I spotted this palette at Ulta and since it's been a while since I've purchased any Stila girl palettes, I bought it. A brunette girl wearing nothing but a short ruffly skirt (underwear?) poses against a blush pink background.
With flash:
What I liked most was the quote that was included. Finally, Stila makes a return to attributed quotes AND uses one that's very apt for the particular palette.
British poet and printmaker William Blake (1757-1827) is one of the most well-known artists from the Romantic era. Heavily influenced by the work of Raphael, Michelangelo and Dürer, the subject of most of his works were Biblical figures and Christian allegories (you might remember The Great Red Dragon played a big part in the movie Hannibal). At the same time, his poems and other writings demonstrate his contempt for organized religion.
The quote above is of the many scribblings on the edges of an etching Blake made of the famous Laocoön, "the Greek statue unearthed in Rome that inspired Michelangelo's heroic depiction of the naked body, inspiring in turn the rebirth of the nude in Western art." You can see it in the upper right:
(image from blakearchive.org)
According to scholar Seymour Howard, Blake had conflicting views of nudity in his own work and in art in general. Here's an excerpt from Howard's essay "William Blake: The Antique, Nudity and Nakedness: A Study in Idealism and Regression":
"The early Romantics equated the youthful and seemingly unselfconscious nudity of antiquity with health, innocence, purity, life-giving force, and unfettered freedom – in short, natural virtue…[but] for all of Blake's use of the nude and for his confessed admiration of its powers, he often avoided the depiction of total nakedness…" The author concludes that there were 4 different approaches to the nude in Blake's art – he "presented nakedness with equanimity, evasiveness, exaggeration, or transformation". Seems Stila is equally conflicted. Releasing a palette with "nude" colors and including a nude-positive quote, but calling the palette Not So Nude and making sure the Stila girl is at least partially covered.
On a stylistic note, I do wonder whether the rays on the front cover of the Stila palette drew their inspiration from Blake as well. Some "ray-diant" examples (harhar):
The Angel of the Revelation, 1803-1805:
(image from metmuseum.org)
Jacob's Ladder, ca. 1800:
(image from keithpp.wordpress.com)
Annunciation to the Shepherds, 1809:
(image from flickriver.com)
God Blessing the Seventh Day, 1805:
I guess we'll never know for sure, but it's interesting to consider. In any case, I enjoyed that Stila put a little more thought into the quote.
What do you think, both of the palette and of Blake's work?
I couldn't resist scooping up this gorgeous highlighter from Clé de Peau.
The colors are inspired by the luminous hues found in seashells (a similar idea to Armani's Madreperla palette):
(image from cledepeau-beaute.com)
Here are some more close-ups – I love how the sharp angles are made softer by the shimmer and pastel shades:
Yes, the powder is gorgeous, but what I really want to talk about is the outer case. It was created by jewelry designer Shaun Leane, who had this to say about the design: “When we first designed the compact, our thought was to craft a piece which was both tactile and desirable. In terms of its aesthetic, we wanted the design to be as though it was a jewel with a multitude of facets; to be chic, sophisticated, whilst exuding an element of glamour and fun, just like the lady who will be inspired by it.”
Leane also made a stunning gold "Reflection" necklace to be displayed at the brand's store in Tokyo's Ginza district. Set with 1,355 diamonds, this little piece of extravagance embodies the luxe, gem-like nature of the compact.
(image from racked.com)
In case you're wondering, the necklace is for display purposes only and is not for sale. However, I think it should be donated to the Museum. 😉
Anyway, here are some more pictures of the outer case. I admire Lane's restraint in this design. While he could have taken the easy way out and stuck a bunch of tiny rhinestones on the case to mimic the necklace's diamonds (hello, gaudy), he went with reflective geometric planes cut in such a way to make the case look like a real, 3D gem (it's totally smooth to the touch).
All of this talk of facets and opulent jewels reminded me of Kirsten Hassenfeld's work, which I first spotted at The Jealous Curator a while ago. In the early 2000s Hassenfeld created a series of gemstones constructed entirely out of paper.
Dollar Dreams, 2002:
Parure, 2003:
Blue Fancy, 2003 (which looks to be part of the Parure installation above):
(images from bellwethergallery.com)
While Hassenfeld's work has taken a slightly different direction in recent years, these pieces focus on the themes of luxury and privilege. From the press release at Bellwether Gallery for her 2004 show:
"Kirsten Hassenfeld creates extravagantly decorated, over-sized translucent gem and crystalline sculptures painstakingly crafted predominantly from paper. Borrowing forms and techniques from jewelry and other luxury goods, she creates opulent hybrids of traditional decorative art and otherworldly excess. Her works speak to notions of privilege, ownership, family pedigree, and the confusion of what we have with who we are through an embarrassment of riches…Kirsten playfully evokes traditional markers of power and symbols of plenty, mixing their opulence with the fragility of the hand hewn." Says the artist: "My work has evolved into a three-dimensional daydream in which my ambivalence toward material wealth and privilege is expressed. Precious objects speak about the cultures that produce and consume them; I revamp these objects with decidedly un-precious materials and varying scales, making fantasy tangible in a manner that calls into question what is considered precious. I conjure up for the viewer concoctions of wishes in an ephemeral form, promoting a state of wistful half-fulfillment. My sculptures, as they reference specific markers of status, are themselves part of a larger economy of privilege. Contemporary art is, in the most extreme way, a luxury. My artwork self-consciously acknowledges its own extravagance and impracticality."
I'm interested in the how these works question the idea of worth – how valuable are jewels if they're made out of paper? And in the case of Clé de Peau, out of plastic and powder? While the brand is known for jewel motifs (see their vintage Holiday palettes) this time the company hired an actual jewelry designer to make the compact and the accompanying necklace. Even more so than with previous palettes, they're trying to appeal to consumers' desire for status and luxury by showing the compact with an exclusive necklace that is so precious that it's not even for sale – purchasing the compact means we can have a little taste of what priceless feels like, the "wistful half-fulfillment" that Hassenfeld mentions.
This tactic works – for me, anyway. I wasn't going to buy the compact until I saw that necklace! What are your thoughts on the palette and on Hassenfeld's work?
Stila has released three more $14 travel-sized palettes, this time for Urban Outfitters. I'm guessing that since Stila girls might be a little too cutesy/girly for the average UO consumer, Stila came up with these designs instead.
First up is a vaguely Native American geometric pattern. I'm wondering if it was originally labeled as Navajo and got pulled as a result of the kerfluffle surrounding UO's "Navajo" line of items, but probably not. None of the three palettes are named anything in particular – only referred to as "pocket palettes".
Admittedly, it does look like a bit like Navajo blankets:
(image from tfaoi.com)
(image from turtletrack.org)
The second palette features vertically-overlapping multicolored rectangles – this one's my favorite, as the Curator loves abstract art.
And finally we have a basic floral pattern, which to my eye looks like it would be more at home at Anthropologie than at Urban Outfitters. It's not overly sweet and girly, but it resembles wallpaper to me.
(palette images from urbanoutfitters.com)
Wallpaper from Designers' Guild and Camilla Meijer:
So what do you think of all these? Anything worth buying as a collectible? I can't think of a time when I'd display 2 out of the 3, but the abstract rectangle palette is softly calling my name.
I REALLY wanted to write something intelligent and meaningful and inspired about the recent MAC/Cindy Sherman collaboration. But since nothing is coming to my feeble brain (or, rather, I feel totally overwhelmed by the task), I will leave you with the promo images instead, plus a link to MoMA's bio of her.
(images from maccosmetics.com)
Please leave your insights in the comments section!
Givenchy Artistic Director Nicolas Degennes created simple but beautifully designed moon-inspired eye shadow/highlighter palettes for the fall 2011 collection. According to Sephora, "In his love of the impossible, Nicolas Degennes wanted to create a multipurpose must-have product. The result was the savvy Les Ombres de Lune, an all-in-one highlighter for cheeks, eyes, and complexion that also works as an intense eye shadow…like a celestial muse floodlighting the darkness with its bewitching brightness, the moon embodies the essence of a soft and mysterious beauty, a magnetic aura, in the same vein as Givenchy Couture. Inspired by this sensual night star, the Collection 'Je veux la Lune' invites us to dream the impossible." I like that the collection name ("I want the moon") is expressed both literally in the moon design and figuratively in the "impossibility" of the product itself – it's difficult to come up with a palette that has both an all-over highlighter and an eye shadow dark enough to create a smoky eye. Usually multi-purpose products are one neutral shade.
(images from harrods.com)
Now, while I'm sure M. Degennes was not looking at Joan Miró's Dog Barking at the Moon (1926) when he came up with these palettes, but the starkness of the moons in these reminds me of it. The way the moon shape stands out from the background looks similar to Miró's work, at least to my eye.
(image from 001galerie.com)
Additionally, one could argue that they're similar in they both express a dream – in Givenchy's case, a dream of "impossibility" and in the Miró, a "dream of escape": "Like many of the works that the artist painted in Paris, this piece registers Miró's memories of his native Catalan landscape, which remained the emotional center and source of his imagery for much of his life. The work's genesis can be found in a preparatory sketch showing the moon rejecting a dog's plaintive yelps with the phrase 'You know, I don't give a damn,' written in Catalan. Although these words were excluded from the finished painting, their meaning is conveyed through the vacant space between the few pictorial elements that compose this stark yet whimsical image of frustrated longing and nocturnal isolation. Against the simple background of the brown earth and black night sky, Miró has painted a colorful dog and moon, and a ladder that stretches across the meandering horizon line and recedes into the sky, perhaps suggesting the dream of escape. This remarkable combination of earthiness, mysticism, and humor marks Miró's successful merging of international artistic preoccupations with an emphatically regional outlook to arrive at his distinctively personal and deeply poetic sensibility."
And, okay, I must admit this is one of my favorite paintings so maybe I was just looking for an excuse to post about it. 🙂
This is a collection that's right up the Curator's alley! :D Before I start playing the comparison-to-actual-works-of-art-game, here are some blurbs from MAC about it.
"The line between Fine Art & Makeup Art is undeniably blurry…explore illusion with the Op Art Optical Bronzer. A Street Art Eye Shadow personalizes the eye with madcap graffiti & for those who love light & shade, an In The Abstract Highlighter.
"A collection of three M·A·C Artist Powders inspired by the Masters & modern art movements. There’s an op art Optical Bronzer that explores the depth, dimension and sheer illusion of bronze. A Street Art Eye Shadow personalizes the eye with a madcap act of pure graffiti – and for those who love random acts of light and shade, an In The Abstract Highlighter. These palettes empower creation…make some art!"
Let's start with the graffiti palette. "Street Artists challenge art by situating it in non-art contexts…what better location for that than the eye?" Well, there are a million different examples of graffiti art, so it's impossible to say exactly what the inspiration was for this particular design.
With flash:
So in lieu of trying to guess, here's are some examples of New York graffiti (I see the words "New York" and "jungle" in the palette, and New York City is said to be the historical starting point for graffiti):
(image from nytimes.com)
(image from senseslost.com)
You can read more about graffiti art here.
Onto the next palette. "Inspired by Abstract Expressionism, a highlighting powder with a soft pink base, yellow gold lines and mid-tone lavender & pink dots." Gee, do you think they're referencing Jackson Pollock? 😛
With flash:
Obviously it is quite Pollock-esque and most likely Pollock is the direct inspiration for the design, but is it bad that I think it also sorta looks like Andy Warhol's Oxidation Painting (1978)? Maybe it's that the splatters are yellow, maybe I drank too much water, but for some reason this is looking slightly less Pollock and more like, well, someone urinated on it a la Warhol:
(image from arthag.typepad.com)
Anyway.
"Explore the depth, dimension & sheer illusion of Op Art with a bronzer that's sheer, chic & ideal for enhancing skin tone." Okay, MAC. Which op artist does this palette come from?
With flash:
The bent, sharp lines remind me a lot of this work by Victor Vasarely (Berc, 1967):
(image from artnet.com)
Here's a little crash course in Op Art.
So what do you think of this collection? I love it, since it really is the perfect marriage of art and makeup, which is what the Museum is all about. And it's modern art based, which is the Curator's favorite period. 🙂
More charming prints from Paul & Joe for fall 2011. New York is great inspiration for any makeup collection, I just wish Paul & Joe had been a bit more literal with it. I think Nathalie Lété did a great job with the Bourjois Paris collection – it would have been great if Paul & Joe had done something similar for New York. Nevertheless the prints are always pretty!
The theme: "Manhattan-Autumn 2011 is an entertaining, fast paced urban experience that artfully mingles the high-fashion opulence of uptown with the edgy, alternative spirit of downtown. Take a turn and see where Eastside meets Westside with a vibrant interpretation of color, texture, structure and design. Discover why this city never sleeps and explore this metropolis of indulgent delights with Paul & Joe Beaute."
Here's the text for the face and eye powders: "Inspired from the streets of Manhattan, a place where Sophie Albou loves so much. Different blocks, different colors, Manhattan is the last place where you can get board [sic]. Two shades can be used alone or mixed together. Either way you can get a gorgeous look like the night view of the city."
Here they are – 073 (42nd Street), 074 (Empire State), and 075 (Brooklyn Bridge):
With flash:
And because I was such a good customer, spending $50 or more on Paul & Joe, Beautyhabit gave me this adorable little bag:
The same print appeared on a blouse and skirt from the Fall 2011 women's collection:
(images from style.com and en.paulandjoe.com)
There is also another part to the collection: the palettes and face powder. I didn't purchase any because I wasn't sure they were Museum material, but they have a somewhat interesting look about them.
The palettes have a pattern reminiscent of the famed NYC skyline:
The face powder was apparently "inspired by skyscrapers that soar above Manhattan…the product surface is engraved with an Art Deco design."
(images from beautyhabit.com)
It does indeed look art deco and skyscraper-ish – the curving lines remind me a little of the top of the Chrysler building:
(image from styleture.com)
So, still undecided about whether to get those. The face powder in particular might look very nice in an exhibition next to Cle de Peau's 2010 holiday vintage palette (which, mind you, I managed to track down last year along with the 2009 one so stay tuned for posts on those around the holidays!) so I am a bit tempted. We shall see.
In any case, a good effort from Paul & Joe – maybe not as ground-breaking as their cat head lipsticks from last year (or nearly as kooky) but some nice prints and inspiration.
Clarins released a pretty interesting palette for fall. At first glance it reminded me of either pixels or a paused game of Tetris, ha.
With flash:
But then I was brushing up on my op art for MAC's upcoming Art of Powder collection and stumbled across an artist named Francois Morellet. This work (Blue and Red Composition, 1970) jumped out at me right away:
(image from kettererkunst.com)
While it's a work on paper and therefore not in 3D (meaning the little squares are flat and not sticking out as in the palette), the seemingly random scattering of different colored squares is really close to the Clarins piece. What really made my head almost explode though, is Morellet's work from 1960, Random Distribution of 40,00 Squares using the Odd and Even Numbers of a Telephone Directory:
(image from tate.org.uk)
Morellet explains, "The catalyst for the idea of the painting Random Distribution of 40,000 Squares using the odd and Even Numbers of a Telephone Directory (1960) came about after a conversation with Ellsworth Kelly, who at the time was living in France. He had recently visited Jean Arp’s studio and talked about one of Arp and Sophie Taeuber’s joint collages, Squares Arranged to the Laws of Chance, made in 1917…With Random Distribution, the purpose of my system was to cause a reaction between two colours of equal intensity. I drew horizontal and vertical lines to make 40,000 squares. Then my wife or my sons would read out the numbers from the phone book (except the first repetitive digits), and I would mark each square for an even number while leaving the odd ones blank. The crossed squares were painted blue and the blank ones red. For the 1963 Paris Biennale I made a 3-D version of it that was shown among the Groupe de Recherche d’Art Visuel installations (and re-created it again on different occasions). I wanted to create a dazzling fight between two colours that shared the same luminosity. This balance of colour intensity was hard to adjust because daylight enhances the blue and artificial light boosts the red. I wanted the visitors to have a disturbing experience when they walked into this room – to almost hurt their eyes with the pulsating, flickering balance of two colours. I like that kind of aggression."
Now, the Clarins palette obviously isn't influenced by this work or anything in particular, but since discovering this artist, I do like pretending the palette is a mini version of a Morellet (with soft pink colors instead of the strong red and blue that formed a "dazzling fight"). Another little piece of art. 🙂
I thought this was a nice offering from Laura Mercier for fall. While I didn't buy it (yet), the more I look at it the more I think it would be a good acquisition for the museum. The reason: it's reminding me of all the lovely canyon and mountain landscapes done by the Hudson River School. Let's take a peek at some of their work, shall we?
In a nutshell, the Hudson River School was an East Coast-based group of artists in the mid-19th century who focused on capturing the American landscape. Heavily influenced by Thomas Cole and European Romanticism, these artists forged both the rise of American tourism and a foundation for an artistic style that was distinctly American. If you're so inclined, the Met and PBS both have good summaries on them.1
Let's start with Frederic Edwin Church (1826-1900). This artist traveled all over the world, visiting Ecuador, Columbia and most of Europe. He is probably best known for his representations of the Andes – at least, that's what I remember him for!
The Andes of Ecuador, c. 1876:
(image from terminartors.com)
He also did a magnificent sunset at Grand Manan Island (a Canadian island in the Bay of Fundy), which I think best relates to the Canyon Sunset palette out of all his works:
Grand Manan Island, Bay of Fundy, 1852:
(image from en.wikipedia.org)
Then there's the German-born Albert Bierstadt (1830-1902) who went west and painted the Rockies and the Yosemite Valley.
Looking Down Yosemite, 1865:
(image from arthistory.about.com)
Deer at Sunset, c. 1868:
(image from allartclassic.com)
Finally, British-born artist Thomas Moran (1837-1936) also traveled out west (at least 7 times, in fact) from his home in Philadelphia, and completed many beautiful paintings of the Grand Canyon.
Grand Canyon with Rainbows, 1912:
(image from pacific-arts.com)
Under the Red Wall, 1917:
(image from paintingall.com)
So now that we've had a little art history lesson, which of the Hudson River School artists mentioned here is your fave? Or are you not digging any of them? And which of their work reminds you the most of the Laura Mercier palette? I personally am not into landscapes, but for the Hudson River School I make an exception. The fact that these artists traveled so far at a time when travel for the sake of travel wasn't done very much (unless you were an actual explorer) is extraordinary. The role they played in creating the notion of American tourism is significant as well. Anyway, I think my favorite of these three is Church, since he traveled the farthest. And I think the Canyon Sunset palette most closely resembles Moran's work in terms of color and the fact that you can really see the canyon striations in both his paintings and the palette.
1 For more on these artists and the Hudson River School, check out Frederic Church, Winslow Homer and Thomas Moran: Tourism and the American Landscape, The Hudon River School: Nature and the American Vision, and Different Views in Hudson River School Painting.
I was pleased to see this pretty little eyeshadow/highlighter combo from Chanel's Aquarelles collection. The pattern is their "iconic woven tweed", but it's a variation on the tweed pattern they have released previously (Pink Lamé and the tweed blushes) – noticeably different from those.
With flash:
Here's the idea for the inspiration from Temptalia (why don't they put this at the Chanel website?): "In the 1920s, Marie Laurencin painted a watercolor portrait of Gabrielle Chanel. Today, Karl Lagerfeld employs that image as a point of departure for the 2011 Spring-Summer Haute Couture Collection, suffused with light and restraint. The atmosphere is pastel-toned, with clean silhouettes of catwalk models styled as ballerinas, evanescent and nonchalant. Soft pinks merge into tones of ivory and dove grey. Every aspect of the cherished rue Cambon style is washed over with the candor of youth. The enigmatic grace of a black satin ribbon tied high around the neck accentuates the mysterious spirit hidden behind the models’angelic faces…Created in the image of the 2011 Spring-Summer Haute Couture Collection, the shade range focuses on a palette of pinks and delicate grey on the eyes, framed by black and bathed in light. An exclusive creation, OMBRES TISSÉES Beiges takes on a fine-knit texture of silvery, golden and pinkish tones of beige. Arranged in three bands within their square case, these satiny eyeshadows smooth transparently over eyelids, while illuminating facial contours with touches of light."
It sounds a little vague, but the actual 1923 portrait by Laurencin shows that once again, Creative Director Peter Philips can take an artwork and create a spot-on makeup look based on it.
(image from artcyclopedia.com)
You can see the soft pastel shades and the subdued, almost gauzy texture of the brush strokes. And I'm sure the aforementioned black ribbons tied around the models' necks also found their inspiration in this painting. It's as if the painting has come to life in the various colors and textures of the Aquarelles collection (the name is also quite apt, as the painting by Laurencin is a watercolor.) I also like that the tweed pattern is a bit different and softer than the other Chanel palettes, and the fact that idea for the collection comes directly from a specific piece of the brand's history. Can't wait for the holiday palette – looks like it's going to be a another very inspired piece!