Samuel Wittwer Book order

On the occasion of the three-hundredth anniversary of Frederick the Great's birth, the Foundation of Prussian Castles and Gardens, Berlin-Brandenburg, restaged his one-act play, Le Singe de la Mode, or The Fashion Monkey. Written in 1742, The Fashion Monkey recounts the story of the fashion-obsessed Marquis de la Faridondière and his uncle's attempt to put a stop to his free-spending ways by proposing that he marry the particularly thrifty maiden Adélaïde. In his quest for the latest fashions, the marquis must also address matters of philosophy. For the festivities, Belgian artist Isabelle de Borchgrave created and installed throughout Potsdam's Neues Palais figurines whose papier-mâché frocks are near-perfect simulations of lavish lace, rich velvet, and rustling silk. With photographs by Andreas von Einsiedel, the book collects this ambitious work and supplements it with the play in its original French and an essay by the foundation's director, Samuel Wittwer, on the intellectual environment of Frederick the Great, the cultural history of The Fashion Monkey, and the creation of de Borchgrave's 2012 works.

On the occasion of the three-hundredth anniversary of Frederick the Great's birth, the Foundation of Prussian Castles and Gardens, Berlin-Brandenburg, restaged his one-act play, Le Singe de la Mode, or The Fashion Monkey. Written in 1742, The Fashion Monkey recounts the story of the fashion-obsessed Marquis de la Faridondière and his uncle's attempt to put a stop to his free-spending ways by proposing that he marry the particularly thrifty maiden Adélaïde. In his quest for the latest fashions, the marquis must also address matters of philosophy. For the festivities, Belgian artist Isabelle de Borchgrave created and installed throughout Potsdam's Neues Palais figurines whose papier-mâché frocks are near-perfect simulations of lavish lace, rich velvet, and rustling silk. With photographs by Andreas von Einsiedel, the book collects this ambitious work and supplements it with the play in its original French and an essay by the foundation's director, Samuel Wittwer, on the intellectual environment of Frederick the Great, the cultural history of The Fashion Monkey, and the creation of de Borchgrave's 2012 works.

Im Zentrum dieses Ausstellungskatalogs steht eine beeindruckende amerikanische Privatsammlung klassizistischer Porzellane aus den Manufakturen Wien, Berlin und Sèvres. Diese Sammlung, die über fünfzehn Jahre hinweg mit großer Leidenschaft und Diskretion aufgebaut wurde, ermöglicht es, die künstlerischen Einflüsse und technischen Innovationen der drei Manufakturen zu Beginn des 19. Jahrhunderts anhand kostbarer Porzellane darzustellen, die größtenteils königliche oder kaiserliche Geschenke sind. Die Beiträge internationaler Fachleute verknüpfen die Exponate mit reichhaltigem Bild- und Schriftmaterial aus den Archiven der Manufakturen. Themen wie der Austausch von Musterstücken, Motivwanderungen, Formkopien sowie die offene Korrespondenz der Direktoren zu Rohstoffen und Produktionstechniken werden behandelt. Zahlreiche Entwurfszeichnungen bereichern den üppig illustrierten Katalog, der nicht nur eine detaillierte Arbeit zum Thema darstellt, sondern auch visuelle Freude bereitet. Raffinierte Vergoldungen, täuschend echte Kameomalereien und zarte Blumen verschönern die elegant geformten Exponate. Die minutiös gemalten Geschichten, die zwischen den reich verzierten Ornamenten der Porzellane auf den herausragenden Aufnahmen von Ben Cohen verborgen sind, bieten beste Unterhaltung.

In the field of porcelain production, the supreme artistic and technical achievement of the18th century was arguably the Meissen porcelain animals created from 1731 and 1736 for the Japanese Gallery of Elector Augustus the Strong of Saxony. The resulting menagerie of 80 animal and bird sculptures was the result of the collaborations between the sculptor Johann Gottlieb Kirchner and artists Johann Joachim Kaendler, and reflected the natural history collection and live menageries of the elector. Includes chapters on their historical and topographical significance, and a catalogue of fired and projected models.

"Augustus the Strong (1670-1733) had long been a collector of Japanese and Chinese porcelain, and it was to house his collection that the Japanese Palace in Dresden was purchased. In 1729 Augustus enlarged the building to nearly double its original size in order to create a "porcelain palace." One gallery was to be entirely devoted to Meissen porcelain, including the exceptional animal figures that are the subject of this book and the exhibition it accompanies."--BOOK JACKET.