I cannot believe it has been 17 years since I was a tiny little first year art student...
Wide eyed and completely clueless to the art world and creative community, I left high school to follow my childhood dreams, in the hope of one day saying to myself and to others, ' I am an artist'.
When I arrived at art college I had just left high school and I was so so excited to be surrounded by art materials, listen to inspiring theory lectures, and collaborate+converse with creative peoples from all ages and all walks of life. It was the late 90s and art books, slides, videos and magazine journals were our only way to get to the heart and soul of art history. Computers were just starting to make an impact on the way we learnt. And for that I feel thankful....
I loved our college library filled with big colourful art books with pages that had been turned by hundreds of students before me. The images may have been faded in some, or ripped in others. But they were real.... and in my hands.
As you may have seen on this tiny blog that love as never gone away.
I love the art of collecting art books. Especially when I am in research mode. I know there is a multifaceted and endless supply of information only a click away. But I love the time i spend with a book in my hands, engaging with its beautifully illustrated images. This quiet ritual usually involves a cup of coffee at a lovely cafe too... so it is truly a favourite pastime of mine!
But lets get back to the book... and today it's the turn of Sonia Delaunay, an AMAZING artist who revolutionised colour theory and printed textile design in the early 20th century. I was introduced to her work way back in my early art school days and my fascination with her oeuvre of work in art and fashion has only increased with the years, not diminished.
So it has been great to find an amazing new publication of her work, produced by the Smithsonian Institute in The States as part of a recent exhibition that was also held in the U.S....
The book is called Colour Moves: Art & Fashion by Sonia Delaunay and as you can see from these images it is filled with beautiful representations of her patterns, drawings and fabrics from the 1920s.... I can only imagine how amazing the exhibition was at The Smithsonian National Design Museum last March in New York....
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| I love the way the pages are broken down into the stages of manufacture and thinking.... from ink and pencil sketches to final fabric production... |
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| The perfect Autumnal print. And just in time for Sydney as it welcomes in the season next week! |
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| influenced by Japanese textile traditions... you can really see the love she had for these ancient techniques of print making... |
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| Simple and yet completely complex colour + spacial design... |
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| So so many great thumbnail snapshots of the work of this amazing artist. I could pour over the pages for hours and hours.... My white bookshelf is very happy to have this one in its little collection! |
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Colour Moves : Art & Fashion of Sonia Delaunay
Edited by Matilda McQuaid and Susan Brown
Publised by Thames & Hudson Ltd.
for The Smithsonian Institution 2011
IBSN 978 - 0 - 910503 - 84 - 6
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