Hollywood in the 1930s and 40s was a factory of dreams, but some of its brightest stars carried with them an accent, a mystery, and a sensibility from far across the Atlantic. They were Swedish, and to American audiences they seemed to embody a northern light: cool, sophisticated, and possessed of a beauty that wasContinue reading “The Swedish Invasion: How Hollywood Fell for Its Nordic Queens”
Category Archives: Aesthetics
Cady Noland
Encounters America Laid Bare Cady Noland made some of the most disturbing art of the late twentieth century from beer cans, shopping carts, silkscreened celebrity mugshots, and the hardware of American violence. Then she stopped. She has barely spoken since. The silence is part of the work. By Bergotte There is a work by CadyContinue reading “Cady Noland”
Chapter 5: It Wouldn’t Be the Same Without You
We’ve finished our exams for the year, and we’re ready for high school. I have something to tell the boy, and I know he won’t like it one bit. It’s about where I’ll be heading after the summer holidays. I keep putting it off, distracting myself by soaking up the magic of spring, rushing aroundContinue reading “Chapter 5: It Wouldn’t Be the Same Without You “
The Eameses: Designers of the American Century
In the light-filled hills above the Pacific, a glass-and-steel house stands as a manifesto. Inside, shelves of books and folk art mingle with modernist chairs in plywood and fiberglass. It is not simply a home, but a vision: how design could be democratic, playful, rigorous, and alive. This is the world of Charles and RayContinue reading “The Eameses: Designers of the American Century”
Chapter 4: Young Dreams
It’s January in 1949, and the boy is celebrating his fourteenth birthday.He turns up at my house mid-afternoon, carrying a book of cartoons, a gift from his parents he’s eager to show me. I am sitting behind the big desk in the downstairs office, the one adjacent to the library. It used to be GrandpaContinue reading “Chapter 4: Young Dreams “
Chapter 3: The Fifth Horsewoman of the Apocalypse
I find the boy looking downcast outside the main building. “What’s wrong?” I ask, hurrying over to console him with a hug. He’s stiff as a board and trembling, so I squeeze him tighter.Leaning back to face him, I ask, “what’s the matter?” “Don’t worry about it.” He hangs his head in shame. I passContinue reading “Chapter 3: The Fifth Horsewoman of the Apocalypse “
Surrealism: The Logic of Dreams
Few movements in 20th-century art captured the imagination as forcefully, or as lastingly, as Surrealism. Emerging in the 1920s from the embers of Dada and the disillusionment of World War I, Surrealism sought not only to revolutionize art but to liberate human consciousness itself. It was not a style, but an attitude — a wayContinue reading “Surrealism: The Logic of Dreams”
Chapter 2: Welcome To My World
We’ve started hanging out after school, the boy and I, on the down-low. Apparently, we’re at the age where boys and girls become a danger to each other, according to society. But at my house, we can see each other semi-secretly as much as we like. No one needs to know, apart from his parentsContinue reading “Chapter 2: Welcome To My World”
The Silent Era: Cinema Before Words
Before the world spoke in sync with film, it dreamed in silence. The silent movie era — stretching from the late 1890s through the late 1920s — was a time when cinema evolved from novelty to art form, from flickering short reels in nickelodeons to sprawling epics projected in ornate picture palaces. It was anContinue reading “The Silent Era: Cinema Before Words”
Chapter 1: My Little Friend
It’s the first day at my new school and I am bursting with excitement.Due to the sudden rush to find me a place, Grandpa George’s Girl Friday, who is actually an old and highly efficient lady called Bonnie, has enrolled me in a local state school in Memphis, not the sort of place I’m accustomedContinue reading “Chapter 1: My Little Friend “
My World of Interiors 