ARCHITECTURE / GARDENS:

Boughton House,
by Kim Wilkie

So far, so sad - the drawings of the Chelsea Barracks development are not inspiring. 

Work begins in the new year.  The architects are Squire & Partners.  The buildings on Chelsea Bridge Road will face the nondescript addition to Wren's Royal Hospital by Quinlan Terry [see my blog entry of July 24, 2013].  Promised are 'promenade gardens', which presumably means they will be open to the public and, most encouraging, is the choice of the talented landscape architect Kim Wilkie who loves water.

LIVING BY DESIGN: French Vogue [1976] discusses John Stefanidis

ART I Admire: The Eisenheim Altarpiece by Niclaus of Haguenau and Matthias Grünewald in 1512–1516

 

SEASON'S GREETINGS

MUSIC: 'Parsifal' at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden

The production left one mystified, not surprising given Wagner's libretto - mystical, religious, sacrilegious, and self-indulgent** BUT the music was SUBLIME.

*The setting was modern, an obstructive cube centre stage. Grey seems to be mandatory in this kind of production, recalling the monochromatic Candy & Candy interiors. The more abstract the setting the better but....

BOOKS:

I think wanting to meet people who lived in past centuries rather fatuous.......BUT at the end of the 18th Century - before, during or after the Terror in the French Revolution - how I would have loved to know: 

Le Prince de Liège, Talleyrand**, Mme. de la Tour du Pin.

**I was reminded of Duff Cooper's biography on reading his wife Diana's letters to their son [see blog entry of October 23, 2103].  I re-read this masterly book with the greatest pleasure.

FABRICS: John Stefanidis Browns

JS painted mirror
 JS Diamonds in Mocha fabric walling

John Stefanidis Fabrics available from:

London, UK - Tissus d'Helene

Showroom: Chelsea Harbour, London, SW10 0XF

Phone: +44 (0) 20 7352 9977

Email: sales@tissusdhelene.co.uk 

Website: tissusdhelene.co.uk

Miami, USA - Monica James

Showroom: 40 NE 40th Street, Miami, FL 33137

Phone: + 1 305-576-6222

Email: sales@monicajames.com

Website: monicajames.com

Los Angeles, USA – Harbinger

Showroom: 752 North La Cienega Blvd,West Hollywood, CA 90069

Phone: +1 310 858 6884

Email: Info@HarbingerLA.com

Website: harbingerla.com

SHOPPING / BOOKS: Stocking fillers from John Sandoe Books

www.johnsandoe.com

COMMENT / MUSIC / ART

Lucky people who live in Chelsea, or in the vicinity.

The Saatchi Gallery, in the old Duke of York building, has more than fulfilled its promise, as has Cadogan Hall where I recently went to a concert performance of EURYANTHE by Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826) -  based on a French 13th Century romance, the opera heralds Wagner - performed by the valiant Chelsea Opera Group and conducted by a promising newcomer Cameron Burns, it was enchanting and very well sung - the chorus somewhat under power.  The hall has good acoustics the chairs are hard but very comfortable - it is a pity that this eccentric building was not converted from church to concert hall with more flair, it has a church hall atmosphere which does not concur with all the NEW architectural spaces that abound in LONDON.....garlanded as it has become with visual excitements, exhibitions, theatre and music galore.

ART I ADMIRE: Francis Bacon

Man with Dog [1953]

I first saw a Francis Bacon in London and up at Oxford - note the 'parlance'. A dog peeing at Erica Brausen's ** Hanover Gallery and I was stunned.  

Next came the Study after Velasquez's Portrait of Pope Innocent X, [1953] and the rest is history, as it is said.

Lying Figure, 1969

**A German from a Berlin banking family, she escaped the Nazis and slipped into England anonymously in a group of white-clad worshipers of a famous Indian guru. Hers was the first gallery to my knowledge to show Bacon and, indeed, Magritte and Calder.

SHOPPING: NIWAKI.com

GARDENERS not aware of Niwaki.com need to get on to the site for the best secateurs available and much else...

www.niwaki.com.