Available here
and everywhere after October 11, 2011.
I have had the great pleasure to read this book, and have seen the gallies.
It is a sumptuous and beautifully written book.
It is an important addition to any library, for both professionals and design enthusiasts alike.
It is true to say that Clarence House changed the direction of interior design
in America throughout the last four decades of the 20th century.
This book is another significant contribution.
I recently heard an interview with Thomas Dolby on NPR. He is one of the fathers of electronic sound and synthesized music. He has gone back to basics, to simple acoustic instruments for composing and orchestration.
He said “ Do only what only you can do”
Original pen and ink drawing by Gerda Wegener,1927 with hand lettering.
Even though I have a new Mac, I long for the hand-made
approach to the integration of text and illustrations on the page.
Dolby's words inspired me to study hand lettering.
I took a calligraphy class at
Association Calligraphis
16 rue Visconti 75006 Paris
0146331816
The studio is the most wonderful place to study. In a quiet alley off of
Rue Bonaparte in Saint Germain the 6th arrondissement of Paris.
think Zen with a brush. They also have classes in Collage, and Illumination.
Classes are ongoing through out the year
When I went to art school, at the Philadelphia College of Art in the 1970‘s, (which is now the University of the Arts), Calligraphy or hand-lettering was not longer taught. I personally feel I missed out. Now 40 years later I have had the opportunity to study here in Paris with a master calligrapher! This experience has been an absolute revelation.
The perfect Hand-written letter, a word beautifully written on lovely paper is more sensuous than our computer generated type wrought with digital perfection. Hand drawn Calligraphy with a pen and various shaped pen tips (nibs) is a rich wild art form with infinite possibilities
I have been noticing Calligraphy showing up everywhere. Even in the Tiffany catalog
My course was in Latin Calligraphy.
Latin calligraphy is western calligraphy with the exclusion of the Greek and Cyrillic alphabets. The evolution of hand lettering was linked to political religious or cultural movements. before type setting and the advent of the hand letter press by Gutenberg. Calligraphy continues to flourish to this day.
Before the computers, hand-lettering was everywhere in advertising logos .
At Association Calligraphis we studied with Bruno Gigarel. Bruno studied at the Scriptorium of Toulouse. he is a master Calligrapher who specializes in public frescoes, for companies such as Canon , Rothschild, Microsoft, and for the the city of Paris.
Bruno is well versed in the history and the techniques of calligraphy. Our first class was a history lesson on the development of the Roman alphabet.
We studied the basic tools, quills, types of pens, tips(nibs), bamboo pens, brushes, papers and inks.
Brush lettering
Bruno taught us a humanist letter form.
The very letter form used by scribes in the 13th century to translate the bible into the native European languages, rather than Latin, which was forbidden.
They risked their lives to do so. Many were murdered by the catholic church for the humanistic-heresy of making the bible available to the common people in their own languages. Very few of these books survived most books where were burned along with the scribes.
Bruno has mastered the universe of letter forms. He and his colleagues are pushing the boundaries of Calligraphy as an art form far beyond the traditional wedding invitations and official documents.
Bruno's own work can be seen in the parks of Paris and on the walls of corporations where he demonstrates his mastery of scale and form.
Bruno Gigarel is
an excellent and patient teacher. He was very generous with his time we spent time after class discussing the possibly of calligraphic forms on and off the page, On walls, on tapestries, in paintings, in stone, glass or etched into metal .
Because my introduction to Calligraphy was with a teacher who is open to the vast potential of hand lettering in non-traditional contexts he enabled me to see this art form with new appreciation.
The film by Peter Greenway, The Pillow book, A calligraphic fantasy.
Calligraphy is used to design logos and for book covers.
Textbook
Calligraphic flourishes where used to create this horse and rider circa 1709
and this carpet
Jean Paul Gaultier used caligraphic flourishes as the inspiration for this carpet which he used in an interior he designed at the musee de L' Architecture & Patrimoine.
See what I mean about wild!
Photo By:Courtesy of Louis Vuitton collection/Patrick Gries
Image WWD
Especially if you are a French Luxury brand!
According to an article on the spate of French luxury brands exhibiting recently in Russia and China
I found these numbers interesting
“Audience numbers are certainly impressive. A Vuitton trunk-based exhibition at the Carnavalet Museum in Paris, that ended Feb. 27 2011, attracted more than 60,000 visitors. Meanwhile, the French pavilion at last year’s Shanghai World Expo, which boasted a Vuitton installation, welcomed an estimated 11 million people.” WWD
African wax cloths were originally inspired by Indonesian batiks which were brought back by the Dutch who where trading in Java in the 17th century. The Europeans where able to mass-produce this type of fabric in England in Holland less expensively. They are still manufactured in these places to this day. African Designs, manufactured in Europe which are retailed in Africa, are all the rage in Paris this summer!
Mali 1950's
Some of the African women form the former French colonies still dress this way in Paris. Often with their babies bundled on their backs wrapped in these beautiful fabrics. these women are inspirational, always elegant, regal, and colorful. These fabrics are showing up as summer frocks, shorts, hats, bags, with pattern upon pattern, so much fun!
