Visionofsplendor - Vision Of Splendor

Peter Fetterman Gallery

Macaroni Penguins in Zavodovski Island, The Sandwich Islands by Sebastião Salgado

Church Gate Station, Western Railroad Line, Bombay, India by Sebastião Salgado

Kafue National Park, Zambia [lion-two brothers] by Sebastião Salgado

Menatwi Man Indonesia

Arizona, USA by Sebastião Salgado

Bryce National Park, Utah, USA by Sebastião Salgado

Cactus:Trichocereus Schickendantzii, San Martino, California by DonWorth 1977

Miconia Magnifica, California by Don Worth 1977

Succulent: Agave Victoriae-Reginae, Mexico by Don Worth 1975

Succulent: Echeveria Subrigida Hybrid, California by Don Worth 1968

Tropical Leaves, Fittonia Agyroneura, California by Don Worth 1958

Succulent:Agave Parryi Var. Huachucensis, California by Don Worth 1969

Peter Fetterman Gallery Santa Monica, CA

The only reason I ever go to a Contemporary Art Fair is to see the Photography. To me it marries the visual with the traveler and the storyteller.

I found these amazing works while browsing 1stDibs as I do religiously every week and fell for The Peter Fetterman Gallery. They have incredible Artists on their books and these two immediately stood out.

Sebastiao Salgado was born in Amoires in the state of Minas Gerais Brazil, he started his career in Economics and began his serious  photography in 1973.

Sebastião Salgado has been awarded numerous major photographic prizes in recognition of his accomplishments. He is a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, and an honorary member of the Academy of Arts and Sciences in the United States.

Sebastiao and his wife Leila Wanick Salgado formed their own press agency Amazonas Images. Together, Lélia and Sebastião have worked since the 1990’s on the restoration of a small part of the Atlantic Forest in Brazil. In 1998 they succeeded in turning this land into a nature reserve and created the Instituto Terra. The Instituto is dedicated to a mission of reforestation, conservation and environmental education.

Don Worth Iowa USA 1924-2009  Went to Julliard School of Music and Manhattan School Of Music. In 1949 he began professional photography and assisted Ansel Adams for several years. Worth's childhood on an Iowa farm sparked a life long interest in horticulture and he designed and maintained a large subtropical garden at his home near San Francisco. Most of his photographs use plants as their subject matter. He has traveled widely in order to photograph. Don Worth's photographs  made, generally, with large format cameras, have an incisive clarity and quiet meditative mood. Many images involve enormous spaces, and often use the transformative power of fog, mist and other atmospheric conditions.

Love his vision of plants , especially the huge range of Cactus, one of my favorite type of plants. I find them so sculptural and mystical and his images of them spectacular. Would love to own some of his pictures one day.

http://www.peterfetterman.com/artists/sebastiao-salgado/

http://www.peterfetterman.com/artists/don-worth/

http://www.1stdibs.com/

Oh Herve!

I would kill for a Herve Van Der Straeten piece, I know its a bit extreme but anyone that sees his work feels the same way.

Studied painting at Le Ecoles des Beaux Arts, he started his career with jewellery design which am a collector of and always get such nice compliments on. His jewellery have a very architectural and geometric look to them , made of bronze or gold which give a beautiful glow against the skin.

He then transitioned on to Furniture and lightning , made in house by his highly skilled craftsmen , with such exquisite precision and meticulous attention to detail , I am sure that his work will be a future classic.

Herve has received numerous awards including the esteemed Chevalier des Art et des  Lettres and the L’Entreprise de Patrimoine Vivant .

His line is represented by the wonderful Ralph Pucci International with location both in New York or LA, or you can make an appointment at Herve Van Der Straeten Gallery in Paris. For the Jewellery you can buy it at Neiman Marcus , Bergdorf Goodman in the USA or Erickson Beamon in London.

Just Splendid xo

Image Sources and where to buy,

www.vanderstraeten.fr

www.ralphpucci.net

www.bergdorfgoodman.com/search.jhtml?N=0&Ntt=Herve+Van+Der+Straeten&_requestid=1541

www.ericksonbeamon.com

Leonardo da Vinci

"Leonardo da Vinci :Painter of the Court of Milan is the most comlete display of rare surviving paintings ever held. This unprecedented exhibition, the first of its kind anywhere in the world, brings together sensational loans never seen before in the UK"

                                                                                                        The National Gallery

I am so excited to see this show, London Culture at its best. GO NOW, but make sure you buy tickets in advance they are giving time slots, I presume so it does not get overcrowded. The website explains everything so prepare before you go.

Enjoy!

The National Gallery

Trafalgar Square

London

WC2 5DN

www.nationalgallery.org.uk

Video on the exhibition

www.nationalgallery.org.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/leonardo-live

Most photos via The National Gallery and Taschen

Stella Jean Has Got her Swim Groove On

Love this woman my second post on her, Stella Jean you are too cool for school. Old world swimwear! 

 Giorgio Armani has  named her the next big thing and has invited Stella Jean to show her next collection at Teatro Armani. Bellissimo!  I totally agree with you Signor Armani she has got it. Moda Operandi is currently showing some of her pieces this week. Run to buy or see her site for more stockists.

Brava Stella x 

Previous post on Stella

visionofsplendor.tumblr.com/post/40676334538/carribbean-chic 

www.stellajean.it

www.modaoperandi.com

A Universe In The Ocean

  “That was the most amazing, the most incredible moment of my life; as if I had been offered a trip to the moon … I thought of nothing else for months before it happened. Afterwards, for weeks I couldn’t talk about it without crying. I’m still not entirely over it … It was so beautiful and so intense, it changed me forever.”

Producer, journalist and film director of wildlife documentaries Claire Nouvain's speaking of her experience when she was invited on board the submersible Johnson Link-1 to travel down 1000 meters below the ocean in the Gulf of Maine part of the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution.

From this life changing experience she set out to produce this beautiful book on the incredible universe that lies in the Abyss of our Oceans. A mind opening book of 220 mesmerizing photographs of marine life that has never seen before by most of us.

With an average of depth of 3800 Meters, the oceans offer 99 per cent of the space where life can develop on Earth. The Deep Sea occupies 85 per cent of this space, and thus forms the planets largest habitat. " And what do we know about it? Compared to what remains to be discovered practically nothing."

One of the major discoveries is that the depth is full of lights. There is no light from the surface,  so creatures make their own, as many as 80-90 per cent of the animals are bio luminescent. Like fireflies they light themselves to collect food, to attract pray, to confuse predators and to signal potential mates.

Wow how fascinating is all this, am sure we won't find Nemo down here. This book will be a future classic, thank you Claire Nouvain  and all the scientists for opening our eyes to the magic of this planet.

Enjoy xo

Sources,

www.thedeepbook.org

www.literaryreview.co.uk/robinson_05_07.html

Mirror Mirror in the Desert

“Lucid Stead is about tapping into the quiet and the pace of change of the desert. When you slow down and align yourself with the desert, the project begins to unfold before you. It reveals that it is about light and shadow, reflected light, projected light, and change.”

Take  a Desert, a Shack, some mirror, Led lights and the vision of a young man named Phillip K Smith III , put them together and voila you have this wonderful imaginative but yet so simple installation. it just fits perfectly with its location that you think that it should have always been there. 

Over the course of the day the Lucid Stead metamorphoses into different visions, the sharp and shiny mirror bands reflect back the shapeshifting landscape, one minute the mirror image is picture perfect and then slowly with the moving sun it starts to soften its mirror image and starts to glow within as the very clever use of LED lights come alive in its changing colours.  

Very well executed Mr. Smith, I so wanted to see this , as millions of others this has been posted all over the world!! I had to share too, its just too damn beautiful! I want one ! 

I wonder what the animals in the desert thought of this! 

For more info on the Phillip K Smith III see below, and for Miami Basel his work will be featured in Untitled Fair from today. Also the great photography are by Steven King and Lance Gerber all courtesy of Royal Projects in Palm Desert California. 

http://pks3.com

http://royaleprojects.com/

The Wapping Project

All Pictures taken by Vision Of Splendor on an Iphone.

Last night to celebrate a friends birthday I finally got to go dinner to The Wapping Project based in an old Hydraulic Power Station with constantly changing Art Exhibitions.

We were luckily to have booked on  a night that "Yohji Making Waves" Installation was on, by Yohji Yamamoto. Set in the 1890's Boiler Room filled with water you are taken around in a small wooden boat by their version of a Gondoliere as Yohji's Wedding dress Installation hangs Illuminated from the ceiling.There is such an ethereal ambiance that you feel enveloped in its cocoon, we so enjoyed that little trip.

Even if you are having dinner in a industrial space they manage to make you feel at home with their very warm service and the visual feast of architecture meets art. On old Tv's dotted around the vast dinning space Yohji Yamamoto's catwalk show video's were shown to tie in with Exhibition.

Outside there in a little patch of green sits a Garden Shed turned Bookshop where every Thursday evening an artist, author or poet is invited to give a reading or a performance.

There were other areas to explore but wanted to save it for a next time, where am sure it will be different again.

I loved every minute of it and will certainly return.

http://www.thewappingproject.com/

http://thewappingprojectbookshop.com/

http://www.yohjiyamamoto.co.jp/

Qasr Al Sarab

Ahlan wa sahlan,

The Liwa Desert in Abu Dhabi's Empty Quarter has now a magical new Desert Hotel.

Qasr Al Sarab Desert Hotel by Anantara, which is loosely translated by as Palace of The Mirage, it has all that a hotel in the desert should offer, adventures by Camel , mountain bikes or traditional guided walks, the vistas must be spectacular. They also offer Archery Lessons, tennis and for those who just want to relax there is a pool or if you are really lucky at your Private Villa with a Butler to help you make decisions. Let us not forget The Hammam Spa where there are Royal Rituals to try out. My favourite would be a Bedouin dinner in the middle of the  Liwa Desert at Sunset.

This has inspired me to do a Desert Hotel Series, I love the colours and the magic that desert feeds to you.

I included for the first time a piece of music , but can't seem to upload the video. Hope the link works.

Enjoy xo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3lWwBslWqg&feature=share

http://www.kiwicollection.com/hotel-detail/anantara-qasr-al-sarab

All photos via Qasr Al Sarab Hotel.