.1%
Crown height: 8.1% - Angles: 25.5°
Pavilion depth: 43.35% - 40.9°
Watermeyer’s Spread Cut
Table size: 66.66%
Crown height: 11.5% - Angles: 33 - 34°
Pavilion depth: 43.5% - 41°
The Influence Of The Far East
(via The Outline of Art) William Orpen writes:
Whistler also painted a ‘Symphony in White No.III’; in this two girls, one in cream, one in white, recline on a white sofa, while a fan on the floor and the flowers of an azalea in a corner repeat the dominant whites. The motive of the artist in choosing these color schemes and calling the pictures ‘symphonies’ was at this time beyond the comprehension of even professional art critics, and one of them wrote of this picture in the Saturday Review:
In the ‘Symphony in White No.III’ by Mr Whistler there are many dainty varieties of tint, but it is not precisely a symphony in white. One lady has a yellowish dress and brown hair and a bit of blue ribbon, the other has a red fan, and there are flowers and green leaves. There is a girl in white on white sofa, but even this girl has reddish hair; and of course there is the flesh color of the complexions.
To this Whistler promply retorted:
Bon Dieu! Did this wise person expect white hair and chalked faces? And does he then, in his astounding consequence, believe that a symphony in F contains no other note, but shall be a continued repetition of F,F,F?....Fool!
This was one of the earliest of Whistler’s critical encounters, taking place when the picture was exhibited at the Academy in 1867, and the critics were soon to learn that here was a painter who could hit back with interest.
As the successive exhibition of Whistler’s pictures enabled the tendencies and peculiarities of his work to be more clearly seen, the public, the critics, and the Royal Academy itself became more and more hostile to him, and finally took up an attitude of undisguised ill-will. In 1872 his painting of his mother, now universally recognized to be one of the great portraits of the century, was narrowly rejected by the Academy, and its final acceptance was only due to the staunch championship of the veteran Sir William Boxall, R.A., who threatened to resign from the Council if the pictures were not hung. Doubtless Whistler’s habit of giving his works titles borrowed from musical terms prejudiced the public agianst them. An extremist far more in his titles than in his actual manner of painting, Whistler went so far as to call his picture of mother, ‘Arrangement in Grey and Black.’ He defended this title by saying:
That is what it is. To me it is interesting as a picture of my mother; but what can or ought the public to care about the identity of the portrait?
In his desire to emphasize the importance of decorative design adn color in painting, Whistler became a little inhuman. As one of his younger critics pertinently observed, we can find an ‘arrangement of grey and black’ in a coal-scuttle; we find far more in Whistler’s ‘Mother’, we find reverence for age, character, tenderness, and affection. It has become one of the great pictures of the world, not only because it is a pleasing pattern of colors, but because it is a true work of deep emotion tenderly expressed.
No longer welcome at the Royal Academy, Whistler was fortunate in soon securing a new exhibition center. Sir Coutts Lindsay, a rich banker and amateur painter who patronized the arts, had the Grosvenor Gallery built in Bond Street, and at the first exhibition opened there in May 1877 Whistler was represented by seven pictures. These included the portrait of Carlyle, now at Glasgow, a painting similar in style to the artist’s ‘Mother’, described as ‘An Arrangement in Brown,’ a full-length of Irving as Philip II of Spain, described as ‘Arrangement in Black No.III,’ and four nocturnes, two in blue and silver, one in blue and gold, and one in black and gold. Whistler had not confined his studies of the Thames in mid-London to his etched work; he had used these subjects for paintings in the sixties, among them being ‘Old Battersea Bridge’ and ‘Chelsea in Ice,’ but in this new series of evening effects by the riverside he shocked the conventions of the day more than he had yet done by his ‘symphonies.’
The Influence Of The Far East (continued)
Whistler also painted a ‘Symphony in White No.III’; in this two girls, one in cream, one in white, recline on a white sofa, while a fan on the floor and the flowers of an azalea in a corner repeat the dominant whites. The motive of the artist in choosing these color schemes and calling the pictures ‘symphonies’ was at this time beyond the comprehension of even professional art critics, and one of them wrote of this picture in the Saturday Review:
In the ‘Symphony in White No.III’ by Mr Whistler there are many dainty varieties of tint, but it is not precisely a symphony in white. One lady has a yellowish dress and brown hair and a bit of blue ribbon, the other has a red fan, and there are flowers and green leaves. There is a girl in white on white sofa, but even this girl has reddish hair; and of course there is the flesh color of the complexions.
To this Whistler promply retorted:
Bon Dieu! Did this wise person expect white hair and chalked faces? And does he then, in his astounding consequence, believe that a symphony in F contains no other note, but shall be a continued repetition of F,F,F?....Fool!
This was one of the earliest of Whistler’s critical encounters, taking place when the picture was exhibited at the Academy in 1867, and the critics were soon to learn that here was a painter who could hit back with interest.
As the successive exhibition of Whistler’s pictures enabled the tendencies and peculiarities of his work to be more clearly seen, the public, the critics, and the Royal Academy itself became more and more hostile to him, and finally took up an attitude of undisguised ill-will. In 1872 his painting of his mother, now universally recognized to be one of the great portraits of the century, was narrowly rejected by the Academy, and its final acceptance was only due to the staunch championship of the veteran Sir William Boxall, R.A., who threatened to resign from the Council if the pictures were not hung. Doubtless Whistler’s habit of giving his works titles borrowed from musical terms prejudiced the public agianst them. An extremist far more in his titles than in his actual manner of painting, Whistler went so far as to call his picture of mother, ‘Arrangement in Grey and Black.’ He defended this title by saying:
That is what it is. To me it is interesting as a picture of my mother; but what can or ought the public to care about the identity of the portrait?
In his desire to emphasize the importance of decorative design adn color in painting, Whistler became a little inhuman. As one of his younger critics pertinently observed, we can find an ‘arrangement of grey and black’ in a coal-scuttle; we find far more in Whistler’s ‘Mother’, we find reverence for age, character, tenderness, and affection. It has become one of the great pictures of the world, not only because it is a pleasing pattern of colors, but because it is a true work of deep emotion tenderly expressed.
No longer welcome at the Royal Academy, Whistler was fortunate in soon securing a new exhibition center. Sir Coutts Lindsay, a rich banker and amateur painter who patronized the arts, had the Grosvenor Gallery built in Bond Street, and at the first exhibition opened there in May 1877 Whistler was represented by seven pictures. These included the portrait of Carlyle, now at Glasgow, a painting similar in style to the artist’s ‘Mother’, described as ‘An Arrangement in Brown,’ a full-length of Irving as Philip II of Spain, described as ‘Arrangement in Black No.III,’ and four nocturnes, two in blue and silver, one in blue and gold, and one in black and gold. Whistler had not confined his studies of the Thames in mid-London to his etched work; he had used these subjects for paintings in the sixties, among them being ‘Old Battersea Bridge’ and ‘Chelsea in Ice,’ but in this new series of evening effects by the riverside he shocked the conventions of the day more than he had yet done by his ‘symphonies.’
The Influence Of The Far East (continued)
Friday, April 04, 2008
Made In France Label For Fine Jewelry
I think it was a brilliant move by the French jewelry sector to initiate Joaillerie de France certification (a government-supported label and hallmark) because this guarantees quality and recognition + consumer confidence.
Other countries should follow the French to promote and guarantee high standards in fine jewelry.
Useful link:
www.joailleriedefrance.net
Other countries should follow the French to promote and guarantee high standards in fine jewelry.
Useful link:
www.joailleriedefrance.net
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