Tag: photography

LVolez – The art of traveling light

The Humble Fabulist3 Comments

In the early twentieth century, Louis Vuitton closely followed innovators who, from the airship to the airplane, blazed new trails in the air. To equip aviators and then passengers, the Aéro trunk could hold ”2 pieces of clothing, 1 overcoat, 10 shirts, 3 nightgowns, 3 pairs of underwear, 3 waistcoats, 6 pairs of socks, 12 handkerchiefs, 1 pair of shoes, 18 detachable collars, gloves, ties and hats” all weighing less than 57 pounds. Its dimensions were identical to the Aviette, a more feminine version. 

The dimensions of the Aéro trunk were:
H12.99in x W32.28in x D18.11in
H33 cm x W82 cm x D46 cm

All things considering, an early twentieth century Aéro trunk would still be every airline’s darling, even in today’s ever restrictive rules and shrinking space.

Louis Vuitton by Marc Jacobs long dress and cropped jacket with long skirt, S/S 2013
Marceau travel bag in cotton canvas, attributed to Dora Maar, c. 1950
Champs-Élysées travel bag in cotton canvas, once belonging to Madame Henry-Louis Vuitton, ca. 1950

Louis Vuitton by Sofia Coppola, SC Bag in monogram canvas, 2009

Boris Lipnitzki
Outfits by Paul Caret, next to a Nieuport airplane equipped with a Delage motor, Le Bourget (Seine-Saint-Denis), 1929

Model of the Blériot XI airplane, 20th century

Heures d’absence perfume, 1927

Volez
Voguez
Voyager

at the American Stock Exchange Building, through January 7th, 2018.

Admission is free

November 12th, 2017

LVoyagez – A Roadtrip

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Organized between 1924 and 1925 by André Citroën, the Croisière Noire was primarily an ambitions anthropological and technological mission. Traveling through Algeria, Mali and the Congo aboard vehicles (such as the Gold Scarab and Silver Crescent half-track) developed especially for this excursion, the crossing was marked by physical and technical achievements, as well as scientific, ethnographic and geographic accomplishments. The House of Louis Vuitton accompanied the expedition at the request of Mr. Citroën. Special orders [for photos, see first post of this series] were made so as to offer trunks that were suited to climate, modes of transport and the practicalities of daily life for the explorers (tea sets, toiletry kits, etc.). The second expedition organized by André Citroën, the Croisière Jaune, took place a few weeks before the official opening of the Colonial Exposition of 1931, with the objective of crossing the legendary Silk Road through Asia. 

Chauffeur’s kit in vuittonite canvas, 1910

Dornac, 100 à l’heure travelling coat in Scottish wool twill, ca. 1923

Ladies’ flat hand bags in Morocco leather, ca. 1910

Driving googles, ca. 1900

Louis Vuitton by Marc Jacobs coated cotton coat, F/W 1998-99

Special car trunk for motobloc vehicles in vuittonite canvas, ca. 1908

Volez
Voguez
Voyager

at the American Stock Exchange Building, through January 7th, 2018.

Admission is free

November 12th, 2017

Louis Vuitton – In the beginning

The Humble Fabulist8 Comments

Yan Pei-Ming
Louis Vuitton as a young man, 2015

In 1906, a reference catalogue precisely inventoried items and luggage from Louis Vuitton. The trunks that would make the House a success were already there. 

Louis, Georges and Gaston-Louis Vuitton posing with craftsmen in the courtyard of the Asnières-sur-Seine workshops, ca. 1888

Collage workshop at Asnières-sur-Seine, ca. 1903

Ideale trunk in natural cowhide, ca. 1903 with accessories from the 1900s

Paris suitcase in natural cowhide leather, 1914

Restrictive trunk in monogram canvas, once belonging to Gaston-Louis Vuitton, ca. 1925

Shoe trunk for thirty pairs of shoes in monogram canvas, once belonging to Yvonne Printemps, 1926

Volez
Voguez
Voyager

at the American Stock Exchange Building, through January 7th, 2018.

Admission is free

November 12th, 2017

Next stop, Louis Vuitton

The Humble Fabulist1 Comment

After Paris, Tokyo and Seoul, it had to make a stop in New York City.

Curated by Olivier Saillard and designed by artistic director and set designer Robert Carsen, the exhibition ”retraces the adventure of the House of Louis Vuitton from 1854 to the present” in ten chapters (previously they were nine but for New York a tenth one has been added, entirely devoted to America and the City).

So, let’s pack our bags and Fly, Sail, Travel for a few days, together with LV. Adventure and grand style guaranteed. What say you? We’ll start with a cruise…

Bed trunk in damier canvas once belonging to Gaston-Louis Vuitton, 1892
Speed bag in monogram miroir vinyl, F/W ’06-’07
Sylvie Fleury Vuitton bag, 2001
Azzedine Alaïa, Panthère Alma bag, 1996
Alzer suitcase in nomade natural leather, created for Wes Anderson’s film ”The Darjeeling Limited”, 2006

Back to front:
Steamer trunk in zinc once belonging to the Count de Pimodan, 1895
Special trunk in zinc, 1899
Suitcase in coated canvas, custom-made for the Yellow Journey, 1930
Louis Vuitton by Nicolas Ghesquière, Boîte Promenade Croisière in canvas, F/W ’15-’16
Jean Luce for the Manufacture de Sèvres china tea set bearing the Croissant d’Argent Imprint, emblem of Louis Audoin-Dubreuil, ca. 1920-1930
It sits on a Yellow Journey bed trunk in duralumin, 1930

Special car trunk in coated canvas, custom-made for the Black Journey, 1924
Special photographer’s trunk in vuittonite canvas once belonging to Albert Kahn, 1929
Special trunk in vuittonite canvas, 1906

Steamer  bag in cotton canvas once belonging to Gaston-Louis Vuitton, ca. 1901
Louis Vuitton by Nicolas Ghesquière City Steamer bag in leather, Cruise 2016
Steamer trunk in vuittonite canvas once belonging to Lili Damita, 1928
Lucien Lelong evening gown, 1937

Tennis shorts once-piece, ca. 1930
Beach shorts once-piece, ca. 1930
Old England coat with belt, ca. 1930
Summer dress with belt, ca. 1930-32
Steamer bag in leather, 1938

Ensemble in crêpe de chine with a black and ivory pattern, ca. 1935
Steamer bags in cotton canvas, 1901
Callot Soeurs evening gown in rust-coloured silk velvet, ca. 1935

Volez
Voguez
Voyager

at the American Stock Exchange Building, through January 7th, 2018.

Admission is free

November 12th, 2017

A Madman Distilling his Brains

The Humble Fabulist6 Comments

The Robert Lehman Wing was built not only to showcase the vast Lehman Collection – donated to the museum by the family – but parts of it were made to look like rooms recreating the Lehman family residence. 

El Greco (Domenikos Theotokopoulos)
Saint Jerome as Scholar, ca. 1610
Oil on canvas

Goya (Francisco de Goya y Lucientes) 
Condesa de Altamira and Her Daughter, María Agustina – 1787–88
Oil on canvas

Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres  
Joséphine-Éléonore-Marie-Pauline de Galard de Brassac de Béarn (1825–1860), Princesse de Broglie
Oil on canvas

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, the neo-classical French artist par excellence, painted this masterpiece toward the end of his life when his reputation as a portraitist to prominent citizens and Orléanist aristocrats had been long established. Pauline de Broglie sat for the artist’s final commission. Ingres captures the shy reserve of his subject while illuminating through seamless brushwork the material quality of her many fine attributes: her rich blue satin and lace ball gown, the gold embroidered shawl, and silk damask chair, together with finely tooled jewels of pearl, enamel, and gold. The portrait was commissioned by the sitter’s husband, Albert de Broglie, a few years after their ill-fated marriage. Pauline was stricken with tuberculosis soon after completion of the exquisite portrait, leaving five sons and a grieving husband. Through Albert’s lifetime, it was draped in fabric on the walls of the family residence. The portrait remained in the de Broglie family until shortly before Robert Lehman acquired it.

The collection also comprises some extravagant, utterly amusing objects:Inkstand with Apollo and the Muses
Workshop of the Patanazzi family (Italian, active ca. 1580–1620)
Probably after Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio or Santi) (Italian, Urbino 1483–1520 Rome)
Date: 1584
Medium: Maiolica (tin-glazed earthenware)

This extravagant desk set celebrates the art of poetry while providing a writer with storage for the tools of his craft. The exterior decorations evoke ancient Roman art and honor the divine sources of creativity. Gods and muses perch beside famous poets atop an elaborate confection of drawers and removable containers, including inkwells and a sand-shaker (for drying fresh text). Inside, the compartments are decorated with images denoting their contents, such as scissors and quills.

Among which my personal favourite:
Inkstand with A Madman Distilling His Brains, ca. 1600
Maiolica (tin-glazed earthenware)

In this whimsical maiolica sculpture, a well-dressed man leans forward in his seat with his head in a covered pot set above a fiery hearth. The vessel beside the hearth almost certainly held ink. The man’s actions are explained by an inscription on the chair: “I distill my brain and am totally happy.” Thus the task of the writer is equated with distillation—the process through which a liquid is purified by heating and cooling, extracting its essence.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art
March 19th, 2017