Animalarium

Monday, June 4, 2012

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Up

Yoshiko Oouchi

It's been a rough week. Emma's health has gotten worse, and she may have little time left.

Today we went to the beautiful and peaceful thermal baths of Bagno Vignoni to relax

and regenerate. And now, I'm in the mood for some uplifting imagery...

hope you'll enjoy it too

Jean de Brunhoff, Le Voyage de Babar, 1932

Roger Duvoisin, 1967, thanks to The Art of Children's Picture Books

John Martin Gilbert, A Dragon in a Wagon, 1966, thanks to Bonito Club

Karoly Reich, 1982, via Curio Books

Richard Scarry's Best Storybook Ever, thanks to my vintage book collection (in blog form)

Beni Montresor, I Saw I Saw a Ship A-Sailin, 1967, thanks to Prìncipi e Princípi

David Daniel Álvarez Hernández and Julia Díaz Garrido

Milton Glaser, 1958, thanks to Groove is in the Art

Agata Dudek

Saturday, June 2, 2012

These modernist Italian ceramics were produced by Aldo Londi at Bitossi.
The company was founded in 1921 by Guido Bitossi and is still run by his family.
Its hometown, Montelupo Fiorentino, has been an important center of pottery production
since the Renaissance. Numerous important and innovative designers have collaborated with Bitossi
throughout its history, including Piero Fornasetti, Ettore Sottsass, Nathalie du Pasquier
and Marco Zanini, but Londi was surely the most significant contributor to the company's identity.

Londi was born in Montelupo in 1911, and started working for a ceramics manufacturer
when he was 11 years old. After being taken prisoner in South Africa during WW2, he returned
to Italy and in 1946 was appointed artistic director at Bitossi. He held that position for over 50 years,
and created thousand of designs for vases, jugs, animals, candle stick holders and other objects.

Londi was a creative experimenter in both form and technique, who combined
great technical skills and traditional knowledge with a contemporary artistic sensitivity
and great curiosity for new sources of ideas and inspiration. His distinctive ceramic designs
were decorated with a great variety of patterns, glazes and color combinations.

thanks to Mid-Centuria

Londi's most famous series, the Rimini Blu collection, was designed between 1953 and 1965.
These vibrantly colored ceramics were individually decorated with hand embossed patterns
and painted with layered glazes in various shades of blue with a touch of green and purple.

In 2006 Bitossi started reissuing some Londi designs made between 1950 and 1970.
Miniature Rimini Bianco is a selection of ten figurines from the original Rimini Blu series
reproduced in small size and white color.

The last range designed by Londi was Arkitectura, a collection of elegant and quirky stylized animal figures
decorated with embossed lines and dots and a painted with a monochrome white, black or platinum color glaze.
It's still being produced and you can find it in various design shops around the web.

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Mad Men & Crazy Critters - Wild Spirits

Armando Testa, maquette for Martini

Animals and alcohol have a long history together in advertising,
I suppose they make our addictions look more harmless?