BOOKS: Great Houses of London by James Stourton

At last, a comprehensive book on London houses by the erudite James Stourton, Chairman of Sotheby's, whose prose is eminently readable with photographs by beloved enthusiastic photographic maestro Fritz von der Schulenburg who has taken so many photographs for me..

TRAVEL: Austria

Carinthia has the highest rate of sunshine in all of Austria..

Around the lake of Wörthersee [above] are the towns of Maria Wörth, Klagenfurt, Villach, Velden.  A region which breathes history and antiquity, a kernel of Europe...

On the left neo-classicism mixed with secessionist, and on the right secessionist

 Landhaus Assembly Hall, Klagenfurt, first assembly 1581. 
Coats of arms of notables in the area [above] 

Villach

 Church of St. Jakob  

Hey! a Cadillac, anyone know the year? 

...and last but not least - strict and friendly, ugly rooms and bathrooms, effective cure, good air on the lake... the

F.X. MAYR & more® Health Centre... 

http://www.mayrandmore.com/home.html

                                                                          Right: a result of the cure!

LIVING BY DESIGN:

It was a pleasure to receive an email from a friend who photographed the San Francisco room she was staying in [above].  I had quite forgotten the two coordinated fabrics - one for the walls, the other for curtains with an 18th Century Blackamoor as a motif [I asked the talented artist Konstantin Kakanias to design these fabrics for the room.  he is the author of  the hilarious cartoon book 'Mrs. Tependris: the Contemporary Years' , which was commissioned by the Greek Ministry of Culture to create a book for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens ].

Note the red and white striped fitted carpet we had made - a foil to the grenadine background of the fabrics.  The house contains outstanding antiques bought by a great collector with encyclopaedic knowledge and outstanding flair.
  

Ann Getty 'Interior Style'  is available to order now.

MUSIC: Wagner's SIEGFRIED at Covent Garden

...Four days ago since I was Polly Devlin 's guest at ROH Covent Garden .....OMG, Wagner's music is still racing and thundering in my head.  Directed by Keith Warner, the conductor Antonio Pappano and the orchestra were terrific and Siegfried played by Stefan Vinke, who dominated the stage and showed no sign of fatigue, even though he was on for four hours! 

BOOKS: Patrick Leigh Fermor

For very many years, two 'expats' blew bubbles of romantic scholarship, humour, a love of the Middle East, Greece, the Classical world, bohemian adventure, travel and fun, both ardent philhellenes and friends of Greek poets [Seferis, etc. see blog entry of June 25, 2012], Lawrence Durrell, famous for his Alexandria Quartet, and Patrick Leigh Fermor, a war hero, venerated by Cretans.  An excellent biography has just been published by Artemis Cooper whose 'Cairo in the War' captured the prevalent mood of that time so brilliantly.

Patrick Leigh Fermor [always known as Paddy] had a prodigious memory for poetry and song, a life-enhancer if ever there was one.  His wonderful  house in Kardamyli in The Mani, Peloponnese was bequeathed to the Benaki Museum, Athens,  I hope they make good use of it despite the disastrous economic circumstances now prevailing.    

POETRY: Haiku

Once confined to a literary elite in Japan, Haiku are now written all over the world by poets who find their combination of brevity, technical discipline and expressive content irresistible.  Dominated by four great masters - Basho, Busson, Issa and Shiki - who between them compress the gamut of human experience into the limits of seventeen syllables.  Haiku has an analogy with Chinese drawings that evoke huge landscapes by a few strokes of the brush.

The moon in the water                               The water-fowl
Turned a somersault                                   Lays its beak in its breast 
and floated away                                           And sleeps as it floats 
RYOTA                                    GINKO

Early dusk:                                                    Plum-blossoms 
The mouth of the toad                              My spring
Exhales the moon.                                     In an ecstacy.
SHIKI                                                      ISSA

                                   In my medicine cabinet,
                                   the winter fly
                                   Has died of old age
                           JACK KEROUAC [Author of 'On The Road']

THIS IS WHAT SIGHT SEEING CAN DO TO YOU!

Photo: Milton Gendel, Writer and Photographer

LIVING BY DESIGN: Hints

This type of table so prevalent in the early 19th century has gone out of fashion.  Used primarily in dining rooms, here I have used it decoratively to show china, a Niki de Saint Phale plaster sculpture, a potted myrtle plant as an exclamation.  On the wall is a painting by Ray Richardson, Robbers Day Out.

  

COMMENT: The New York Review of Books

The New York Review of Books does best what its title proclaims - and so much more - with articles on politics,  art exhibitions worldwide, reason & despair find their voices in this unique publication......I await every issue with impatience. An example of excellence & high standards.

TRAVEL: Lazio / Umbria, ITALY [Part II]

The lake of Bolsena feels like the sea, it is vast, an extinct volcano filled with water from a spring - most lakes are fed by rivers so water flows in and out.

The most charming and erudite of princes,
Don Giovanni del Drago has restored his family castle with care and great taste...

_____________________________________________________

UMBRIA 

Orvieto in the distance [top left]

Orvieto

The house of the beautiful and gifted designer Donna Verde Visconti

in rustic mode. She has used Indian fabrics and furniture indoors - an homogeneous, most comfortable and beguiling house.  

NOTICE: I have cleared my cupboards! One Kings Lane

Catch this sale and grab yourself a bargain!
Sale on Thursday October 18, 2012

 https://www.onekingslane.com/sales/15129