Replies

1. 
   susiekitchen | Mar 26, 2008 11:47pm | #1

   Thanks so much for that link. Right now my PC has a hairball it can't cough up and I can't  get  the slide show to load, but I plan to check it out.

   BTW, the author (I guess), has written one of my favorite books called Home: A Short History of an Idea.

    

1. 
   DavidxDoud | Mar 27, 2008 04:58am | #4

   "I can't get the slide show to load"it comes up as a pop-up - if you have pop-ups blocked, it won't load - "there's enough for everyone"

1. 
   susiekitchen | Mar 27, 2008 06:31pm | #5

   I do, and thanks!

1. 
   Snort | Mar 27, 2008 08:15pm | #7

   Thanks for that link David. I've always liked his real-but-not style... hadn't really thought about him in the architectural vein, 'til now <G> Winterlude, Winterlude, my little daisy,

   Winterlude by the telephone wire,

   Winterlude, it's makin' me lazy,

   Come on, sit by the logs in the fire.

   The moonlight reflects from the window

   Where the snowflakes, they cover the sand.

   Come out tonight, ev'rything will be tight,

   Winterlude, this dude thinks you're grand.

2. 
   drystone | Mar 29, 2008 02:24am | #12

   I happen to be reading that book just now, it is most interesting to read how much influence the Dutch had in the development of the idea of a home.  I 'see' the author's surname rather than 'read' it.  How is it pronounced?

1. 
   susiekitchen | Mar 30, 2008 08:27am | #15

   While I was reading the book I was struck by the author's description of the Dutch homemakers cleaning routine.  After age 10 I lived in a suburban area near South Holland, IL, and I can personally vouch for it. Ages ago they may have cleaned the stoop, but my family knew one lady who personally scrubbed her driveway at least once a week.

   As a kitchen designer I was also interested in the info included about the time-motion studies. I thought the book raised some very interesting points.

   As far as the pronunciation of the author's name, I have never heard it, but I'm guessing that the last name is Ribinsky or Richinsky, first name Vitol (soft "d"). No cracks from the peanut gallery if I'm wrong....my maiden name was Grcich!!

3. 
   Biff_Loman | Mar 29, 2008 03:54am | #14

   Short history is good. He had an interesting one on the concept of the weekend, which is of course an arbitrary concept.I keep wanting to read One Good Turn, which is the history of the development of the screw.

1. 
   susiekitchen | Mar 30, 2008 08:33am | #16

   Lots of interesting ideas in the book. A lot of parallels to what I learned in cultural history and period furnishings, plus lots of new insights. My instructor always said that in the "dark" ages chairs and stools, and sometimes chests, were the only furniture because that's about all you could throw on the back of a horse as you were escaping from the latest warlord or barbarian.

   I read another book by the author, but don't believe he's written anything lately.

   One Good Turn sounds interesting. I love to read about how the ordinary things we take for granted were developed!

2. 
   shywoodlandcreature | Mar 27, 2008 12:03am | #2

   I love Edward Hopper, and always have. A couple of years ago I had one of those ultimate "New York" moments, when I saw a retrospective of his work at the Whitney Museum -- I was at the tail end of lineup, which went around the block, when a woman walked up to me and asked me if I was alone. Not sure where this was going, I muttered "yeah", and pretended to look straight ahead. She then said "Here, I can't use this", and handed me a corporate pass for the exhibition, giving me instant access to the exhibit, and free champagne and very nice nibblies while I wandered from room to room.

   I don't think I had ever appreciated the breadth and depth of his talent until I got to see the working drawings he made for his major paintings. There were also some awesome drawings he had done as a very young commercial artist.

   I haven't read Rybczynski's piece yet, but thanks for the head's up. (BTW, I may be mistaken, but I think this might be quite an old slide show - I seem to recall seeing something very similar a year or two ago).

   "lucky in love; unlucky in metabolism"
   unknown

   
   

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   Edited 3/26/2008 5:05 pm by shywoodlandcreature

3. 
   Carole4 | Mar 27, 2008 12:14am | #3

   Thanks, David...I love the diner painting(probably his most famous)...Simplicity yet there are much more to his paintings than one sees when first viewing them.

4. 
   WindowsGuy | Mar 27, 2008 08:10pm | #6

   Thanks for the link.

   If you're in Chicago and you have the chance, be sure to check out the Hopper show at the Art Institute.  As you might expect, the paintings are much better in person.

   http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/exhibitions/hopper/artwork

   Edit:  This link to the AIC site will let you zoom in on selected works.

    

   
   

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   Edited 3/27/2008 1:13 pm ET by WindowsGuy

5. 
   yotonyb | Mar 28, 2008 01:52am | #8

   Excellent slide show!  The last photo in the series, a portrait of of Hopper outside his own cottage, notes that he was an accomplished carpenter. 

   I need to get to the Art Institute of Chicago to see the Hopper exhibition. 

   I know I'm slow to catch-on, but in my feeble mind I always thought the painting was the spontaneous product of the artist's talent.  But as documented by Hopper's journal entries, the painting is was the last in a series of steps leading up to the composition of the painting; any or all of those steps being art in their own form.

   Nighthawks is probably the most appropriated image in pop culture.  Tom Waits' album "Nighthawks at the Diner" used the painting as the inspiration for the artwork on the album cover.  And Hopper's "Rooms by the Sea" was used on Bruce Hornsby's album Harbor Lights.

   Am I the only one amused by my use of the word "album" to describe the now archaic delivery system for media content?

   tony b.

1. 
   shywoodlandcreature | Mar 28, 2008 01:56am | #9

   There's also a nice homage to "Nighthawks" in the opening credits of "Prairie Home Companion" (the movie, not the radio program). Wonder what it is about that painting that makes it such an icon?

   "lucky in love; unlucky in metabolism"

   unknown

1. 
   Snort | Mar 28, 2008 08:10pm | #10

   Maybe it's because we've all been there? Winterlude, Winterlude, my little daisy,

   Winterlude by the telephone wire,

   Winterlude, it's makin' me lazy,

   Come on, sit by the logs in the fire.

   The moonlight reflects from the window

   Where the snowflakes, they cover the sand.

   Come out tonight, ev'rything will be tight,

   Winterlude, this dude thinks you're grand.

1. 
   shywoodlandcreature | Mar 29, 2008 12:41am | #11

   Yeah, there's something universal about that scene, isn't there.

   "lucky in love; unlucky in metabolism"

   unknown

2. 
   pino | Mar 29, 2008 03:42am | #13

   We took the kids to see the exhibit the other day while on spring break and it was fantastic. Make plenty of time as the exhibit runs concurrently with one on Winslow Homer. Both exhibits are larger than one might expect and well worth the time.I can't recommend these exhibits enough.