A Croon in Joon
Bing, Decca Gold Label Series, 1958It’s the first of the month again, and June’s rolled round so quickly. I’ve turned the page of the calendar once more, and find some playful Steinweiss album covers rather influenced by Magritte, methinks, and celebrating that ol’ crooner Bing Crosby. It’s quite a departure from most of the other record covers in the series, with a nice, light touch for summer … if one was living in the northern hemisphere rather than freezing in the south! Happy June!
A Musical Autobiography of Bing Crosby 1927–1934, Decca Gold Label Series, 1961
A Sweet Thank You
Thank You :: Ben Watts // Blanko Noir // No flashIt was Cupcake’s last day on Monday. How sweet is this little thank you scratchie postcard she gave me? As a child I adored scratching the silver stuff off anything I could get my hands on. (That ‘silver stuff’, by the way, is usually made from latex.)
These cards by TMOD are cute and interactive – what’s not to love? As they say on their website, the scratchie cards ‘blend vintage motifs with the charm of secret messages and magic tricks.’ Each card also comes with a scalloped heart charm, which undoubtedly will go straight to every little girl’s heart and into her trinket box. Check ’em out.
Print Upon Pattern
The Costume of the Ballets Russes
Bakst’s costume design for The Firebird, 1910Famed as the greatest ballet company of the last century, the Ballets Russes captured the public’s imagination and changed the concept of ballet globally, through its new and groundbreaking dance, art and music with Avant-Garde, Expressionist and Oriental influences. With Sergei Diaghilev at its head, and a company of dancers originating from St Petersburg, it performed itinerantly between 1909 and 1929 causing a sensation wherever it travelled.
Diaghilev commissioned many significant visual artists and designers of the early twentieth century, such as Picasso, Matisse, Miró, Dalí and Chanel to name just a few. Often these artists were responsible for both set and costume.
Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes
Bakst’s Odalisque costume and Nijinsky, from Shéhérazade, 1910
Bakst’s costume and design for Shah Zeman in Shéhérazade, 1910-1930s
Bakst’s Columbine costume design for Carnaval in 1942 (left) and Columbine and Harlequin in 1911 (right)One of the lasting legacies of the Ballets Russes are the costumes, not least because they survive from an era when documentary film was only in its infancy. Intricately designed and multi-layered costumes feature multiple textiles, with print piled upon pattern in surprising combinations. Bold in design and colour, they shocked audiences used to a very different and traditional style of costume. Compare these to ballerinas in tutus (think Degas’ ballerina paintings), and you can easily imagine how jaws must have dropped in astonishment.
Madame Fedorova as Cléopatra in 1913, ph E.O. Hoppé
Compare the execution with the drawing: a Syrian Dancer’s costume for Cléopatra, by Bakst, 1909
[Bakst] became famous for his exotic, richly coloured sets and costumes …
Goncharova’s design for a female costume in Le Coq d'Or, 1914Leon Bakst is a particular favourite of mine. One of the most important designers for the Ballets Russes, Bakst took on the role of artistic director at the ballet’s formation. He became famous for his exotic, richly coloured sets and costumes, particularly for Scheherazade, Firebird and Le Spectre de la Rose. Another Russian designer, Natalia Goncharova, was inspired by Russian folk art, fauvism and cubism, and along with a vivid sense of colour, these influences are visible in her work. (Read a previous post on her here.)
Back then Coco Chanel and Paul Poiret were two fashion designers both inspired by the Ballets Russes, whose impact has scarcely lessened today.
Bakst’s costume design for a Nymph in L'Après-midi d'un Faune, 1912
Bakst’s costume design for a Nymph in L'Après-midi d'un Faune, 1912; you could easily wear this as a light summer dress today
Bakst’s costume design for an attendant (1910), and Monsieur Adolph Bolm (1913), both for L'Oiseau de Feu; ph E.O. Hoppé
Madame Thamar Karsavina in Bakst’s costume for L'Oiseau de Feu, 1913; ph E.O. Hoppé
Bakst’s costume design for La Sultan, The Firebird, 1910
Bakst’s costume design for The Firebird, 1910
Unless otherwise indicated, images from National Gallery of Australia’s exhibition Ballets Russes, The Art of Costume.
May-Be Autumn, May-be Spring
Gypsy Music, 1941, Columbia RecordsI just love the contrast of the delicate calligraphy with the sans-serif fonts and simple graphic shapes in 1950s design. It’s such an unmistakable look. Not so much the babypoo-brown though. Although, I do like how the album art chosen for the May calendar manages to cover the northern hemisphere, with its butterflies and sunshine, and the southern with its autumnal colours.
The gypsy theme is more my style though. Gypsy music is fun too, with its violins and drama, tambourines and tears – this swirly striped skirt perfectly encapsulates the genre.
Two more classics from Alex Steinweiss. Happy May to you!
Mozart’s Concerto in E-flat Major for Two Pianos and Orchestra, 1946, Columbia Records
Be Still My Bleeding Hearts
My two favourite heart prints, bursting with passionAnd here is my Bleeding Hearts potato print pattern. Poor little things. The blood … I mean, paint is spurting everywhere. That happened as I lifted the potato off the paper. Funnily, as I was designing the simple pattern, I realised I needed an extra heart and ended up merging two dud hearts into one. Now, isn’t that a lovely thought to finish on?
