Kiki Says...

Woman with Snake 2003 Kiki Smith
Ginzer 200 by Kiki Smith

"Just do your work. And if the world needs your work it will come and get you. And if it doesn't, do your work anyway.....I'm always taken care of by my work. You let go of your own idea and let the work go where it needs to go. And that's sometimes very uncomfortable. One learns to linger in discontent and not be judgmental, but to have faith."

from article Kiki Smith on Creative Struggle

KIKI SMITH

The Art of Amy Crehore

Schoolgirl Hats 1890

These are my great, great aunt Jesse Louise Forde's friends. It looks like she had many friends. I have her old autograph book, plus lots of little photos. It must have been a standard procedure in 1890 for the girls to have their portraits taken with hats and coats on. I like the girl in the top photo. She seems like more of a tomboy and I love her hat. CLICK PHOTOS TO ENLARGE. (Photos from Crehore family archive.)

The Art of Amy Crehore

Tennis Anyone? 1890

Jesse Louise Forde around 1890 (Stanley H. Forde's sister)Jesse Louise Forde 1890 posing with Tennis Racket

Jesse Louise Forde on the far right, bottom with tennis club of 1890

Group shot at Lotus Point 1891, (Ms. Forde is second from left)

CLICK PHOTOS TO ENLARGE
If you have been following my blog, you'll remember that I posted some interesting family camping photos of 1890 & 1891 a little while ago ("Lotus Point", NY). Steampunk enthusiasts really seemed to enjoy them. Here is that same group of camping women from 1891(bottom photo) posing in country hats with fans, a tea kettle and dolls out in the field. These must be silly costumes for the photo...I can't believe they would normally wear these outfits, would they? My great, great aunt Jesse Louise Forde is in this photo (second from left).

Jesse Louise Forde was Stanley H. Forde's sister. I blogged about him, too.
They were both stage performers/singers in NYC and elsewhere, but Jesse Louise ended up moving to Italy to sing in operettas. I have more old photos of her friends and career, but here she is as a young girl with her tennis buddies and posing with a tennis racket. It's interesting to see what the girls were wearing back then to play tennis in. I'm still playing history detective!
The Art of Amy Crehore

Tim Burton at MOMA

(photo from Harpers Bazaar magazine)

Fashionista Diary blogged some pages from October's Harpers Bazaar magazine featuring fashions that celebrate Tim Burton, the artist/film director. Tim Burton will be having a major retrospective of artwork and films at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC from November 22, 2009-April 26, 2010!

I could not resist blogging this fashion photo - it's so crazy-looking.

I love Tim Burton films. They are crazy-fun and incredibly imaginative.

TIM BURTON

The Art of Amy Crehore

Stolen: Beautiful "Olympia" Painting by Magritte

" 'Olympia', a nude inspired by Magritte’s wife and muse Georgette, was taken off the wall of the small gallery in the artist’s former home while museum staff and visitors were ordered to lie down in the back garden." read the whole story at TIMES ONLINE UK

I was not aware of this painting before. It's absolutely gorgeous. More personal than some of his other work. It is like a snapshot taken on vacation of a very real, intimate moment shared by Magritte and his wife. Yet, it is also surreal. The article says that an x-ray of the painting revealed a toad on her stomach that he had painted over. I am so glad he changed the toad into a large shell! However, now that I know that, I keep expecting a toad to crawl out of there.

I do hope the painting is found and returned to the museum. Sounds like the museum staff had quite an unfortunate scare.

The Art of Amy Crehore

(thanks, boingboing)

Colorful Vintage Seed Catalog Covers

The Smithsonian Institution Libraries have a collection that includes about 10,000 illustrated seed and nursery catalogs dating from 1830 to the present. Here are a couple of examples. Zooming in on the crowd scene of Buckbee's county fair reveals a very tall clown in a great outfit. Reid's catalog cover has a cupid eating grapes. 500 images are documented in digital form on their website. Here's the

LINK

Thanks boingboing and cityfarmer.info

The Art of Amy Crehore

Wild Costume Party on the S.S.Conte Rosso, 1920's

CLICK to ENLARGE for details.

CLICK TO ENLARGE
In my old box of family tricks, I found a couple of interesting group shots of people who are dressed in Halloween costumes. They are on board a ship called the S.S. Conte Rosso (the Red Count). My great, great aunt Louise Forde is probably in one of these photos. She lived in Italy for many years. My grandmother could also be in the photos. She went to visit her aunt in Italy and was a flapper during this time period.
Wikipedia says, "the SS Conte Rosso was an Italian ocean liner active in the early 20th century and noted for her lavish Italian interior decoration. Because much of its sailing would be in warmer waters, the designers included an outdoor dining area, unusual for ships of this era. The ship entered service in 1922 carrying passengers between Italy and New York. She was the first new transatlantic liner built after World War I and the largest Italian liner to date."
The Art of Amy Crehore