| Costume and Scenery Designs |
| the Ballets Russes, was founded by Serge Diaghilev* (1872-1929). Diaghilev, the Russian Ballet’s producer and creative director, rejected conventional ideas of ballet. His great achievement was to integrate design, music and dance. By encouraging the artistic collaboration of painters, choreographers and composers, Diaghilev created a new art-modern ballet |
Pencil and pastel drawing on paper by Maurice Charpentier, 1935, for a Serge Diaghilev production. |
Pulcinella : scene drawing |
Salome: portrait of Tamara Karsavina *
Watercolour on paper sketch by George Barbier, 1914 |
1927 gouache on paper drawing by Alexandra Exter for Le Cirque, a ballet by Elsa Krüger, a dancer and the manager of Berlin’s Russian Theatre. |
Othello: costume designs for swordsmen |
‘The Binder’ [H Haas]
Sheep and goat skin parchment
Bound by P Schrijen, 1983 |
‘Das Unheimliche Buch’
Morocco leather
Bound by Karl Ebert, 1914 |
‘Contes de Perrault’
Beige calf and black morocco leather
Bound by Henri Creuzevault, 1950 |
‘Book of Ruth’
Morocco leather |
‘The Song of Solomon’
Silverfoil and morocco leather |
‘Cowper’s Poetical Works’
Goat skin and red maple wood
Binder unknown, 1874 |
‘Tulips and Tulipomania’
Morocco leather |
‘New Testament’
Silver metal on black leather
Binder unknown, 1710 |
‘The Bible’
Sharkskin and silver metal-ware
Binder unknown, 1775 |
| ‘Book of Hours of Catherine de Medici’ |
Calf leather and brass
Binder unknown, 1440-1460 |
Embroidered silk
Binder unknown, 1775 (France) |
‘Religious Devotional’ [of some sort]
Painted parchment
Bound by Christian Engelmann, 1715 Germany |
| full of curiosity, she hurried across the field
after it, and was just in time to see it pop down a large rabbit-hole under the
hedgeRead more at www.bl.uk |
| “I wish I hadn’t cried so much! said Alice, as she swam about, trying to find her way out, “I shall be punished for it now, I suppose, by being drowned in my own tears! Well! that’ll be a queer thing, to be sure!Read more at www.bl.uk |
“Oh, so Bill’s got to come down the chimney, has he?” said Alice to herself, “why, they seem to put everything upon Bill! I wouldn’t be in Bill’s place for a good deal: the fireplace is a pretty tight one, but I think I can kick a little!” Read more at www.bl.uk |
| her eyes immediately met those of a large blue caterpillar, which was sitting with its arms folded, quietly smoking a long hookah, and taking not the least notice of her or of anything elseRead more at www.bl.uk |
| The Queen’s Croquet Ground |
| The Earth is warming up. That’s a fact. Denialists will deny |
| but the truth is the Earth has warmed on average over a degree Fahrenheit in the past century or so, and the past decade, 2000 – 2009, was the warmest on record |
| Our space agency has a fleet of satellites in orbit which examine the Earth, taking its temperature and measuring the effects of this global rise in heat. They have a website called A Warming World, which does a really good job discussing the reality of global warming, and debunking some of the bigger claims of the denialists |
A video they put online discusses things like how changing solar input might affect the Earth, how much of this energy from the Sun is reflected, and how much is trapped. It’s done simply, elegantly, and with excellent graphics that show just how the Earth is warming up. |
They’ve also put online a devastating series of images depicting what’s happening on our warming world. Here’s one of the Bering Glacier, taken by Landsat 7 in 2002: |
| Enrolls
at the Royal School of Art and Design. Paints his first self portrait.
Sculptor Julius Middelthun teacher of Munch.Read more at romanjaster.com |
| Rents
a studio in Paris. Summer in Norway. Munch’s health deteriorates
through excessive drinking. Travels to Copenhagen, Nice, Hamburg,
Frankfurt, Basle and Geneva.Read more at romanjaster.com |
| Frieze of Life — A Poem about Life, Love and Death |
The magnificent Hours of Catherine of Cleves forms the centrepiece of the Morgan Library’s current exhibition (until May 2): Demons and Devotion: The Hours of Catherine of Cleves.
If you’re a New York local or visiting in the next couple of months, don’t miss this exhibition! The Hours of Catherine of Cleves is the greatest Dutch illuminated
manuscript in the world. Its 157 miniatures are by the gifted Master of Catherine of Cleves
(active ca. 1435–60), who is named after this book. The Master
of Catherine of Cleves is considered the finest and most original
illuminator of the medieval northern Netherlands, and this
manuscript is his masterpiece. Read more at www.themorgan.org |
Ten Thousand Martyrs and St. Acacius * |
Souls Tormented in Purgatory - “..the place to which the dying man hopes to go. There his soul, like those depicted, will be cleansed of sin in expiating, if painful, fire.” |
| The manuscript Catherine commissioned is a prayer book
containing an unusually rich series of devotions illustrated with
especially elaborate suites of miniaturesRead more at www.themorgan.org |
| filled with amazing detail. Narrative was also one of the great
talents of the Master of Catherine of Cleves—he could tell a
good story. Finally, Catherine’s codex is famous for the artist’s
innovative borders, no two of which are alikeRead more at www.themorgan.org |
NASA’s fledgling Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) opened its eyes a few weeks ago, and astronomers have just released the first of a torrent of spectacular images from it NASA’s fledgling Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) opened its eyes a few weeks ago, and astronomers have just released the first of a torrent of spectacular images from it. |
I have to start with this one, because it’s just so pretty! Behold Comet C/2007 Q3, aka Siding Spring: |
Since its launch last December, WISE has been surveying the sky, taking data continuously as it spins on its axis and orbits the Earth. A few images have been released before, but these new ones are fully processed, scientifically-calibrated, and gorgeous. |
Recognize that galaxy? I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t, but it’s Andromeda! That’s the nearest large spiral to our Milky Way. It’s roughly 2.9 million light years away (estimates vary) and can be seen by the naked eye from a dark site. This stunning photo really accentuates how amazing WISE is: the field of view is 5 degrees across, the width of ten full Moons. The Hubble camera I used to work with would barely cover a pixel in this image! |
Astonishing new image of the moon Mimas from Cassini. Of all the moons in the solar system, Mimas is one of the most recognizable. And new pictures from Cassini show us again just why. |
On Saturday, February 13, the Saturn probe dipped low over Mimas, sliding past the small moon at a distance of just 15,000 kilometers (9000 miles). For comparison, the Earth is about 13,000 km (8000 miles) across, so Cassini really threaded the needle with this pass. |
On its way out from the encounter, when it was about 70,000 km (44,000 miles) from the moon, it snapped this astonishing shot: |
Yegads. Note that this image is raw and unprocessed — it’s basically straight off the camera (and converted to JPG). But holy cow, there’s a lot to see. The giant crater Herschel is pretty obvious. It’s about 130 km (80 miles) across (compare that to Mimas itself, which is 400 km in diameter!), with a central peak characteristic of large impact basins. I think that’s where the main weapon is located. Read more at blogs.discovermagazine.com |
| now more than ever it’s imperative that the climate debate focuses on science so the more readily available the science, the better |
| You browse arguments via the Top 10 most used arguments as well as 3 main categories (”It’s not happening”, “It’s not us”, “It’s not bad”) |
When you select one of the 3 main categories, a list of sub-categories pop up. You can then select any category to see the skeptic argument, a summary of what the science says and the full answer including graphs plus links to papers or other sources. |
Watch video clips from the BBC of your favourite animals. Watch the most amazing animals in the world |
|
A Caucus Race and a Long Tale
Waved albatross
Vogelkop bowerbird
Galapagos giant tortoise
Grey seal
Dall sheep
Great crested newt
Monogamous
Polygynous
