Backhausen (Vienna)

Backhausen (Interior Textiles)

Blumenmotive (style)

circa 2000 (?)

    A contemporary twist of early twentieth century Viennese motifs, this textile pattern exudes just as much maidenly and unspoilt sweetness as did its ancestral designs. The leaves span the ivory sky with slight flicks to their tips along the curling vines, while the iconic bell-shaped flowers seem to almost swing back and forth in long, sweeping arcs, chiming and gonging. Seen as a whole, the plants’ colours throb like a confectionary hail of never-before-tasted bonbons, a design that could easily paper the ever-lasting corridor walls of Mr. Wonka’s factory. And what is more, with the idea of an unchecked and overpowering force of growth driving each woven spore, seed and unfurling tendril, there is rooted in this textile the continued renewal of originality as spurred from its first relations, and which with each age will likely be revisited, reinterpreted and retouched, but never truly remastered.

the Wiener Werkstätte: Mitzi Friedmann

Mitzi Friedmann

Bejewelled Birds (no. 545)

circa 1911

     With the renewal of Spring comes the charm of nesting birds and winking new buds, as illustrated beautifully for this postcard. The two birds form a circular dialogue, each craning its neck to look at the other while standing in a wreath-like bed of fledgling petals. Clamped in their beaks are what seem to be purple blue-bells, both apparently so laden with scent that their shapes transform into drooping trumpets, each tooting its deep tune to accompany that of the birds. Compared with the many other cards of its kind, Friedmann’s remains simple and almost minimalist in composition, with a rather odd underbelly of negative space beneath the floating feathery duo. Most likely the bay in which to scribble a personal note, the blank space nonetheless adds to the illustration’s lightweight feel of fresh, sweet air and the allusion of timeless, revolving rebirth. 

20th Century Perfume

Perfume flask (unknown maker)

Eau de Cologne

circa mid-twentieth century (?)

     Though this may seem to be a rather unremarkable (as well as dirty) object of interest, it is not in fact the object that holds the value - it is its label. What does it say of the flask? Small but clear, it features colours and shapes that, when used together, were once quite popular within the world-widespread Art Déco period. Many of the Wiener Werkstätte (the Arts and Crafts movement of Austria which fore-ran the universal bloom of Art Déco) artefacts showcase a similar button-blossom shape for flower heads, a style that was soon loosely adapted to bordering countries’ art forms as well. As seen here, the label’s three petalled heads follow an almost minimalist ‘look’, inspired if not indirectly from early Wiener Werkstätte works of art, and which seem to be adapted to a French taste. Each head is bulbous and ‘Viennese’ in that it sits heavily against the backdrop with nothing so much as a single circular line to denote its uplifted face; each head is also decorated with only a single dot or nose at its centre, this being another common Wiener Werkstätte feature of decoration; lastly, and especially in the case of the red blossom, two pairs of leafy ears sandwich the flower’s face - again, another feature stemming directly from the Viennese style of decoration. Considering these details, one must then take notice of the tiny purple and yellow petals, and indeed the yellow flower’s central swirl: these features are not at all Viennese, but more-so Parisian or of the further north, which in all suggests that this flask is a bearer of subtly-melded styles. What is more, the label’s condition is mint, the flask itself is glass and small and the original perfume is entirely gone, all of which points to the possibility that this bottle may actually be a recent afterthought of the ‘30s, having been made twenty, even thirty, years on - when size and quality still rivalled little in terms of precious perfume.

Oliver Hurst

Oliver Hurst

the Hedgehogs

circa 2007

     In noticing the great golden key, one may easily be reminded of a similar feat undertaken by the famous Cinderella duo, Gus and Jaq. They, too, attempt to lug an over-sized key step after ascending step, though (in their defence) their haul is radically more strenuous than the hedgehogs’: their time to reach the top stair (an extra five flights) is limited to mere minutes, they are equipped with only determination and mousey muscles and, most importantly, Gus is overweight - a considerable delay in the least. In this painting, however, time does not seem to be of the essence. Creeping slowly upwards, this hedgehog troupe crawls with evident ease - or is it stealth? Consider that the artist has cleverly lit the four creatures in a single but soft spotlight, as if to suggest the act of being caught or followed (the bespectacled hedgehog certainly looks shady, his position being unaided by the backdrop of lurid green wallpaper). There is also the elegant, though perhaps not immediately recognised, feature of rigidity versus waywardness - that is to say, the linear rhythm of the staircase versus the clumsy tripping and scuttling of the hedgehogs. By the way these two features zig-zag up through the canvas, parallel but of opposite ‘tunes’ to each other, there must certainly be something crafty taking place. One could even assume that because the staircase sits beneath the troupe, supporting it both visually and physically, the mischief-making will overcome the odds and, indeed, succeed. Whatever its scheme may be, this foursome certainly knows how to keep anyone with an open mind guessing...

Amira: the Art of Expression

Amira Willighagen

‘O Mio Babbino Caro’ (Giacomo Puccini)

Maastricht - 2014

     Many claim that this girl is a miracle, that she must have an old soul living within her - that through her incredible voice, Maria Callas has been reborn. But is it so hard to accept that Amira, pictured here at nine years old during one of her first true live performances, is but a naturally talented, hard-working young artist in her own right? It is her age that seems to stupefy most of her audience, as well as her undeniable expression of consuming passion that she delivers alongside her womanly voice that entrances many, both audibly and visually. Amira performs with the intensity and maturity of one who has been professionally and judiciously trained for years, with dozens of acclaimed vocal trainers already stating that Amira’s gift of expression is one they have yet to see in their own pupils. In late 2013, when Amira and her vocal chords first surfaced on a Dutch talent show, Amira found it difficult to immediately respond to the question, ‘Who taught you to sing like this?’. Her reaction was like that of someone being confronted with an unknown language; she grimaced and blinked slightly, with the exact childlike awkwardness that so many of us can remember feeling at that age. It is from this reaction that one can really see the art of this girl’s enigma: that while she supports with apparent ease an unsurpassable talent that most adults, let alone children, may only dream of achieving after years of practise, she supports with equal grace the fact that she is a child. She does not try to act older than her years, even when she sings. She couples the soul of a woman with that of a child, releasing it in the form of something that almost is, in fact, unearthly. (To view her masterpiece, as pictured, click here.)