What's Latest in Ornamentum
history and art
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Article by John Fleming and Marian Bradshaw
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n a world of commodification, history and art become commercial products subject to the extremes of the marketplace- a lock of Napoleon’s hair, a fragment of Nelson’s uniform up for auction, the funerary detritus of ancient tombs on display...
birds of a different feather
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Article by Susan MacFarlane Burke
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t is generally acknowledged that folk art’s visual appeal lies with the seemingly contradictory elements of naivety and sophistication that folk brings to form and decoration. For museologists and cultural historians the fascination goes much deeper, however, into the wellspring of...
the presence of the past
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Article by Lucy and Evan Price
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he Auberge Saint-Antoine, situated in the Old Port of Quebec, first opened its doors in 1992. Initially a modest undertaking, it grew in phases into a 95-room Relais & Châteaux hotel of worldwide renown. Peel away the luxurious amenities and...
a night at the auction
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Article by David Silcox
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rt auctions are the nexus of money and desire. Passionate collectors of varying means, and those who wish they had greater means, are auction junkies. Even if you have limited funds, auctions provide a public spectacle where you can test your eye...
art deco design in Canada
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Article by Ornamentum
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orth American Art Deco found its sources largely in European models but it took on its own distinctive...
deco in the detail
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Article by Paul G. Russell
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he complex background of forces that lies behind what came to be called Art Deco retrospectively in 1966 is an amalgam of political movements, competing aesthetic theories, painterly avant-gardism and interest in exotic and ancient sources of inspiration. All this led...
style graphique, style de vie
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Article by Marc H. Choko
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a plupart des grandes villes canadiennes comptent quelques beaux exemples de bâtiments art déco. L’édifice Aldred, le Pavillon central de l’Université de Montréal, ou le Jardin botanique à Montréal, l’hôtel Royal York, le Canada Permanent Building ou le Toronto Stock Exchange...
Stepping on a skyscraper
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Article by David A. Hanks
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oseph Claude Sinel (1889-1975) was among the earliest in the emerging profession of industrial design in North America, along with more familiar figures such as Raymond Loewy, Donald Deskey and Henry Dreyfuss. Sinel immigrated to San Francisco from Auckland, New Zealand...
Lyle and the moderne
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Article by Glenn McArthur
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ohn M. Lyle was one of the pre-eminent architects of the first half of the twentieth century in Canada. He was acknowledged by his peers as a leading architectural spokesperson, one who worked tirelessly to raise the profile of the profession through his...