Happy Midsummer!

Ivar Arosenius'  Self Portrait Midsummer, 1906

Even the most dark and brooding artists among us come out to celebrate midsummer

this weekend in June. Flowers, sun and open air combined with good friends

and seasonal culinary treats - think strawberries - make this ancient celebration

of Summer an event not to be missed.

Celebrations started last night with the raising of midsummer poles and bonfires in Stockholm

and Helsinki to Scandinavian enclaves as far flung as Oregon and Florida. During the 18th and 19th centuries in Scandinavia the Midsummer Festival was one of the few times a year that rural communities could come together and the costumes and preperations for the celebration were often elaborate. Hans Christian Anderson recorded his trip to the Midsummer Festival in Leksand...

"When I left the parsonage in the evening, the moon, in its first

quarter, was up. The May-pole was raised; the little steamer, 'Prince

Augustus,' with several small vessels in tow, came over the Siljan

lake and into the elv; a musician sprang on shore, and began to play

dances under the tall wreathed May-pole."

"And there was soon a merry circle around it--all so happy, as if

the whole of life were but a delightful summer night."

Leksand churchboats on the shore of Lake Siljan by Wilhelm Marstrand, 1853.

"Next morning was the Midsummer Festival. It was Sunday, the 24th of

June, and a beautiful sunshiny day it was. The most picturesque sight

at the festival is to see the people from the different parishes

coming in crowds, in large boats over Siljan's lake, and landing on

its shores. We drove out to the landing-place, Barkedale, and before

we got out of the town, we met whole troops coming from

there, as well as from the mountains."

Today Rhonda and I will make wildflower crowns with our families...

Indulge in fresh strawberry cakes...

Gather good friends near...

and Wish Everyone a Very Happy Midsummer!

Enjoy!

Photos: Ivar Arosenius at the National Gallery, Blomenterkuans from ceccesblogg.se,

Dog with Wreath from nipornas.se, Strawberry cake and recipies at www.freshfromfinland.com.

 

Time for Our Tastemaker Tag Sale

The time has come the Walrus said to speak of many things....of  Swedish clocks

and table tops, of Empire urns and rustic butter churns!  No need to fall
down a rabbit hole, we have it all here now at our fantastic

Eleish van Breems Tastemaker Tag Sale on One Kings Lane!

This Swedish clock cupboard is just one of the many unique items in our Eleish van Breems Tastemaker Tag Sale at One Kings Lane. Click HERE to view the Sale which runs from January 22 -24.   This unique clock cupboard is the type of hybrid furniture piece that the Swedes are known for, at once beautiful and yet eminently practical.

Rooms in 18th and 19th century Swedish farm house were often limited to just two or three downstairs rooms or, in more reduced circumstances, just one communal room.  Given that space was so limited, two types of furniture were often combined to save on precious space.   Here is an example of a clock that has been built into a secretary to form a clock secretary hybrid.   The blue clock secretary (above)  is in the home that Shannon Newsom and her mother, designer Jane Moore, designed together and
has appeared in our book Swedish Country Interiors as well as gracing the cover of Veranda.

Sometimes very wealthy merchants, mine mangers and  farmers would have several clockworks in one case piece, a sign of prestige and industriousness.  This example, above,  from our collection is painted in the darker traditional colors of the Swedish country furniture and is painted to imitate mahogany.  The initials of the owner and the date are commemorated on the clock secretary's cupboard doors.

This photo from our Swedish Interiors book was taken in the living room

of Linda Kennedy and we think you will agree that the the clock secretary is a standout piece. 

The perfect blend of functionality and form , we love Swedish clock cupboards and secretaries

and will be looking for more special examples on our trip to Scandinavia this spring.

Design Leadership Summit 2011

Edie and I have been invited to attend this year's Design Leadership Summit in Copenhagen.  We are not only honored, but are looking forward to sharing and learning from our colleagues.  This is such a wonderful opportunity for the international design community as a whole to exchange ideas and build lasting networks.

During our attendance in late April, Edie and I will be blogging the days events as well as sharing our inspirations and ah ha moments.  We can't wait!!!!

The Design Leadership Summit is the most exclusive annual gathering of leading architecture and 

interior design firm principals in the U.S.The Design Leadership Summit was founded and is hosted by Peter Sallick of Design Investors and Keith Granet of Granet & Associates. This exclusive event is dedicated to inspiring community and improving business practices among the most accomplished design professionals.  Past programs feature varied content to stimulate learning and discussion among the attendees on topics including leadership, people management, business strategy, and media communications.

We can't wait to hear what the eco-chic Danes say about their latest

developments in design and architecture!

 

For additional Information on the Summit past and present:

www.designinvestors.com

Albert Hadley Rocks Southport at Rooms with a View

 

Albert Hadley at Rooms with a View 2010

 Parish Hadley and Albert Hadley alums turned out in full force last night at the Gala Opening of Rooms with a View to honor Albert Hadley, effectively turning Southport Connecticut for an evening into the epicenter of premier design talent in America. For sixteen years Albert Hadley has spearheaded this charity event to benefit the Southport Congregational Church making it into one of Connecticut's most exciting design events of the year. Designers are asked to create vignettes in 5' x 8' spaces and this year Bunny Williams, Pamela Banker, Libby Cameron, Suzanne Earls Carr, David Easton, Thom Filicia, Thomas Jayne, David Kleinberg, Brian McCarthy, Brian Murphy, Nicholas Pentacost, Harry Heismann, Michael Whaley all took up the challenge as presented by Albert and Design Chair Parker Rogers.

Invitation to Rooms with a View 2010.

Pouring rain did not keep away well wishers last night. We were all there to honor Albert who took the attention in stride, ever self-deprecating and supportive of all.  The results are on view through the rest of the weekend and if you live in the area we encourage you to hurry over to see the show.  Southport is a train stop on the Metro North line out of Grand Central Station in New York and the Southport Congregational Church is within a few blocks of the station (you will walk by Albert's house on the way. See if you can guess which is his!)  Show hours are:  Friday, November 5 and Saturday November 6  10 am - 5 pm  and Sunday, November 7th  11 am - 5-pm.   Rooms with a View link HERE.

                                          Eleish van Breems at Rooms with a View 2009

Rhonda and I have exhibited and guest lectured at four Rooms with a View events over the years and were thrilled and honored to have our vignette from 2009 featured on the invitation and posters for this years event  (many thanks to Graphics Chair, Ann Franzen!). The vignette was our ode to Danish modernism and Rhonda's Dad, an artist whose works from Vienna in the sixties and seventies we love and grew up with.   Ganden Thurman, Director of Tibet House, New York graciously loaned us the precious ancient bronze sculpture of the Goddess Tara.  And we finally had someplace to put the huge Arc lamp that's been in storage!  But that was all last year. 

Take a peek via my cell phone camera at some of this year's vignettes....

Bunny Williams - Albert coming through her garden for a visit..

David Kleinberg 

 Rhonda and I fell hard for this rare corner Gustavian Settee.  $36,000.  Breathe.

Harry Heissmann - a detail.  Who wouldn't love to wake up

to Flair and Van Day Truex plates?

Michael Whaley - Brown and Amethyst

Thomas Jayne - The artisan wall treatment looks

as if it could have been inspired by Swedish kurbits!

Susanne Earls Carr

Tributes to Albert's design signatures and life were found in most of the vignettes,

whether fabrics,drawings or carpets - here Susanne Earls Carr displays

a cookbook by Albert's mother Lois Meguiar Hadley.

More personal photos of Albert (and Sister Parish)  in the vignette by Susanne Earl Carr.

David Easton at  Rooms with a View,  at the ready to sign his new book 
Timeless Elegance: The Houses of David Easton.

Today at Rooms with a View David Easton signs his new book Timeless Elegance: the Houses of David Easton.  David wrote the Forward to our book Swedish Country Interiors and we like to humor ourselves that in some small way we may have inspired his inner writer to finally come out and play.  If you have never experienced the wit and charm of this great architect and designer we encourage you to try to get to one of his book tour events this fall. You are in for a treat. Here is a snippet of my conversation with David this morning.

Swedish  Interiors (SI): Is there was a favorite project of yours in the book that we may not be familiar with? 

David Easton (D.E.):  The great problem for me was that there are so many projects that I had to leave out due to the constraints of the book form.  I just couldn't get it all in there!

SI: What are you excited about now in terms of what is happening in design?

D.E.:  I am a huge science fiction fan and what makes that genre so great is that these authors base visions of the future on our current realities.  There are going to be many more billions of humans sharing the earth then there ever were three hundred years ago.  We are very soon no longer going to be making the types of traditional houses we think of when we say "Home Sweet Home".  I believe that people are no longer going to be rooted to just one place, nor will we be rooted in possessions.  Our homes will be in our intellects - the travel of the mind is so huge.  We will be creating a different type of building. I am working on a project in Canada that is in keeping with this new direction of contemporary architecture.

     Side wall of David Easton's vignette inspired by the making of his book.

SI: Is there anything from your time working with Albert Hadley that has stayed with you - a touchstone that you find you return to?

D.E.  Firstly, that Albert is a Gentleman.  I would also have to say that Albert is an Editor. His rooms have remained timeless because with him it has never been about fabrics and decoration and more curtains.  That's why his interiors have held up and look so fresh and timeless today.  It's all in the edit.

 The Edit - entrance hallway by Albert Hadley. 

I was considering "the edit" when I found Albert in a quiet moment. I asked Albert what he thought of the show and he said he thought that it was very strong. Was that, I asked, perhaps because all of the participating designers had had similar training under Parish Hadley and Albert Hadley, Inc. ?  Was there not a certain way of looking at things? A certain symmetry?

"Symmetry is the wrong word to use." stated Albert.   "The correct word is Order.  What they all have in common is order. Each designer has used negative space to create order and have, naturally, put their own personal stamp on it.  At heart, Edie, it is really all about the Order of Things." 

So quoth the Dean of American Design. Are you taking notes?

Stop by Rooms with a View this weekend for hints and inspiration on how to
bring sublime and stylish order to your interiors or listen to Albert speak at a cocktail seminar on Saturday, November 6th  from 5 - 7 pm where he will take you on a tour of "The Design World of Albert Hadley". 

Agneta Livijn's Lily Ponds - Swedish Artist arrives in New York

Artist and ceramics designer Agneta Livijn.

The Broadway Gallery in New York is going to be the place to be this coming Saturday, October 16th
from 1 - 4 p.m. as Scandinavian design and art enthusiasts gather for the opening of  Agneta Livijn's critically acclaimed solo show "Lily Ponds".  Agneta is an accomplished artist and ceramics designer who Rhonda and I have had the pleasure of knowing both personally and professionally for many years. A trip to Stockholm for us is not ever complete without a visit to her welcoming and joyous home and studio.  We have watched the evolution of Agneta's  "Lily Ponds" paintings series since she conceived of it on several of her trips to Morocco and we are so excited to tell you that these luminous canvases will be here in New York for the month of October.

Water Lilies from "Lily Ponds" a Solo Show.

Agneta is a longtime student of French art and design with degrees from  the Beckmans School of Design in Stockholm,  L’Academie de la Grande Chaumiere in Paris and later studies at the San Francisco Art Institute. "I have always been fascinated by the life and work of famous artists like Monet and Matisse," says Agneta  "but it is the garden design work of the French artist Jacques Majorelle that inspired the Lily Ponds paintings." 

Water Lilies with Hanging Leaves

It was in 2006 that Agneta discovered the beauty of the water-lily flower and green leaves in Jardin Majorelle.  Originally created by Jacques Majorelle in the 1920's, the garden was for many years an oasis of exotic plants, water features and buildings painted in a vibrant bleu that was so unique as to became synonymous with Majorelle's name.  Yves Saint-Laurent and Pierre Berge  rescued the garden from abandonment and disrepair in 1980 and today the Jardin Majorelle continues to be open to the public and

an oasis in Marrakesh just as it was in Majorelle's time.

Jardin Majorelle in the old French quarter of Marrakech

 A Fountain at Jardin Majorelle restored

by Yves Saint-Laurent and Pierre Berge

     The Lilies at Jardin Majorelles, Marrakech

Agneta has incorporated the colors from the Jardin Majorelle and  Lily Ponds into her signature line of Agneta Livijn pottery.  GET HIP! GET HANDMADE! is Agneta's tagline for her famous Agneta Livijn pottery store in Stockholm and summer pop-up shops in exclusive Swedish coastal retreats.
  .

Her exclusive lines of colorful and chunky cups, saucers, serving bowls and dishes are all handmade and hand painted in the highest quality white stoneware.   The forms are influenced by Agneta's many travels around the globe.

Her newly launched Get Hip Get Handmade line is, to every family cook's celebration, dishwasher and microwave safe.

The ceramics Rhonda and I loved  when we first started doing business in Sweden  (and that my kids still fight over to use at home) are now an international success story!   Since the time of the first coffee mug made in her summer cottage, Agneta now works with leading design retailers in Europe, the United States and Japan. Her work is sought out by companies such as IKEA, Habitat and R.O.O.M,  all of whom she has created exclusive lines for.

Agneta in front of a grouping of smaller canvases from "Lily Ponds" a Solo Show.

We hope you have enjoyed learning about our talented friend!  Please join us in welcoming Agneta Livijn to New York on Saturday, October 16th at the Opening of  "Lily Ponds"  from 1:00  - 4:00 p.m.  at the BROADWAY GALLERY.  Rhonda and I look forward to seeing you there!

LILY PONDS a Solo Show

Agneta Livijn

October 16th - 31th, 2010

Broadway Gallery

473 Broadway

7th Floor

New York, NY 10013

212-274-8993

Danish Manor House Revival on Funen

The island of Funen in Denmark is one of the most romantic landscapes in all of Europe, and home to one of the best preserved Renaissance water moat castles to be found in the world (pictured above), Egeskov Castle.  Rhonda and I are planning a trip to Copenhagen in the spring and look forward to returning to magical Funen and Egeskov Castle. 

Late last night, with plans for our trip and the anticipation of an antiquing spree dancing in my head, I was looking at the Danish Auction house Bruun Rasmussen's website and discovered a sale going on today featuring pieces from a manor house on Funen called Gelskov Gods.

It may be too late for readers to participate in the auction but surely there will be more inventory from Gelskov Gods to choose from soon, as the owners, Anette and Heine Dahl Bartsch, are art dealers and antiques importers of French and Belgian furniture as well as the Danish.

Here are some views of their amazing property, Gelskov Gods:

Here are Anette and Heine in front of Gelskov Gods.  The couple fell in love with the Danish island of
Funen ( Fyn in Danish) and moved from Copenhagen several years ago to under take the restoration of the manor house. It is now a fantastic destination, featuring a B & B and gallery in the main space. Antiques are found throughout the property with a full shop devoted to them that is open in the stables. 

Gelskov Gods would be the perfect place to stay for those wanting to explore the surrounding area.
Here, (above) another view of Egeskov Castle, just one of over one hundred and twenty three
manor house and castles dotting the landscape of Funen. 

One of the many traditional windmills found in the countryside....

Hesselagergard floating above the lilypads...

Funen is Denmark's third largest island so you can truly return again and again and always be inspired by architecture and design that you may have missed on an earlier visit. 

Rhonda and I can't wait and we will be sure to visit Anette and Heine!




To learn more about Gelskov Gods go to  http://www.gelskovgods.com/

To plan a visit to Funen in which you can follow in the footsteps of Manor hopping native
son Hans Christian Andersen  go to HERE