Celebrating ONE YEAR on Substack! On enveloping my days with art, design, and history in an exponential way
Joyeux anniversaire to my petite writing outlet!
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All words here are my own, unless otherwise stated. More from me + Absolument can be found in these places:
Website | Instagram | Book Recs Merci, thank you tons and tons for reading!
Wow, one year of consistent writing and forming a corner of the internet that feels like my personal jewel box. I love it here! Thank you for having enough curiosity in my writing to hit the subscribe button. Thank you for remaining here while waiting for new images and words from my enthusiastic, multi-track brain and heart. It means the world to me!!!
Nothing feels more fitting for a one-year Substack anniversary than going through some of my favorite things I’ve shared so far with all of you. Some of you have joined much later than October 24th, 2023, so some of these topics may be new.
It’s been such a fun experience relieving some of my writings—and I can’t believe there are 45 of them total. Absolument is a culmination of all of the things that catch my eye and ignite some sort of wonder in me, and I’m lucky that you’ve shown interest too.
Stay tuned until the end for a gift card giveaway. Enjoy—and thank you ALWAYS for reading!!! Merci !!!
First, a little survey!
I always want this newsletter to remain very true to me. But! I am curious about what you’ve enjoyed most in this newsletter this year. It may help me steer my ship toward one direction stronger than another. Who knows!
October 24th, 2023!
The first time I hit publish on Substack one year ago, I wrote to you about the Surrealist photographer and war correspondent, Lee Miller. I also shared about the role of photography in my own life and work and gushed about a contemporary photographer that I had recently discovered, Jo Metson Scott. From there, this newsletter flourished into a place to examine and adore visual ephemera, to churn ideas in my mind (mainly to organize and catalog my thoughts), and to share my enthusiasm with others.
A Hodgepodge
This series highlights the always-changing rotation of subjects tumbling through my mind’s eye at the moment. The Bauhaus! Alexander Girard designing airplanes! Painting! Modernism! It’s a clustering of the stuff I’ve built my life and identity around.
Robert Motherwell's painting studio, a Milanese cove of Modernisme meets Modernism, and how an ordinary shape changed my life.
Robert Motherwell's paintings in studio, Villa Borsani, and Kazimir Malevich's Black Square
Sophie Haigney wrote charmingly and with great humor about dichotomies for The Paris Review and every now and then, I’m reminded of it. Especially during a summer storm. Such an innocent question carries so much load! Are you thunder or lightning? I had fun making some collages of what the two terms represented to me:
With one glance, it was tough for my heart to not explode with inexplicable love for Isamu Noguchi’s sculpture Miss Expanding Universe. There is something so free and uplifting about her—as if she’s jumping for joy, or soaring while on her way to give you the largest embrace. Finding out her name made me adore her even more. What a feat to create a sculpture from aluminum with the appearance of the lightness of a feather. Thank you, Isamu Noguchi, for crafting my own version of a patroness saint. I strive to be Miss Expanding Universe in my own way.
BOOK CLUB and ART CLUB
BOOK CLUB is my exploration of a person/brand’s book collection, plus some recommendations I would pair with what’s on their shelves. From this series came very naturally: ART CLUB. Mostly, I’m in the Nosy People Club™️—always itching to know what people are reading and surrounding themselves with in their homes and work spaces.
Modern painter and educator Hans Hofmann prescribed one book to his students on an introductory syllabus for his art school, the Hans Hofmann School of Fine Arts in the 1930s. The first line on the syllabus read: “It is recommended to students planning to join the Hans Hofmann School to read Sheldon Cheney’s (1934) book Expressionism in Art.” I got my hands on a vintage 1st edition copy as quickly as possible! Before reading it, I wanted to peer into the layered history of Hofmann, his school for the arts, and to think a little deeper about why he might have chosen this exact book. What messages did Expressionism in Art have for art students at the time? Why was it the only book Hofmann listed?
Gae Aulenti's Milano nest, filled with bookshelves galore. This was the type of house I dreamed of living in when I was a kid (and now too): slightly futuristic, pops of bold colors, and immensely overpowering bookshelves.
The home of Surrealist photographer Lee Miller and her artist husband, Sir Roland Penrose. Here’s Lee again! If you read my Substack, you’ll quickly notice my obsession with her. The Miller-Penrose home has been preserved and turned into an art gallery and house museum, open to visitation. Which means that you can stalk their book collections up close in real life. The dream!
Art collectors, critics, and historians at home, including Peggy Guggenheim’s palazzo-turned-museum in Venice, Italy. You’ll be able to see some modern art classics hanging outside of a gallery setting. One of my top-five favorite pieces of art is present in Peggy’s home in Venice—more on that in my honeymoon post below!
Going to the Chapel of Love
For a year and a half, planning our very intimate Basque Country wedding in France took up a majority of my brainwaves. Most of it was swooshing around the “What the heck am I going to wear?” question. Vintage was the only way to go and June 7th and 8th became the best days ever.
Weddings! Calling from the vintage, and going to the Chapel of Love in which I talked about my initial vintage wedding dress inspirations, like Madame Bardot in the film Two Weeks in September. (Also, I have some vintage wedding dresses—yes, plural—to sell, if anyone is interested. One is identical to Brigitte’s dress below.)
Weddings encore, which honed in on other vintage styles that I appreciated in the wedding dress department. Featuring: diving textures and tiers, designs from the turn of the century, non-white rule breakers, and a little bit from the best decades.
The wedding itself!!!!! Which I still can’t believe really happened because the weekend was the most fun I’ve ever had in my life. Read on if you like it when people overshare about sappy life events—and if you like learning more about what it’s like to be married in France, and about the French Basque Country!
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Three Pots of Inspiration
The mind of a visual thinker (hi!) is PACKED with photographs, colors, textures, and various oddities—both real and imagined. While Absolument is always a snapshot of what’s skipping around in my head, the Three Pots of Inspiration installment hyper-reflects what’s going on up there right now. A lengthy, imaginative roundup that comes in threes!
Increasing my intake of vintage Vuokko dresses—my most-cherished vintage clothing brand—and my small collection of antique French silver butter curlers that I picked up around France. A niche habit in both realms!
Swirling around: Gala Dalí’s world, modernist fashion in the art gallery, and bits of ephemera from springtime. I also mentioned
’s impressively creative output that she shares glimpses of on her Substack, including her famous mood boards.
Ali LaBelle's moodboards. How does she reach perfection every single time?! The flowing dresses of Desert Vintage, oil painting, and a Vogue-working social media friend to admire. Shoot, I love uplifting other creative women!!
Desert Vintage, painting by Emily Ferguson, and Montse Tanús The Met's film vaults, a Bauhaus textile artist, and Dorothy, Dorothy, Dorothy! I love it when a post naturally connects itself in more than one way. This one covered multiple Dorothys and a small gathering of textile designers who I had been surrounding myself with that month. It pays to follow the yellow brick road!
Misc. Design and Travel
"An Artist Flowering in Her Nineties", Anna Karina becoming Frenchified, and Corita Kent’s ordinary things as signs for us. I shared a little about my feelings about learning the French language and how I can begin to relate to movie star Anna Karina, who also immigrated to France. I discovered 90-something-year-old Isabella Ducrot who filled her Milan apartment abundantly with art created by herself and others. More than that, I fell in love with Ducrot’s life philosophies. Her New Yorker interview had some zesty quotes! “During the day, I am absolutely normal,” she said. “But in the morning I write very intelligent things.”
Gio Ponti’s “Graceful Butterfly" Villa Planchart—and Ponti imagery soup
Giovanni “Gio” Ponti’s creative output spanned sixty years. Sixty years! That’s almost 22,000 days of this man having ideas, colors, textures, patterns, words swirling in his mind. From these concept-defining stretches and bouts of creativity, he transformed himself into an architect, interior designer, magazine founder and editor, inventor, writer, decorative artist, poet, furniture maker, and educator. He designed a house in South America—Villa Planchart—and I was instantly hooked by it.
Drooling over Audrey Hepburn and her Givenchy wardrobe via Funny Face. I followed the film along with my own commentary, loving the Givenchy clothing, the inside jokes for modern art lovers (Giacometti, hello!), and the view of 1957 Paris. Strangely enough, this was my first time watching an Audrey Hepburn film!
A blue and bubbly bit of nostalgia: the American Girl Illuma-Room, and how the Groovy Room would look IRL today. Does anyone remember this American Girl bit of interior design from the year 2000? It has haunted me since owning one in my pre-teen years, and I think it low-key sparked my jump into modernism and interior design. I scoured through 1stDibs to try to recreate a (very expensive) version of it with vintage pieces. I’d so live in this room, but I wouldn’t want to fund it—anyone have $146,772 to make my Albers/Girard/furry bed/metallic circle rug dreams come true?
Honeymooning in Venice! For Venice, we had the goals of: winding through the streets, meeting dead ends of water, kissing on every bridge (without any exceptions!!!), eating from the must-try food list, and daring ourselves to get lost. I didn’t expect to have such deep revelations or emotional moments while visiting, so I undeniably left a piece of my heart floating in the Grand Canal.
Plus more travels to Barcelona, Copenhagen, the Basque Country, Basel, and Paris! My first trip ever to Europe was in November 2021 aka WAY. TOO. LATE. I’m trying to catch every opportunity to see another city/country/culture while living here in southern France.
One Piece
I want to introduce here another segment that’s been stewing in my imagination called One Piece. The intention is to interview creative people about their one piece of art, clothing, literature, etc. that they feel the most attached to. My first guests will include outstanding people in the fields of: lighting and industrial design, writing, and art and design appraisal. Stay tuned! And let’s talk if you’re interested in being featured.
GIVEAWAY!!!
To celebrate this one year of Absolument, I’m giving away one $50 online Bookshop gift card to one of my paid subscribers! Bookshop.org works to connect readers with independent booksellers and stores all over the world. Since 2020, they’ve raised more than $28 million for independent bookstores—which is 28 million times better than supporting Amazon. You can see/shop my Bookshop here!
To enter, you must be a paid subscriber to my Substack on November 15th, when I will draw a name at random. Subscribe and upgrade to paid now to be entered!
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Absolument, pour toujours!
Kelsey Rose
Congratulations on your one-year Substack anniversary! As to my poll answer -- answer 1 -- I really enjoy your unique take on living in France and Europe. But the personal information puts it in context. Keep up the fantastic work! A la deuxième année!
Happy one year, Kelsey!!! I’m so grateful that Substack has given us a window to your extensive library of knowledge, inspiration, and curiosities. It’s the best. xoxo