MIRACLES IN MINIATURE 16th Century Books (c) by Polly Guerin

What treasures await you but to visit the Morgan Library & Museum's "Miracles in Miniature"exhibition that features a diminutive Prayer Book and Book of Hours created in the early sixteenth century in the French city of Tours.
   Forgotten for centuries, one of the greatest artists who came to be known as the  Master of Claude de France was named after two jewel-like manuscripts he painted for Queen Claude de France (1499-1524), first wife of King Francois I: a tiny Book of Hours and an even tinier Prayer Book to be held in the palm of her hand.
   The art of the Master of Claude de France is of such extraordinary quality it is almost impossible to imagine how it was executed with such delicacy of hand, illuminated in gold and beautiful colors.This is the first time the public can see these two stunning treasure together since their creation almost five hundred years ago.
  The artist was known  for a style of the utmost delicacy and his signature palette of subtle lilacs, mauves, and roses, juxtaposed with chartreuse and royal blue, the printing so tiny you should ask to borrow a magnifying glass from the Museum's information desk, in order to study the works more closely.
   The exhibition includes not only the two eponymous books, but also a selection of addition works of Claude Master, notably twelve calendar miniatures along with manuscripts by Jean Bourdichon, Claude Master's teacher, and by Jean Poyer and Jacques Ravaud, two artists active in tours who influenced him.
   The Prayer Book contains Claude's coat of arms three times and nearly every page is framed by a decorative cordeliere, a personal emblem that she inherited from her mother, Queen, Anne d Bretagne. Both books exhibit a sense of delicacy, but bright hues, and charming doll-like figures and his borders a filled with flowers, antique candelabras, or Italianate architectural elements.  All 132 scenes from the Prayer Book are viewable on a special screen installed in the gallery. In addition, each image will be available on an online exhibition on the Morgan's website. themorgan.org. The exhibition is accompanied by a 104-page, fully illustrated monograph written by Morgan curator Roger Wieck, with a contribution by Morgan conservator Franciso Trujillo.
   Twelve Calendar Miniatures includes twelve charming vignettes of the Labors of the Months surmounted by the Signs of the Zodiac.Calendars were often illustrated with a suite showing agrarian activities appropriate to the month of season. Thus, January shows a couple feasting and, in February, a man warming himself by the fire.  April is illustrated by a scene of two youths falconing, and so it goes on and in June and July, the serfs are mowing and reaping in exquisite color and delicacy of artist's style.
   Ta Ta darlings!!! Take a summer break and visit Master of Claude de France's books and works of incredible artistry. Fan mail welcome pollytalk@verizon.net. Visit Polly's Blogs on fashion, visionary men, hidden treasures in new york and amazing women determined to succeed, and poetry at www.pollytalk.com.

MARKS OF GENIUS and Tea at the MORGAN (c) Polly Guerin

"How warmly we respond whenever we receive letters from friends or scholars written in their own hands! wrote Erasmus. "We feel as if we were listening to them or seeing them face to face." (I couldn't agree more---no truer words could have been written or spoken). Handwriting is prized because it contains the character of an individual, what Erasmus might have called his or her genius. The more exceptional the person or the work, the more prized the manuscript. Manuscripts can embody the character of a person who drafts a work or edits a speech.
   MARKS OF GENIUS: Treasures from the Bodleian Library, on view at the Morgan Library & Museum through September 14, 2014, celebrates more than two thousand years of the creative genius of authors, composers, artists, scientists and philosophers preserved in the Library's rich holdings.
Image: William Shakespeare (1564-1618) Comedies, Histories & Tragedies (The First Folio London: Printed by Isaac, Jaggard and Edward Blount, 1623.

 If you appreciate historical treasures as I do this exhibition is a rare opportunity to see works that include items from western and eastern culture and range from a papyrus fragment of a seventh-century B.C. Sappho poem, (Imagine that!) to a copy of the Magna Carta dating to 1217 to Shakespeare's First Folio to key works by novelist Jane Austen. Pictured right: Jane Austen (1775-1817) Pride and Prejudice, Published London: T. Egerton, 1813.
A TOUCH OF GENIUS Genius was not confined to individuals: place and even nations had their guiding spirits, in the form or genius of place. Works in this section include Handel's conductor's score for Messiah used at the first performance and Mary Shelley's manuscript for Frankenstein, with Percy Bysshe Shelley's corrections.Other objects gained authority because of their association with a historically important person. Case in point: the manuscript of the fourteen-year-old Elizabeth 1 translated text into English and dedicated the document to her step-mother, Katherine Parr  Genius has its roots in the Latin word genius derived from gignere "to beget," and has the literal meaning "that which is born," and we know that there are quite a number of geniuses today who will leave their mark for generations to come.  There are several interesting sections, The Patron of Genius and On the Shoulders of Giants.

The one that intrigues me most was The Genius of Printing:Few inventions have so revolutionised the spread of knowledge, literacy, and communications as Johann Gutenberg's creation of a system of movable type in Germany around 1450-1455. Visually stunning works, such as Albrecht Durer's Apocalypse, Published: Nuremberg: Hieronymus Holtzel, 1511, which illustrates the relationship that some authors and artists had with the publication and distribution of their own work.
   Public Programs include a Gallery Talk, Friday, July 11, at 6:30 pm and Tours June 14 and September 13 at 11am, both free with museum admission. Reservations are recommended. themorgan.org/programs.
LUNCH or AFTERNOON TEA at the CAFE is one of the true joys of a visit to the Morgan. The Cafe's new look thematically connects to the Morgan's notable architecture and its menu links patrons to the
Gilded Age and the Museum's exhibition programs. Most certainly relax in the comfort of the new walnut chairs and stylish square tables.  On Sunday's there is a festive jazz brunch, and on Fridays relax over tapas and libations and enjoy a cocktail inspired by literature. The newly designed menu cards highlight the names of artists, writers, historical figures, and composers whose works are found in the Morgan's renowned collections. Please made a reservation.
Ta Ta Darlings!!! PollyTalk is wondering just how many geniuses she has met? Fan mail welcome at pollytalk@verizon.net. Polly's BLOGS on fashion, remarkable men, music and art, poetry and New York's hidden treasures can be found on the left hand link wwwpollytalkcom
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EXPOSED: A History of Lingerie at FIT Museum (c) By Polly Guerin

 

Upon entering the Museum at FIT, a new intimate exhibition, "Exposed: A History of Lingerie and how it strategically conceals or reshapes the female form impacts on the viewer by the first encounter of  two 19th-century corsets, one of bright-red silk, the other of peacock blue silk.

   The corsets are so petite, the waists so tiny, one onlooker asked me, "Were they designed for a child?." She had a good reason to ask such a question and though I am quite a fashion historian I acquiesced to Colleen Hill. associate curator of accessories at The Museum at Fit (MFIT) who is also the author of  the exhibition companion book, published by Yale University Press. Ms Hill confirmed that said aforementioned corsets were unmistakably for an adult woman, albeit however women were more petite at that time and could sustain being strapped into an 00 size garment. Ms Hill said, "A number of corsets during that period were constrictive and unforgiving."

  Let me remind you, worthy reader, we must remember that in the nineteenth century women were shorter, and lacking the benefit of vitamin pills no doubt this caused them to have smaller physical frames. Their lifestyle was reflected in the constraints of the corset that made their existence one of posing beautifully and escaping to the 'fainting couch," as the restraints of the corset caused them shortness of breath. Their most likely talent was playing the pianoforte or singing, albeit they were the darlings of  an elite social class. They were obliged to have a "ladies maid," to dress and undress. It was the lifestyle that had its rules of restraint not only underneath it all but in the outer world of social discourse.  

   A whalebone busk from the mid-19th century, an accessory that was inserted at the center-front of a corset served to straighten a wearer's torso and prevented one from slouching. Now that's something I might need right now as I have a tendency to bend over my computer keys to write this column.

  Featuring more than 70 beautifully crafted undergarments, sleepwear, lounge wear and robes from the Museum's permanent collection, each piece illustrates key shifts in fashion. The bustle contraction made, "a la derriere": an unnatural posterior silhouette that distorted the natural form. The crinoline, its forerunner, wasn't any better and required numerous petticoats to achieve full volume or the "cage" as decried by Monsieur Charles Frederick Worth, the fashion guru of the time.

  Then there are the most charming tea gowns of chiffon, lace, silk and even an accent collar of fur to greet guests in a bygone era of feminine frivolity. Yet, who has time to spend the afternoon in such attire, there's work to be done and miles and miles before we sleep,

  The exhibition runs through the Flapper Girl looks and the soft bandeau's of the Twenties (precursor of the bra) and the elegant bias-cut styles of the Thirties. Most revealing are the "Gay Deceivers" by Warner's--cotton filled falsies of rayon satin that were stuffed into bra cups to create a larger bosom. Then of course, today we have Victoria;s Secret to elevate the bra and give it more cleavage. Nostalgic runs rampant with Emilio Pucci for Formfit Rogers body stockings and the animal print bra and panties by Rudi Gernreich for Exquisite Form. 

   This exhibition is a nostalgic trip down fashions memory lane of how lingerie continues to redefine the relationship between lingerie and the body.

The Museum at FIT is open Tuesday through Friday, noon to 8:00 pm; Saturday 10 to 5 pm; closed Sunday, Monday and Legal holidays. Admission is FREE. Visit www.fitnyc.edu/museum.

   Ta Ta darlings!!! I been there, seen it all, but it's worth the schleep over to Seventh Avenue at 27th Street just to be reminded how fortunate women are whose unconfined free bodies define today's silhouette and lifestyle.

   Fan mail welcome pollytalk@verizon.net.  Visit Polly's Blogs: amazing women, remarkable men, hidden treasures and her poetry on www.pollytalk.com.

FASHION a la PARISIAN (c) By Polly Guerin

This week I am off  to Paris!!! and pourquoi pas?  The City of Lights  role as the capital of fashion's luxury goods invites me to jet over the pond and land in the heart of French couture to indulge in the pleasure of viewing several exhibitions that put fashion on a pedestal of admiration.  Here's the scoop!!!

PARIS 1900 No other period in fashion has had its glory days then in the Belle Epoque an era that lasted from about 1900 to World War I. The 985' Eiffel Tower was one of the highlights of the Paris Exhibition,  1900, but so were the fashionable women who personified "Parisian Chic." The upper class were 'au currant,' up-to-the-trend of the times and the less affluent ladies followed style the best they could on limited funds. At that time Charles Frederick worth was the dictator of fashion and to make it clear that he was an artist at heart he wore a beret and an artist's smock and fancied dressing women in elegant fabrics and dictating their silhouette choices as well. On view here are several examples of Worth's creations that were worn by high society and the demi monde of the era.  At the Petit Palais, through August 17th.
FROM WATTEAU TO FRAGONARD This most romantic exhibition focuses on lovely clothes as typically depicted in the paintings of these French artists. Jean-Honore Fragonard painting, The Swing, 1767 personifies the era with sexual symbolism.  In this painting a provocatively clad, fickle and playful woman in flimsy pastels perches on a swing while an admirer below appears aimed to get a glimpse of her underpinnings. Clothes worn by women conveyed a definite message and Antoine Watteau, who coined the genre "fetes galantes," defined manners, conversation and even music. Even the Watteau  Dress, a lavishly draped gown became de rigeuer. Frou Frou lingerie has its incarnation here as the boudoir dress. At the Musee-Jacquemart-Andree through July 21.
JOSEPHINE Luxury by any other name could be called the Josephine Boneparte era when Napoleon's bride was the personification of luxury. Why not? Napoleon had assigned her the role of "an ambassador" in charge of promoting luxury "Made in France."  Such largess gave the Empress free reign on fashion, choosing as she did a cache of dresses embellished with the finest embroideries, lace, and jewels which are all on display at this museum. Josephine may have been born on the island of Martinique but in Paris she was the epitome of expensive taste. She even commissioned an extra-large cabinet to house her jewelry collection which featured mechanisms for secret compartments built, no doubt to secure her most prized possessions..  At the Musee du Luxembourg through June 29.
For further details consults Paulina Szmydke's feature at wwd.com/eye.
Ta Ta darlings:  Just a little note of interest.  The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology is staging an exhibition on lingerie opening in June, but more on that later.  Fan mail welcome pollytalk@verizon.net. For a view of Polly's Blogs go to pollytalk.com and in the left hand column click on the direct link to her Blogs on fashion , visionary men, hidden treasures in New York, art deco women and poetry.

GATSBY TO GARP, MODERN MASTERPIECES (c) By Polly Guerin

As summertime leisure and vacations loom before us what a better time to think of fine literature than now when book reading is on a high, at least that is the opinion of Common Sense Media. To wit, The Morgan Library and  Museum celebrates modern American literature with an exhibition of masterworks from the world's greatest private collection. Only in New York my friends, the Best of New York. Here's the scoop!!!

GATSBY TO GARP: Modern Masterpieces from the Carter Burden Collection opens tomorrow through September 7, 2014. Who was Burden? Right you are to ask. Carter Burden, was a former trustee of the Morgan Library and Museum and onetime New York City Councilman, but he was also a singular collector, a man destined to assemble the greatest collection of modern American literature. He paid record prices for copies in the best possible condition and with notable attributes such as authors' annotations and presentation inscriptions.Famed writers included in the show range from Fitzgerald, Faulkner, and Hemingway to Jack Kerouac, Toni Morrison, and John Irving, John Steinbeck to name a few.
  Beginning in 1997, after Burden's death the previous year, his family made a gift to the Morgan of twelve thousand volumes from his collection which includes first editions, manuscripts, and revised galley proofs. Authors featured in this unparalleled exhibition are some of the country's most celebrated authors who wrote about America with uncanny realism that records even moments of historical significance.
   Gatsby to Garp examines the vibrant American literary landscape of the twentieth century, a period that encompassed a remarkable explosion of creativity, and  explores such topics as language and style, geography and setting, literary identity and relationships among writers. The exhibition offers particular emphasis on the concept of 'firsts'---as it pertains to book production and format and to literary movements and experimentation. It also includes a number of authors' photographs.
   THE ROARING TWENTIES: "You are all a lost generation." - Gertrude Stein. the Roaring Twenties also saw the birth of modern book design. It was not until the second decade of the twentieth century that their design became bold and colorful. Francis Cugat's bold Art Deco jacket design for the Great Gatsby is one of the most iconic in twentieth century American Literature. The jacket's most prominent feature, the staring melancholic eyes of a woman influenced Fitzgerald's narrative. After reviewing an early draft of the design, while still in the midst of composition, Fitzgerald told his publisher that he had "written it into" the novel Dust jackets which are by their nature most often discarded, or easily torn or lost, were originally intended to protect a book's binding, and those that survive are highly valued by collectors.
   My Ansonia, while John Steinbeck and James Agee documented the realities of the Depression-era rural South and West. This group of writers who carved out varied landscapes and the social realities of the United States also included Daschell Hammett and Raymond Chandler who evoked the gritty underworld of urban California.

WILLIAM FAULKNER: "I discovered that my own little postage stamp of native soil was worth writing about and that I would never live long enough to exhaust it...it opened up a gold mine of other people, so I created a cosmos of my own.": - William Faulkner delved into the very core of The space in which an author composes, the setting in character reveal themselves, the places that writing explores are all bound up in literary expression. Faulkner was one of those visionaries as were others. Willa Cather left Nebraska decades before penning her lyrical descriptions of the prairie in My Ansonia while other authors penned locality as their own.
   LANGSTON HUGHES: "I, too, sing America." Langston Hughes was among the Renaissance writers who consistently viewed race, identity, and the African American experience in ways that broke from earlier forms and gave expression to a new sense of cultural identity. Renaissance writers were also concerned with representations of authentic experience and voice. They were also writing concurrently with the Lost Generation. The movement was identified as such in Alain Locke's 1925, anthology The New Negro and was one of the first books of the Harlem Renaissance and a cornerstone of the movement. It was a magical era Harlem was in vogue, the jazz clubs on 125th Street and Lenox Avenue hummed in the sound of Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong, and a younger generation of writers was coalescing as the first black literary movement in America's History.
   This rich and remarkable exhibition is at the Morgan, 225 Madison Ave. (36th Street) www.themorgan.org.
   Ta Ta Darlings!!! As an author and columnist PollyTalk advises that you visit the Morgan more than once to get an eagle view of this literary exhibition. It's a rare opportunity to see original work by America's famed authors.  Fan mail welcome at pollytalk@verizon. Visit Polly's website: www.pollytalk and in the left hand column click on Polly's other Blogs on fashion , visionary men, hidden treasures in New York and poetry..

 

CHARLES JAMES'S FASHION GENIUS IN THE SPOLIGHT (c) By Polly Guerin

“Cut in dressmaking is like grammar in a language. A good design should be like a well made sentence, and it should only express one idea at a time.” – Charles James. (Mirrored walls tagged with James’s quotes create an infinity repeat surrounding the sea of silk and velvet)
CHARLES JAMES BEYOND FASHION and the New ANNA WINTOUR COSTUME CENTER: “Charles James considered himself an artist, and approached fashion with a sculptor’s eye and a scientist’s logic,” said Thomas Campbell, director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He described the Costume Institute as “a forum to explore not just what we wear but what this medium can evoke.”
   The exhibition is presented in two locations--the new Anna Wintour Costume Center as well as special exhibition galleries on the Museum’s first floor. The retrospective of the Anglo-American couturier Charles James focuses specifically on his use of sculptural, scientific and mathematical approaches to construct revolutionary ball gowns. It is interesting to note that James’s innovative tailoring continues to influence designers even today.
AMAZING BALL GOWNS
   The exhibition features 65 of the most notable designs James produced over the course of his career from the 1920s to his death in 1978. The expansive main gallery features 15 dramatically lit James gowns including the “Clover Leaf,” “Butterfly,” “Tree,” and “Swan.” The dresses float on circular platforms with dramatic front views, while from behind they are analyzed on platform-mounted projection screens with rolling content designed by DS+R. Programmed light projectors with pan/tilt heads and robotic boom arms

direct the visitor to the area of the gown the digital content explores. "To dissect a James gown is to reveal more fully the complete originality and virtuosity of its maker." (Mirrored wall text)
   Descending the steps to the new Lizzie and Jonathan Tisch Gallery, visitors view a portrait of the designer and hear his voice. A pathway leads around a cruciform platform where the evolution and metamorphosis of James’s day and evening wear are explored. The socialites of the era such as Babe Paley were his clients as were Millicent Rogers and New York celebrities.
INCREDIBLE CREATIVITY
   The designer’s incredible creativity was matched only by his tempestuous personality, which is not evident in the gorgeous clothes and gowns he designed, but legend has it that James tried the patience of even his closest friends, not to mention his clients. Fashionistas are flocking to the galleries which opened May 8, but there is plenty of time to view the exhibition which runs through August 10, 2014. Students of architectural design would also do well to study and investigate James’ structural, sculpted process.

   In the Carl and Iris Barrel Apfel Gallery, step into a more intimate setting wherein pieces of James’s person archive are on display--- dress forms, jewelry maquettes, scrapbooks and accessories, including hats representing James’s early work as a milliner. A white satin eiderdown evening jacket, widely regarded
as the first puffer coats, sit in the center
NIGHTTIME ELEGANCE
   The brilliance of his creations that defined nighttime elegance in the twentieth century has never been more illustrated than in Cecil Beaton’s famous 1948 group portrait of eight models in James’s grand, sculptural dresses (pictured above) One may wonder why James’s acquired the reputation as a visionary only to realize that he was the first to use spiral draping, with and without zippers; to make coats entirely out of the grosgrain ribbons; to use dozens of fresh flowers as adornment, a to dream up the quilted jacket in white satin filled with eiderdown, in 1937.
   Halston was his protégé and admirer as were other designers in the trade who imaged to emulate his style. It is sad to know that his impoverished death took place in New York’s Chelsea Hotel in 1978.
NEW VERSIONS
   The James legend goes on: Bergdorf Goodman has commissioned seven designers to create James-inspired pieces that are now on view in its windows. Giambattista Valli, Libertine, Mary Katrantzou, Ralph Rucci, Rodarte, Rosie Assoulin and Naeem Kahn have each provided one-of-a-kind looks which are being sold for $3,500 to $14,000.
POLLYTALK'S COMMENT
Ta Ta Darlings!!! Pollytalk went to the Charles James press opening on May 4 and was taken by the fascinating mirrored walls with James’ quotes…do make note of these gems of wisdom by the great designer himself. Fan mail welcome at pollytalk@verizon. Visit Polly’s website pollytalk and in the left hand column click on my other Blogs on fashion, visionary men and hidden treasures in New York.

PATRICK KELLY FETED IN PHILADELPHIA (c) By Polly Guerin

 Who was Patrick Kelly? That’s a good question answered recently in Philadelphia. For fashionistas unfamiliar with the designer the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s Perelman Building houses the exhibition “Patrick Kelly” Runway of Love,” the first exhibition to showcase the full scope of Kelly’s oeuvre. Though he is still remembered to this day for his whimsical button dresses, the exhibition goes beyond his whimsicality with selections from the artist’s significant holdings of black memorabilia, videos of his playful fashions shows and Horst photos and Oilivero Toscani ads featuring his work for Benetton.
   It is ironic to note that Kelly was the first American and first African -American to be elected to the prestigious Chamber Syndicale du Pret a Porter des Couturiers et des Createurs de Mode. He swept into Paris and the French adored his playful clothes stood which out on urban streets, runways and nightclubs.
“His branding and marketing were unique, “notes Dilys Blum, the Museum’s Jack M. and Annette Y. Friedland senior curator of costume and textiles and organizer of the exhibition.
EARLY INSPIRATION
   Kelly’s muses ranged from his Mississippi grandmother to the American expatriate entertainer Josephine Baker, to the couturiers Madame Gres and Elsa Schiaparelli. As a child growing up in Vicksburg, Mississippi Kelly would lose his buttons, which his grandmother replaced with those of different colors, a look that Kelly later adapted for his fashion designs. He was supported by strong women and attended the local black Baptist church with his grandmother, where he noticed how fierce the Ladies were in their head-to-toe Sunday best which inspired future designs. One thing clear, Kelly never forgot his roots and took pride in who he was and where he cane from.
  However, he left for Paris in 1979, which offered him a safe haven and creative freedom. At first he

designed costumes for performers at the Palace nightclub for two years At the same time he dressed his model friends in his signature tube-knit dresses. They wore the dresses to go-sees launching Kelly’s star on the ascendant rise in fashion. Zoom, like a comet, it catapulted Kelly from selling clothes on the streets to a six-page spread in French Elle.
   Kelly was launched on a non-stop move into stardom. Yves Saint Laurent chairman, Pierre Berge personally sponsored Kelly in the 1988 form the Paris-based women’s wear house Patrick Kelly Paris.
LIFE INTERRUPTED
   Kelly’s career was cut short when he died from AIDS in January 1990 at the age of 35. Though everyone adored him and the fashion cognoscenti supported him there was no escape from the illness that swept through the fashion industry and took Kelly in its wake. As I covered the couture collections as a journalist at the time for one of the fashion magazines I remember Kelly’s exuberant personality and his signature look, denim overalls, sneakers and a cap. His persona exuded originality as did his collections which featured glamorize denim in baby-doll dresses, button and bow decorations, tiered bandanna print skirts and his playful looks inspired by his muse Josephine Baker, including her banana bikini.
FASHION ICON
Clearly the wool tweed and boucle suits and dresses’ took their cue from Chanel but always with a touch of frivolity a button here a button everywhere sent a message of originality. His power suits never disappointing or discipline and instead were sprinkled with pearls, buttons or balls in a witty display of panache. While he never showed in New York his fashion shows are recorded for posterity via film wherein the runways were like a party with models dancing, prancing down the runway in a joyful exhibition of Kelly’s latest oeuvre. This kind of showmanship coupled with the unique creations resonates with young people today. Just recently, Michael Bastion paid homage to Kelly and in a concurrent exhibition another designer, Gerlan Marcel, uses Kelly's influence throughout her 2009 through 2014 collections with hearts, buttons and bows, which clearly reference Kelly's oeuvre.
   “This lively exhibit captures Kelly’s enduring spirit,” notes Curator Dilys Blum. “His branding and self- marketing were unique at the time, but now, in an age of fast fashion and brand-driven sales, it is a perfect time to reexamine Kelly’s contribution to fashion history. Patrick Kelly: Runway of Love is featured in the Special Exhibition Gallery, Perelman Building, Philadelphia Museum of Art through November 30, 2014. For general information, call 215.763.8100 or visit philamuseum.org.