A flâneur and photographer at once, Eugène Atget (1857–1927) was obsessed with walking the streets. After trying his hand at painting and acting, the native of Libourne turned to photography and moved to Paris. He supplied studies for painters, architects, and stage designers, but became enraptured by what he called “documents” of the city and its environs. His scenes rarely included people, but rather the architecture, landscape, and artifacts that made up the societal and cultural stage.
Sharp angles, strange forms, lurid colors, and distorted perspectives are classic hallmarks of Expressionism, the twentieth century movement that prioritized emotion over objective reality. Though particularly present in Germany and Austria, the movement’s approach flourished internationally and is today hailed as one of the most influential shifts in art history.
With leading groups Die Brücke (The Bridge) and Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider), and key players such as Wassily Kandinsky, Egon Schiele, and Emil Nolde, the Expressionists disowned Impressionism, which they regarded as “man lowered to the position of a gramophone record of the outer world”, to depict instead a raw and visceral experience of life as it was felt, rather than seen on the surface. Their paintings brim with emotive force, conveyed in particular through intense and non-naturalistic color palettes, loose brushwork, and thick textures.
Explore the emotional connection that a home can have to a person’s life with Feels Like Home from Lauren Liess, the TV and social media star and author of Habitat and Down to Earth
A house is a feeling. That is the conceit behind designer Lauren Liess’s third book, which explores the emotional connection between the way we decorate our homes and our daily lives.
She advises readers to think beyond just the objects in their homes and explore how design informs an intentional, happy, and authentic life.
The book includes practical design information, with never-before-seen case studies on a variety of homes including a farmhouse, a home in the woods, a Spanish colonial, and other more traditional homes. Each case study explores a hardworking design aspect (such as proportion, scale, and color), while also focusing on the emotional aspect of the home.
With chapters inspired by the themes of comfort, calm, excitement, belonging, carefree, love, and contentment, Feels Like Home provides inspiration while also serving as a beautiful object itself.
De Castellane turns her eyes to the gorgeous garden of her own private residence in the French countryside to offer insight into how she makes nature her muse. From delicate spring blossoms to vibrant summer bouquets starring on sun-kissed tables, autumnal herbariums, and enchanting winter fetes, each chapter is about a color of her favorite flowers and is complete with informative captions and texts uncovering her tips for living and entertaining à la française. De Castellane offers her recipes for bouquets and perfect tablescaping with examples from her own house: readers discover the journey of a flower from the garden to the tabletop. This book is a must-have guide on how to imbue every day with flair, beauty, and joie de vivre.