Rachel with an E

Fabulous Frauen – Fashion at the Hamburg Museum of Fine Art – Part One

As always I cannot say ‘no’ to visiting either a good local museum and if that local museum just happens to have a fashion exhibition on when I visit I am doubly excited. This happened last month when I visited Hamburg to meet friends and spent a morning in the Museum fur Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg (Museum of Fine and Applied Arts – I think!). This museum had a summer exhibition entitled ‘Dressed. 7 Frauen – 200 Jahre Mode‘ or ‘Dressed. 7 Frauen – 200 Years of Fashion’ (the exhibition closed on 28th August), which told the story of fashion from the past 200 years through the clothing of seven women either from Hamburg or other parts of Germany.

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Mariano Fortuny Museum, Venice, Italy – Part One.

In April of this year I had the great good fortune to visit the Fortuny Museum in Venice, Italy. The Fortuny Museum or ‘Museo Fortuny’ in Italian is housed in the Palazzo Pesaro a 15th Century Venetian palace. Fortuny or Mariano Fortuny y Madrazo (11th May 1871, Granada Spain – 3rd May 1949, Venice Italy was an early twentieth century Spanish couturier based in Venice and is perhaps most famous for his ‘Delphos’ dresses (pictured above) of finely pleated silk with Murano glass beads on a silk cord to either side of the waist of the dress to way the dress down.

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Beyond the Bookcase: Reads for February

Let’s face it February is a dreary, dreich, and somewhat dank month when it comes to weather. Now don’t get me wrong I love being outside in nearly all weathers but as I write this the rain is coming down in torrents against the window outside. Not ideal walking weather. So what to do? Stay inside with a good book and a lovely cup of tea. Read on for the Beyond the Bookcase recommendations for February.

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Resources, Sources, and Courses – Getting to Grips with Irish Women’s History

Wonderful Vintage Photos Of Female Students At Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts In 1948

Irish female historians have been making waves since the 19th century with historians such as Emily Lawless, Alice Stopford Green, Mary Hayden etc. paving the way for historians of Irish history and inspiring generations of future Irish historians. And as any historian will let you know finding a place that collates resources, sources, and courses (I couldn’t resist an alliteration!) for their particular discipline can be hazardous if that discipline is either niche or under-researched.

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Sophie Taeuber-Arp – A Retrospective at the Tate Modern – Part One

 Sophie Taueber-Arp, Zurich, 1916/17, Unknown photographer. Original in collection of  Stiftung Hans Arp und Sophie Taeuber-Arp.

‘A long overdue recognition of Taeuber-Arp’s pivotal contribution to modern art and design…’ [Tate Modern Website] as with most retrospectives of famous twentieth century female artists the long overdue long overdue retrospective comes years and even decades after the artist has died.

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