i spy: sad Don, a gorgeous menu, and great NYC street style

May is over and seemed to go by really quickly, too.  If this collage were a realistic depiction of my brain in May, it would be 95% Mad Men and 5% dogs.

You can see more by following my Pinterest and/or Tumblr.

* I still can't get used to the fact that there is no more Mad Men.  I know.  I'm as sad as Don curled up in a fetal position. | coffee-and-classic-rock Tumblr

* Photographer Dan Bannino decided to help raise money for shelter dogs by photographing them posed as famous writers, and it is a wondrous thing indeed!  How cute is this little dog in Emily Dickinson drag?  Follow my link to Buzzfeed to see more of these great photos. | Buzzfeed

* I've been perusing the many fashion-related items in the New York Public Library digital collections, and the illustrations by André-Edouard Marty are consistently favorites.  This is a 1921 illustrated ad for a Paul Poiret dress. | NYPL Digital Collections

* A simply gorgeous 1960s menu from the Bay View Hotel in Bodega Bay, California.  The Los Angeles Public Library's online collection of menus is a surprisingly beautiful place to browse. | Los Angeles Public Library

* Great NYC street style from The Sartorialist.  I love her outfit (and the touch of mustard from her blouse), but most of all that excellent, Howard's End Helena Bonham Carter hair! | The Sartorialist

xo

K

henry darger - in the realms of the unreal

I fully admit to being way behind the curve on this, but I plead technical difficulties.  When In the Realms of the Unreal, the documentary about the life of outsider artist and writer Henry Darger first came out in 2004, I was immediately fascinated and couldn't wait to see it.  I didn't get a chance until it came to Netflix in 2005, but the DVD I received wouldn't play in my machine.  I remember being really annoyed, as I was so looking forward to learning more about this artist and his strange work.

I recently saw this post on Some Girls Wander with photos taken of Darger's room--which had been left as it was when he died in 1973, but has since been dismantled--and decided I needed to make an effort to see the film again.

Darger was the author of a 15,000-page manuscript titled The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What is known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glandeco-Angelinnian War Storm, Caused by the Child Slave Rebellion, which he illustrated with several hundred drawings and watercolors. 

Darger, who'd had a troubled, difficult childhood, spent largely in an asylum for "feeble-minded children," was a self-taught artist.  One of the most fascinating sections of the film is the description of the variety of methods Darger used to master his various characters: tracing, collage, and photo enlargement among them.  

I won't even try to describe the plot of The Vivian Girls.  It's epic.  The illustrations are by turns stunningly beautiful and nightmarishly disturbing. 

I found myself mesmerized by his use of color.

The film does a brilliant job of showcasing Darger's art, at times animating it, and in a couple cases incorporating it into old photos of Chicago (where Darger lived), in a film collage.

xo

K