The Door Architecture Upper West Side

This photo above is iconic New York. The fabulous door, in such detail, and the flowers on the ledge. I had the pleasure in 2013 of really walking around the Upper West Side and photographed many amazing doors. You have to wonder, what does it look like inside? Is it glamour or casual? The detail around the doors is usually just as amazing as the doors themselves. This is why you need to leave the tourist areas of the city, and walk around where folks actually live to see the true New York City. I hope you enjoy these shots as much as I did taking them! 

This is the famous Lucerne Hotel which is such an architectural wonder all in itself and has been gracing the Upper West Side since 1904!  

Did you have a favorite? Hard to pick, isnt' it ? Just a true joy to see these in person, and on a lovely day, priceless. No charge whatsoever to roam around the city, maybe pick up a gelato on the way, and enjoy the beauty that surrounds you.

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Quicksilver Brilliance Adolf de Meyer Photographs

I was thrilled to visit this exhibition at The Met Quicksilver Brilliance Adolf de Meyer Photographs. It is open until March 18th and I highly suggest you visit if you are in the city while it is on view. The one thing I really love about photography is you can capture a moment in time and keep it forever. I sometimes wonder with cell phone and digital photography if that will go away. For some reason I think photos taken with film just last longer. I hope I am wrong because I don't want the future folks to miss out on some beautiful photography happening in 2018.  

Information from The Met's website: 

A member of the "international set" in fin-de-siècle Europe, Baron Adolf de Meyer (1868–1946) was also a pioneering art, portrait, and fashion photographer, known for creating images that transformed reality into a beautiful fantasy. The "quicksilver brilliance" that characterized de Meyer's art led fellow photographer Cecil Beaton to dub him the "Debussy of the Camera." Opening December 4 at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Quicksilver Brilliance: Adolf de Meyer Photographs will be the first museum exhibition devoted to the artist in more than 20 years and the first ever at The Met. Some 40 works, drawn entirely from The Met collection, will reveal the impressive breadth of his career.

The exhibition will include dazzling portraits of well-known figures of his time: the American socialite Rita de Acosta Lydig; art patron and designer Count Étienne de Beaumont; aristocrat and society hostess Lady Ottoline Morrell; and celebrated entertainer Josephine Baker, among others. A highlight of the presentation will be an exceptional book—one of only seven known copies—documenting Nijinsky's scandalous 1912 ballet L'Après-Midi d'un Faune. This rare album represents de Meyer's great success in capturing the choreography of dance, a breakthrough in the history of photography. Also on view will be the artist's early snapshots made in Japan, experiments with color processes, and inventive fashion photographs.

Born in Paris and educated in Germany, de Meyer was of obscure aristocratic German-Jewish and Scottish ancestry. He and his wife, Olga Caracciolo, goddaughter of Edward VII, were at the center of London's café society.

After starting in photography as an amateur, de Meyer gained recognition as a leading figure of Pictorialism and a member of the photographic society known as the Linked Ring Brotherhood in London. Alfred Stieglitz exhibited de Meyer's work in his Little Galleries of the Photo-Secession and published his images as photogravures in his influential journal Camera Work. At the outbreak of World War I, de Meyer settled in the United States and applied his distinctive vision to fashion as the first staff photographer at Vogue and Vanity Fair, and later at Harper's Bazaar, helping to define the genre during the interwar period.

I LOVED this tux from the 1930's as it is just so so chic!  

The exhibition was organized by Beth Saunders, Assistant Curator in The Met's Department of Photographs.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Exhibition Dates:
December 4, 2017–March 18, 2018
Exhibition Location:
The Met Fifth Avenue, Floor 2, The Howard Gilman Gallery, Gallery 852

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A Visit to the Guardian Angel Roman Catholic Church

This is another one of those times where you just walk around the city and find something unexpected. There are many gorgeous churchs in the city, and we came across the Guardian Angel Roman Catholic Church while walking around the Chelsea area. Located at 10th Ave and West 21st Street, I was really taken back by the amazing amount of work on this church. So beautiful.  

History 

Early historians of medieval art followed a similar pattern. To them, the great climax was the Gothic style, from the thirteenth century to the fifteenth. For whatever was not-yet-Gothic they adopted the label Romanesque. In doing so, they were thinking mainly of architecture. Pre-Gothic churches, they noted, were round-arched, solid, and heavy, as against the pointed arches and the soaring lightness of Gothic structures. It was rather like the ancient Roman style of building, and the term "Romanesque" was meant to convey just that. In this sense, all of medieval art before 1200 could be called Romanesque insofar as it shows any link with the Mediterranean tradition. 

Architecture

The most conspicuous difference between Romanesque architecture and that of the preceding centuries is the amazing increase in building activity. An eleventh century monk, Raoul Glaber, summed it up well when he triumphantly exclaimed that the world was putting on a "white mantle of churches." These churches were not only more numerous than those of the early Middle Ages, they were also generally larger, more richly articulated, and more "Roman-looking." Their naves now had vaults instead of wooden roofs, and their exteriors, unlike those of early Christian, Byzantine, Carolingian, and Ottonian churches, were decorated with both architectural ornament and sculpture. Geographically, Romanesque monuments of the first importance are distributed over an area that might well have represented the world- the Catholic world

Interesting Facts 

• The Church of the Guardian Angel is reminiscent of the early Romanesque sculpture at the abbey of Moissac. Both churches have a scalloped profile that seems to incorporate a bit of Moorish influence. Both the human and animal forms are treated with the same incredible flexibility. The purpose of this carefully illustrated art work is not only decorative but expressive. They embody dark forces that have been domesticated into guardian figures or banished to a position that holds then fixed for all eternity.
• The portal proper at the church is preceded by a deep porch, with lavishly sculptured sides. It is adorned with events from the early life of Christ. Only the proportions of the bodies and the size of the figures vary with the architectural context. What matters is the vividness of the narrative, rather than consistency of treatment.
• The Church of the Guardian Angel was built in the 1930s by John Van Pelt. 

Note:
the history and facts information were from the wonderful website New York Architecture 

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Throwback Thursday "2012 Philadelphia Flower Show"

The Hawaiian 'Islands of Aloha' theme took over the 2012 Philadelphia Flower Show and this was one of my photos from the show. It is always a good reminder Spring is on it's way when I hear the flower show is on it's way. I was scheduled to attend last year, after having missed a few years, but the major snowstorm we had last March had other plans. I am hoping to cover it for you this year, the theme being "Wonders of Water" which will include a rainforest at the entrance! Started in 1829 by the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, the Show introduces the newest plant varieties, garden and design concepts, and organic and sustainable practices. It is quite a delight to check out in Philadelphia and makes you so happy to see flowers and color once again! 

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Manhattan Vintage Show February 2 and 3rd 2018

MANHATTAN VINTAGE CLOTHING SHOW

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 2ND, 1PM - 8PM
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 3RD,  11AM - 6PM

Manhattan Vintage Clothing Show is New York City's premier vintage clothing shopping event. An extraordinary vintage selection, from 70 top vintage clothing dealers, highlight this two day shopping extravaganza that draws designers, stylists, celebrities and the fashion-smart world wide!

"The Manhattan Vintage Show is a one-stop-shop for anyone looking to score unique vintage finds. For those in the know, Manhattan Vintage acts as more than just a vintage shopping experience, it's a shoppable history lesson, with merchants that also act as historians, able to educate you on each incredible piece."

Some of my photos from the show in October 2017, you always find amazing items at this show! 

 

I loved the colors in this shirt!  

I could go crazy with these vintage bracelets ! I own a few of them and they are just wonderful! 

FEB 02 - 03, 2018
MANHATTAN VINTAGE CLOTHING SHOW & SALE
Friday, Feb 2nd - 1:00 PM to 8:00 PM
Saturday, Feb 3rd - 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM

Metropolitan Pavilion
125 West 18th St.
(Between 6th & 7th Aves) NYC
$15 ONLINE ($20 AT DOOR)

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