leonard lauder donates cubist collection

woman in an armchair (eva) by pablo picasso, 1913

bouteille de rhum (bottle of rum) by georges braque, spring 1914

the typographer by fernand leger, 1918

leonard lauder

heir to estee lauder's cosmetics fortune, philanthropist leonard lauder has pledged his renowned collection of cubist works to the metropolitan museum of art. the collection, that museum director thomas campbell said is "truly transformational", includes 78 pieces from pablo picasso, georges braque, juan gris & fernand leger & is valued at over $1 billion. the collection is expected to be presented in the fall of 2014.

the maybe

tilda swinton will be doing unannounced, random performance art pieces sleeping a glass box at MoMA. today is the first performance titled "the maybe" & each performance lasts the whole day the museum is open. the only things in the box are a jug of water, a matress & pillows. the maybe will be unannounced & random & will last for a full day when it happens.

"the maybe" was first performed in london in 1995 at the serpentine gallery & again in the museo barracco in rome.

the museum's official comments on the piece are that it is "an integral part of the maybe's incarnation at MoMa is that there is no published schedule for its appearance, no artist's statement released, no museum statement beyond this brief context, no public profile or image issued. those who find it chance upon it for themselves, live and in real - shared - time: now we see it, now we don't."

ruhr museum

ruhr museum by architectural firm HG merz. essen, germany.
the museum is located in the old coal washing plant of zeche zollverein.

museum of ocean and surf

museum of ocean and surf by steven holl architects. biarritz, france.

alexander mcqueen bird's nest headdress, f/w 2006

a collaborative labor of love between late designer lee alexander mcqueen, milliner philip treacy and jeweler shaun leane, the bird's nest headdress profiled in today's film is among the pieces appearing in the costume institute of new york's mcqueen retrospective at the metropolitan museum of art. read more at nowness.com

madame grés, couture at work

madame grés, couture at work opens today at the musée bourdelle. the show runs until july 24 & is the first of a series of off-site exhibitions planned by the museum. the exhibit gathers around 50 creations, mainly from musée galliera's vast private collection that span the 55 year career of germaine krebs - a.k.a. madame grés. madame grés died in obscurity in 1993 in a retirement home near toulon, france, a few days before her 90th birthday. her death was only made public a year after the event.

savage beauty

a preview was held by samantha cameron & anna wintour at the ritz in london this morning for the upcoming metropolitan museum's costume institute's exhibit for alexander mcqueen's "savage beauty".
the show opens may 4, 2011 and runs until july 31, 2011.  just seeing these and thinking that he is no longer with us makes me sad. such a genius.

this week's obsession

ettore guatelli founded the museum of rural culture in ozzano tara in the province of parma, italy named after him, museo ettore guatelli. after the war he began to collect "old things" such as tools, implements, furniture & clothing that were no longer fashionable because of mechanization and were threatened with destruction. he continued to collect and display these items until his death in 2000.  anyone who knows me, knows i have a bit of ettore in me - i am definitely a collector and organizer! i'm dying to visit here!  hopefully one day.