Saturday, September 28, 2013

Extravagance in Art



Recently I went to see the Legion of Honor for the first time. There is an Impressionist show that is temporarily up, that displays many many different water scenes. there is also show dealing with animals called, Artful Animals, that I throughly enjoyed. But since it was also my first time there, I was interested in looking at the permeant collection, although I didn't see it all, I still saw a decent amount of art. Within the permeant collection I came upon, a wide range of art from Religious icons from the mid 1300's to Degas and everything from Europe and parts of America in between.

I have seen many different museums with these ridiculous prestigious paintings of royals, socialites and well to dos, but one that never ceases to amaze me is the intricate detailed clothing that they paint. I might be so amazed and in love with all of them because I don't have the patience for the intricate detailing. I also might be so in love with them because I secretly wish I could wear clothing that is elegantly detailed all the time, but now a days it would be called couture, which you could say is my favorite kind of fashion. Couture just has a sense of mystery, allure and dreams. Here are some pieces I saw... 


up close detail of Frans Pourbus the Younger Portrait of a Lady 1591




Konstantin Makovsky The Russian Bride's Attire 


Close up 



Detail of Alexandre Roslin's Charles-Antoine de la Roche-Aymon 1769




This isn't as Extravagant but I just love the outfit, bow and dog. 
Emile Carolus-Duran's Marie-Anne Carolus-Duran 1874





Jules Bastien-Lepage's Sarah Bernhardt 1879




Close up of Massimo Stanzione's Women in Neapolitan Costume 1635 


But extravagance with these kind of people didn't stop at the clothes they also had amazing Jewels!! Last week I went to visit the De Young Museum while my mom was in town and we got to see their temporary collection of Bulgari Jewelry. Just looking at all the stones is kind of unreal because they are so large you don't believe them to be real when in fact they are real. The last thing you see as you exit the exhibition is a video of how they make them, and it cracks me up, because I learned how to make jewelry in my metals class at school, which is how they were making it, with a little saw and everything, but obviously Bulgari's turned out a little more professional then my own. 



"bib" necklace from 1965, made with gold, emeralds, amethyst, turquoise, and diamonds



This is one of their "Tremblant" Brooches that contains yellow diamonds and regular diamonds





Table Clock from 1968 it contains, lapis lazuli, rubies and diamonds





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