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By the mid-nineteenth century, European ironwork was in decline due to innovations brought about by the Industrial Revolution. Cast iron was replacing the more time-consuming and skillfully made hammered iron, driving the decorative smith toward extinction. A French historian wrote that the last piece of decorative ironwork to be produced in the 'glorious tradition' of wrought iron was made in 1809 and surrounded the choir in the Cathedral of Notre Dame. One hundred years later - in 1909 Samuel Yellin established a blacksmith shop and attempted to recreate the quality craftsmanship found in historic ironwork.... (2003) Complete Story
One can get tired of it all and want to be entertained, but the media outlets for distraction can look old hat and boring. So why not turn to art for a bit of uplift and fun? Why not abandon the daily grind, in which one has made all that life - draining progress in one's career, and get a little innocent excitement back, regress for the pleasure of regressing, renewing one's feeling for life in the process? The programmed leisure that passes for playfulness these days all those sports, with their rules and regulations, which make them seem like another dreary job (so much conformity, obedience, self suppression) is hardly as playful as art can be....
(2001) Complete Story
Of all the luxury commodities in the world, fragrance is the most paradoxical. Volatile and ephemeral, it nevertheless summons up our deepest hidden memories. Unseen, it is felt everywhere. Given its flyaway nature-as well as its precious ingredients-fragrance calls out for beautiful containment.... (2003) Complete Story
Some 20 years ago, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London sponsored "Towards a New Iron Age, "aninternational exhibition of contemporary wrought ironwork. The thesis of the exhibit was that while ornamental ironwork "had remained in the grip of the historical pastiche" for much of the twentieth century, it nonetheless was a discipline that offered enormous potential for modern design. The pieces shown - lighting, tools, and both interior and exterior architectural ornamentation - illustrated how this antique discipline could offer forms "appropriate to the tastes and attitudes of our own time." (2004) Complete Story
'The Art of Gold,' curated by Michael Monroe, is the first major survey of contemporary American goldsmithing. The traveling exhibition was organized by the Society of North American Goldsmiths and toured by Exhibits USA. Comprising 79 works from 76 artists, the exhibition bas a preponderance of jewelry over objects and hollowware. Bruce Metcalf's excellent essay in the exhibition catalogue locates the studio jewelry in the major design movements of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, most notably the Arts and Craft. Movement, as well as assessing the current state of American goldsmithing.... (2003) Complete Story
