IL-14 / April 10, 2009
The new années folles : THE RETURN OF THE ‘30s AND THE NEED FOR A MORE POETIC WORLD
This issue highlights
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Vintners in Bordeaux face up to a flat season of recessions
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Van Cleef lost its case
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Luxury carmakers not amused by Indian excise duty laws
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Macallan’s 1947 vintage raises a toast to India
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Dior’s new fragrance inspired by Puduchery
 
 
FEATURE
 

History reveals that hard times throw up stories of strife and survival, giving birth to the twin moods of despair and hope, all of which go on to influence the colour palettes of the artists and creative persons. Estelle Arielle Bouchet, the accomplished writer who resides in Provence in France, has written a well researched and insightful feature on the return of the tough years. Here is another exclusive for the readers of Newsvision.

  
 
The new années folles
THE RETURN OF THE ‘30s AND THE NEED FOR A MORE POETIC WORLD
by Estelle Arielle Bouchet
Beyond the world’s painful reality, a way out exists, in another world, an escapist voyage. Such is surrealism: the uncertain and extraordinary universe of Eluard, Desnos, Soupault, and many others, who, after World War I, were desperate for the rebirth of dreaming and of the new.

Like the phoenix that rises from the ashes, the artist appeals to his right to recreate a new world based in France of the winding trenches, of women widowed before they became mothers, of the smell of blood and destruction. It means peering into the “Je est un autre” (I am another) so dear to Rimbaud, in order to invent a new world that allows us to be born again. A world that can express itself through a new art. An art made of flowers, babyish plumpness and lovers’ curves: Art Deco. This impulsive need to create life out of the emptiness of the war in Europe from 1914-1918 and later in the US during the stock market crash of 1929, leads artists to long for a parallel world. It’s a time of Dadaism, a time of automatic writing, where words are hidden like streams rushing past the old roots of rational and bourgeois thought.

The twenties and thirties make up a great artistic moment, completely against ignorance and savagery, and committed to life. In a dark economic and social context, artists build a world that is alive and colorful. In “La Rûche,” on the hills of Montparnasse, they recreate the world. The building that Eiffel designed for the Exposition Universelle in 1900, from that moment on, was a sanctuary for all the starving artists that went on to become the greatest geniuses in modern painting.

Among these, Chagall, exiled from a dying Russia, concentrated on the mysticism of his Jewish origins. Every work of art in his collection was made with intense passion and zeal. But the ‘30s were radically different, even in painting. After 1925, Picasso changed everything with his masterpiece: he would paint unarmed, violent pictures that depict scenes of shapeless and convulsing creatures, all this breeding unconquerable and hysterical rage. The influence of surrealist poets is expressed in painting, through the desire to represent the personal inner hell of the artist.

The Far East and the esoteric are in fashion because they make the“other world” auspicious to creation and dreams. Women become magnificent pharaoh-like vestals. Silhouettes taken from Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby,” purified of all excess fat, incredibly long-limbed and refined, dance the fast-paced Charleston until the early morning, fitting in with the “babies.” All this refers to modern figures like Nicole Kidman’s icy chic style. Haircuts are severe, but hats and dresses are beset by novelty: tiaras and precious stones are spread over fabrics and hairstyles. Poiret is aware of his glory and scatters the seeds of a new aesthetic canon that is still alive today. Fashion promotes an androgynous woman and the implication of liberty in movement,such as eliminating corsets, while daring to wear pants, and so forth.Gabrielle Chanel, a few years later, would include the pseudo-feminist – the Diva of Modern Times – in her repertoire, finally freed from the conventional dress shirt. This kind of woman has a good time and can laugh without inhibitions, she bets big money on Monte Carlo’s green felt and she is given over to images of shameless eroticism.

A new feminine freedom is found in the emblematic character of Polish painter Tamara Lempicka. The artist lived her life and her loves as she pleased, placing her personal and artistic creation above traditional feminine virtues. Summoned by Rufus Bush, she went to New York in 1929 to paint his fiancée’s portrait. The result was the portrait of an intensely modern woman, that reminds the viewer of Prada’s muses and, because of its play on restraint and curves, perfectly incarnates the Art Deco age. Art Deco gave life to design, which today holds an important place in the international artistic scene. It’s a time of playfulness and light-heartedness. Starting out full of superficiality, it’s an edict to stay aloof, something we find predominantly in today’s modern society as well: couples are not serious, there is no true love, yes to sex but no to love.

Glances are fringed with eyeliner, and the elegant woman hides behind her cigarette smoke. She is mysterious and her perfume sometimes takes on the poisonous fragrance of “Fracas” by Robert Piguet, just as today’s Dior offers “Midnight Poison,” but a fragrance that is very far from a Dioresque lily of the valley worn by our grandmothers! Neo-Classicism can be found in the desire for a festive eternity. Some artists, however, concentrate on the uneasiness of the age. The theme of naked feminism is added to a general desire to return to simplicity. As if reacting to the motioning allegorical figure meant to pass on knowledge in the nineteenth century, the feminine figure has reached the peacefulness and fullness of form of an ageless Venus. In Parisian homes, one can fall in love with Renè Lalique’s transparencies. It is all built upon a subtle play on light and shadow, on dream and reality. Fantasy is preferred to elegance, the baroque to sombre, fun to chastity, as long as no one knows what tomorrow will bring. Visions foreboding the drama of the Second World War? A diverse and uncertain climate that reflects the 2009 we live in and that animates madly virtual world capitals, anthems to multi-ethnic culture and a profound need for world peace. All this in a light-hearted age that can be seen in the humanitarian battles for Tibet and the fight for human rights.


Estelle Arielle Bouchet can be contacted at
EAB Press & Image consulting
eabcom@yahoo.com
Tel : 0033(0)667919179
0033 (0)490661481
 
NEWS INDIA  
 
   
Macallan’s 1947 vintage raises a toast to India

Macallan Fine and Rare is bringing to India its rare vintage single malt whisky, 1947, priced at Rs 28lakhs for a 700ml bottle. Mr Ken Grier, Director of Malts, Edrington Group reportedly said, “Vintage Macallan has been introduced in India following demands from consumers, collectors and trade for our extraordinary range. Vintage whiskies will span 36 different years from 1926 to 1976.” Sixteen bottles of this rare vintage will be available currently in India through company run distributors. These vintage whiskies come with a certificate of authenticity and have been tested using carbon dating techniques. The connoisseur unwilling to shell out 28 lakhs can opt for the 50ml miniature versions which will be available for £94 (Rs6945) . 		 

Luxury carmakers not amused by Indian excise duty laws

The luxury automobile companies like Mercedes Benz and BMW are opposing the reduced excise duty for small cars wherein the small 4 meter cars with 1,200cc petrol or 1500cc diesel engines are taxed a mere 8% while the bigger cars are taxed all of 20%. According to these lux sedan/limo manufacturers, the taxing criteria should be passenger safety, emission norms and fuel efficiency instead of the length. Mercedes-Benz India CEO Wilfried Aulbur said: “The government has been promising us a level playing field but they have not moved on this so far. Despite introducing the latest technology in the market, we have no incentive to innovate for the local market as we pay very high tax.”
 
Dior’s new fragrance inspired by Puduchery

Actually the name of the perfume is ‘Escale a Pondicherry’, the French colony of yore being the inspiration. The launch, first ever by Dior in the subcontinent, of the new fragrance is to be at the Dune Eco Beach Hotel in Puduchery, which will have plane loads of international journalists and officials arrive to cover the event. Celebrations will last three days they say. Previously Boucheron had brought out a very popular scent ‘Jaipur’. Which Indian city is ready to lend its name next?
 

Why foreign Luxury Brands flunked the India test

At the recent IHT luxury conference held in New Delhi, Mohan Murjani, chairman Murjani group, spoke about the many mistakes global luxury brand owners made in India. As the man who brought in such brands as Gucci, Jimmy Choo, Calvin Klein and FCUK, he knew what he was talking about. Some of the reasons he stated were that brand owners had over estimated and pegged gross margins of about $500 per sqft which in reality were only half; the partnerships between franchisors and franchisees were imbalanced and not equally beneficial; most lux brands came in when rentals were too high which lowered margins; foreign luxury brands passed on the high duties on luxury items to the customer who preferred to shop abroad rather than pay 25% extra. The Indian high-end retail market is expected to grow to $ 30bil by 2015 from the existing $ 3.5bil. The luxury brands will have to re strategize before aspiring for a slice of the action.

NEWS INTERNATIONAL  
 
 
YSL Auction bidder refuses to pay

The auction of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé collection held by Christie’s, being touted as the biggest private art auction in history, totted up a grand total of €373.5mil in sales. The highest bid was for the rat and rabbit bronze fountainheads belonging to the Qing Dynasty of China and said to have been stolen during the opium wars by the Anglo-French forces. Anonymous telephone bidders closed the sale for €15.7mil, far exceeding their presale estimate of €8-10mil. Even as speculators ruled out the possibility of it being a Chinese buyer, news has emerged that Cai Mingchao, a consultant for China’s National Treasure Fund, an organization created to buy back looted and stolen relics, was indeed the anonymous bidder. As reported in WWD, Cai said, “What I want to stress today is that the money cannot be paid. Every Chinese person would have liked to do like this at that moment, and I’m honored to have the chance to make the bid.” Over and above that, China’s State Administration of Cultural Heritage has declared that the sale had caused “serious damage to Chinese people’s cultural rights, interests and national sentiments,” and warned of repercussions for Christie’s operations in China. Bergé said that he would keep them himself if the buyer did not pay up.
 
Moët & Chandon – ‘Tribute to Cinema’

Moët & Chandon, the champagne of cinema, recently held a gala event, ‘Tribute to Cinema’ at London’s Big Sky studio. In a first by a champagne house, Hollywood actress and singer Scarlett Johansson, was introduced as their celebrity ambassador. Moët has been the official champagne of the Golden Globes for almost two decades, and the exclusive champagne of the 2009 Oscars. Moët will launch an international advertising campaign starring Scarlett Johansson from April 2009. The campaign will include print, outdoor and online advertising, featuring Moët and Scarlett reinforcing the brand as the champagne of cinema.
Louis Vuitton and Google lock horns over keywords in EU court

LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA, the luxury brands major and Google, the largest search engine in the world, have been involved in court cases for the past six years over Internet searches that link users to sites selling counterfeit fashion accessories. As per reports, Louis Vuitton has told the European Union’s highest court that Google Inc. doesn’t have the right to sell trademark-protected names to advertisers that trigger sponsored links when the name is used in an Internet search. Google is appealing a 2006 ruling by a Paris court that it breached Louis Vuitton’s trademark rights. The first of its kind case in the EU tribunal, it questions whether companies in the 27-nation region can block search engines from using trademarked brand names to trigger search results. Internet advertisements tied to search results generate most of Google’s revenue and have given companies which sell fake products, unprecedented visibility. The case is being closely watched by the e-commerce industry in EU. A ruling is expected by next year.

Versace Villa Fontanelle’s contents sold for $A14.7million

Sotheby’s auction house recently sold the contents of fashion designer Gianni Versace’s opulent Villa Fontanelle located on the shores of Italy’s Lake Como outside Milan. The bidding lasted over 12 hours for the 545 lots and sold for a total of $A15.57 mil, almost double the expected estimate of $A5.88 mil. The largest bid was for a pair of Italian cherry wood bookcases from Versace's bedroom, which sold for $A1.01 mil and $A1.26 mil, almost four times their pre-sale estimates. Johann Zoffany's portrait of Major George Maule, an English official in India in the 18th century, was estimated to sell for up to $A126,010 but it was withdrawn after a direct descendant of Maule reported it as stolen. Versace, who was shot in Miami in 1997, claimed that Villa Fontanelle was his favorite home. His lavish parties held here were attended by Princess Diana, Madonna, Sting and Elton John.
 

Channel sponsors Versailles ‘Court Pomp & Royal Ceremony’

The glory of Versailles’ fashionably dressed Royal courts is going to be showcased again after a good 200 years. An exhibition, ‘Fastes de Cour & Cérémonies Royales’ (‘Court Pomp & Royal Ceremony’) sponsored by Channel, recently opened to the public for a period of three months and will be on until June 28. The show retraces European court costumes from 1650 to 1800. The showstopper of this exhibition is the velvet and ermine coronation robe of George III of England. Also displayed are the opulent ensembles worn by Gustav III of Sweden and his bride, Princess Sophie Madeleine of Denmark, for their marriage in 1766. The Cologne Cathedral has loaned an exquisitely preserved cappa magna embroidered in gold, one of nearly 60 pieces ordered by Clément Auguste, archibishop of Cologne, and made in Paris for the coronation of his brother, Charles Albert of Bavaria. Pierre Arizzoli-Clémentel, the show’s head curator explained that the exhibition took 14 years to put together since France, despite extensive archives, did not possess actual clothing artifacts. But the French monarchy was a major influence on the other European royal courts in Germany, Russia, Vienna, Denmark and Sweden and their well preserved royal attire, furniture and accoutrements have been borrowed for the show.
 
Van Cleef lost its case

Van Cleef & Arpels have been ordered by the labor court in Paris to pay Thierry Berthelot, a former jewelry designer, a sum of € 170,000 as compensation, which included severance and holiday pay plus punitive damages. Vincent Fauchoux, Van Cleef & Arpels’ lawyer has said that the firm will issue an appeal. Berthelot, who worked at the Compagnie Financière Richemont-owned jewelry house from 1985-2005, had sued for breach in employment agreement. With only the first ruling won, Berthelot is awaiting the high court hearing coming up in May for one of his other claims for € 3mil against Van Cleef for using designs that are the designer’s intellectual property. Van Cleef has retaliated with a countersuit against Berthelot for abuse of legal proceedings and claim that all designs commissioned by the house are legally its intellectual property. The judgment will underline a very critical issue in copyright claims.
 

Louis Vuitton’s new watch - high on tech and beauty

Louis Vuitton strides into the new financial year with the launch of its new watch collections in Manhattan. The show stopper in the entire high tech collection is the unisex watch, Tambour Mystérieuse, tagged at about € 200,000. This has been created completely in-house at its La Chaux de Fonds factory in Switzerland. The round dial beauty’s mechanism is encapsulated by two sapphire crystal discs, allowing the watch itself to float within the bezel framing it. It comes with a 8-day, 8-hour power reserve along with many options such as monogramming the second hand with the wearer’s initials, selecting gemstones to place on the platinum, white, yellow or red gold case, and straps which come in any leather. Naturally they take a year to make and will come in a miniature Vuitton trunk, which the customer will be shown personally in the fall.
 
 
Vintners in Bordeaux face up to a flat season of recessions

After the heady seasons of the past, the 2008 vintage of the world’s finest wines will not see many an elite connoisseurs at the ‘campagne primeu’ in Bordeux, which happens every year in spring since 1970. Wine tasting may not be so much fun in face of deep recession and many a buyers and speculators are keeping away. Reportedly 2005 was the high season when the prices rose skywards and until last year were kept propped up by the big spenders despite the average vintages of 2006 and 2007. Some overseas buyers have not showed up fearing that top chateaus would not accept that prices must fall. Stephen J. Browett, director of Farr Vintners, an up-market British wine merchant, said he would not be sending a team to Bordeaux this week because he did not expect to be able to sell the new wine at a profit without substantial price cuts. A price cut of almost 50-60% is really what the speculators are asking for but fear that the top chateaus will oblige with a mere 15% from the 2007 en primeur.
Rare true blue diamond to be auctioned this May

Sotheby’s Geneva Magnificent Jewels auction will be auctioning a rare 7.03 carats blue diamond in the month of May. The yet nameless diamond is expected to fetch $5.8 to 8.5 millions and the buyer gets to christen it too. Diamonds get their rare blue coloring from the presence of element Boron in its formation and the Petra Diamond’s Cullinan mine is South Africa are well known to be the most reliable source for such diamonds. While the auction will take place in Geneva, the stone will be displayed in Hong Kong, Paris, New York and London.
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EVENTS  
 
Louis Vuitton’s art foundation preview in Hong Kong
  
‘Louis Vuiton: A Passion for Creation’ is the theme of the art exhibition due to run at the Hong Kong Museum of Art from May 22 to August 9. Louis Vuitton plans of constructing a permanent art foundation in Paris which will be designed by Frank Gehry and opened in 2012. The Hong Kong exhibition is a preview of some of its treasures. A scale model of Gehry’s glass, cloudlike building will travel to Hong Kong, along with a video interview with the famous architect.

The site-specific exhibition will include some works that reflect the complexity and energy of the host city, including a film titled “Central” by French artist Dominique Gonzales-Foerster, along with works by seven young local artists. Selections from Vuitton’s permanent collection also will be on display, including large-scale works by the likes of Jeff Koons, Andreas Gursky, Pierre Huyghe, Gilbert & George and Jean-Michel Basquiat, plus videos from Rosemarie Trockel, Wolfgang Tillmans, Ange Leccia. Vuitton also plans to publish a book this September with Rizzoli New York titled “Louis Vuitton: Art, Fashion and Architecture,” an anthology of the brand’s art projects and critical essays about its patronage during what it describes as “one of the most fertile periods of contemporary art and design.
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TRENDS  
 


Artists from Asia are finally getting their well deserved spot in the sunshine. With rising awareness and resultant demands, the art galleries have turned their focus east wards. Christies has sourced and auctioned successfully paintings from Japan, China, Korea, India.
 
 

"Remember, when our customers tighten their belt, it's generally ostrich or alligator."

Burt Tanksy, CEO Neiman Marcus

 
   
   
   
     
 

                                    


Subodh Gupta has made headlines since his works began to fetch mega bucks in the international art marts. Christie’s largest collection came from the sale of Subodh Gupta’s 'Saat Samundar Paar' (Across the Seven Seas) which fetched HK$9,280,000 , selling for almost nine times its presale estimate. Gupta has delved into the psyche of the immigrant and used related iconography and metaphors to depict this in his series. Airports, luggage, conveyor belts, journeys, baggage and nostalgia have found a place in his works.

                        


Of the best Japanese contemporary works auctioned by Christie’s in its Spring 2008 Evening Sale, this one by Hisashi Tenmyouya’s RX-78-2 Kabuki-mono 2005 Version depicts the recent development of animation cartoons and its influence on contemporary art. It sold for HK$4,807,500.

                

The Korean painter Hong Kyung Tack’s Library II rated top notch in the auction in May 2008. The artist has done a fine job of juxtaposing kitschy pop culture with religion and religious icons. It sold for HK$4,807,500, almost twice its pre sale estimate.

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NEW PRODUCTS  
 


Glamorous mouse for the luxury freak

For all those who have invested in the diamond encrusted mobile phones and laptops with gold casing and keys, here is the next high caret luxury gadget to liven up the work space. Partners Patrick Strumpf and Dirk Ruenz, founders of the Switzerland based Pat Says Now, have made their mark designing innovative and outrageous products. The latest is the computer mouse which is now available in many a versions such as croc leather, diamond encrusted and other such embellishments. The Diamond Flower Computer Mouse retails for about $23,250.

  
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EDITORIAL  
 
The Indian Luxury Bubble

The reviews of the recently gone by Luxury Conference at Delhi read like confessions of the Who’s Who. The indefatigable Mr Murjani, who just gave up the Gucci and Jimmy Choo brands, claimed that the average luxury retail outlet in India last year lost $375 per sqft, before overheads. Another executive compared luxury investments to a cocktail on the Titanic. Christian Blanckaert, executive vice-president of French giant Hermes International felt he would have to be a grand father many times over before he would see Indian luxury blossom. No doubt the grandiose hopes of luxury purveyors has become one more pop of an industry bubble…Still, all is not lost. What has failed is a transplantation of a Western luxury model with little thought of Indian sensitivities. What is still alive is Indian wealth and a robust economy. Our Indian luxury strengths are surfacing in the form of hotels, resorts and spas as well as jewellery and art. Perhaps some of our own talented entrepreneurs can smell an opportunity!
 
           
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EDITOR IN CHIEF : VINOD KAUL
EDITOR : NEELIMA MISHRA AGRAWAL