World of Interiors, Salman Rushdie's piazza, and the Getty Villa on aging gracefully.
This week I’m taking you to Italy, Japan, England, France, Egypt, California’s faux Italy, and…back again to Italy. Allez, let’s go!
Print magazines incoming! The World of Interiors
After spending less than ten minutes on the World of Interiors site, I was already frantically searching for the subscribe button. I don’t purchase this magazine often, and I’m scratching my head while wondering, “WHY NOT?” As I look forward to my first issue arriving, I wanted to share the initial handful of links that prompted me to become a print subscriber—something I love doing. Magazines forever, pour toujours !
Inner Peace: “Characterized by its dexterous intermingling of inward and outward dimensions, the abstract work of Japanese-American artist Miyoko Ito is ever meditative, even at its most emotionally (and spatially) tangled. Miyoko Ito: Heart of Hearts represents the first book dedicated to her life and work.”
Extra Celestial: “Since moving to Margate part time, the National Portrait Gallery’s director and his partner have been seeing quite a lot of the skies that drew Turner to the resort recurrently. In fact, every passing cloud is the source of endless reflection, thanks to all the mirrored strips that line their bolthole in a Brutalist block and expand its view, albeit wonkily. A case of horizons well and truly broadened, reckons Matthew McLean.”
Soane Rangers: This was the home that
introduced me to, and that I mentioned in my “Three Pots of Inspiration” writing. “The World of Interiors presents Visitors' Book with British fashion designer Erdem Moralıoğlu, as we tour Sir John Soane’s London Museum. Step inside the life of one of the foremost architects of the Regency era, Sir John Soane, as we explore his vast collection of paintings, architectural fragments, drawings, and take a first look at the recently restored Drawing Office.”Survivor Chic: “A virtually untouched gem of a 1930s hunting lodge outside Paris by the designer and architect Pierre Petit is currently on the market, complete with original furnishings and decoration. In this Art Deco Gesamtkunstwerk all the creative disciplines unite to spectacular effect.”
Genoese Sponge: “Liguria’s capital loves visual trickery, and with its rich trompe-l’œil frescoes the 16th-century Palazzo Angelo Giovanni Spinola has clearly absorbed the local aesthetic. Bankrolling a major restoration, owner Carlo Clavarino, whose patrician family has deep roots here, waved his own wand, adding hidden doors, faux marquetry and paint masquerading as velvet.”
The Grand Bacchanal: “Every September in the 1950s and early 1960s, a whole flotilla of gondolas would ferry society’s finest to the Volpi Ball in Venice, from film stars to aristocrats. Perhaps far more alluring than any of those guests, however, was the setting for this shindig—the host’s staggeringly beautiful 16th-century canal-side palazzo, with decoration by her and Maison Jansen.”
Cairo Technics: “Modernist pioneer Sayed Karim exploded onto the scene of Egyptian architecture with his distinctive blend of Le Corbusier-inflected design principles, regionalist influences and the odd high-octane theatrical flourish. Sadly, his public buildings look a little burnt-out nowadays—but his idiosyncratic and beautifully preserved villa in the Maadi neighborhood shines as brightly as ever, discovers Adam Štěch.”
Salman Rushdie’s The Old Man in the Piazza
Speaking of print magazines, I have been a subscriber of The New Yorker for a few years. I read it religiously each week, never skipping an issue—except for the few weeks during my transition to life in France because it was complicated to move my subscription across borders. I tear out any article that makes me feel something. As you can imagine, I do a lot of feeling. So, the collection of ripped pages has become a little nuts.
My most cherished tear-out moment was the story The Old Man in the Piazza by Salman Rushdie, published in the November 23, 2020 issue. (Again, about feelings: this was during the first few months of Covid in which I had no shortage of emotions.) I think about this piece of fiction more than I should. It touches upon the importance of language, big FEELINGS, relationships between humans, the greatness of site-specificity in our lives, culture, and impermanence.
If you’re unable to access the link to read it, please let me know, and I’ll personally share it with you. I want everyone I know to read it! Also, if you prefer to listen to stories, a 35-minute audio reading is available, narrated by Mr. Rushdie himself. Perfection.
The Getty Villa on “Aging Gracefully”
The Getty Villa in Los Angeles just celebrated its 50th anniversary. I have admittedly never been—mostly because I lived on the east side and already committed to driving 4 hours each day in traffic 5 days per week to work at the Eames House in the Pacific Palisades. The last thing I wanted to do on my days off was to drive to this part of town again, and for that, I have many, many regrets. The Getty Villa sent along a celebratory email recently, which included some links that I enjoyed.
Leave the cracks, patch the hair, and other ways to age gracefully is a story about restoring 16th century paintings, including the above diptych of Adam and Eve.
How Shade Tells a Story, the description of “Chiaroscuro”—an art term that I have always really been fond of. I love the drama of it.
Their Spotify playlist of songs from 1974, the year the Getty Villa was founded.
From the Absolument ! Archive:
Vogue model turned photographer, journalist, and WWII correspondent Lee Miller will remain one of my idols.
Modern-era artist Robert Rauschenberg erased an even more famous artist’s drawing during what I believe to be the most outrageous art stunt in history. Peek into the SFMOMA site to learn more about the mischief behind Erased de Kooning Drawing.
The French town most famous for a now-common textile, Tulle, and its opposite-from-ballerinas past.
xx
I’m off to read Salman Rushdie again!
Kelsey
Hola , Después De Leer Éste Maravilloso Ensayo Y Todos Los Enlaces , Puedo Comprender Perfectamente Tú Amor Por Está Fascinante Revista World Of Interiors. Un Saludo.