#Olbrich

[detournementsmineurs]

"Buckle" by Patriz Huber for Theodor Fahrner in silver and chalcedonies (circa 1901), "Butterfly Brooch" by Georg Kleemann for Murrie & Bennett in gold, plique-à-jour enamel, opal, rubies and pearls (circa 1902), "Pendant with Chain" by Joseph Maria Olbrich for Theodor Fahrner in silver and chrysopras (circa 1905) and "Brooches" by Murrie Bennett & Co (circa 1900) presented in “A History of Jewellery: Bedazzled (part 6: Art Nouveau 1890-1914)” by Beatriz Chadour-Sampson - International Jewellery Historian and Author - for the V&A Academy online, march 2024.

[fashionbooksmilano]

Versacrum

The Vienna Secession Art Magazine 1898-1903

Gustav Kilmt, Koloman Moser, Otto Wagner, Alfred Roller, Max Kurzwell, Joseph M.Olbrich, Josef Hoffmann

Valerio Terraroli

Skira, Milano 2018, 224 pagine, 28,5x29,5cm, ISBN 978-88-572-3876-0

euro 40,00

email if you want to buy booksinprogressmilano@yahoo.it

This book gathers the covers of Ver Sacrum, the official magazine of the Vienna Secession, which ran from 1898 to 1903. Published for the 120th anniversary of this historic magazine, it reproduces all 120 regular issues―plus some special, limited-edition covers―in 1:1 scale, alongside a selection of block prints, lithographs and copper engravings.

Ver Sacrum (meaning "Sacred Spring" in Latin) was conceived by Gustav Klimt, Max Kurzweil and Ludwig Hevesi. During its six years of activity, 471 original drawings were made specifically for the magazine, along with 55 lithographs and copper engravings and 216 block prints, by artists such as Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, Koloman Moser, Otto Wagner, Max Fabiani, Joseph Maria Olbrich and Josef Hoffmann. Writers such as Rainer Maria Rilke, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Maurice Maeterlinck, Knut Hamsun, Otto Julius Bierbaum, Richard Dehmel, Ricarda Huch, Conrad Ferdinand Meyer and Arno Holz were published in its pages.

Ver Sacrum reveals the tremendous originality of the Jugendstil language, a cornerstone of modernity that elaborated new forms of design, illustration and print/editorial composition.

31/10/24

[ay-miphae]

the world we live in is another skald's

[metalsongoftheday]

Friday, December 6: Blind Guardian, "This Will Never End"

Thomas Stauch supposedly left Blind Guardian because he felt they had gone a few steps too far into orchestral bombast on A Night at the Opera, and he wasn’t very wrong about that.  But he also didn’t really think things through, since Hansi Kürsch and André Olbrich pretty quickly recalibrated on A Twist in the Myth and crafted something that was at least more direct if not straightforward.  To be sure, they recalibrated rather than retreated: “This Will Never End” had the same inflated sense of drama and sideways arrangements that made A Night at the Opera an occasionally obtuse experience, but there was also more force and crunch in the playing and production, with Frederik Ehmke’s drumming fairly high in the mix.  Kürsch likewise fused his usual histrionics with a little more bite, and the track, while arguably kicking off Blind Guardian’s legacy era, had a singularity that was distinct to these four individuals.

[sea-of-machines]

André is wearing a sonic shirt xd

[non-luogo]

some analog pics taken in Vienna during my urban planning studio trip back in march 2023

[mistray-art]

despite the writing on the wall hope grows from now on for our brotherhood stands strong 🩸

[25 june 2022]

(Queueing old art everyday just for the sake of keeping this blog mildly updated).

[blindguardians]

imaginations tour 1995 (or, "what are they wearing?")

[shakespearefreak]

🎂 Happy Birthday, Samantha! 🎂

(Even though we actually celebrated her birthday a day early because the weather forecast said it was going to rain all day on the 26th, I somehow STILL managed to be a week late posting this, eep)

For Samantha’s birthday this year, we went back to Olbrich Gardens for another picnic! 🌸 (Initially, we were going to be joined by someone from one of my doll groups on Facebook, but because we rescheduled due to the rain, she wasn’t able to come after all. 😕 Ah well, next time.) Sam and Nellie attracted some attention: at one point, a passerby told me that while I’d been lost in taking the perfect photo of their picnic, a rabbit 🐇 had gotten quite close to us until their group had approached and accidentally scared it away. A little later, a very nice older fellow stopped and asked me if I was telling a story. I said yes, surprised and pleased he’d understood so immediately what I was doing, and he asked me questions about what the girls were doing, and gave me some really helpful photography tips when I expressed frustration at how my earlier photos were turning out. It was very cool.

This time Marley managed to get a shot of Samantha sitting on the pillar inscribed with her creator’s name!

After walking around a bit, we found a grassy spot and set up the picnic. There was strawberry cake 🍰 with vanilla icing, a small dish of tea cakes, and a large pitcher of ice-cold pink lemonade (which was very welcome on the warm day!). Even Jip had a rawhide bone 🦴 to gnaw, though you can’t see it here. Nellie raised her glass in a toast: “To Samantha — the most caring, generous, and wonderful person I know, and the best friend anyone could ever ask for. Happy Birthday!”

Samantha felt her gift through the wrapping. “It must be a book!” She sounded more excited than some children might be at the prospect of a book as a birthday present; she loved to read, and was eager to see what the title would turn out to be. 📗

“Peter and Wendy! Oh, I love this one!” Sam cried out happily.

“I know,” Marley returned with a grin. “It’s one of my absolute favorites too.”

“I can’t wait to re-read it! I’m going to start tonight,” Samantha said. “Thank you so much!”

Jip came over to investigate what all the fuss was about. Samantha stuck the white gift bow on his head over one floppy ear, giggling. Jip put up with this with unaccustomed patience for a few moments, then shook his head vigorously, flapping his ears and knocking the bow to the grass, to the amusement of everyone.

True to her word, as soon as Samantha was in her nightgown and slippers, she snuggled up with her teddy bear (last year’s birthday gift) in Marley’s bed with her new book and began to read. As Samantha followed the adventures of Peter Pan, the Lost Boys, and Captain Hook, Marley was lost in their own (somewhat darker 😂) novel, The Dark Half by Stephen King.

When Marley looked over a bit later after finishing the latest chapter detailing Thad Beaumont’s Jekyll-and-Hyde situation with his “dark half” George Stark, Samantha was slumped over, still holding her new book loosely in one hand, fast asleep and dreaming of Neverland. ✨

(Also, yes, I know the book should be the other way around; I didn’t realize that until it was too late to fix it! 😅)

BONUS: A few doll-less photos of the Gardens:

[videomessiah]

Blind Guardian were awesome in Toronto! (May 9, 2024)

[salvia-plathitudes]

Feeling cute in a new fit. We went on a lil trip for the first time in a long time to meet friends who moved to WI a week ago. The baby is ten weeks old and I got to hold her 🥺

The slope of the ramp on this tower + the way the wide-legged romper’s “legs” start up at my waist make me appear superrr tall, and as a Mexi gali I’m loving it! Sid clearly has the better camera.

Bonus

[julianjohannesolbrich-bw]

CATHY

[that-other-smile]

Lars Olbrich

[metalsongoftheday]

Friday, May 26: Blind Guardian, “The Script for My Requiem”

Imaginations from the Other Side was the game changer, the record that established an entirely new lane not only for Blind Guardian, but for power metal as a genre.  The band had begun expanding their breadth on Somewhere Far Beyond, but their fifth album added a very specific type of grandiosity to their sound and delivered a new kind of bombast.  “The Script for My Requiem” was of a piece with the rest of the album, incorporating all of the band’s different attributes in a single track: Thomas Stauch’s drumming was rooted in thrash, as were Andre Olbrich’s riffs, but the guitarist’s composition and arrangement nodded towards mid ‘70s Priest and Dio-era Rainbow, and Hansi Kürsch most definitely enjoyed him some Freddie Mercury.  All of this was brought into clear form by Flemming Rasmussen’s intelligent production (nearly 30 years later, Imaginations remains arguably the best sounding record they ever made).  The only things missing were the Tolkien and Moorcock references, as “The Script for My Requiem” was one of the few Blind Guardian tunes that wasn’t about specifically about orcs or wizards, though the sheer surge of the chorus pointed towards the storming of Mordor.  But Blind Guardian truly found themselves here, and in so doing elevated the entire genre in ways that are still being felt all these years later.

[sea-of-machines]

Hansi & André getting their motions captured for Sacred 2, and Hansi ingame shots

[kenpiercemedia]

Blind Guardian Announces "The God Machine" North American Tour For 2024

Blind Guardian Announces "The God Machine" North American Tour For 2024

The Press Release: After last year’s triumphant return to the stage in the form of their ‘Somewhere Far Beyond Tour’ across Germany, the breathtaking story of BLIND GUARDIAN’s latest masterpiece The God Machine goes on. The metal legends are proud to announce ’The God Machine’ North American 2024 tour. The 22-date trek will commence on April 18th at The Fillmore in Silver Springs and will make…