Makeup Museum (MM) Musings is a series that examines a broad range of museum topics as they relate to the collecting of cosmetics, along with my vision for a "real", physical Makeup Museum. These posts help me think through how I'd run things if the Museum was an actual organization, as well as examine the ways it's currently functioning. I also hope that these posts make everyone see that the idea of a museum devoted to cosmetics isn't so crazy after all – it can be done!
Since my last MM Musings post on what a permanent collection display might look like in an actual beauty museum, I've been thinking about ideas for special exhibitions. But I kept getting overwhelmed with the details of a specific exhibition's themes. After a while I realized my usual musings style wasn't going to work for a post on special exhibitions, so I changed tactics to bring you something much more interesting and enlightening than my usual reflections: an interview with Ashley Boycher, Associate Exhibition Designer at the Walters Art Museum here in Baltimore. Yes, I got to chat (email) with a real-life exhibition designer at one of the top museums in the country! Enjoy.
MM: What is the basic process of exhibition design? Does the curator tell you which pieces they want and you go from there? Who else do you work with besides the curator?
AB: Although sometimes exhibition ideas come from the public, certain museum trends, conservators, and/or museum educators, the seed of an exhibition is almost always planted by the curator, and the curator is academically responsible for the exhibition throughout the process. Once the seed is planted, the curator writes an exhibition narrative and begins to make a list of objects that s/he believes will best illustrate that narrative. Then there are lost of talks with conservators about which of the objects are in good enough shape and/or can be made into good enough shape for the exhibition given the timeframe. Also, when applicable, there are talks with registrars, who are responsible for the handling and logistics of moving and storing objects, and other institutions' representatives about the feasibility of bringing objects to our institution for the exhibition from other places. This happens with almost all large scale exhibitions and the negotiations with the other institutions often includes logistics about traveling the exhibitions to those institutions as well. In fact, grant funding is often dependent on the ability to collaborate with other institutions and travel the show domestically and/or internationally. Once many of these things are worked out, the curator and I begin conversations. This is usually about 18 months out from the exhibition opening. We do some preliminary ideation about object groupings and the look and feel of the show. During that time, the curator is also talking in a preliminary way with a museum educator about different didactic and interactive elements that might enhance the exhibition experience. At about a year out, the three of us come together and begin to really hash out the meat of the show. We also bring in representatives from the other museum divisions: IT, marketing, development, security, etc, when we need to collaborate on things like how we will advertise the show and what technology, if any, will benefit the exhibition message, both outwardly and inside the exhibition itself. All of the details come together in about 8 months, and for the last 4 months of the development process we are in production mode – labels being edited, graphics being printed, cases being built, walls being painted, etc – along with any straggler details that we miss beforehand, which always happens.
MM: Do you do some kind of prototype before the exhibition opens?
AB: It depends. Sometimes we're not exactly sure how a paint color will look in the space, so we'll slap it up on the wall and look at it for a few days and adjust where necessary. That is, if we have time. Often art is coming out of a space only a week before other art is supposed to go in, which means we don't always have the opportunity to do this. Other prototyping sometimes happens when we are trying out a weird or new display type. And we almost always prototype interactives, both low tech and high tech.
MM: Do you have experience with designing decorative object-based exhibitions and if so, how does it differ from designing exhibitions for other types of art?
AB: I've never designed a show that was purely dec arts objects, but they have been a part of shows i've designed. The new installation that opens here in October has lots of dec arts in it. I would say that in my experience one of the main differences is that many dec arts objects are heartier than other art, in better shape, and often made of less than precious materials, which means that conservation does not always make us put them under a vitrine. In this way they can help to create the look and feel of a space rather than just being purely on display. I suppose that was their original function anyway. 🙂
MM: What are some of the latest, cutting-edge developments in exhibition design?
AB: Well, unfortunately the latest cutting-edge development design aren't really happening at many art museums. Science museums and natural history museums are the ones that are usually on the cutting edge when it comes to design and technology. This summer I visited the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, and one of their exhibitions had this amazing custom theatre system. It was made using custom craft carpentry, crazy projectors, and bit mapping. You can see a cool video about the making of it.
MM: What was your favorite exhibition you designed and why?
AB: That's a really hard question! The reason I got into exhibition design was because I was interested in too many different things to pick one thing to continue studying (I'm also just not that much of an academic eve though I really loved school). Working on exhibitions awards me the opportunity to learn about another fascinating different thing with each new project. So I guess my favorite is always whatever the latest project is. I suppose I have shiny thing syndrome.
MM: If money wasn't a factor, what would your “dream” exhibition be?
AB: When I was in graduate school, one of my big solo projects was an exhibition about the art, science, and history of tattooing throughout time and across the globe. I am fascinated by tattoos because they have so many different facets: cultural heritage, technology, biology, taboo, straight up beautiful artistry, the list goes on and on. I think a well planned and designed exhibition about tattooing could be interesting to just about everyone for one or more of these reasons. I'd love to be on a project like that.
MM: Do you have any ideas or suggestions regarding exhibitions that would have lots of small objects, i.e. makeup? I promise I'm not asking you to work for free – I'm just looking for any sort of general advice or tips off the top of your head!
AB: The hard thing about showing a bunch of small things is that the displays always want to look like retail rather than museum quality. My biggest advice would be to make sure you single out your best pieces. Put them on their own pedestals, maybe give them a bigger brighter pop of color, or a few more inches in height. Just make sure they actually stand out in a way that tells your visitor, "hey, you want to make sure you look at me and only me for a sec." If you want to do a display of a bunch of things together for impact or to get a certain point across, especially if it's several examples of one type of thing, make sure you save your 2nd and 3rd tier objects for those displays.
Thank you so much, Ashley, both for the peek into the life of an exhibition designer and for the invaluable advice!! (And I think we both have "shiny thing syndrome" – more literally for me).
Today I invite you check out what goes on behind the scenes of the Makeup Museum's exhibition installation (see part 1 for the more general blogging aspects.) I provided a brief glimpse into exhibition setup with Sweet Tooth, but that was for a one-of-a-kind show. This post will cover the process of setting up the basic seasonal exhibitions using the summer 2014 exhibition as an example.
In terms of "curation" I generally start thinking about the seasonal exhibitions months in advance. I don't just go pulling objects out of museum storage willy-nilly the day I install and photograph the exhibition – it's planned over months. I draft a blog post and list newly released items I want to include. Based on those, I work in items from previous years, and if it seems like I need to add more (I need to have enough for 16 shelves, after all), I start poking around for vintage items that would make good additions. I usually have no idea what objects will go on which shelves, but I always know the items and any additional materials (ads, pictures, etc.) that need to get installed prior to the actual installation. I also have to get the label text ready in advance, which is trickier than it sounds since most of the time when I write a post about an object I don't use the formal name of the product, so I have to go hunting it down. And sometimes for older items for which I can't remember the release date I have to look that up too. I put everything in a Word document and the husband lays out the labels in InDesign with the Museum's logo – how sweet is that?
Now let's look at how I physically install the seasonal exhibitions. First things first: I need to remove the items from the previous exhibition that are still on the shelves, and for that I employ some good old white cotton gloves for handling the objects. This way they don't get all fingerprint-y. Down with spring 2014, up with summer!
I arrange the objects into various piles either on the shelves or on the floor according to where they're stored. For example, all brands from A through G get stored in the top drawer in the master closet so I group them together.
All other brands except for Paul & Joe and Stila go in the hall closet, so here's that pile.
Then I take the labels off the shelves. As you can see, years of using double-sided tape to secure the labels have left a ton of residue which I can't seem to remove. (Any suggestions that won't take off the finish?)
Then I start gathering the objects I plan to use in the upcoming exhibition.
I print out any collateral materials and the labels in color.
Any pictures that are included in the exhibition are printed out on regular paper and then spray mounted to a sturdier cardstock.
And this is where the husband comes in (again). He's amazingly crafty – I'm not sure whether it's because he's a designer and has a lot of experience or because he's just naturally skilled, but he's very good at assembling the collateral materials. Here's the spray booth (and our little labbits!) located beneath the cork board in the office:
He sprays the picture backs with glue and then affixes them to the cardstock. When I try to do this it's always crooked or lumpy, and it takes me forever. He can do it perfectly in a matter of seconds.
Going over it with the roller gets it nice and smooth.
He then cuts out the pictures very straight with an Exacto knife. Again, when I tried to do this myself it was a disaster. Not only did I cut everything crooked despite using the ruler, I nearly chopped off a finger or two.
The labels don't get spray mounted since they will be attached to the shelves, so they just get cut out.
Et voilĂ !
So once I have everything – items, labels and pictures – I start putting stuff on the shelves. Some of them I know will have to be on the highest shelves due to the height of the pictures or ads. There was no way I could cram that Max Factor ad on a lower shelf!
This is the hard part. I generally spend about a half hour to 45 minutes rearranging the objects so that the format is both visually appealing and not repetitive in shape, theme or brand. For this exhibition, I wouldn't want the Armani and Dior next to each other (too much couture), and I wouldn't want the DuWop shell compacts and the Benefit shell compacts next to each other because they're too similar. And I didn't want mermaids sitting next to each other, and I don't like two items from the same brand next to each other. I make an exception for Shu cleansing oils, however – I don't mind having two on one shelf and two on the shelf next to it if they're from the same collection, as you can see from the spring exhibition. Anyway, I play around and sometimes I don't even have a reason as to why I want the items arranged a certain way. I just know when it looks "right".
Once I get everything in place, I start setting it up to be photographed, i.e., taking everything out of their boxes and attaching additional pictures to the wall. Depending on the height of the objects I can lean the picture against the wall behind it, but if it's an open palette that will block it, I have to tape the picture above it.
Generally speaking I prefer to hang up the vintage ads with metal clips. However, for the vintage ads used in the summer 2014 exhibition, those were cut and spray mounted because they were included in much larger magazine pages, and they looked better by themselves than being surrounded by text.
I make any final tweaks and once I've decided I'm satisfied with the placement, only then do the labels go up. Then I open any palettes that need to be opened and start shooting. The top row is difficult to photograph since I have to get on a ladder.
Here's the finished product. If you'll notice I switched the Wet 'n' Wild palettes and the Laduree items…the shapes (open round compacts) of the Wet 'n' Wild ones were too similar to the Chantecaille palettes to have in the same row. At least, that's how it seemed to me.
After I photograph everything I don't put it away. I close any open palettes and put them back in their boxes so they don't get dusty, but I just leave all the items on the shelves instead of putting them back into storage. The labels stay up until the next exhibition as well.
And that's how it's done! Questions? Comments?
I wanted this summer's exhibition to have an ever so slight vintage feel, along with fantastical creatures. I'm still in awe of the turn of the century drawings predicting what life would be like in the year 2000 so one of them was chosen to be the exhibition poster. And of course I'm still obsessed with mermaids so there are a few in there too. Finally, I liked the idea of mixing kitsch with high-end…for example, Armani's elegant Écailles mother of pearl palette is perched next to Too-Faced Quickie Chronicles palette and MAC's hibiscus-embossed blush. So no overarching theme this year, just a blend of cheerful summery goodness. Enjoy!
Top shelves, left to right.
Givenchy Terre Exotique Healthy Glow Powder:
Stila 2003 calendar and DuWop Sea Shell compacts:
The Balm Hot Mama, Bahama Mama and Cabana Boy:
Another mermaid-y shelf: Max Factor ad from 1962 and an adorable cardboard box that held cotton pads.
I had no idea what Coets was when I spotted this on E-bay but I had to have it since it had a mermaid applying makeup! I found out that it was THE go-to company for cotton pads until they went out of business some years ago. Apparently they had some kind of partnership with Helena Rubinstein, which I looked into but couldn't find any info on.
Second row, left to right.
Fragonard perfumed soap…I didn't get the best angle but there is a seahorse on the soap itself.
Too-Faced Quickie Chronicle in the Bathing Beauty and MAC My Paradise blush:
Armani Écailles palette:
Benefit She Shells lip glosses…thought these were gone for good since they're from 2002. But they popped up on E-bay and I was so excited.
Third row, left to right.
Dior Transat palette:
LM Ladurée highlighting powder and lip balm:
Stila travel palette and Benefit Hoola bronzer…this might be the first time I've worked a non-collectible into an exhibition. I actually use Hoola, as the worn edges attest.
Chantecaille La Baleine palettes:
Bottom row, left to right.
La Cross nail ad from 1941 and a Volupte seahorse compact from the '50s:
Wet 'n' Wild Color Icon Bronzers from 2012 (looked everywhere for these and couldn't find them at the time – once again, E-bay came through) and 2014:
Paul & Joe blotting sheets:
Benefit makeup bag:
While I'm very pleased with how the exhibition turned out, I would dearly love to get my hands on this Bourjois Evening in Paris oyster edition perfume. I know that fragrance is outside the Makeup Museum's purview and that this is wildly overpriced for a cardboard box and bakelite oyster shell, but it's in excellent condition and would be so perfect for a summer exhibition. Maybe someday if someone else doesn't snatch it up!
What do you think of the exhibition? Are you hearing ocean waves and feeling the sand between your toes?
The spring 2014 exhibition is quite flower heavy. I know what you're thinking.
Re-using one of my favorite gifs
However, given how bad this winter was, I am even more deliriously happy than in years past to see flowers again. They are truly the ultimate expression of rebirth and rejuvenation. That, combined with how inspired I was by the Philadelphia Flower Show, led to a strong emphasis on flowers for this exhibition. Finally, you'll notice that some of the pieces are a little…off-kilter. It's sort of a crazy garden theme rather than standard floral prints. From a curious flower hat to to Mika Ninagawa's "singing forest" to human heads blossoming, there's a bit of a peculiar, playful feel to the exhibition – neatly tied together, I feel, by the inclusion of Urban Decay's Alice in Wonderland Book of Shadows.
Top shelves:
Bottom shelves:
Top row, left to right.
Avon Flower Show Case Lipstick ad and cases…okay, so the cases are plastic and not at all that rare, but I couldn't resist their delightful vintage kitschy-ness.
Mika Ninagawa for Shu Uemura cleansing oils:
Stila High Tea workbook and quad:
Second row, left to right.
Yayoi Kusama for LancĂ´me Juicy Tubes:
Clarins Cotton Flower palette:
Armani Belladonna palette:
MAC Hue-topia postcard and Prescriptives In Bloom Cheek Duo:
Third row, left to right.
Dior Pink Pompadour palette:
Chantecaille Save the Bees palette:
Urban Decay Alice in Wonderland Book of Shadows:
Milani Illuminating Powder and Rose blush:
Bottom row, left to right.
Stila Look of the Month palette (April) and Garden of Glamour palette. Can anyone identify the flowers on the latter? At first I thought they were pansies but now I'm thinking they might be orchids.
Mark Blooming Pretty powder and Clinique Cheek Pops:
Paul & Joe Color Powder and Face Powder for spring 2014:
Chanel Fleurs CĂ©lestes palette…just realized I left out an "s" in the exhibition label. Sigh.
That concludes the exhibition. I hope it incited some serious spring fever. Now off you go. Get off the internet and go outside to enjoy a warm sunny day!
For this exhibition I had one word running through my head: ornate. I was thinking about items that had all sorts of elaborate designs – swirls and scrolls and gemstones were what captivated my imagination this season. And gold! Lots and lots of gold. I always enjoy the excess of the holidays in both shopping and eating, so I figured I'd indulge in makeup that's over-the-top too.
While the label paper looks beige, it's actually a pale metallic gold. My lackluster photography skills couldn't capture it properly!
Top shelf, left to right.
Stila paint can and Glacier Ice palette:
Vintage Revlon ad (which, unfortunately I managed to tear during installation – #conservationfail) and lipstick case:
The case has some marks on the interior but I was too afraid of doing more damage to attempt to clean it. Better call in Poe to help me.
Murakami for Shu:
Dolce & Gabbana Sicilian Jewels lipsticks:
Second shelf, left to right.
Lulu Frost for Bobbi Brown mirror compact:
Cosme Decorte Makeup Coffret:
Clarins Barocco palette:
Guerlain Météorites from holiday 2009:
Third shelf, left to right.
Marc Jacobs Light Show powder:
Armani crystal palette and lipstick from 2009 – I totally spaced on taking a picture of the label, so here's the text:
"Infused with Art Deco style, Armani's holiday 2009 palette and lipstick are embellished with a circular pattern of clear and black Swarovski crystals. The collection is a nod to the designer's fall 2009 couture collection, which combined modern silhouettes with a glittering, vintage-inspired array of multi-hued crystals."
Dior Illuminating Powder:
Clé de Peau holiday palette from 2009:
Bottom shelf, left to right.
Elegance Nouvelle Eyes palette:
Paul & Joe holiday 2009:
MAC Antiquitease postcard and Royal Assets palette from 2007. I was trying to nab the palette with gold casing on ebay but could only find the silver one…must keep an eye out for it.
I do clean the shelves, I really do, but I can't always remove the sticky residue from the double-sided tape I use to adhere the labels. I don't know how it ended up on the top of the shelf.
LancĂ´me palette and lipstick:
So what do you think? Are these pieces too busy for you? Or do you like how crazily embellished everything is?
Thanks to PJ at A Touch of Blusher, I was alerted to these events at the Japan Foundation in London. "Beneath the Surface: A Culture of Cosmetics in Japan" will feature two talks by Noriyo Tsuda, Chief Curator of the POLA Research
Institute of Beauty and Culture (how do I get that job?!)
(image from jpf.org.uk)
The first presentation is "Haniwa Beauty to Snow White – Japanese Cosmetic Culture from Ancient Times to Now" and will take place tomorrow at 6:30pm. The description: "From ancient customs to current trends, Tsuda will look at Japanese
cosmetic practices over the course of history and discuss how Japanese
cosmetics have developed through the centuries. Giving an overview of
the aesthetic ideals and reasons for the use of these cosmetics, this
talk will provide examples of how lifestyle and social circumstances
have influenced the culture of cosmetics in the past and affected
contemporary standards of beauty in Japan."
The second talk is "Beauty Icons – Primping and Preening in Edo and Meiji Japan," which will take place on November 8 at 6:30pm. "In this talk, Tsuda will compare and contrast two of the most
distinguishing periods of cosmetic culture in Japan, namely the Edo
(1603 – 1867) and Meiji (1868 – 1912) eras. Exploring the
characteristics of Japanese cosmetics in the Edo period, when
traditional cosmetics are thought to have matured, she will elaborate on
what cosmetics were used and who the trendsetters were. Moving on to
the Meiji period, Tsuda will discuss how grooming standards and notions
of 'beautiful women' were impacted by drastic social reform after the
opening of Japan to the West."
I did a little more digging and I found an event poster with these two pictures, the objects in which I'm assuming Tsuda will discuss.
(image from zo.uni-heidelberg.de)
I was greatly intrigued by this POLA Research Institute of Beauty and Culture so I gathered some basic information on it. The POLA Research
Institute of Beauty and Culture was founded in 1976 under the son of the founder of cosmetics company POLA Orbis Group, Suzuki Tsuneshi. It's now part of the POLA Museum of Art in Hakone, Japan, which displays Tsuneshi's personal art collection consisting of over 9,500 objects. While the museum boasts roughly 400 paintings by Western artists (Cezanne, Gauguin, Monet, Renoir, Picasso, Chagall), there is a section of the museum devoted to the beauty objects he collected as well. Some of these treasures include:
A silver dressing set with an iris pattern from the early 1900s:
A bride's wedding kit from the Edo period:
And a mid-19th century dressing case.
(images from polamuseum.or.jp)
I don't know about you, but I'm ready to hop on the next plane to London to catch both talks, then off to Japan to see the POLA collection! I really wish they had a museum catalogue for their beauty items available for purchase online…maybe Tsuda will spearhead the release of one eventually and/or a book based on the talks he's giving in London.
2013 truly was/is the year of punk revival, and since punk style and subculture are near and dear to the Curator, I decided to devote the fall exhibition to this glorious trend. It's a smaller exhibition than in years past, but I was committed to the theme and didn't want to do a bigger exhibition with non-punk-inspired pieces in it. This is basically a long way of saying I couldn't reconcile some of the fall pieces we've seen (Chantecaille Wild Horses palette, Dior Bonne Etoile) with the punk trend, and decided to sacrifice size in exchange for a more cohesive exhibition. Since it was on the small side I couldn't really go into the history of punk makeup, which would have been great to incorporate somehow, but I think overall it works.
So many magazine images inspired me. I was enthralled by the emphasis on plaid, tweed and houndstooth and the punk update most of the items in these fabrics received.
And as you can see in the exhibition, I added some magazine pages at the top – these were my favorite images.
Magazine images, left to right:
Top shelf, left to right.
Dior 5 Couleurs in Rose Ballerine and Les Tissages de Chanel in Amber:
Sephora Drop Dead Gorgeous makeup brush set:
Do you not love the skull pattern on the handles?!
Ardency Inn Punker Studs:
Givenchy Ecrin Privé palette:
Bottom shelf, left to right.
Lise Watier Tartantastique eye shadow palette:
Deborah Lippmann nail polish:
MAC Rebel Rock postcard and Benefit Rockateur blush:
Sephora eyelash curler and Urban Decay nail polish in Vice:
Thoughts on the exhibition? Are what do you think about the punk trend this season? When it comes to badass details like studs and skulls and chains, I can't get enough!
I was so pleased I was able to trek up to NYC last Thursday to see Makeup in New York's show and vintage lipstick exhibition! It was fun to walk around and see all the packaging companies, but the main draw for me, of course, was seeing some highlights from Lips of Luxury up close and in person.
The show was held at Center 548 in Chelsea, which is an area of NYC I'm not too familiar with – we normally stick to Soho and Union Square, with occasional jaunts to where all the department stores are (uptown? downtown?):
Nice little brochures were provided when you checked in.
I eagerly searched to find where the lipstick exhibition was.
Fortunately it was on the 2nd floor so I didn't have to climb too many steps to get there!
Right up front were the Revlon Couturines!!
Behind those was that crazy Lenox lipstick holder:
Some other treasures:
Why yes, that IS a mermaid-shaped lipstick case!!
Huge dork that I am, I had brought my copy of Lips of Luxury with me in the hopes of getting either Jean-Marie Martin-Hattenberg (the author) or Anne Camilli (Editorial Director) to sign it, if they happened to be at the exhibition. And I thought maybe I could give them my card. I did in fact meet Anne, but ultimately I was too chicken to actually ask for an autograph or start plugging the Makeup Museum. My husband pointed out that it may not have been as weird as I thought to ask her to sign the book, as she was the one who, you know, helped write it. But I thought I might come off as annoying or worse, some kind of creepy stalker, so I just said I was a big fan of the book and left her alone.
Overall, I thought it was a well-curated exhibition. The selections were definitely what I would have chosen from the book. I did think, however, that the presentation could use a little work. The glass jars with the pink tops were cute, but the acrylic stands that some of the lipsticks were sitting on within them looked pretty cheap. And the jar wasn't the best choice of display vessel for the Alberto Guardiani lipstick shoe – it looked squashed in there! I also would have made the label text nicer and with thicker paper. Good typography and quality paper goes a long way. Of course, I have little room to talk since I tend to cram items onto the shelves I use for my exhibitions and the shelves themselves aren't tremendously well-made. Still, I think for a formal exhibition in a "real" public space I'd go the extra mile to make sure everything looks amazing.
After I was done drooling over the exhibition, we explored the other booths and saw what conference sessions were taking place.
On the way out I helped myself to a goodie bag.
I thought this was cool – it's all the packaging companies that attended the expo in Pantone swatchbook form.
A bag of samples of the latest and greatest in packaging:
Copy of Beauty Packaging magazine and a pencil.
Then after that we hit up Soho for some shopping. Unfortunately (or fortunately, for my credit card balance) I didn't see anything I wanted, but as we were walking to catch a cab back to Penn Station I caught a glimpse of something very exciting – the space where a new outpost of LadurĂ©e will be!! It's supposed to open in mid-November and will be the biggest in the world!! It will definitely make staying in Soho all the sweeter once it opens, literally.
You can see more photos from the Makeup In New York show here. 🙂
I spotted this exhibition at British Beauty Blogger a couple of weeks ago, and while it just closed, I thought it was still worth sharing. Back in May, Goldsmiths' Hall in London opened "Ultra Vanities: Bejewelled Boxes from the Age of Glamour" which featured more than 200 cosmetic cases spanning over three hundred years, the bulk of which were made in the 1920s through the '70s. To accompany the rise of the modern makeup industry, jewelry giants such as Cartier, Van Cleef and Arpels and Boucheron introduced truly beautiful cases made from precious materials: "The leading jewellery houses of the time created these unique 'nécessaire de beauté' for their fashionable clientele, who
required somewhere to keep all their essentials. Miniature marvels
with spaces for a powder compact, lipstick, comb, cigarette holder,
mirror and, occasionally, a little note pad and pencil, they chart
the changing styles through the decades, from the sleek, elegant
Art Deco period to the flamboyant 1970s, via the colourful
1950s." Exquisitely crafted using the skills of goldsmiths, enamellers and engravers, these compacts were indeed meant to be shown off.
Let's take a peek at some of these beauties, shall we? (And for a great essay on these and other pieces in the exhibition, check out curator Meredith Etherington-Smith's article in Apollo. You can also buy the book, as I'm planning on doing!) I was really blown away by the astonishing array of materials – not just gold and
diamonds, but rubies, sapphires, jade, coral, mother-of-pearl, enamel and
lacquer.
Jacques Cartier first visited India in 1911 and made many more trips to other Eastern destinations later. You can see the influence in this Chinese-inspired design from 1925.
(image from uk.blouinartinfo.com)
Lacloche was a leader in depicting Asian scenes and motifs in the Art Deco era, when the appetite for such styles reached frenzied heights in the Western world.
This 1950s piece by Charlton also has a touch of "exotic" inspiration between the triangle pattern and Egyptian scarab beetle in the center (at least, that's what it looks like to me – I could be totally off.)
According to an article on the exhibition, "the minaudière was invented by Charles Arpels of
Van Cleefs & Arpels in 1934 after he saw a friend’s wife carry her
make-up and several loose items in a tin box. He designed the minaudière
to replace the evening bag."
Love this gold, sapphire and diamond stunner from Bulgari.
(images from historyextra.com)
I have no idea when this Van Cleef and Arpels piece is from or what the pattern is supposed to be (fireworks?) but it's gorgeous.
(image from uk.blouinartinfo.com)
Additionally, the first floor rooms at Goldsmiths’
Hall were transformed into a 1930s Parisian salon, complete with exhibition partner Guerlain pumping in their signature Shalimar fragrance to heighten the experience.
(image from semperey.com)
While I take much pleasure in ogling all the shiny, glittering pieces in this exhibition purely as eye candy, it's important to remember that they also provide a meaningful glimpse of cultural and social history. “This unique private collection marks and celebrates a precise era in
the long history of cosmetics. As such it is interesting not solely
because of the exquisite workmanship and imagination of these boxes, nor
the miracles of miniature engineering that went into their interior
fitments but in showing the power these boxes still have to evoke a
certain golden era in the long history of human beauty and adornment," Etherington-Smith said.
I so wish I could have gone to see this exhibition! I guess the book will just have to do.
Which piece is your favorite? And could you see yourself actually carrying any of these?
I'm getting this year's summer exhibition up much later than I intended, but then again, summer is no time to stress about such things! While I'm forever inspired by mermaids and the sea, I didn't want to repeat last year's theme. So for 2013 my inspiration was more land-based – sand, seashells you find washed up on the beach, and color-wise, more bronze/warm-toned than aquatic hues given all the delectable bronzers that were released this season. I am quite taken with the seashell beads I photographed for the exhibition poster (and I do intend on making a necklace with them and some other beads before the summer is out!), along with this 1953 ad for Sun Bronze tanning lotion.
(image from hprints.com)
So, bronze and shells are the main ideas behind the exhibition. I was going to sprinkle some shell beads on each shelf, but I didn't have enough and it looked a little sad, so I left them as is. I did try to choose a sandy-colored paper for the exhibition labels, however – I think that worked well. And keep your eyes peeled for some bath and body products. I believe this is the first seasonal exhibition in which they've appeared. I did include some Philosophy products in the Sweet Tooth exhibition, but that was a special, non-seasonal exhibition.
Enjoy! (And click to enlarge any of the pics).
Top shelves, left to right.
Stila Living the Life in Laguna, Stunning in Sayulita and Fabulous in Fiji travel palettes:
Chanel Lucky Stripes palette:
Fresh Soap trio:
OB for Shu Uemura cleansing oils:
Second row, left to right.
This was a shame. Paul & Joe's pressed powder from the summer 2013 collection was not for sale in the U.S. (I have no idea why not) so I had to order it from Beautybay. Unfortunately it didn't arrive in time for when I had planned on shooting the exhibition so all that's on this shelf are the dolphin blotting sheets. While those are adorable, I would have liked to have the pressed powder as well, especially since I included it on the label – I was so sure it would be here in time. The powder just arrived a few days ago but I really didn't feel like putting it on the shelf and re-shooting…so this is a little incomplete.
Armani Bronze All-Over palette. I couldn't win with this from a collector's standpoint – the first one I ordered from Nordstrom arrived slightly crumbled, and this one isn't shattered but the color is off. I guess you could argue that it's got a sort of cool ombre effect, but that beautiful deep bronze color towards the right should be across the entire palette. I would have just gone to a store to pick it up in person so that I could see firsthand whether it was collectible quality, but there are no Armani counters near me.
MAC Sundressing postcard and To The Beach items:
Chantecaille Les Dauphins palette:
Third row, left to right.
More Chantecaille goodness with the Save the Sharks palette:
Clarins Splendours Bronzing Compact:
Statement Soaps! Seaweed Soap and LUSH The Mermaid Bath Bomb (the date for which I have just realized is incorrect on the label, sigh…it should be summer 2013, not summer 2012.) Again, I didn't want duplicate last year's ideas but I couldn't resist putting this little mermaid in the exhibition – she's just too cute! And she made the room smell really good. 🙂
I bought this particular bar of Seaweed Soap a few months ago, but the product was initially released somewhere around 2008.
Benefit catalog and Paul & Joe Loose Powder:
Bottom row, left to right.
Laura Mercier Moroccan Bronze palette:
Guerlain Seashell Bronzer – I was so happy to track this down after missing out on its initial release in 2009!
Too-Faced Tropical Tease Quickie Chronicle palette (lord, how I miss those!) and MAC Honey Light Highlighting Powder:
Guerlain Terra Ora Bronzer…I thought the Benefit catalog fit in well with the goddess theme of this piece.
What did you think of this year's summer exhibition? Did you like it more or less than 2012's? While I think this came together slightly better than the spring 2013 exhibition (and the fall and holiday 2012 exhibitions, for that matter), I think I still liked 2012's summer exhibition better…mermaids and the ocean will always have my heart!
