When Sergei Diaghilev founded the Ballets Russes in Paris in 1909, he knew he wanted to dazzle and amaze audiences with something entirely new. “Surprise me!” was the famous maxim he would exclaim with glee to artists approaching him with new ideas, but little did he know the treasures that would await him in the…
All posts by Rosie Lesso
Nimbus Cloud Linen’s cold blue tone breezes through Joaquin Sorolla’s coastal scenes, filling them with the crisp, invigorating freshness of the Spanish coast. Starched fabric and painted stone buildings flicker in and out of the crisp white air, forming dappled patterns of pastel blue, white and lilac as fresh and cold as the ocean beyond….
The creative union between Pablo Picasso and Sergei Diaghilev is one of finest and most influential collaborations of the early 20th century, one that would forever alter the nature of ballet. Throughout his years as director of the prestigious and renowned Ballets Russes Diaghilev enlisted a wide pool of artists to work with, but his…
GRAY PINSTRIPE Linen’s deep, dark almost-black swept across James Abbott McNeill Whistler’s enigmatic ‘Nocturnes’, capturing the quiet magic of cities descending into night. Made throughout the 1870s, Whistler’s night-time scenes portray urban scenes almost entirely cloaked by darkness, leaving only a smattering of twinkling lights or far-off fireworks in view. Painted from memory in his…
Russian impresario Serge Diaghilev was a formidable giant of the 20th century, fusing ballet with cutting-edge drama, music and art. But by far the most influential aspect of his legacy has to be his ‘Artist Programmes’, in which he invited the world’s leading avant-garde artists to produce daring Cubist, Surrealist and Neo-Primitive sets and costumes…
English Romanticist JMW Turner was entranced by the sky, capturing sunlight diffused through cloud with pale, golden shades like that of LEMONADE Linen. These glowing colours were the lifeblood of his art, investing into them the sublime, overwhelming wonder of the natural world, which entirely eclipsed any signs of life below it. As his career…
At the turn of the 20th century artists increasingly broke away from the real world, heightening the visual and emotional impact of colour, pattern and texture. Fabric was still a vital tool for artistic exploration but its depiction became ever more varied and experimental, from the flattened, Oriental forms of the Intimistes to the broken…
Colour was a vital component for the legendary Abstract Expressionist Helen Frankenthaler, allowing her to express deeply felt moods, emotions and memories with a rich and evocative language. Ambient greys tinged with lilac, like FALCON GRAY Linen, were a recurring favourite, which she would dilute into watery liquids and pour liberally onto her canvases so…
The late 19th century was an unprecedented period in the history of art, a time when the pictorial reality of earlier generations was gradually replaced with the subjective and symbolic. Although artists moved increasingly towards abstract and experimental styles, fabric continued to play a pivotal role in the practices of many, allowing room to play…
Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema was a dreamy romanticist, painting idealised historical scenes set amongst the marble pillars and iridescent light of ancient Greece. Cool shades of aqua blue like BLUE BAYOU Linen brought crisp, fresh lightness into his scenes, particularly when combined with the glossy marble architecture of the ancient world. In amongst these tranquil and…
Realist and Impressionist art is a celebration of life, portraying real people in simple scenarios like caring for children, working the land, picnicking in the park or enjoying quiet moments of solitude. The fabric that breezes through this art is also refreshingly normal – crisp white cotton puffs into voluminous sleeves or bulbous, corseted skirts,…
One of the most fascinating periods in art history, the Romanticist era of 19th century Europe and the United States opened the floodgate to new and unchartered realms of expression. Artists drifted away from reality into the fantastical, irrational wonders of the imagination, envisioning scenes filled with perilous danger, sublime beauty, and erotic seduction. Fabric…
FROST GRAY’s steely metallic shade became cold light in Russian master Valentin Serov’s stirring portraits, illuminating the space around his sitters with the frosty air of Russia. Leader in the Russian Impressionist movement, pale exterior light was a vital component in Serov’s art, breaking through unseen windows to colour the interior walls, furniture and clothes…
Fabric is one of art history’s most iconic and enduring motifs, draping, flapping or drifting through many of the best-known artworks of all time. Throughout the Renaissance period artistic portrayals of drapery were stretched in incredible new directions, illustrating just how evocative, expressive and emotive they could be, and setting the stage for centuries to…
19th century painter Alexei Savrasov portrayed stunning, Romanticised visions of the Russian landscape, capturing the sparkling freshness and icy air of winter when everything was obscured by layers and layers of snow. Sensitively attuned to the natural world at this time of year, he carefully observed how subtle shades of bluish grey like that of…
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