New York City Holiday Windows 2017

Hi Everyone.  I hope all of you are enjoying the holiday season.  A few nights ago, on the spur of the moment, I decided to check out the holiday windows on Fifth Avenue.  It is usually jam packed and difficult to get photos, but I really lucked out and it was relatively quiet, or as quiet as things can be on Fifth and Fifty-Seventh streets.  I started at Cartier and worked my way up to Bergdorf's.

If you look at my Instagram Stories, there is a video of the leopard riding down the hill.  I always love the windows at Cartier and this year was no exception.

Across the street is Ferragamo, all wrapped up in a bow.

Continuing up the block, I got a great surprise in the windows of Dolce & Gabbana.  They had window displays that looked like massive Dutch still life paintings!  As you know, the Dutch still lifes are my favorite, so I really enjoyed looking at these windows.

Next up, Tiffany's.  I wasn't in love with the windows, but the outside of the building is beautifully decorated.

And across from Tiffany's, the piece de resistance, Bergdorf Goodman.  Bergdorf's always has the most amazing and creative windows.  Titled "To New York With Love" the exhibits are dedicated to the cultural institutions of New York.

First up, The New York Botanical Garden.

Next, The American Museum of Natural History.

The New York Historical Society

Museum of the Moving Image

The New York Philharmonic.

The people who do these windows are true artisans.  Planning for the windows goes on all year.  If you would like to see more about how the windows are done and see more of Bergdorf's, I watched a great movie on Netflix last year called "Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf's".

I have to say, the windows in the city this year are my favorite.  If you are local or visiting, please make time to go and see them.  If that is not possible, I hope you enjoyed seeing a bit of the holiday decor here.

Wishing all of you a great holiday!

Metropolitan Museum Of Art, China: Through The Looking Glass Exhibition

Last night I had the most enjoyable evening I've had in quite some time.  I saw on Instagram that the Met was staying open until midnight last night to accommodate the hordes of people flocking to see the China: Through The Looking Glass exhibition before it closes on Monday.  The Met really hit it out of the park with this show.  Everything in it was absolutely amazing.

House Of Dior, John Galliano

John Galliano had many dresses in the exhibit and I loved every one of them.  He was interviewed by Andrew Bolton for a chapter in the exhibition catalog and it was great to read about his design process.  He was very interested in China because of the way the country was portrayed in the movies.  He later travelled there to find out about the country and culture for himself.

The headpieces were done by Stephen Jones and they were amazing.  I loved every single one.

Mixed in with the current fashions were Chinese robes from the 18th century that resembled the newer creations.  It was easy to see how Chinese fashion is still influencing designers today.

One of my favorite pieces in the show was this Ralph Lauren tuxedo jacket.  I took all of these photos in a very dark room through glass cases so it is a bit difficult to pick up on the amazing work that was put into these pieces, but take my word for it, this jacket is to die for.

Another John Galliano dress.  The dress was gorgeous and had the most amazing train.

This dress is by Balenciaga.  The detail work on this dress was unbelievable.  Just incredibly beautiful.

The piece above is a 19th century rubbing of a 10th century stone carving.  The print influenced Christian Dior in his design of the cocktail dress "Quiproquo"

Next we got to my favorite part of the show.  The blue and white room (of course).  So many unbelievable treasures in there.

This is a small sampling of the blue and white porcelain on display.  Of course I was thinking about how I would love to take them home to use in my paintings, but the truth is the designs and shapes of these vases, gourds and ginger jars are still in use today.  Some of these pieces are centuries old, and would work perfectly in any decor today.

Li Xiaofeng, The Weight Of The Millennium, 2015

This sculpture was insane.  I was not able to get a shot of the whole thing, but it was a dress made out of blue and white porcelain!

And now, on to the blue and white dresses.  They were amazingly beautiful.  The above photo is Valentino.

Giambattista Valli

John Galliano

Roberto Cavalli

Rodarte

House Of Chanel, Karl Lagerfeld

I have MANY more photos to show you, so I think I'll continue this post tomorrow.  Hope you are enjoying this peek into the exhibition.  The show is closing tomorrow (Monday) so if you are in New York City, please go see it for yourself.  You won't regret it!