JOSEPHINE BAKER

Dear Sophie -

JOSEPHINE BAKER took Paris by storm with her confident, charismatic sexuality. She was a dancer, actress, singer, famous for her talent and beauty. She was celebrated for her role as an activist in the Resistance and later on behalf of civil rights.  

 Josephine Baker's Banana Dance - YouTube

Plus she adopted 12 children!

She was born in the United States, but made France her lifelong home.

What a phenomena!

SYLVIA BEACH

Dear Sophie -

In 1919 SYLVIA BEACH opened her legendary independent bookstore SHAKESPEARE AND COMPANY on the left bank in Paris. She championed all of the great writers thoughout the 1920's and 30's including ERNEST HEMMINGWAY, F. SCOTT FITZGERALD, GERTRUDE STEIN and published JAMES JOYCE'S "ULYSSES." She was a central figure to cultural life during this dynamic time. 

The original bookstore was closed by the Germans during the occupation and never re-opened. There is another bookstore by the same name as an homage to Sylvia.

Some literature capturing this period includes Beaches own memoir "Shakespeare and Comapny" and Hemingways "A Moveable Feast."

With love,

Mom

MAURICE SENDAK

Last week the world lost a giant. 

Chicken Soup - lyrics - CAROLE KING - YouTube

MAURICE SENDAK was a quiet Jewish intellectual who staged wild rumpuses throughout his 83 years.  In 1963 he wrote and illustrated his masterpiece, "Where The Wild Things Are", the tale of a boy named Max, his liberating imaginary voyage and the comfort of a hot meal upon his return. 

 Thank you Maurice.

MAIRA KALMAN

Dear Sophie -

MAIRA KALMAN creates celebratory and astute observations of our culture through an enchanted lense.  Her subjects include dogs, objects, interiors, artists, flowers, food and more...

You grew up with "Max in Love" and you were surely inspired:

"I can't believe it. Me, Max Stravinsky in Paris. Picasso. Pate. The opera. Ballet. The creme de la creme. The city that gleams. That romantic, extravagantic city of dreams. Oh pluperfect Paris, just give me a chance and I'll toast your beauty, oh Paris of France." 

Her illustrations for the New Yorker earned a rightful place among the pantheon of delights. 

She was married to TIBOR KALMAN who ran a wonderful design company called M&CO. (clock in kitchen) did the advertising for Benetton and published their inclusive journal "Colors". Her farewell to him in the NY Times was as beautiful as I imagine their marriage and collaboration. 

Now she is hanging with kindred spirit Daniel Handler.  

What a great gal. 

With love,

Mom

KEITH HARING

Dear Sophie -

While BASQUIAT was tagging SAMO around the city, KEITH HARING was making delightful chalk drawings on black billboards in the subway on unsold advertising space. 

They were so simple and iconic, like uncovering a universal language that we all understood. I saw people tear them off and take them home, but I felt that they belonged to all of us. 

In 1986 Haring opened the POP SHOP and produced wares which continues today.  Was he selling out or making his work widely accessible?  Keith Haring

Tragically he was caught in the ravaging snare of the AIDS epidemic which overwhelmed New York in the 1980's and we lost our treasured boy.  

With love,

Mom

CLAES OLDENBERG

Dear Sophie -

The works of pop artist CLAES OLDENBERG were really refreshing when he constructed these whimsical oversized paper mache and plastic renditions of everyday objects.  

Collaborating with his 3rd wife Coosje van Bruggen, the work evolved to these polished whimsical monuments.

Oldenberg's binoculars defined the entrance to this Frank Gehry building designed and constructed for Jay Chiat.

(Albert asked: "Why are these binoculars facing down when the ocean is two blocks away?")

With love,

Mom

JAMES ROSENQUIST

"Popular culture isn't a freeze-frame; it is images zapping by in rapid-fire succession, which is why collage is such an effective way of representing contemporary life," he writes. "The blur between images creates a kind of motion in the mind. If, for example you take a walk through midtown Manhattan, you might in quick succession see a street vendor, the back of a girl's legs, [and] a taxi as it comes close to hitting you. You see parts of things and you rationalize them into a scenario." 

Dear Sophie -

The collaged images of JAMES ROSENQUIST are almost cinematic as the viewer tries to construct meaning from the sum of its contrasting parts.  

His use of scale and chromatic palette were informed by his experience as an advertising billboard painter. 

With love,

Mom

ANDY WARHOL

Dear Sophie -

ANDY WARHOL turned the art world on its ear, merging the notions of multiples, mass production, celebrity, film, media, brashly and brilliantly questioning everything about art meaning and production. 

From how we make it, how we view it and how we consume it.

He challenged everything that had been sacred until then, particularly and most fundamentally the myth of the genius and singular touch of an artist.  He activated the idea of what is art and created "The Factory" which was a loft space that hosted his inner circle.

He was an early champion of BASQUIAT and managed the VELVET UNDERGROUND, featuring LOU REED and JOHN CALE.

His museum and archive is in his hometown of Pittsburgh and surely worth a long visit.

With love,

Mom

GIACOMETTI

Dear Sophie -

ALBERTO GIACOMETTI was a sculpture and painter who created these stunning elongated forms.

He was very close with his brother DIEGO GIACOMETTI who created beautiful brass furniture and was often the subject of Albert's works. 

He was Swiss born, but lived in Paris for a good amount of time and was part of the Surrealist movement. ALBERT FREY was an admirer of his line and delicacy. 

With love,

Mom