Art of Native America: The Charles and Valerie Diker Collection · The Met Museum

Inspired by my studies, I chose the cover of Art of Native America: The Charles and Valerie Diker Collection (2018) for this first blog entry in weeks. On this term, I took a course called 'Museums and Society: The Circus of Death?' in which we read about indigenous peoples, about museum work in the Native American communities of Hopi and Zuni, to name a few. Apart from reading textbooks and academic articles, I viewed conservation material on various museum websites and through my search I discovered this stunning publication by The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Charles and Valerie Diker Collection includes objects from more than fifty cultures across North America, spanning the era from before the European settlers to the early 20th century. The book provides insights into the art, culture, and daily life of indigenous communities.

Jacket illustration: a tunic and leggings detail by a Tlingit artist.

Art of Native America: The Charles and Valerie Diker Collection
By Gaylord Torrence with Ned Blackhawk and Sylvia Yount
Hardback, 232 pages, illustrated
ISBN: 9781588396624
Metropolitan Museum of Art

Man's coat, ca. 1820, Innu (Naskapi), Native American/The Met

In December when I shared my first book cover entry I honestly thought I could use this category to keep my blog alive during my studies. I have come to realise it's impossible to do so when dealing with endless assignment deadlines on top of getting through the reading material for each lecture. There are periods when it feels as if one hardly comes up for air.

It has been a strange term because of the coronavirus pandemic. The term is almost over and here in Austria, they have started to loosen the lockdown. Unfortunately, museums are still closed so my hopes of working as an intern this summer are gone. But the good news is that no one close to me has been infected by COVID-19 and I hope the same goes for my blog readers. Stay safe!

bottom image by me, appeared on Instagram 14/01/2020 | Tailored garment via The Met

Legacy of the Masters: Painting and Calligraphy from the Islamic World · Will Kwiatkowski

I am starting the new year on the blog with a book cover that made my design heart beat a little faster. Legacy of the Masters: Painting and Calligraphy from the Islamic World by Will Kwiatkowski was published last October by Paul Holberton Publishing. It contains 75 colour illustrations of paintings, drawings and calligraphy from the Safavid, Uzbek, Ottoman and Mughal Empires from the 16th to early 19th century. This book would grace the coffee table of anyone interested in decorative art and Islamic culture.

Legacy of the Masters: Painting and Calligraphy from the Islamic World
By Will Kwiatkowski
Hardback, 192 pages, illustrated
ISBN: 9781911300731
Paul Holberton Publishing

№ 20 reading list | Lee Krasner exhibition

I am sitting on the patio, under an awning, taking in the spring, the scent of purple and white lilacs from a corner of the garden. One by one, book podcasts are playing on the tablet. Let's take a look at the reading list. Last year a new translation, by poet Michael Hofmann, of the classic Berlin Alexanderplatz by Alfred Döblin was published by New York Review Books. I like their book design and have added many of their titles to my wish list. I never read the old translation and therefore, have no comparison. It's set in the underworld of Berlin, the Weimer Republic in the 1920s, and the book starts when Franz Biberkopf - shall we say the colourful? - is released from prison, determined to turn his life around. The other book I bought for the list is The Years by Annie Ernaux, which I mentioned in my last entry. The others are from the library.

№ 20 reading list:
1  The Years  by Annie Ernaux
2  Berlin Alexanderplatz  by Alfred Döblin
3  The Wife  by Meg Wolitzer
4  The Mexican Night  by Lawrence Ferlinghetti
5  The Garden Party  by Katherine Mansfield
6  It All Adds Up  by Saul Bellow
7  The Diary of Anaïs Nin 1931-1934 

Translated by: 1) The Years: Alison L. Strayer; 2) Berlin Alexanderplatz: Michael Hofmann

It has been years since I read a volume of Anaïs Nin's diaries and it felt soothing somehow to pick up the one on the list, which starts in 1931. For a long time, I have been meaning to read stories by Katherine Mansfield, having been introduced to her work through Virginia Woolf's diaries and letters. The short story collection The Garden Party starts well and the writing style already appeals to me. Mansfield was only 34 when she died and one can only imagine what she could have accomplished as a writer.

Lee Krasner, Desert Moon, 1955

This summer I wouldn't mind taking a cultural trip to London, to see the exhibition Lee Krasner: Living Colour in the art gallery of the Barbican Centre, which opens on 30 May. Lee Krasner (1908–1984) was an American artist, born in Brooklyn; a pioneer of abstract expressionism. The catalogue says that her 'energetic work reflects the spirit of possibility in post-war New York' and the exhibition 'tells the story of a formidable artist, whose importance has too often been eclipsed by her marriage to Jackson Pollock.'

This is the first major presentation of Lee Krasner's art in Europe for more than 50 years, organised by the Barbican Centre, London in collaboration with these museums: Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, Zentrum Paul Klee in Bern and Guggenheim Bilbao. Coinciding with the exhibition is the Thames & Hudson publication of Lee Krasner: Living Colour by Eleanor Nairne.

In October, here in Germany, we can enjoy the art of Lee Krasner when the exhibition opens in the museum Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt.

Artist Lee Krasner in her studio

Lee Krasner, Palingenesis, 1971

top image by me | Lee Krasner paintings via Barbican Centre: 1) LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) 2) Kasmin Gallery, NY | Krasner in her studio: Kasmin Gallery via Artsy. © The Pollock-Krasner Foundation.

New books | Happy New Year

On this last day of the year I'm sitting at the computer with a patterned turban on my head, a glass of Christmas beer, and tortilla chips in a bowl; the steak is slow-roasting in the oven, my gang is watching The Hobbit, and I have nothing better to do than blogging about new books. I wanted to share this entry earlier in December but I never found the time to finish it. At Christmas it kept popping up in my mind and since most of these works, fiction and coffee tables books, were published in 2017, I thought it best to share the list before the new year. To save time I skip commenting on each book because all the links, apart from one, lead to the website of Book Depository, where you will find a short intro. I would like to read all the books that appear on the list above the thumbnails, so chances are high that you will one day find them on a reading list on the blog. I wish you a peaceful New Year.

New books:
· Spy of the First Person  by Sam Shepard (Knopf). The final work before his death in July this year.
· Debriefing: Collected Stories  by Susan Sontag (FSG). Edited by Benjamin Taylor.
· Sing, Unburied, Sing  by Jesmyn Ward (Bloomsbury). Winner of The National Book Award 2017.
· The Origin of Others  by Toni Morrison (Harvard UP).
· In Search of Ancient North Africa: A History in Six Lives  by Barnaby Rogerson (Haus Publishing).
· The Rub of Time  by Martin Amis (Random House).
· Philip Roth: Why Write? Collected Nonfiction 1960-2013  by Philip Roth (Library of America).

· Persian Art: Collecting the Arts of Iran for the V&A  by Moya Carey (V&A).
· Modern Art in Detail: 75 Masterpieces  by Susie Hodge (Thames & Hudson).
· Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Decisive Moment  by Henri Cartier-Bresson (Steidl). Originally published in 1952, embellished with a collage cover by Henri Matisse.
The Atlas of Beauty: Women of the World in 500 Portraits  by Mihaela Noroc (Penguin).
· Morris  by Charlotte and Peter Fiell (Taschen). Richly illustrated book about the life and work of the designer William Morris (1834-1896).
· Map Cities: Histoires de cartes  by Francisca Mattéoli (Chêne). Currently available in French only but here is hoping for an English translation. I have already featured Map Stories by Mattéoli on the blog.
· Haute Bohemians  by Miguel Flores-Vianna (Vendome Press).

From Haute Bohemians by Miguel Flores-Vianna, pp. 80-81, Vendome Press

Dora Carrington and Lytton Strachey

This setting is starting to look familiar; me, sitting on a cushion on the floor surrounded with books (that's Vassily Kandisky's Capricious Forms, 1937, on the page) and magazines, sometimes with a film or a drama series in the player. Only the cup of coffee is missing. On Netflix they have added The Honourable Woman, a gripping BBC mini series that I enjoyed watching again. The cast is great but for me Stephen Rea stands out. You will also find there a favourite of mine, the First World War drama Testament of Youth (2014), starring Alicia Vikander, based on Vera Brittain's memoir with the same name. Its set design is gorgeous; the costumes too. One of my own DVDs that I have been watching is Carrington (1995), about the interesting relationship between artist Dora Carrington (1893-1932) and writer Lytton Strachey (1880-1932).

Carrington and Strachey, played by Emma Thompson and Jonathan Pryce, belonged to the Bloomsbury group. Strachey was gay but he and Carrington had a special relationship and set up a home together. (If you visit the National Portrait Gallery in London you can view Carrington's portrait of Strachey.) Their story is certainly a love story, but of a different kind, with a tragic ending. Carrington took her own life following Strachey's death from cancer. Thompson is wonderful in her role but Strachey's wittiness helps Pryce steal the show. Penelope Wilton (Isobel Crawley in Downton Abbey) as Lady Ottoline Morrell is also a scene-stealer. She is simply fabulous. In everything she does.

I am constantly adding books to my reading list and Strachey is on it. I want to read Lytton Strachey: The New Biography by Michael Holroyd and also The Letters of Lytton Strachey, edited by Paul Levy. I just haven't decided which one to read first. Have you read them?

Charleston: A Bloomsbury House & Garden

This summer my collection of coffee table books grew larger when on my birthday I got a copy of Charleston: A Bloomsbury House and Garden by Quentin Bell and his daughter Virginia Nicholson. Quentin was the son of artist Vanessa Bell (author Virginia Woolf's sister) and her husband Clive. The book tells the story of the Charleston House in Sussex, which Vanessa took on rent during World War I - by then her marriage to Clive was in name only. Her sons lived with her, as did artist Duncan Grant and his friend David Garnett, who were lovers. Actually, many years later David married her and Duncan's daughter, Angelica, who was born in the house. That is not the subject of this blog post but let's just say that relationships often got a little complicated, or shall we say interesting, within the Bloomsbury group, as the circle of friends was called (see also my recent post on BBC's Life in Squares). The book about Charleston is enjoyable and the decorative details are a constant source of inspiration. This is a bohemian style with a wonderfully personal and artistic twist.

Vanessa Bell's bedroom, p. 58

The way the book is set up each room gets a chapter that tells its story, how it was used in the beginning and later decorated. Quentin was 85 years old when he started writing the book. He had finished the first draft when his health deteriorated. When he was unable to write his daughter, Virginia, who also knew the house well, sat with him and listened to his stories of the house and recorded them on tape. He died in 1996 and she finished the book. The chapters are divided into sections marked with their initials, so the reader always knows who's telling the story. Alen MacWeeney photographed each room for the book and every photo has a caption explaining the details. There are also old black and white photos of the inhabitants and their friends, but the house was a popular holiday home for the Bloomsbury circle.

Vanessa's bedroom, seen above, used to be the larder but in 1939 it was converted and a tiny window was replaced with a French window that opens onto the garden. I have never visited Charleston but this corner has become my favourite. Her beautiful desk is a 19th-century French fall-front secretaire. She designed the curtain fabric for the Omega Workshops in 1913. The curtains in the photo are a reproduction of the original fabric by Laura Ashley in 1986.

Duncan's sitting room in the studio, p. 67

Vanessa later negotiated a long lease on Charleston, which meant that she and Duncan were able to construct a proper studio. It was ready in 1925 with plenty of space to paint and there was room for a sitter or model. Roger Fry, a member of the Bloomsbury group and the founder of the Omega Workshops, helped with the construction. Part of the space became Duncan's sitting room. Duncan decorated the screen behind the chair and the panels around the fireplace in the 1930s. Later, in 1939, Vanessa turned a room on the second floor into a studio of her own.

The window in Duncan's bedroom, p. 109

Quentin writes that he has slept in all the rooms in Charleston but Duncan's bedroom remains his favourite room, having 'the most complete decorative scheme of any in the house' (p. 108). Vanessa painted the decorations in the window embrasure and she also designed the cover of the antique French window seat.

In Clive Bell's study, p. 47

The above photo shows Clive Bell's study, which used to be a living room. Clive had been a frequent visitor at Charleston but in 1939 he moved in. Vanessa painted the window embrasure in 1916-17. Duncan decorated the tiles set into the tabletop in the 1920s or 1930s.

Until I am able to visit the Charleston House (see their website for opening hours) I will enjoy its rooms and decorative objects in my book. My only regret is not having the hardcover edition because I know that this book will become more precious than others on my coffee table.

A constant source of inspiration, indeed.

Zarafshan linen fabric in rust/slate by Lewis & Wood

A final note: All the textile samples I used in the styling are from Lewis & Wood. The fabric, inspired by the Eastern Suzani tradition, is Zarafshan, made from 100% linen. It is available in various colours, three shown here: In the first two images Indigo/Cranberry, the third Turquoise/Lime, and in the last two Rust/Slate. More on Lewis & Wood later.

New! Lunch & Latte

Hello everyone and Happy New Year! How have you been? I would have loved to start this first post of 2015 on a positive note but as a lover of Paris I just had to start by saying that my thoughts have been with its people. In December we had the Sydney siege and then this tragedy in Paris last week. Like John Lennon, I'm a dreamer and the Paris peace rally gave me hope. As I write this, Lennon's 'Imagine' is playing in the background:

Nothing to kill or die for, And no religion too,
Imagine all the people, Living life in peace…

~ · ~

In December I told you I was changing the blog and now it's time to welcome you to my "new" one, Lunch & Latte [update: in 2021 the name changed to Books & Latte]. Yes, I changed the name but saw no need for drastic layout changes. Before turning back to blogging I wanted to wait for my husband to finish building a farm table for me, to set the right mood from the start. I have been dreaming about this kind of table in the kitchen for some time and as it's custom-made it fits perfectly. It's rustic and has plenty of space for my laptop, notebooks and cookbooks - I'm grateful for having a man with carpentry skills. I will be using it to shoot still life and food photos, which leads me to the main change of the blog: from now on I will only post my own images, which means that I'm letting go of all the blog series. Posts will also be less frequent.

Edgar Degas, The Rehearsal, 1874, oil on canvas, p. 171 in
the book Masterworks by Iian Zaczek

Initially, my idea was to use only Pinterest for inspiring images from other sources, but I like scrolling down a page with larger images, and I knew part of me would miss the old way of blogging, so I recently launched a Tumblr page for Lunch & Latte. There you will find images I normally would have shared on the blog, but without a blog text; only a short description and photo credit.

I thought to myself that many of my loyal readers perhaps don't use Pinterest, and maybe some of you, like me, would miss scrolling down a page with larger images of beautifully designed and styled interiors and such things. Hopefully my Tumblr page will be a compensation for those who visited my blog for exactly that reason. I have already posted quite a batch of photos there, so it wouldn't feel empty when I shared it (see the archive page). How often and when I post images on Tumblr will just depend on my mood, it's just something to enjoy with my latte.

So, what will I be featuring on the blog? This "first post" is intended to set the mood and show you the table. Some blog posts will be about sharing what I'm up to in the kitchen, the things or the food on my table. Some days I might share something inspiring from the books I'm reading (hint: interiors, styling, art) or the magazines I'm leafing through (I'm about to subscribe to The World of Interiors, mainly for the stunning textiles). On other days I might share with you what I'm cooking or baking, the recipe I'm creating at that moment and what inspired it (a novel I read inspired one of the latest ones). To make things easier, I will no longer be updating the food blog (I only updated it twice last year!), I will just post the recipe here when I share one.

I have enrolled in an online architecture course that starts soon and maybe I will talk something about it (no, I'm not getting a degree, someone else is destined to become the future's Le Corbusier or Frank Lloyd Wright). When spring arrives I will be strolling or bicycling with my camera, capturing the gorgeous cherry trees and magnolias in bloom. This will be my first spring in South Yorkshire! Ahem, perhaps the only one given how frequently we seem to relocate! (Honey, let's just hang on to those boxes, shall we?). I'm probably forgetting something … oh yes, the Icelandic cookbook I edited for my friend will be published this year! In fact, I'm currently reading the final draft. We have already seen samples of the layout and the book will be beautiful. I cannot wait to hold it in my hands and share it with you.

In a way I don't really have any nailed down plans for the blog, I just want to embrace this new way of blogging and see where it takes me. Finally, thank you for your visits through the years. May the year 2015 bring you the blessing to spot and the courage to seize the opportunities that come your way! And remember, life is too short for anything but quality coffee!

PS. If some links don't work on the blog, just be patient, some things need to be updated. And for the Icelanders out there, I not only changed the name of the Icelandic blog version to Lestur & Latte, I also changed the link.