“Dreams are true while they last, and do we not live in dreams?”-Alfred, Lord Tennyson (died 6 October 1892)
Circa 1932: Carole Lombard (born 6 October 1908)
[Alternative Muses] Going and Coming: Alfred, Lord Tennyson/Carole Lombard Mashup
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Category Archives: Alternative Muses
[Alternative Muses] Style Guide: Schokko with a Red Hat
Schokko with a Red Hat by Alexej Jawlensky is my favourite painting. She lives at the Columbus Museum of Art: I like to visit her when I go home.
Schokko with a Red Hat by Alexej Jawlensky, 1909. Columbus Museum of Art.
Schokko was an artist’s model. She adored drinking hot chocolate so much that it inspired her quirky nickname. I wonder if it kept her warm during long hours of working in drafty ateliers?
Her gaze in this painting is simultaneously direct and circumspect, which nicely mirrors her unnaturally presented yet magnetic appearance. She’s a woman with something to say, but what?
Did Schokko like or care how she was presented to the world, through other people’s eyes? Was she a fan of modern art? Was drinking cup after cup of hot chocolate, between poses, the highlight of her day?
What did she look forward to, go home to, do in her spare time? Did she even like the colour red?
*****
A MODERN GUIDE TO DRESSING LIKE SCHOKKO:
There’s more to style than what they tell you about in the pages of Vogue. Inspiration is everywhere. In this case, it shines at us from inside a picture frame.
What does it say?
Colour is expression. Hats are relentlessly chic. Boldness is armour.
Building an unusual colour palette, deliberate and nuanced, isn’t just for paintings. Continue reading
[Alternative Muses] Writerly Style: Françoise Sagan
Re-posting in honor of the tenth anniversary of her death.
“Fashions fade, style is eternal.”-Yves Saint Laurent
Françoise Sagan was the ultimate cool girl writer. If you believe that style should be effortless and detached, then she is your muse. Even today, a wardrobe like hers can take you almost anywhere, and anywhere it can’t you probably don’t want to go.
The writer looking brilliantly modern. Oh, that skirt! That shirt! That hair!
Her uncomplicated look remains fresh more than five decades later. Who needs nail varnish and lipstick when you can look like this? She is proof that decadent lives do not need visible gilding.
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[Our First Book Giveaway] The Lives of the Muses by Francine Prose [GIVEAWAY CLOSED]
I’ve no idea how it happened, but I own two copies of The Lives of the Muses by Francine Prose. As much as I love books, I obviously don’t need more than one copy of anything. I’ve decided to gift one lucky reader with the extra one.
The Lives of the Muses by Francine Prose [cover image courtesy Goodreads]
To read more about the book, go here.
How to enter: leave a comment. That is all! If you’d like to go the extra mile and like us on Facebook, that would be lovely. The contest is open internationally. The winner will be chosen on 9th September 2014. Good luck!
[Alternative Muses] Happy Birthday, Emily!
Brontë, of course!
The weird sister was born on 30 July 1818.
“You know that I could as soon forget you as my existence!”-Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights
Wuthering Heights Catherine and Heathcliff ACEO Portraits by Mrs Peggotty Arts. $49.44
[Alternative Muses] Creative Couples: Anton Chekhov and Olga Knipper
“Let us learn to appreciate there will be times when the trees will be bare, and look forward to the time when we may pick the fruit.”-Anton Chekhov
Playwright and short story genius Anton Chekhov and actress Olga Knipper had a short, independent, mostly long-distance marriage. It began with a low-key, very private wedding in May 1901, and ended with Chekhov’s tragic death three years later. Neither career was sacrificed to the traditional dictates of matrimony.
“Give me a wife who, like the moon, won’t appear in my sky every day.”-Anton Chekhov
“And what does it mean–dying? Perhaps man has a hundred senses, and only the five we know are lost at death, while the other ninety-five remain alive.”-Anton Chekhov, The Cherry Orchard
“In all the universe nothing remains permanent and unchanged but the spirit.”-Anton Chekhov, The Seagull
Anton Chekhov died on 15 July 1904, with his wife by his side. Olga Knipper outlived her husband by nearly fifty-five years.
[Alternative Muses] Happy Birthday, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry was born on 29 June 1900.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Quote
Off Topic Post: Goodbye, Gustav Klimt!
Austrian artist Gustav Klimt died on 6 February 1918. He was fifty-five.
A few of his paintings:
Der Park by Gustav Klimt, 1909-1910.
Marie Hennenberg by Gustav Klimt.
Nixen (Silberfische) by Gustav Klimt, circa 1899.
The artist:
Gustav Klimt.
“True relaxation, which would do me the world of good, does not exist for me.”-Gustav Klimt
[Alternative Muses] Writerly Style: Seven Reasons to Love Anita Loos’ Look
“One should either be a work of art, or wear a work of art.”-Oscar Wilde
Seven Reasons to Love Anita Loos’ Look:
#1: She rocked one of the best hairstyles of the Roaring Twenties. The tousled bob with bangs was her thing, and she wore it with few variations for decades. With that hair, she could walk into any 2014 shindig and look more modern than anyone else.
Anita Loos rocking her enviable locks.
#2: She knew how to wear a scarf without looking like an idiot or an octogenarian. We all know how hard that is, right? For some reason, the thought of wearing a scarf as an accessory intimidates a lot of American women, myself included. Here’s Anita, proving that a scarf worn tied around the neck can be chic and fun: Continue reading
[Beautiful Wisdom from] Joe Strummer: 21 August 1952-22 December 2002
Joe Strummer Quote
A Small Press Life: Books. Art. Writing. Life. Tea. 