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Cabinet of Chic Curiosities

The Grace Mirabella Years: A Vogue Editor’s Unsung Legacy

Hailed as the most powerful woman in media, Anna Wintour has been fictionalised, caricatured and propelled into icon status since becoming editor-in-chief of Vogue. Then there’s Diana Vreeland, editor of the American style bible between 1963–1971, an industry legend who was the driving force of the Met’s Costume Institute, and styled a persona that would be remembered…

Portraits of the Harlem Renaissance

Thanks to Carl Van Vechten, we have glorious colour photographs of all the leading Black intellectuals and artists of the 1930s to the 1960s. A wealthy white patron of Black art, Van Vechten was a controversial figure during his lifetime and remains so today. There is no denying, however, that he helped to bring world…

13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. DCIII)

1. Renaissance Grotto Design More engravings and art found on Public Domain Review. Also of interest: A Brief Compendium of Captivating Fairytale Grottos and the Curious Career of Living as a Real-Life Garden Gnome. 2. This instagram dedicated to Venetian tiled floors Pavimenti Veneziani, found via Present & Correct. 3. How an Artist Tricked Her…

The Original Ghostbusters

As the 19th century came to a close and the 20th century picked up speed, people were absolutely held in thrall by the paranormal. Psychics and mediums sprang up everywhere as part of a movement called Spiritualism, and they promised to put people in touch with their departed loved ones. Mostly, they charged a fee,…

A Brief Guide and History of Travelling Experimentally

When you next leave the house, turn right. Then turn left. Then right again, followed by another left. And by Jove, I think you’ve got it! Do this until you’re blocked by an obstacle, whether that’s a dead-end, a river, or a sheer drop. Congratulations, you’ve just completed your first act of travelling experimentally. Alternating…

Before Pollock Saw Her Work, A Ukrainian Woman Pioneered Drip Painting

Here’s the myth: alcoholic brooding genius Jackson Pollock assesses a virgin canvas as it lays prone on the ground. Then he flings, hurls, splashes, and drips paint all over it, creating a vigorous new language of art – the drip technique. Life Magazine swooned, “Is he the greatest living painter in the United States?” The…

13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. DCII)

1. The White House’s Forgotten Vinyl Collection The White House built a vinyl record collection during the administrations of Presidents Nixon, Ford and Carter of more than 2,000 donated albums. A time capsule of 1970s trends, it ranges from Pat Boone, Barry Manilow and John Denver to the Beatles, Isaac Hayes, The Clash and Elvis…

The Lost Art and Delight of Mexican Calendar Art

Sex sells – and the message couldn’t have been any clearer when it came to advertising in post-revolutionary Mexican. Images of beautiful people served a multitude of purposes: a nationalistic one to quite blatantly plug the new regime, that of a new bountiful and fertile country, modern, productive and populated by good-looking folks from a…
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