Loose Leaf Notes

There are two distinct languages: “There is the verbal, which separates people… and there is the visual that is understood by everybody.”  Yaacov Agam 

In times of trouble make art, or at least view it. So, Katherine, Jody and I headed down the mountain to the Taubman Museum to see Eternally New: The Art Nouveau World of Alphonse Mucha exhibition.

Turns out that Mucha, a Czech painter, illustrator, and graphic artist who lived in Paris during the Art Nouveau period (1890 – 1910), was arrested and briefly imprisoned by Hitler’s Nazis and died that same year, (1939). He spoke on the moral values that he believed should guide human activity during a live broadcast in 1929, saying, “A terrible crime on oneself and one’s nation is committed by a man who does not fulfill these duties, or who deliberately avoids them. Great days impose great duties, and evil days are a bitter indictment of those who, having failed in their duties, have brought about evil days…

“Art Nouveau (‘New Art’) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and flowers… By 1914, with the beginning of the First World War, Art Nouveau was largely exhausted. In the 1920s, it was replaced as the dominant architectural and decorative art style by Art Deco and then Modernism. The Art Nouveau style began to receive more positive attention from critics in the late 1960s, with a major exhibition of the work of Hector Guimard at the Museum of Modern Art in 1970.” -Wikipedia

We learned about the influence of Art Nouveau in modern times, which includes Grateful Dead artwork…

Along with cartoons and tattoos.

Period pieces were also displayed, like this 1884 high wheeler, an early form of a bicycle, the first that could cross long distances, but was also dangerous and obsolete by 1893.

Look how well preserved these vintage clothes are. As tea lovers, we were especially interested in the tea gown (far left), a wrapper gown designed for comfort, “celebrating the natural form with free flowing unrestrictive garments, rejecting the heavily corseted and bustled fashion of the Victorian Era (1837 – 1901).”

We buckled up for a time travel immersion experience.

It was the highlight of our visit.

While on the Market Square, we also ate Sushi at Wasabis and toured an old-school working barbershop and barbershop museum, Wood Cutz owned by Jason Wood.

Here’s Katherine doing a Sarah Bernhard (who was a regular model for Mucha’s art) pose while maybe contemplating a haircut.

C’est la vie!