Big Top Circus Clown Suit, ca. 1940
Bécassine
Created by Joseph Pinchon, she is considered the first female protagonist in the history of comics
[first appearance in La Semaine de Suzette, 1905]
[1916]
Butterfly Shoe
Spring/Summer 2011
Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty [May 4, 2011–July 31, 2011] The exhibition, organized by The Costume Institute, will celebrate the late Alexander McQueen’s extraordinary contributions to fashion. From his postgraduate collection of 1992 to his final runway presentation which took place after his death in February 2010, Mr. McQueen challenged and expanded the understanding of fashion beyond utility to a conceptual expression of culture, politics, and identity. His iconic designs constitute the work of an artist whose medium of expression was fashion. Approximately one hundred examples will be on view, including signature designs such as the bumster trouser, the kimono jacket, and the Origami frock coat, as well as pieces reflecting the exaggerated silhouettes of the 1860s, 1880s, 1890s, and 1950s that he crafted into contemporary silhouettes transmitting romantic narratives. Technical ingenuity imbued his designs with an innovative sensibility that kept him at fashion’s vanguard. ➔ The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Le baiser
➔ Auguste Toulmouche, 1886
The Ladies of the Night
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| Brassaï ~ Dancers in Les Demoiselles de la Nuit, 1949 |
Les Demoiselles de la Nuit tells the story of a musician who falls in love with his beautiful cat Agathe, who has assumed semi-human form. Agathe tries to be faithful to her human lover but is lured away by the sound of tomcats and the call of freedom. She leaps off the rooftops and the musician falls to his death as he tries to grab hold of her. She falls after him and they are united in death.
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| Agathe/Margot Fonteyn |
World Premiere Les Ballets de Paris de Roland Petit, Theatre Marigny, Paris, May 21, 1948
Music by Jean Francaix
Choreography by Roland Petit
Libretto by Jean Anouilh
Scenery and costumes by Leonor Fini
Lighting by Peggy Clark
Cast Margot Fonteyn, Roland Petit, Gordon Hamilton, Joan Sheldon
Scarfaces
Scarface: The Novel (1929) Maurice Coons, writing under the pseudonym Armitage Trail, gathered the elements for ‘Scarface’ when living in Chicago, where he became acquainted with many local Sicilian gangs. He prowled the murky streets of Chicago’s gangland with a friend every night for two years, returning home to put to paper and write a book which somewhat documented his experiences. The resulting novel was ‘Scarface’, and it was worth the effort.
Not just a thinly disguised biography of Al Capone, ‘Scarface’ is a gangster tale surprisingly rich with character and atmosphere. The story moves at a cracking pace, and from the machine guns, brutal deaths and beautiful gals emerges the tragic tale of one man’s downfall from his ruthless ambition and love for friend and family. The source for the 1932 Howard Hawks picture, as well as the Brian de Palma remake.
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| Royal Books |
Scarface: The Shame of the Nation (1932) is one of the boldest, most potent, raw and violently-brutal gangster-crime films ever made. Released by United Artists, this sensational production chronicles the predictable but tragic rise and fall of a notorious gangster figure. The controversial film was made by versatile producer/director Howard Hawks in 1930, but its release was delayed for two years due to his and co-producer Howard Hughes’ squabbles with industry censors over its sensationalism and glorification of the gangster menace... The script was based on the 1930 novel Scarface by Armitage Trail (a pseudonym for Maurice Coons) …
keep reading ➔ AMC filmsite
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| Elvira/Michelle Pfeiffer |
Scarface (1983) Directed by Brian DePalma. Screenplay by Oliver Stone. The interesting thing is the way Tony Montana stays in the memory, taking on the dimensions of a real, tortured person. Most thrillers use interchangeable characters, and most gangster movies are more interested in action than personality, but “Scarface” is one of those special movies, like “The Godfather,” that is willing to take a flawed, evil man and allow him to be human. Maybe it’s no coincidence that Montana is played by Al Pacino, the same actor who played Michael Corleone…
keep reading ➔ Roger Ebert /December 9, 1983
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Swarv
Marilyn Minter, 2005
Bardotlatry
Chess Piece
Dalí + Harpo
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Salvador Dalí sketching Harpo Marx [Los Angeles Examiner, February 17th 1937]
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I met Harpo for the first time in his garden. He was naked, crowned with roses, and in the center of a veritable forest of harps (he was surrounded by at least five hundred harps). He was caressing, like a new Leda, a dazzling white swan, and feeding it a statue of the Venus de Milo made of cheese, which he grated against the strings of the nearest harp. An almost springlike breeze drew a curious murmur from the harp forest. In Harpo’s pupils glows the same spectral light to be observed in Picasso’s. — Salvador Dalí “Surrealism in Hollywood“ Harper’s Bazaar, 1937
tout ceci est magnifique 