
Searching centuries of History, Art, Nature, & Everyday Life for Unique Perspectives, Uncommon Grace, & Unexpected Insights.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Women by Christian von Schneidau (American artist, 1893–1976)

Although we will look at his colorful portraits of women here, Christian Von Schneidau also painted murals & landscapes. He was born in Smoland, Sweden, in 1893, immigrating to the United States in 1906, where he settled in Minnesota. He stayed in the Midwest for the next 10 years, he attended the Art Institute of Chicago, studying under Reynolds & Buehr, and later with Richard Miller & C.W. Hawthorne. In 1917, he moved to Los Angeles, where he opened the Von Schneidau School of Fine Art. He traveled to Alaska in the 1950s, where he painted the portraits of governors Egan & Heinzelman. Later he taught portrait painting at the Bakersfield Art Association. He 1st exhibited at the California Arts Club (1918) & continued exhibiting until 1952, mostly in California. Von Schneidau died in 1976 in Orange, California.



Friday, March 18, 2011
Women in Blue - For No Rhyme or Reason










Thursday, March 17, 2011
Woman Artist - Vogue Illustrator Helen Dryden 1887-1981



Although largely forgotten today, Helen Dryden was credited in 1925—the year of the Paris Exposition from which the term Art Deco draws its name—with having developed & popularized what is now referred to as Art Deco fashion drawing some 17 years earlier.
The 1925 issue of The Biographical Cyclopaedia of American Women (of course, you must remember this is written by Americans...) states, "Most of us do not realize that the gaiety of the display in the newsstand is traceable to the pioneer spirit of one woman, to her initiative which created its own demand, her perseverance in the face of opposition, her vision of an original expression of art. Helen Dryden disclaims that this innovation in magazine covers and fashion drawings, with its resulting influence on posters, window display and advertising in general, comes entirely from her. She points out that many things were working together in that first decade of the Twentieth Century. She names the Russian Ballet, seen for the first time in America, the Bakst drawings, the growing reaction against timid pastel coloring and the smug realistic traditions. Be that as it may, she is directly responsible for the decorative magazine covers, and her fashion drawings were the first to embody stylistic features into the imaginative, exquisitely executed pieces of sophistication that adorn the modern fashion periodicals."
Baltimore-born Helen Dryden (1887-1981) was an illustrator & industrial designer in the 1920s and '30s. Helen had a Vogue contract that led to a 13-year collaboration (1909–1922), during which she produced many Vogue fashion illustrations and covers.








Delightful Distractions - 18th Century Shoes
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Delightful Distractions - A Few Fairly Fine Antique Shoes & Purses















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