Dec 20, 2011

Merry Christmas from a couple of legends

 
A Christmas card from Ray and Charles Eames
Last night for their season finale, the PBS series American Masters aired a new documentary about the work and lives of Charles and Ray Eames, called "America's most important and influential American designers" in the PBS description--a claim I'd be hard pressed to argue with. Watch the trailer for the film here:

Bob Wirth
There's a brief shot of the two working around what looks for all the world like Ward Kimball's train room, though I'm pretty sure that's just a coincidence of layout and fun functional organization. Who knows. Most famous for their eponymous chair, the couple did much more than that, and if you don't already know them, you should. Everything about this pair seems stimulating.

Also displayed are two other holiday cards that were sent to the couple, from the collection of the Library of Congress:
Lee Krasner and Jackson Pollock












Dec 17, 2011

Icons of Animation-another great Fred Moore piece going, going...

Profiles In History's "Icons of Animation" auction is happening right now, 11am PST, Saturday the 17th, so you still have a shot at acquiring the Fred Moore piece pictured above.
[5pm PST: it sold for the low-end estimate of $3,000]

Dec 15, 2011

Christmas in Manhattan, 1934

...as imagined by Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett, Woody Van Dyke, inspired by Dashiell Hammett and interpreted by Myrna Loy, William Powell and Asta, I give you Christmas morning with the Charles family.

Dec 13, 2011

A Merry Christmas from Disney's in 1955

 This is a repost of one of my earliest entries, shortly after I began this blog in 2005. I think it suits the season and so merits an encore.


This is the front of the Disney Studio's 1955 Christmas card.  It's quite a beautifully done thing; printed on a soft, high-quality paper, it's a large card that opens into a double-spread of the brand-spanking-new Disneyland, with a calendar running down the sides.  I was unable to scan the entire thing, as it's just a bit longer than my scanner is.  Great artwork--I don't know whose...anyone have any ideas?


May your fifty-years-on New Year be merry and bright!

Dec 8, 2011

Bravery

Although it won't be on shelves for another seven months, last week Amazon put up the cover art and a short description for "The Art Of Brave", which I had the pleasure of authoring. It's going to be quite a beautiful book, one that I only wish could have been twice as long as its 160 pages. I'll write more about it here as publication time draws nearer.

In other Brave-related news, Brenda Chapman began using Twitter and has started a Tumblr blog. There's not much there yet as she only just began it, but it does link to a new, very good two-part interview with Brenda on the site Pixar Portal. Her thoughts on art, work and storytelling are a must-read.