ARTmonday: The Art Bus


Now you’ve pretty much got no excuse for not checking out the art scene.

This past weekend, the Boston Art Dealers Association launched The Art Bus, a free shuttle between the Newbury Street and South End art districts.

The bus goes between the Back Bay and South End free of charge from noon to 4pm on the first Saturday of the month from through June, and will start up again in September.

The bus  runs a continuous loop making stops at:
• Thayer Street at Harrison Avenue
• Newbury Street at Berkeley Street (in front of the Church of the Covenant)
• Newbury Street at Dartmouth Street (in front of Fitz Inn parking lot)

Each ride requires a pass. Passes are free and are available at all BADA member galleries.

All aboard!

ARTmonday: Gurari Collections

This winter when I was checking out the galleries and shops in the newly converted 1880 mill building now known as 460 Harrison Ave. in SoWa, I wandered into  Gurari Collections, which bills itself as a gallery for antiquarian contemporary arts. An intriguing label and fitting.

Its focus is at the intersection of art and science, featuring etchings, engravings, drawings, watercolors, paintings, and interesting objects borne from architecture and design, urbanism, the human figure, fantasies and follies, and science and the allied arts. The gallery is basically a walk-in curio cabinet.

A few days ago, gallery owner Russ Gerard contacted me, inviting me back for a visit. I shall certainly go sometime soon, and take photos, but in the meantime, I thought I’d share images from his website.

Column Capital Frontal – Wendy Artin
watercolor

Cetaceous – Mollie Goldstrom
etching

Calderum Motorim – Vico Fabbris
charcoal

Perspective 39 – Jan Vredeman de Vries
engraving

Fountain 31 –  Georg Andrea Bockler
copperplate etching-engraving

Plan De Paris, 1739 – M.E. Turgot, Louis Bretez, Claude Lucas and Aubin
20 copperplate engravings

English Victorian Adjustable Zograscope

Crookes Tubes and Radiomete

Shop Alert: DVF to Open in Boston

Diane von Furstenberg has not only been busy designing groovy patterned wrap dresses; she’s been opening up boutiques worldwide; 28 internationally to be exact, though only five in the U.S. But business is booming and open she will.  Although she’s got a flagship is in the Meatpacking District, and she’s secured a lease for a 2,000 square foot Soho outpost, which, according to WWD, Furstenberg says, will be “a lab to funnel ideas through all our stores and our wholesale business.”

More importantly, DVF is coming to Boston!! WWD reports that a DVF boutique will open in Boston in July. Must do some recon to find out where. I’m guessing Newbury; there are plenty of storefronts from which to choose. Any thoughts?

My favorite DVF looks for fall:

Site Spotlight: Terrain

Anthropologie has a garden shop – Terrain. I had no idea, until I read about it on the Lucky mag blog this morning. The flagship, Terrain at Styler’s, is near Philadelphia, and includes a cafe and extensive nursery. You might already be in the know, but just in case you’re not, here’s a sampling of their wares. Perfect pickings for this gorgeous spring day.

Fine Print: FLAIR Joe Nye

Los Angeles interior designer and party planner Joe Nye has put together his first book, Flair: Exquisite Invitations, Lush Flowers, and Gorgeous Table Settings (Rizzoli, April 2010). The table settings are beautiful. Almost makes me want to entertain. Definitely makes me want to shop for pretty china.

Handmade chargers in the Palladian pattern from Isis Ceramics Ltd., black bamboo flatware by Juliska, black water goblets and a chinoiserie-style tablecloth. More images from this table below.

Upper left: Singerie-inspired invitations and little favor boxes wrapped in fuchsia ribbon. (Singerie is the French word for “Monkey Trick”. It is a genre depicting monkeys apeing human behavior, often fashionably attired, intended as a diverting sight, always with a gentle cast of mild satire.) Upper right: Black bamboo flatware from Juliska. Lower left: A chinoiserie-styleparty table setting. Lower right: A prfusion of pink carnations in a silver mint julep cup.

Left: Contemporary Chinese Chippendale chargers paired with charming antique chinoiserie-style floral china and pretty aqua finger bowls. The natural wood handles of the bamboo flatware brings out the yellow and green tones in the plate. Right: Purple floral Mottahedeh dessert plates sit atop Charlotte Moss’s treillage pattern dinner plates. Green hydrangeas and amethyst goblets play up the green and purple theme.

Above: Red, printed silk-toile tablecloths, and blue and red glassware from Cost Plus World Market mix nicely with fancy sterling silver and Blue Canton dinner plates. The red lantern is a fun centerpiece. A single flower on the napkin dresses up the plate.

Left: A mélange of blue-and-white ceramics mixed with yellow gladioli and oncidium orchids dress up the sideboard.  Right: The blue and yellow theme is carried over to the table, with blue water glasses, inexpensive bunches of yellow chrysanthemums and single yellow Fuji mums placed in teacups. The dinnerware is Torquay from Mottahedeh. Like the flowers, the cobalt blue-handled flatware provides an informal touch.

All images by Los Angeles-based photographer Edmund Barr. Courtesy of Rizzoli International.