Gasp + Giveaway!

I'm still floating on air from my recent visit to the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, Legion of Honor exhibit Pulp Fashion, showcasing the works of master paper artist, Isabelle de Borchgrave.

I just had to share some of the exhibit with you and then we'll get to the giveaway details at the end of the post!

Inspired by many sources, including museum costume collections, paintings and her own extensive travels, Belgium based de Borchgrave and her assistants recreate iconic and historic gowns out of paper. Yes, paper.

I would have been stunned enough had these detailed pieces been made out of fabric, but paper? I was speechless...

Tears literally came to my eyes when I saw the gowns in the "white room." Absolutely spectacular!

The exhibit includes an array of reproductions of Fortuny, Poiret, and Chanel as well as Dior, Marie Antoinnette, and the Medici’s. This photo above is an installation of Palazzo Fortuny. All paper. Breathtaking in person.

"Imagine: filmy lens paper painted to look like lace, so expertly rendered that you have to take a second and third look to be sure it was not made from the finest cotton threads … paper convincingly painted to mimic linen, silk, embroidery, damask … buttons, jewelry, feathers, edgings, ribbons, even “straw” hats … all made from exquisitely manipulated paper." -Laura Tarrish

Okay, now we get to the GIVEAWAY!! I was so overwhelmed by this exhibit that I wanted to share it with you all. I thought, if you can't make it to San Francisco, I'm going to share it with you some way. So...

First place winner receives this book, "Pulp Fashion" by Jill D'Alessandro, the curator of textile arts at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. This book highlights three of de Borchgrave's most beloved series: Papiers a la Mode and the Fortuny and Medici collections.

Second Place winner receives this Pulp Fashion exhibition poster of Marie de Medici. Measures 18" by 24."

• To enter the giveaway, simply leave a comment below on this blog.

• Deadline to enter the giveaway is Wednesday, April 20th. Two winners will be randomly selected and contacted by e-mail after the 20th.
  

• Please include a link to your blog or email address in your comment for notification. Open to all readers!

Bonne Chance!

images: Legion of Honor, Felt & Wire

San Francisco Eats

I recently attended a wonderful exhibition called, "San Francisco Eats" right here at the San Francisco Public Library. The exhibition showcases San Francisco's food-obsessed culture dating back to the mid-19th century---something that 'yours truly' is fascinated by.

There is a huge wall collage of old black & white photos. I particularly like this one of an old bakery dating to the 1800's, once located right near the neighborhood I live in.

The exhibition includes menus by neighborhood, historical photographs, an array of food writers, cookbooks and culinary history, ephemera, and San Francisco food inventions, including gadgets and signature dishes.


The exhibition strives to highlight the major ethnic groups and food trends that led to the City’s recognition as the nation’s culinary pacesetter.


Senator Dianne Feinstein (once the Mayor of San Francisco), dining at the Fairmont Hotel.

A view of City Hall from the S.F. Public Library

If you're in the Bay Area and want to check out this wonderful exhibition, it runs through March 20th. Wonderful for food enthusiasts or anyone interested in old S.F. history.

San Francisco Public Library
Jewett Gallery
Main Library
100 Larkin St.
San Francisco, CA

Flower Power at Versailles

Currently on display at the Château de Versailles are the works of Japanese artist Takashi Murakami. Murakami has created a juxtaposition of of 17th century monarchy against contemporary modern Japan and it's quite controversial.

While some French monarchists have denounced the exhibition as “illegal,” the artist himself says that he is quite used to what he calls “Murakami-bashing.”

Many tourists who have came to the palace for its history are unimpressed by the novelty juxtaposition. Others see it as whimsical and refreshing. The museum’s director is well aware of the controversy these exhibits provoke, but insists on drawing a line between debate and censorship.

What do you think? Do you like pop-art inhabiting the palace?

"Murakami Versailles" runs from now until December 12th and is part of the standard museum entrance fee.

images via RSVP Gallery & design boom

Musée Gustave Moreau and the Mystery Staircase

Do you recall my recent post about giving photo credits on blogs? Well, something interesting happened which led me to find the origin of the image I was fiercely searching to credit.

My friend Renee saw the photo of the spiral staircase on my blog and excitedly gave me a call. That gorgeous staircase stood out in her memory. She recalled her favorite museum in Paris, the Musée Gustave Moreau, and that staircase in the museum was one she would never forget.

So thanks to Renee, I did a little searching and voila! She was right!

Gustav Moreau was a prolific 19th Century French symbolist painter, sometimes considered to be one of the precursors of surrealist painting. As a professor at the Ecole des Beaux Arts one of his notable students was Matisse, and long before his death in 1892 he had already decided that a museum of his own work should be created.

He extended and converted the house that had belonged to his parents, creating giant workshops and display rooms. Even with the immense size of the rooms, there was not enough space to show all the accumulated works; Moreau left 4,800 drawings and 450 watercolors, many of which are in storage.

Huge room with filled to the brim with Moreau's work...

The monumental staircase leads you up to yet another floor above...

private living areas...

"Gustave Moreau collected his very dear souvenirs, relating to his parents and to Alexandrine Dureux, his "best and only friend..." Nothing has changed in a century."

Musée Gustave Moreau
14 rue de La Rochefoucauld
F-75009, Paris, France

photography: Hotel Paris Rive Gauche

Oh, and by the way...the photographer credited for the spiral staircase image is...

beBO on Flickr! Thanks beBo for the inspiring photo!