Sokolsky’s Bubbles
Over New York (New Jersey), 1963On Thursday at the theatre I was picture researching, preparing to present a concept for a photo shoot when I came across an intriguing photograph of a man inside a balloon, next to a girl on a couch. How did they do that, Amelia-Jane and I wondered. “Photoshop,” Amelia-Jane pronounced.
“Maybe,” I replied, “but I can show you some amazing 1960s fashion pictures of a girl in a bubble that was all done the old-fashioned way.”
On the Seine, 1963By Melvin Sokolsky, the photographs are taken in 1963, mostly around Paris (and some in New York) with the model Simone d’Allencourt. She floats in a bubble above the Seine, the streets of Paris, in the snowy forest; above the bemused and amused faces of ordinary Parisians. The images are absolutely awe-inspiring, and even more fantastic to know that absolutely no computer was employed to achieve these wonders.
She floats in a bubble above the Seine, the streets of Paris, in the snowy forest …
Bicycle Street, 1963
In Trees, 1963Years ago I stumbled upon a monograph on his work, which I didn’t buy because it was very expensive. It is now out of print and used books are double the price! Then a few weeks ago I discovered the Sokolsky iPhone book app, which I promptly purchased for only a few dollars. It is beautiful to look at, but now I want an iPad to fully appreciate the pictures.
Detail of ’The Garden of Earthly Delights‘, by Hieronymous Bosch, 1510-15Fascinatingly, I read that Sokolsky was inspired by a most unlikely source – a Renaissance painting (left). Here’s what the photographer says about it:
"On my 14th birthday, my father took me to a bookstore and told me I could choose any book in the store. I came upon a book of paintings by Hieronymus Bosch and found myself spellbound by the detail of a man and a woman in a veined caul-like bubble growing from a strange plant. That image in the The Garden of Earthly Delights (1510-15) had a profound effect on me – it resulted in a recurring dream of seeing myself in a bubble floating across exotic landscapes."
I can imagine quite looking forward to going to bed as a child if I was going to have dreams like that!
Scroll down for more images, and click for larger versions.
With Chair, 1963
After Delvaux, 1963
Du Taxi, 1963
Le Dragon, 1963
Russian Folk Tales
Natalia Goncharova’s backcloth design for the finalé of Michel Fokine’s ballet ‘The Firebird’, for the Ballets Russes, 1926. Image from the V&A Museum.I have always loved Moscow’s fanciful Saint Basil’s Cathedral for its colourful and plump onion domes and fairytale colours. So when I stumbled across this drawing of a set for the Ballet Russes, I was immediately enchanted, both by the subject matter and the warm colour palette, already a favourite of mine.
Costume design for a peasant woman, in ‘The Golden Cockerel’. Image from National Gallery of Australia.
A multitude of domes and minarets rise out of this city, the backcloth for the finalé of Michel Fokine’s ballet The Firebird, designed and illustrated by Natalia Goncharova, for the revival in 1926 (the ballet premiered in 1910). The ballet is based upon folk tales of the magical firebird that is both a blessing and a curse to its captor, set in the magical realm of Kashchei the Immortal.
Goncharova (1881–1962) was a Russian avant-garde artist, costume- and set-designer, illustrator, and writer. She was initially inspired by Russian folk art and icon painting, and later by Futurism. Experimenting with Fauvism and Cubism, Goncharova and her husband went 
Costume for a peasant woman, in ‘The Golden Cockerel’. Image from National Gallery of Australia.on to develop Rayonism (named after the rays of light represented in their paintings), an artistic movement hugely influential on the Russian school of modern art.
As early as 1915 she was designing ballet costumes and sets in Geneva, and in 1921 she was living in Paris. There she began designing stage sets and costumes of Diaghilev’s Ballet Russes, including The Wedding(1923), The Firebird (1926) and The Golden Cockerel (1937).
Keeping The Brickish End Up
How adorable are these bookends made from bricks? And how apt! Some of those bricks look hefty enough to hold up any length of books, so they are practical as well as picturesque. They also have the added advantage of making one look much more intellectual.
My only sorrow is that I have lost all record of their provenance, so I can’t tell you the name of their witty maker. Very clever styling too.
Drawing Admiration
The Scarlet PastoraleA colleague of mine is currently working on a project inspired by the drawings of Aubrey Beardsley. Admiring one of the images she is referencing, I instantly decided the time was ripe for a story on Beardsley.
Aubrey Beardsley was born in 1872. A sickly child, he was troubled by tuberculosis from the age of nine, and – alas for the world – was finally carried off by the disease at the too-early age of 26 in 1898.
His distinctive black and white ink drawings are immediately recognisable for the exquisite lines; the delicate traceries of flora and fauna; the uncompromising dense black that heightens the drama of each subject. Influenced by the flat style of Japanese woodcuts, Beardsley’s work encapsulates the decadent eroticism of the hedonists, as well as their grotesqueries. They are compelling – we are fascinated and can’t look away, like passersby observing a crash.
Famous for co-founding The Yellow Book, and his drawings for Oscar Wilde’s Salomé, and forever associated with Art Nouveau, Beardsley’s oeuvre continues to this day to inspire and draw admiration.
Also check out Illustration Life’s story, and Wormfood’s online gallery of more than 100 images.
Venus Between Terminal Gods
Salomé
Strange Landscapes
Pink forest; I thought at first this was a forest of toon trees, but sadly it is FAKE (shock, horror). Note: Unfortunately I have lost the original URL of this image.Last spring I discovered the Chinese toon tree. All year round it is a plain green tree – that is, until spring, when all its foliage turns a magical candy pink. Researching this beautiful tree online, I came across a few more other-worldly landscapes – all dressed in pink.
Pink Forest, by Stan Zimny. (This one is real.)
Rainbow Sunset, by Steve Jurvetson
The piece de résistance: the pink Yucatan Beach, by Nicolas Malleville and Francesca Bonato