Burberry 2014: Bloomsbury Girls (Inspired by Artists Vanessa Bell & Duncan Grant)

Burberry put on a campaign called The Bloomsbury Girls drawing inspiration directly from the Bloomsbury group of artists of the early 1900's.    The appeal (to me) of this style is in it's unpretentiousness, joyfulness and loose confidence.  

From Encyclopedia Britannica:  "Bloomsbury group, name given to a coterie of English writers, philosophers, and artists who frequently met between about 1907 and 1930 at the houses of Clive and Vanessa Bell and of Vanessa’s brother and sister Adrian and Virginia Stephen (later Virginia Woolf) in the Bloomsbury district of London, the area around the British Museum. They discussed aesthetic and philosophical questions in a spirit of agnosticism and were strongly influenced by G.E. Moore’s Principia Ethica(1903) and by A.N. Whitehead’s and Bertrand Russell’s Principia Mathematica (1910–13), in the light of which they searched for definitions of the good, the true, and the beautiful and questioned accepted ideas with a “comprehensive irreverence” for all kinds of sham."

Artists Vanessa Bell (Virginia's sister) and Duncan Grant, living their funky bohemian lifestyle (they painted those big flowers and patterns inside, on the walls and doors!)

Duncan Grant "Queen Mary" fabric at Charleston House

Laura Ashley was instrumental in helping restore the house.

From the Laura Ashley website:    

"Over 25 years ago, Laura Ashley played a key part in the restoration of Charleston Farmhouse by reproducing the fabrics originally designed in the 1930's by leading Bloomsbury artists, Duncan Grant and Vanessa Bell. Following this successful project, Laura Ashley was granted the rights to carefully re-colour these popular designs and introduce them into the 1987 Laura Ashley Home Furnishings collection."

Laura Ashley "Charleston Grapes" 1980's

Laura Ashley "Emma" 

Laura Ashley "West Wind by Duncan Grant"

Laura Ashley tea towel 2013

Burberry cashmere scarves are printed from original paintings.

Burberry cashmere scarf 2014

Vanessa Bell painted the door in early 1900's

Booties..

Duncan Grant painting

And the iconic trench.

Duncan Grant painting (note the pattern on mantle)

Watch the Hand Painted Runway

https://vimeo.com/101165300

Brave.  Optimistic. Original.

2014 SUMMER: Stubbs & Wooten Shoes in frames (by Artist Unknown)

Credit:  Stubbs & Wootton website

Beautiful cookbook: The Forest Feast (by Artist/Author Erin Gleeson)

Airlines: Standard Air (by Artist Unknown)

Laundry Service: The Laundress, NYC (by Artist Unknown)

http://www.thelaundress.com/washing-service

Fashion: CP Shades (by Artist Unknown)

Puppet Theater

Accessories: Coach

Handpainted patterns on Coach wallets. Spring 2014.

Power bars: Cliff Bars

Eyeglasses: Warby Parker (by Artist Unknown)

 

Illustrated Set & Costume Design: (Artist - Eugene Berman)

Eugene Berman (1899 - 1972)
Born in Russia, Eugene Berman is known for his imaginary landscapes and architectural conceits.

Wonderful loose style and confident mix of mediums; watercolor, gouache, ink, paper collage.

Scene from imaginary ballet

A leader among the Surrealist and Neo-Romantic artists, Berman focused on the expression of emotion, loneliness and human isolation that emerged between the World Wars. 

 Amahl from Balthazar, 1952

Portrait of woman with butterflies

- Les sirènes

COSTUME DESIGNS FOR A GUARD AND AND ORIENTAL PRINCE, ACT III, OTELLO

He is also recognized for his Baroque-like stage set designs for the likes of the Metropolitan Opera.

Projet de costume pour un ballet impérial, 1949

Costume Design for the Duke in Rigoletto

Set Design for Rigoletto

Trained in Paris, and influenced directly by the works of Pierre Bonnard, Berman was drawn to the U.S. by the legendary dealer Julien Levy and exhibited alongside Salvador Dali, Man Ray, Marcel Duchamp and a young Howard Warshaw. 

Stage design for Romeo & Juliet

Inspired by imaginary worlds created by Hollywood, Berman lived in Los Angeles for almost ten years during which time he enjoyed the patronage of the legendary collector Wright Ludington.

View Of New York

Possible stage design for WPA, NYC

Italian Symphony Scene IV, Saltenello, 1939

Berman’s work is held by many significant museums and has been featured in solo exhibitions including 2005's High Drama: Eugene Berman and the Legacy of the Melancholic Sublime.  

 In 1957, Berman retired to Rome after the death of his wife, actress Ona Munson.  
-Borrowed from  Sullivan Goss, An American Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA
Note:  Ona Munson played Belle Watling, in Gone With The Wind.