tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post2808676779944099517..comments2024-03-28T22:50:02.315+11:00Comments on ART and ARCHITECTURE, mainly: Elsa Schiaparelli's true storyHelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-58471894981757332282015-05-01T10:42:39.780+10:002015-05-01T10:42:39.780+10:00Ann
that is a question that has also bothered me ...Ann<br /><br />that is a question that has also bothered me for a long time. If we focus on the artist/writer/musician's sexual sins or financial immorality, there would be no-one on the planet left to enjoy. And there is the question of immorality being generationally-specific anyhow eg Lewis Carroll's behaviour is abhorrent now but might have been perceived as borderline or perfectly acceptable back then. Or they may have behaved as they did, as you say, because they needed to survive in horrible situations.<br /><br />But there is a limit! Pollock was a fall-down drunk and womaniser who made his wife's life very painful. But here is the kicker. He died in a single-car crash while drunk as a skunk AND killed one of his young passengers. The other young passenger was brutally injured for the rest of her life.Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-47874313617454124762015-05-01T10:27:51.689+10:002015-05-01T10:27:51.689+10:00Ann
Remember sitting in the State Library, trolli...Ann<br /><br />Remember sitting in the State Library, trolling through lots of old reference books looking for tidbits of information? I love the internet too :)<br /><br />Re Dali, Cocteau and the Surrealists, agreed. I discussed them because their influence on Schiaparelli was so clear, both in design terms and socially. But Bernard Berenson? He (born in 1865) was a full generation older than Elsa and so suited up all the time, I am surprised he didn't bore her to pieces.Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-44949422203010048842015-05-01T09:16:32.498+10:002015-05-01T09:16:32.498+10:00Just thinking that maybe that NAZI whose war was a...Just thinking that maybe that NAZI whose war was at the Ritz with Coco was just 'surviving' too. he may not have been a committed member. I have a dear dear lovely clever aged friend who wore the Hitler Youth medal when at school. "because we all had to" Her Russian aristocrat mother posed as a boy in the army to survive the revolution.<br />My friend's story of survival is extraordinary yet she lives anonymously, unlauded in Rosebud Victoria. I should write her book.<br /><br />Hels your reply to Parnasus re Dickens etc touches on something that comes to me frequently, as only 2 nights ago when enjoying the doco on Lewis Carroll the paedophile (despite the brainless presenter). Do we shun the brilliance of Alice In Wonderland because he was clearly one Dirty Old Man? Do I never enjoy the wonderful 'RockNRoll Parts 1 & 2' because Gary Glitter is now revealed as disgusting? The brilliant Polanski films ditto? or Woody Allen's?<br />How do we shun brilliance in fashion, film, art, literature etc because the source is 'not nice'?Ann ODynehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01159263330547329077noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-34930200204463982612015-05-01T09:01:31.891+10:002015-05-01T09:01:31.891+10:00Thanks for another informative post H.
without hav...Thanks for another informative post H.<br />without having to read a book or search, I know things about 'Schiap' that are not on your summary.<br />She hung with Dali, Cocteau and the Surrealists and Bernard Berenson.<br />Berry and Marisa Berenson her grand-daughters, one married Antony 'Psycho' Perkins and then was killed in a famous big plane crash. Marisa a VOGUE covers model. at Pinterest.com just put 'Schiaparelli' into the searchbox and up will pop an image of every fabulous frock or hat she ever made because somebody else has tracked it down and Pinned it up. I love the internet.<br />Coco the cockroach-like survivor of hard times just viewed the damn NAZIs as another hurdle in life. better to get from them what you can I think.<br />Self preservation is a basic instinct and those who have never needed to employ it are the ones who sneer at her as a 'collaborateur".Ann ODynehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01159263330547329077noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-84013656162559085132015-04-29T08:32:52.705+10:002015-04-29T08:32:52.705+10:00Parnassus
I have that same problem with so many i...Parnassus<br /><br />I have that same problem with so many important human beings in modern history. Do I stop reading Dickens novels, just because he was a pig to his wife and destroyed her family life? Should we downgrade the genius of Einstein because he dumped his sons in Switzerland and never saw them again, leading to one son's suicide?<br /><br />No, human beings are flawed. Schiaparelli was a clever and innovative designer who brought joy to women all over the world. I hope that is her legacy, not her politics during WW2.Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-3211932616513532672015-04-29T04:27:33.607+10:002015-04-29T04:27:33.607+10:00Hello Hels, The charge of Nazi collaboration is ...Hello Hels, The charge of Nazi collaboration is especially serious among charges of betrayal or espionage, because of the uniquely evil nature of that organization. So many celebrities have been accused (Chevalier, Wodehouse, etc.), but often there is little proof, or they were acting under evident duress. (Clearly, there were also rotten skunks like the Mitfords, Edward-Wallace, and some others you have discussed.)<br /><br />Considering the positive war work Schiaparelli did that you mention, I would want clear proof before putting her on my personal black list. (That wouldn't be such a dire threat anyway, considering how little I know about that world of fashion and couture.)<br />--JimParnassushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08958901307538141468noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-23996806373118395992015-04-29T00:40:07.046+10:002015-04-29T00:40:07.046+10:00Andrew
surviving in war time Paris would have bee...Andrew<br /><br />surviving in war time Paris would have been a nightmare. Citizens who opposed the German and French Fascists.. left Paris asap. Citizens who supported the Fascists learned to live and survive as best they could. <br /><br />Does being close friends with a Nazi officer mean Schiaparelli was a collaborator? And remember Secrest actually used the word "spy"!! I don't think we will ever know.<br /><br />About Coco Chanel, we do know. She lived in luxury with a Nazi officer in the Ritz Hotel in Paris. And travelled to Berlin with him on business. Chanel didn't desert Paris for the USA in 1942 like Schiaparelli did.Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-76333984237114143862015-04-29T00:28:17.390+10:002015-04-29T00:28:17.390+10:00Deb
When Schiaparelli recovered from a distastrou...Deb<br /><br />When Schiaparelli recovered from a distastrous marriage and went back to France, I imagine meeting the influential artists would have been exhilarating. As strange as Salvador Dali and Man Ray etc were, they were her connection to modernism. Imagine the parties and the cabarets!Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-9472996201559003902015-04-28T22:17:26.030+10:002015-04-28T22:17:26.030+10:00As always, such an interesting discovery of someon...As always, such an interesting discovery of someone I did not know about. Could collaborators be morally divided into active and passive? You would have a better idea than I would.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-19993704103376418352015-04-28T21:25:04.827+10:002015-04-28T21:25:04.827+10:00Hel when I first saw Dali's lobster telephone,...Hel when I first saw Dali's lobster telephone, I thought he was strange. Schiaparelli's lobster dresses were also a bit strange but she was a smart woman. Flamboyant yes, but her clothes were still practical enough to wear.Debnoreply@blogger.com