French 1890s Art Nouveau Poster

TG owns a Belle Epoch lithograph poster from Paris, and wants to know its relationship to Art Nouveau, which she loves. A huge relationship exists between the poster design of …

Casey McGarry and Michael E. Long

Filmmaker Casey McGarry and Santa Barbara artist Michael E. Long talks about McGarry’s short film Vuja De, a journey into Long’s dreams and his historic art studio, “The Rondo.” The …

Giving Objects to Heirs

An estate planner I work with said “There are two outcomes to giving objects to heirs: 1. They don’t want them. 2. They fight over them.” So how can you …

Wedgwood China Making a Come Back

Back in the 1980s FG knew the private secretary for the late dancer/actress Cyd Charisse. FG bought, from the secretary, Ms. Charisse’s twelve piece Wedgwood “Charnwood” pattern bone china dinner …

One’s Porcelain, One’s Not

Diana sent me a figurine named “Ereolita,” early 20th century Capodimonte porcelain in the classical style by Giuseppe Gricci. In the mid-1700s King Charles VII of Naples, an independent kingdom …

Photography Book a Piece of Art History

JF found an old photography book, published in 1952, Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Decisive Moment. He liked the design of the cover by Matisse. He found a piece of art history. …

Ever hear of Capriccio Painting?

Bet you never knew about Capriccio paintings, employed when 16 -19th century painters were commissioned to portray architecture. They deliberately depict great architecture often in crumbling ruins in a complete …