Art and Museums
Heavens' Embroidered Cloths and The Philosopher's Walk
Over 15 years ago, the Oriental Ceramic Society of Hong Kong and the Urban Council, organized an exhibition, Heavens' Embroidered Cloths, One Thousand Years of ChineseTextiles, held at the Hong Kong Museum of Art in 1995. We found it when searching for photographs available for viewing of the Patricia Harris Gallery of Textiles & Costume, at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto.
For instance, the Kesi (slit tapestry) robe, possibly made for the Empress Dowager in c.1900 reflects a combination of colors that today would be extremely desirable. The Empress Dowager preferred pastel shades of lavender and turquoise with designs of spider chrysanthemums interspersed with longevity characters.
The Louvre's Breguet Exhibition and the Marie Antoinette
When you glimpse the production ledger's page recording the stages of manufacture of Breguet no. 160, the grand complication watch known as the Marie-Antoinette, the prices these watches can command become more understandable. The actual exhibit ended in September 2009, but can be enjoyed online at the exhibition website.
Breguet and the Louvre; An Apogee of European Watchmaking
Through this retrospective of the works of Abraham-Louis Breguet (1747-1823), visitors viewed the art of watchmaking at its apogee, evidenced by these unique precision timepieces, combining genius, virtuoso techniques and avant-garde aesthetics. Assembled in the exhibition are exceptional loans – watches, clocks and measuring instruments – alongside portraits, archival documents and patents that span Abraham-Louis Breguet’s entire career.
Scandal Sandals and Lady Slippers: A History of Delman Shoes
"Not since Cinderella’s slipper has such footwear magic been worked as in the exquisite designs of … Herman Delman. " — Atlanta Daily World, 1952
The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in New York City presented the Delman Shoe exhibit this past spring the first exhibition devoted to the Delman brand. Founded by Herman Delman in 1919 and today one of the oldest salon footwear brands in the United States, Delman’s glamorous, innovative, and classic shoes have been a cornerstone of the fashionable and quality-conscious woman’s wardrobe for the past 90 years.
A blonde's dark secret: How a seductive beauty changed into a demure lady, 300 years after she was painted.
The National Gallery in London is exploring the world of Close Examination: Fakes, Mistakes and Discoveries. A painting acquired as a 15th-century work in 1923 was proven to be a 20th-century forgery after scientific analysis of the materials used.
Occasionally science also betrays the errors of past research. At the time of its purchase in 1845, A Man with a Skull was attributed to Hans Holbein. A recent analysis of the painting’s wooden panel support has shown that the work actually postdates the artist’s death.






