30 September, 2011

Mater Familia

Triple portrait of Charles I, Anthony van Dyck

28 September, 2011

Christian Lacroix 2012 backstage

27 September, 2011

The Chair of Peter, Bernini.

Dame Vivienne Westwood

Belshazzar, George Frideric Händel. Premiered on 27 March 1745 at the King's Theatre in London.

Destructive war, thy limits know;

Here, tyrant death, thy terrors end.

To tyrants only I'm a foe,

To virtue and her friends, a friend.

Destructive war...

The Battle of Alexander at Issus, Albrecht Altdorfer

26 September, 2011

Lex Rex

"I'll go through life either first class or third, but never in second."

- Sir Noël Coward

24 September, 2011

23 September, 2011

A Look We Like

Maharajah Duleep Singh by Franz Xavier Winterhalter. 1854

The fashion conscious Countess Mona von Bismarck developed a close relationship with the world renowned designer Cristobal Balenciaga that lasted for almost 30 years. It is reported that on one occasion when most of her clothes were destroyed in a railroad accident she ordered 150 dresses from the couturier in one sitting.

In May 1968, during the manifestations and general strike in Paris, when Balenciaga retired, as an act of mourning, Countess Mona von Bismarck shut herself behind closed doors sipping champagne for three days. Finis Mundi.

Après Nous, Le Déluge

"If Venice sinks, the collection should be preserved somewhere in the vicinity of Venice"

- Peggy Gugghenheim

16 September, 2011

Creating the Myth:

"Karl was engaged in the highly effective construction of an image. So that everything about him - his look, his world, his apartment, his background - was calculated to appear larger than life"

- Alicia Drake