Spotlight on Bernhard Link Theatrical

Bernhard Link Theatrical is one of the biggest names in the fashion industry that you may just not be familiar with unless you are a true fashion insider. It is they who Donna, Oscar, Marc, Karl and the rest of the designer gang turn to for most of the spectacular lighting, struttable catwalks and edgy scenery we see each year at Bryant Park and soon Lincoln Center.





Founded in 1976 by Gordon Link and Van Bernhard, Bernhard Link is a full service production company providing Project Management, Design (Scenic, Lighting, and Sound), Pre-visualization, Fabrication and Installation. They are known for handling the highly individual demands of each project, whether it be runway, corporate, film or television and for realizing their clients' vision, from the extravagant to the simply elegant. Well, simply elegant was for us!



We weren't lighting a building...



or doing a window.....


or having a rock concert.....




but we DID want our Eleish van Breems table for the Red and White Ball benefiting the Greenwich Red Cross this May to look as glowing and fabulous as this model at a Proenza Shouler show Bernhard Link lit! Van is Edie's father and Gordon has been her honorary uncle forever, so when we caught up with the two partners on their company retreat, bone fishing in the Bahamas, we felt comfortable to ask them for a little lighting advice. Luckily for us, it was a windy day and Gordon had given up on the fish. Sketches on napkins ensued and we flew back from the Exuma's with instructions to meet up with Jason, BLT's model maker extraordinaire at their New Jersey headquarters and to give him our base for a floral temple centerpiece.






We were surprised that they would do such specific lighting for a small floral centerpiece because their production work seems so large scale but Jason explained that tabletop lighting design is actually another very important part of Bernhard Link's business for special events. They have a studio where the models and lighting are planned out.You can view our meeting with Gordon and Jason HERE (Watch to 1:50 for the essence and then beyond if so desired)

Here we are at the Red and White Ball getting set up.

Lighting changes throughout the evening from under the roof of the temple. Animals representing

the Four Friends are up lit from underneath glass pedestals.

We have felt the Bernhard Link difference! We are sorry not to have photos showing the lighting from when the house lights dimmed at the Event...but we can tell you this - having lighting that changed throughout the evening made our table not just romantic but gave it life and sparkle and definitely set us apart!

Along with the beautiful fabric, so generously donated by Fortuny, the lighting kept our table guests delighted.
Thank you Gordon, Jason and Van for all of your invaluable help and support! We love you guys! E. and R.

All photos courtesy of Bernhard Link Theatrical.

Eva Badenhorst Wall Murals

Eva Badenhorst

We are thrilled to introduce a fantastic new Swedish artist we are representing. Meet Eva Badenhorst. We have never met Eva in person but had started a correspondence with her this winter resulting in Eva sending many of her breathtaking, historically inspired canvases to our Connecticut showroom . We are so lucky! Many artists have tried to capture the essence of period Swedish wall canvases and, let us tell you, it is not easy. When we saw Eva's paintings we knew we had found a special artist. Eva has captured in her work all of the softness, delicacy and also inherent boldness that make the Swedish wall canvases in manor homes and castles so unique.

Here Eva shares a bit about her techniques and inspiration for our readers:

Eva's canvas inspired by the Papaya engraving of Georg Ehret (1708-1770)

that famously wallpapers Carl Linnaeus' home. Sublime.

"My painting mainly consists of reproducing wall decorations that were common in castles and mansions in Sweden during the 18th century. I also do my own compositions based on the different expressions of the time.

Painting flowers, bows, festoons and medallions on large wall fields is a typical Nordic genre, radiating elegance as well as country charm and was developed mainly during the reign of Gustav III (1771-1792). By stretching painted linen canvases on the walls it was easy to create modern interiors in suites, halls and even in bedrooms of old as well as new houses.

The canvases are quite large and dramatic and make a perfect

focal point for any room.

Towards the end of the 18th century the painting of wall fields reached its peak, when strong basic colours made way for paler nuances with the transparency of water colours. The shimmering shades of grey with a pearly lustre also often included turquoise, orange rose, lemon yellow, lime tree green and silver blue and were transferred to bows of leaves, thin garlands, meandering ribbons, arabesques and other refined motives. The motives were taken from the classical style that King Gustav III, after a trip to Italy in 1783-1784, became very fond of. This style had a great impact on castle interior decoration in Sweden and has since then been considered genuinely Swedish and meant a lot to fashion the modern, light Swedish interiors worldwide.

A late Gustavian inspired canvas with a Swedish mirror hanging in front of it.

A Swedish botanical canvas.

A Renaissance inspired piece. This looks almost Florentine, yes?

Eva calls this dramatic gold and black canvas "1800 Century". How gorgeous

would this look in a dining room, powder room or entrance? A luxurious home office

or dressing room? We can think of a million rooms that this would look absolutely extraordinary in.

I also paint different types of flowers, mainly inspired by historical works, such as the 17th century depictions by Dutch botanists of tulips, the bulbs of which created the tulip fever in Holland. I have also been delighted and inspired by the drawings and paintings of the flora that Carl von Linné and his disciples created and that can partly be seen at the Linné summer house outside Uppsala. My favourite styles are the classic Greek and Roman ones but the impressionists also have a large place in my heart.

Canvas inspired by Drottningholm Theater.

Many of my paintings are done on old, rough tarpaulins that were once used to cover boats or farm machinery. These tarpaulins, with their heavy structure and weather beaten surfaces, give and old and genuine expression and are perfect for the dry pigment colours that are used to mix with oil glaze. Flower motives especially, I paint on finer linen canvas.

This floral urn painted on old sail cloth is now at Eleish van Breems.

We love that Eva has left the old sail line hanging from the canvas.

Another view of Eva's gallery in her home...note the painted table canvas.

I obtained a degree in History of Art before moving to France for 15 years and have continuously painted, but also drawn with ink and charcoal. Many years ago I started painting old furniture with egg/linseed oil tempera, a fantastic technique which gives an incredibly smooth, silky surface. I have also been involved in creating well composed interiors in private homes, where I even contributed with my recently obtained skills in upholstering."

Serenity reigns in Eva's light filled gallery.

A canvas inspired by 18th c. Drottningholm "Tree of Life" wall canvases.

A Swedish country floral design.

We have this canvas now at Eleish van Breems.

Another Gustavian inspired wall canvas by Eva now at Eleish van Breems.

Eva's canvases look wonderful mounted onto the wall, as was done traditionally in Sweden, or

framed, for those who want the mobility of being able to easily change their decor.

Eva has had several exhibits in Stockholm and most recently a show in Norberg, Sweden.

Welcome Eva!

Edie & Rhonda

Eleish van Breems is now working with Eva on special commissions. Canvases similar to the ones featured in this post can be ordered in many different custom sizes. Please feel free to e-mail or call us for details and pricing of Eva's work. 860-868-1200 evbltd@gmail.com

Eva Badenhorst Canvases Arrives at Eleish van Breems

Watch as we unfurl some special canvases by Swedish artist Eva Badenhorst at

our Connecticut showroom. A written blog post with more photos of Eva's work

to follow immediately.

E & R

Edie and Rhonda-Greenwich Red and White Ball Segment 1

The Greenwich Red and White Ball Segment 1

Edie and Rhonda's Introduction to the Eleish van Breems Blogcast

A Rococo Jewel - Svindersvik

Svindrsvig

Our great friend and mentor, Gote Folk Jarnefolk ( Help! Will some lovely blogger tell me how to install umlauts and accents on Blogger?) keeps his workshop in the charming Svindersvik boat yard outside of Stockholm. Every visit to Gote (insert dots over the o!), Rhonda and I make sure to take a trip up the hill from the harbour to one of our favorite Swedish Rococo buildings, the Svindersvik Manor.

Svindersvik as viewed form the water in the 18th century

Sweden's great architect Carl Harleman built Svindersvik in the 1740's for one of Sweden's most successful businessmen, Claes Grill, director of the East India Company. With fine views overlooking the sea, promenades on high cliffs and a large garden, Svindersvik was the perfect weekend retreat for Grill and his family.

A Swedish cartel clock is mounted over the wall canvases painted by

Grill's brothers in Amsterdam were Count Tessin's bankers. In the summer of 1760 the great diplomat and style maker Carl Gustav Tessin brought his family to stay at Svindersvik where he and his wife, Countess Ulla Sparre, hosted a famous saturday afternoon salon.

Svindersvik is small of scale and that is it's great charm. Note the double chandeliers

and palace size mirror between the window - all devices to reflect and add light.

Of Svindersvik, Tessin is reported to have remarked, "In one word, Nature's play,

Mr. Grill's purse and taste, and my late lamented friend Baron Harleman's art, have made Svindersvik a joy for humanity that has few equals in charm and arrangement."

We couldn't agree more.






Photos for this post from the Nordiska Museet, Stockholm http://www.nordiskamuseet.se/

Silk, Velvet, Venice - think Fortuny

Rhonda and I are off to visit the charming gentleman who own Fortuny. Saddly, this trip does not involve a visit to Venice but a drive into the city to see their exciting new Showroom in the D & D building. We are thrilled ot be working with them on a Charity design project for the upcoming Red Cross of Greenwich Red & White Ball. More on this later...

Somewhere between the Eddie Ross and Apartment Therapy showdown and my car accident I dropped the ball on this blog. So thank you to those returning for a look!

Hoping to get some great fabric samples this afternoon to show everyone!

Psyche Revived

"There is no art without Eros."

- Max Frish

Tuesday Design Crush - Tim Tareco

Why did this dull, rainy mid-winter day - read POURING- seem exciting and beautiful when I reached New York ? Was it because I was doing a delivery for one of the more exciting and beautiful people I know?


One of the driving creative forces at M.A.C. Cosmetics is Tim Tareco, whose new set of antique grey and black Swedish rustic chairs I had carefully packed in the back of my Volvo station wagon this morning. High octane glamor and social consciousness are the eternal focus of M.A.C.'s dynamic worldwide cosmetics company and Tim seems to embody all of what that means. Tim occupies a world of Viva Glam lipsticks in seven celebrity fueled colors that raise millions of dollars each year for AID/ HIV research and most recently for Haiti's earthquake victims.


Like Rhonda, Tim is a visual genius, who I have known seemingly forever (of course through Rhonda! ) so I was curious to see what he had done with his new apartment downtown. I admire that Tim has such a severe aesthetic and never waivers, always waiting, sometimes years, for the right piece to come his way. Rhonda and I were so flattered that he fell in love with a grey and black trunk from our inventory last spring and now has chosen to add some of our Swedish chairs into the mix.


I had heard that this new place of Tim's was done in grey, gold and black - in my mind I envisioned a Van Day Truex look strengthened up with some black leather. I couldn't wait to see it. I just love placing the rustic antiques in modern spaces. They take on a totally different character then when placed in a country home with other antiques. The primitive antiques always reveal themselves in the modern settings as what they are - Art.


I drove around Thompson Square looking for parking. Attempts to double park in front of the building were hampered by seemingly endless police patrolling the area. Finally in desperation, I put my hazards on in front of a fire hydrant by the front door and pulled the chairs out hastily giving them to Tim's doorman in the middle of a torrential rain.


I never got to place the chairs or see the apartment! Ugh.


This just in tonight from Tim:



E & R See attachment. Chairs look SOOOO GOOD! Thank you ! Thank You! Thank You! I Love You Two! xx TT

Tim Tarreco's New York aerie with Swedish chairs in place via TT's cell phone.

We love you too, Tim and hope you enjoy the chairs! Send more pictures!!!

xo Edie & Rhonda

To learn more about Tim and the exciting happenings at M.A.C. go to http://www.maccosmetics.com/