National Guitars Have Perfectly Shaped Dust Bunnies

Steve Olson, who repairs guitars for Elderly Instruments , has collected dust bunnies from guitar and mandolin bodies for years and has even catalogued them. The one pictured on the top left was found in the cone of an old National guitar. Apparently, National guitars create perfectly round and dense "tone balls" (dust bunnies) over time. Interesting! I happen to know someone in Oregon who once worked at Elderly repairing guitars and I also know a National guitar collector/repairman who would absolutely love this article which appeared in the Summer 2006 issue of The FretBoard Journal (Number 2). Thanks, Mark! BOINGBOING

Vintage Theatre Photos

Wedding tableau, Sydney, ca. 1930 / Sam Hood

The State Library of New South Wales

has some beautiful vintage photos of theatre in Sydney dating from the latter half of the nineteenth century. How fun!

The Art of Amy Crehore

Girl Portrait Has Leonardo's Fingerprint

Times Online has reported: "A fingerprint in the top left corner of this portrait appears to have confirmed it. The 13 x 9in picture, in chalk, pen and ink, was catalogued as 'German school, early 19th century'. It sold for $19,000 in 1998. Now some leading art experts agree that it is almost certainly by Leonardo da Vinci and worth about 158 million." Read the rest of the story here:

TIMES ONLINE

Looks like a Leonardo to me!

The Art of Amy Crehore

Vintage Cigarette Rolling Papers

Here are a couple of examples of cover art for Italian rolling papers (1890-1910).

Follow this link for a wonderful catalogue of images from different countries:

CIG PAPERS

Thanks, Internet Weekly

Bizarre Early Picture of "The Boss"

CLICK TO ENLARGE PHOTO

Here's a photo I found at home. What are they wearing? Floppy hat, raggy mop-top hair, jeans with patches. What are they playing? A P-90 equipped gold Les Paul guitar and a transparent Dan Armstrong Ampeg bass. What are they whispering to each other? "Vinnie, you just got busted for wearing those silly love beads!" This is an early picture of 3 members of the band Steel Mill with none other than Bruce Springsteen himself. It was taken in 1970 at the Hullabaloo Club in Richmond, VA. (Photo previously unpublished, copyright Lou Reimuller, part of a set of photos taken one afternoon, March 1970).

The Art of Amy Crehore

Amazing Online Gallery of Pre-Raphaelite Images

Pencil drawing by Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Ink Sketch by Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Pen and ink drawing by Dante Gabriel Rossetti


Pen and ink drawing by Dante Gabriel Rossetti
This is exciting: a large collection of 2257 drawings, studies, prints and paintings by the Pre-Raphaelites. Where?
The Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery Pre-Raphaelite Online Resource.
Shown here are just a handful of gems by Dante Gabriel Rossetti. He made these drawings around 1849-1850. Aren't they incredibly lovely? 1."Ecce Ancilla Domini - Female Nude - Study for The Virgin", 2. Sketch of a Young Woman, 3."To caper nimbly in a Lady's Chamber to the lascivious pleasing of a Lute" and 4."Love's Mirror or a Parable of Love".
I can't wait to go back and look again. I'm inspired!

The Art of Amy Crehore

Beauty, Virtue and Vice

Click to Enlarge
Here are some beautiful prints from the 1830's-1850's. The print in the middle is of a woman named Ellen Jewett, "a young and beautiful New York City prostitute who was found murdered in her bed" in 1836. These prints are part of an online exhibit called "Beauty, Virtue and Vice: Images of Women in Nineteenth-Century American Prints". Follow this link to view more:

American Antiquarian

The Art of Amy Crehore

Learn a Bit of Trivia That Will Make You Blush

Mameshiba ! Thanks CurioTV and Meg Hunt at drawn

Evil Orchid Garden Bookplate Contest

detail from cover of the very first issue of Der Orchideengarten, 1919, Germany

I just got wind of this: one of my favorite blogs is having a "create a bookplate" contest. The prize is a copy of the beautiful book Alfred Kubin: Drawings 1897 - 1909. Submission deadline: 10/14/09. That's only about a week from now.

More information here:

A JOURNEY ROUND MY SKULL

The Art of Amy Crehore

Steve Wolfe on Paper

Cover of the new book: "Steve Wolfe on Paper" (Whitney Museum of American Art)

Someone that I used to know in my younger days has a new drawing show at The Whitney Museum of American Art in NYC. How exciting! His name is Steve Wolfe and it sounds like he has been working very hard:

"For over two decades, Steve Wolfe has created objects and drawings of astounding craft and visual presence that investigate the intersections among material culture, intellectual history, and personal and collective memory. Working in the tradition of trompe l’oeil, his pieces often quite literally fool the eye on first inspection: tattered books, worn album covers, and vinyl records appear pristine but these are objects made from modeling paste, screenprints, drawings, and many other media, and they reproduce not just the thing but the individuality an object takes on as it is consumed by one or more individuals."

Whitney Museum Website

This show runs from September 30-November 29, 2009 in NYC. It will also be on view at The Menil Collection, Houston, TX, April 1, 2010- October 31, 2010.

I'll have to buy a copy of the book which is available on amazon or at Whitney gift shop.

(Congratulations to Steve! And thanks to Janet, for letting me know.)

The Art of Amy Crehore

Hot Jazz Movie 1930 with Sidney Bechet

I used to want to play soprano sax like Sidney Bechet. I even bought a vintage one and took lessons. I didn't get very far, but Sidney was my hero for a time. Here's an amazing clip from a 1930 film with Lilian Harvey and Willy Fritsch. Enjoy SIDNEY BECHET AND HIS NEW YORKERS in Berlin 1930. Be warned: there are some crazy monkeys and wild dancers in this YouTube video. This clip is a bit long, but interesting.

Winner of My Contest

Okay, I have made a decision. It was extremely difficult to choose just one title because there were so many great titles submitted. Some of them made me laugh out loud and some of them made me smile, but in the end, the most intellectual title won the prize. It's a title that I would never have thought up myself in a million years and it's not even a musical title. I'll admit that I had to look up both words. However, since the painting itself has a classical/literary feel to it, I thought that this title was appropriate. The winner of my little painted sketch is dscroggy who came up with the title "Persephone's Phenology". The runner-up is Jim Bradbury who named it "Puss n' Toots". Please write me at amy@amycrehore.com . I will send the runner-up a consolation prize.
Thanks to everyone who participated! Luv ya all. Amy
The Art of Amy Crehore

P.S. Please follow Steve Chasmar's Halloween Countdown 2009 on flickr. He is posting from a hospital bed in Thailand. I know it would make him happy to be able to share his wonderful collection of antique images with you.

Halloween Countdown 2009! Yeh!

Steve Chasmar's "Halloween in the Time of Cholera" countdown last year was such a treat for all of us. This year he is doing it again! He'll be posting one or more Halloween-themed images every few days to his flickr account:

Halloween Countdown 2009.

DON'T MISS! Steve Chasmar's collections are some of the very best things on flickr! If you haven't seen them, you are truly missing out. He also has a great website called Opium Museum.

The Art of Amy Crehore

Big Hair with Stuff in It

" Big Hair with Stuff in It" is not just a contemporary art movement. It's been around forever.

Enjoy this illustrative art from the late 1700's making fun of women's hair fashions - there is so much more to see on:

BibliOdyssey

P.S. Don't forget about my little contest -to win an oil sketch by me- you have until Sunday, Oct 4, 2009 at noon (pacific time) to come up with a title for my picture: Here's the LINK

I'll be announcing a winner around 6pm Sunday on my blog.

The Art of Amy Crehore

As Tears Go By...

Marianne Faithfull 1965. Watch the giant tear go by on this video

towards the end of the song.

Give this artwork a title and I'll give it away!

Click on Image to Enlarge
A few weeks ago, I painted this oil sketch as an experiment on handmade paper. My idea was about "trumpets" and there are 3 kinds of trumpets in this image. I will give this little 7 5/8" x 8 5/8" painting away to the person who gives me the perfect title for it. Rules: Use the comments section of this blog to enter this contest. Leave only ONE comment per person, but you may submit up to 3 possible titles in your comment area. Be creative, be poetic and be funny. I will announce the winner on Sunday October 4, 2009 on my blog at 6pm pacific time and ask that person to get in touch with me by email. Thanks in advance for participating in my little contest!
Important: You'll have until 12 noon (pacific time) Oct. 4 to leave your submission on my blog.
The Art of Amy Crehore

Time for the Blues

Here's Lonnie Johnson in 1963 still going strong- "Another Night to Cry"

The audience shot at the end is quite surreal looking.

link: kindofbluedaniel

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

Leslie Illingworth, Cartoonist 1902-1979

Leslie Gilbert Illingworth was born in 1902 and died in 1979. "Illingworth joined the Daily Mail in 1939, and drew cartoons that were to lift Britain's morale during the Second World War, commenting on Churchill's leadership and Allied military victories. After the war ended, Illingworth was able to concentrate more on domestic issues in his cartoons, but kept a keen eye on foreign affairs, especially when they related to Britain. He became Chief Cartoonist for the satirical magazine Punch in 1945, but remained with the Daily Mail until his retirement in 1969." The Illingworth cartoon collection at the National Library contains 4,563 images! I have spent all morning checking out their website. I like his style, sense of humor, intelligence and fine draftsmanship. Not to mention the prolific amount of ink drawings (some quite complex) that he executed in his 40+ years on the job. He covered & recorded so much world history in the space of his life. I have been playing around with brush and ink recently and these cartoons inspire me.

For plenty more, have a look:

Leslie Illingworth

The Art of Amy Crehore

Playing History Detective

Stanley Forde as a kid in Buffalo (I think)
Ink Drawing of Stanley Forde by "Sabro" 1925

Small watercolor by H. Hilton 1911 of Stanley Forde
(probably painted by Mrs. Helen Hilton Story during his affair with her)

Stanley Forde, baritone 1878-1929

I am playing history detective with a box of crumbled old clippings and fragile photos that my grandmother had saved. Above is a photo of my great, great uncle Stanley Forde who stood 6ft 2 inches (without the top hat). He was an actor and singer on Broadway between 1909 and 1927. The plays that he appeared in are listed here: Broadway

He also appeared in a B&W silent film called "The Great White Way". Upon researching this film, I found that it was a comedy/romance from 1924 produced by Cosmopolitan Productions. It "includes brief appearances by several prominent newspapermen, cartoonists and society figures of this period: Winsor McCay, George McManus, Billy DeBeck and Harry Hershfield, Tex Rickard, Arthur Brisbane, Nell Brinkley, Bugs Baer, Irvin S. Cobb, Damon Runyon. Also Oscar Shaw, actor, and Pete Hartley, boxer." LINK to more about this film.

I found a number of stills from this film in the box amongst yellowed newspaper clippings and other physical evidence of Stanley Forde and his career. He married Mrs. Helen Hilton Story in 1912, after a scandalous affair with her at the Jersey shore (an affair which ended up in the Supreme Court). She was "an heir to millions" according to the newspaper article: the granddaughter of Judge Henry Hilton. It seems they travelled back and forth to London for a few years, but I'm not sure that the marriage lasted. I am starting to scan and archive some of the puzzle pieces of Stanley's life onto a set on flickr, including the film stills from "The Great White Way". Stanley Forde died at the age of 51 in NYC.

It's fun playing history detective. Here is the link to my flickr set about Stanley:

Stanley Forde

The Art of Amy Crehore

P.S. For anyone who is following my blog: Stanley Forde's family was in the 1890 Camping photos that I posted earlier. The photos that boingboing so kindly blogged about.(Thanks, Mark)

Vintage Photos of Twins

(Vintage family photos, Amy Crehore)

(Vintage family photos, Amy Crehore)

I found these two photos in my box of old stuff. Twins make great subjects for photos especially when wearing the same outfts. Perhaps the ladies in the top photo are mama and auntie of the kids in the bottom photo. I think it's around 1910 Italy because I found a postcard with those same kids on the front (dressed in the same outfits) and it had a postmark. It was addressed to one of my relatives who lived in Florence, Italy at the time (signed "love from Filippo"). People liked to have postcards made of their personal photos back then and send them to all their friends.

The Art of Amy Crehore
P.S. The people shown above are not my relatives. They are just friends of relatives.