L’Oiseleur Doll
$6.25 million
Madame Alexander Eloise
$5 million
Diamond Barbie
$302,000
G.I Joe Prototype
$200,000
Transformers Generation 1 Collection
$40,000
Original Barbie
$8,000
Rocket-Firing Boba Fett Star Wars Figure
$5,000
Monthly Archives: December 2017
Karl Lagerfeld Debuts Chanel Metiers d’Art Collection
Street Style 2017
More On The Beautiful Blackamoors
Adorned with in gilt and gemstones, blackamoor figures are particularly decorative and are commonly seen as furniture, paintings, jewelry and textiles. They are typically swathed in fine robes and almost always wear turbans. Fashion and beauty icons Coco Chanel and Helena Rubinstein collected blackamoor furniture (two Venetian Blackamoors graced the foyer of Chanel’s 
Paris apartment. Vogue magazine editor Diana Vreeland had a famous collection of blackamoor jewelry from Cartier and Grace Kelly owned a diamond-encrusted blackamoor brooch from Nardi Jewelers of Venice .One of the Pointer Sisters’, Anita Pointer has some blackamoor pieces in her collection of black memorabilia. Aleksandr Pushkin kept a blackamoor figurine on his desk; it reminded him of Abram Petrovich Gannibal, his great-grandfather, an African slave who became a successful Russian general and military engineer.The most famous blackamoor figure is the gem-studded Mohr mit Smaragdstufe, which translates to “Moor with Emerald Cluster” . Created by Balthasar Permoser in 1724, it is housed in the Grünes Gewölbe museum in Germany. see below
At times blackamoors are depicted as exotic noblemen, while at others such as statues, take on positions of servitude, as footmen or waiters. Their noblemen status dates to the Moorish invasion of southern Italy more than a millennium ago; their roots are steeped in conquest. However, some find blackamoor imagery to be racially insensitive because some of the statues look like servants. This dates to the European courts in which black attendants were dressed in exotic finery – and, some feel, were objectified as ornaments. This was particularly true of the court of Versailles in the 17th century.When Dolce & Gabbana featured blackamoor jewelry and clothing designs in its spring 2013 collection fashion show in Milan, the firm was criticized for being tone-deaf as to what blackamoors can represent. The firm responded that such imagery was a reflection of the Italian firm’s roots in a country in which Moors were of historic significance.
During the 18th century wealthy Venetians employed Moors as bodyguards, as they were impressed by their fighting prowess. The regal bearing of the resulting depictions seem to put these exotic immigrants in high regard; they are beautiful and are not demeaned in any way, as evidenced by this sculpture by Andrea Brustolon (photo, below). 
Blackamoors should not to be confused with emblems of American slavery, such as the more recent “Aunt Jemima” figures. To make this mistake is to make a mistake of history.
In 2011 a diamond, sapphire and gold blackamoor brooch once owned by Elizabeth Taylor sold for $60,000 at Christie’s. One look at the piece, photo left, reveals the delicacy and respect with which the piece was created by the famous Giulio Nardi, an artist of jewelry design .
The inhabitants of the coast wore gold earrings with enamels white and black like amulets to exorcize the danger of pirates or gave to the churches as votive promises. This is for sure the primigenial blackamoor jewelry that anyway arrived in few years to the motherland.
Venetian artisans created various kinds of Moors exploring all kind of jewelry: earrings, brooches, pendants and necklaces with blackamoors in ebony usually adorned with precious stones and enamels. They love to adorn jewels upon black men and women figurines
Blackamoors were a favorite style statement of the Victorian era;
A History of Blackamoor Jewelry
The inhabitants of the coast wore gold earrings with enamels white and black like amulets to exorcize the danger of pirates or gave to the churches as votive promises. This is for sure the primigenial blackamoor jewelry that anyway arrived in few years to the motherland.
Beautiful Venetian Blackamoor jewelry is an example of the typical Italian skill and handicraft that takes his roots in the history of the Venice Republic (“La Serenissima”): since the 16th century the antique moors have become symbols of Venetian goldsmith tradition and still, today they’re part of our culture and legacy
Since those times Venetian artisans created various kinds of Moors exploring all kind of jewelry: earrings, brooches, pendants, and necklaces with blackamoors in ebony usually adorned with precious stones and enamels.
Even today, blackamoors are considered the most wanted and typical expression of Venetian jewelry: testimonials of this everlasting elegance have been icons of the 20th century as Grace Kelly, Ernest Hemingway, Liz Taylor, Barbara Hutton, Arthur Rubinstein and Elton John (cit. Wikipedia)
Exquisite artwork with jewels on black-faced images
Fashion Timeline
1800’s
1930’s
1940’s
1950’s
1960’s
1970’s
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1980’s
1990’s
Children’s Books For Art Lovers
My Museum
Illustration for My Museum by Joanne Liu. © Joanne Liu.
Frida Kahlo and Her Animalitos
Written by Monica Brown, illustrated by John Parra
Illustration for Frida Kahlo and Her Animalitos by John Parra. Courtesy of NorthSouth Books
Yayoi Kusama: From Here to Infinity
Written by Sarah Suzuki, illustrated by Ellen Weinstein, with artwork by Yayoi Kusama
Illustration for Yayoi Kusama: From Here to Infinity. © 2017 Ellen Weinstein.
Mud Book: How to Make Pies and Cakes
Written and illustrated by John Cage and Lois Long
Illustration for Mud Book by John Cage and Lois Long. Courtesy of Princeton Architectural Press.
Illustration for Mud Book by John Cage and Lois Long. Courtesy of Princeton Architectural Press
Dorothea Lange: The Photographer Who Found the Faces of the Depression
Written by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Sarah Green
Illustration for Dorothea Lange: The Photographer Who Found the Faces of the Depression by Sarah Green. Courtesy of Albert Whitman & Company.
Her Right Foot
Written by Dave Eggers, illustrated by Shawn Harris
Illustration for Her Right Foot by Shawn Harris. Courtesy of Chronicle Books.
Keith Haring: The Boy Who Just Kept Drawing
Written by Kay Haring, illustrated by Robert Neubecker
Illustration for Keith Haring: The Boy Who Just Kept Drawing by Robert Neubecker. Courtesy of Dial Books, Penguin Random House.
My First Book of Patterns
Written by Bobby George and June George, illustrated by Boyoun Kim
My First Book of Patterns, by Bobby & June George, art by Boyoun Kim, Phaidon, open at pages 3-4, ‘STRIPES!’
Sonia Delaunay: A Life of Color
Written by Cara Manes, illustrated by Fatinha Ramos, with artwork by Sonia Delaunay
Illustration for Sonia Delaunay: A Life of Color. © 2017 Fatinha Ramos.
Artists and Their Pets: True Stories of Famous Artists and Their Animal Friends
Written by Susie Hodge, illustrated by Violet Lemay
Illustration for Artists and their Pets by Violet Lemay. Courtesy of Duopress.
The Great Big Art History Colouring Book
Written by Annabelle von Sperber and Susanne Rebscher, illustrated by Annabelle von Sperber
Illustration by Annabelle Von Sperber. Courtesy of Prestel.
Haute couture Chanel 2017/2018
Shoes
Haute Couture Shoes
Ralph & Russo
The Most Expensive Pieces Of Art
Leonardo da Vinci, Salvator Mundi, c. 1500
William de Kooning, Interchange 1955
Roy Lichenstein 1962
The Card Players
Putting Your Best Foot Forward
Christian Dior 2017/ 2018
Autumn-Winter 2017-18 haute couture collection designed by Artistic Director #MariaGraziaChiuri
Fendi Haute Fourrure 2017/2018
Naeem Khan
Luxury vs Fashion and The Difference
There have traditionally been very distinct definitions used to distinguish between “fashion” and “luxury” brands and products. The difference between such brands lies most centrally in their business models. The luxury brand model, for instance, aims to create the highest brand value and pricing power by leveraging all intangible elements. Which can include. time, heritage, country of origin, craftsmanship, man-made, small series, prestigious clients, etc. By mobilizing all of these intangible assets, a brand may be positioned as largely incomparable to any other, even its rivals.
In addition to unmatched brand value and pricing power, the traditional luxury brand endeavors to create long-selling products, as opposed to best-selling products. Two examples set forth by Vincent Bastien, author of The Luxury Strategy: Break the Rules of Marketing to Build Luxury Brands, the Porsche 911, which debuted in 1964, and Chanel’s N°5 perfume, launched in 1921, both of which are still very much in demand today.
Basquiats Teen Years With Museums
Andy WarholJean-Michel Basquiat1984Galerie Andrea Caratsch
Jean-Michel BasquiatUntitled1981The Broad Art Foundation, Santa Monica
Jean-Michel Basquiat received his first write-up in the art press when he was just 19 years old. Critic Jeffrey Deitch had spotted his work in the “Times Square Show, in 1980 in New York , and praised the young artist’s painting as a “knockout combination of de Kooning and subway spray paint.”
Basquiat’s name and art soon became famous with likes of Abstract Expressionist masters like de Kooning, who preceded him. Curators and scholars compared Basquiat’s work to that of Cy Twombly, Jackson Pollock, and Jean Dubuffet. But hadn’t attended art school, save for a handful of life drawing classes.
Although Basquiat never had a formal art education, he was a die-hard student of art history—and he built the foundation of his knowledge in the institutions that surrounded him in New York City. the age of six Basquiat was a junior member of the Brooklyn Museum of New York. Basquiat was also drawing incessantly—mostly cartoonish sketches informed by what he saw on T.V. (Alfred Hitchcock films), in comic book magazines (Mad), and on Brooklyn streets (cars).
Like many wunderkind children, Jean-Michel wasn’t a fan of structured education—and didn’t care for obedience. After leaving St. Ann’s, a private school, in 1971, Basquiat moved between at least five different public schools. Eventually, in 1976, at the age of 15, he landed at the City-as-School, a refuge for gifted New York children who didn’t respond well to traditional learning. It used the city’s cultural institutions as classrooms and regularly gave its students subway tokens for rides to the Hayden Planetarium and MoMA. However that did not last long. He didn’t return for his last year of high school, but he did continue to self-educate by visiting New York museums and frequenting other creative hubs, like SoHo, where the contemporary art galleries had begun to congregate.
Jean-Michel BasquiatUntitled1982“Jean-Michel Basquiat: Now’s the Time” at Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) (2015)
Jean-Michel BasquiatUntitled (Two Heads on Gold)1982Gagosian
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