Sanlun Yishu & Tiffany

Photographer Tom Griscom will have work in a fascinating project, Sanlun Yishu, a “mobile gallery” in Beijing starting in March. Sanlun Yishu is meant to be an interactive project; the collaborators will trade small reproductions of the work (postcards?) for whatever the participants offer. They will also catalog the reponses and send them back to the artists. This sounds like a great way to stimulate a dialog about art between cultures with people that don’t often have access to galleries and museums.

Hannah Sigur has recently confirmed a speaking engagement for FAMSF on March 28th as part of a series of lectures related to the upcoming show at the Legion of Honor, Artistic Luxury: Fabergé, Tiffany, Lalique February 7, 2009 — May 31, 2009. FAMSF's web site describes the show as "the first comparative study of the work of the three greatest jewelry and decorative arts designers at the turn of the 20th century: Peter Carl Fabergé, Louis Comfort Tiffany, and René Lalique. Their rivalry found its stage at the 1900 World's Fair in Paris—the only exposition where all three showed simultaneously and where the work of each was prominently displayed. Some of their most elaborate designs for the Paris World's Fair are reunited for the first time in a gallery recreating the ambiance of this opulent international exposition. Looking critically at the development, design, and marketing of each firm, this exhibition explores how these designers responded to the demand for luxury goods in the years leading up to World War 1."

I have often heard Hannah discuss the important role the world fairs played in helping to expose people in the West to Asian artistic concepts and how this was an inspiration to artists/craftsmen like Tiffany. Hannah will also be signing her book The Influence of Japanese Art on Design .

Bravo to Tom and Hannah!