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Pierre-Paul Prud'hon(4 April 1758-16 February 1823)

10/2/2020

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name:                      Pierre-Paul Prud'hon
birth place:             Cluny France
birth date:               4 April 1758
​zodiac sign:             Aries

death place:            Paris France
death date:             16 February 1823
PORTRAIT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE, 1805
PORTRAIT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE, 1805

Biographie

Pierre-Paul Prud'hon nait à Cluny, le 4 avril 1758, septième et dernier enfant de Christophe Prudon, maître tailleur de pierre.

A dix-neuf ans, ​Prud'hon épouse le 17 février 1778, Jeanne Pennet, la fille d'un notaire. Ce mariage ne sera pas très heureux mais il en aura un fils, Jean, né en 1778, qui deviendra aussi peintre et graveur.

Il poursuit ses études, et vient, en 1780, à Paris où il est adressé au graveur Wille par son compatriote le baron de Joursanvault, qui est aussi son bienfaiteur, et pour lequel il illustre une Méthode de basse et une Méthode de blason. 

En 1783, revenu à Dijon, il y concourt bientôt pour le Prix de Rome régional des états de Bourgogne. Prud'hon part pour Rome où il arrive le 3 janvier 1783 avec son camarade Pierre Petitot. Cependant, malgré ses amis, malgré la sollicitude du cardinal de Bernis, de Canova, il y vit dans la solitude, dans la mélancolie, et parfois dans la gêne. Il voyage en Italie de 1784 à 1788.

Revenu à Paris, il acquiert une certaine renommée avec quelques tableaux allégoriques repris dans des gravures, mais son amitié avec Robespierre l’oblige à quitter Paris et il part vivre en Franche-Comté de 1794 à 1796.

Il vit alors de portraits et d’illustrations pour l’éditeur et imprimeur Pierre Didot. Il est élu membre associé de l’Institut en 1796 et revient alors à Paris où sa carrière prend un nouvel essor. Le Louvre met à sa disposition un atelier pour réaliser La Sagesse et la Vérité descendant sur la terre de 1798 à 1799. Il peint également pour l’hôtel du financier de Lannoy, des décors allégoriques qui sont beaucoup appréciés, et des plafonds au Louvre.

Le gouvernement lui attribue un atelier à la Sorbonne où sa femme Jeanne vient le harceler. Pour lui échapper, le peintre demande la protection de Vivant Denon, directeur des musées. En 1808 il peint La Justice et la Vengeance Divine poursuivant le Crime.
La Justice et la Vengeance divine poursuivant le Crime, par Prud'hon
La Justice et la Vengeance divine poursuivant le Crime, par Prud'hon
Il est nommé chevalier de la Légion d'honneur le 22 octobre 1808.

Il rompt définitivement avec son épouse acariâtre et se lie à l'artiste-peintre Constance Mayer, sa collaboratrice, et s'installe avec elle.
PORTRAIT DE L’IMPÉRATRICE JOSÉPHINE DANS LE PARC DE MALMAISON, 1805
PORTRAIT DE L’IMPÉRATRICE JOSÉPHINE DANS LE PARC DE MALMAISON, 1805
​Il fait le portrait de l'impératrice Joséphine, (conservé à Paris au musée du Louvre), et, en 1811, nommé professeur de dessin de la souveraine, il fait le portrait du petit Roi de Rome, présenté au Salon de 1812.

Il est élu membre de l'Académie des beaux-arts, au fauteuil no 3 de la section Peinture, succédant à François-André Vincent, en 1816.

Le 26 mai 1821, Constance Mayer, dépressive, se tue, la douleur de Prud'hon est profonde. Il termine le tableau qu'elle a laissé inachevé, Une famille malheureuse, et l'expose au Salon de 1822. Il meurt l'année suivante et il est inhumé à Paris au cimetière du Père-Lachaise.

Il est apprécié par Stendhal, Balzac, Delacroix, Millet et Baudelaire pour la qualité de son clair-obscur et son réalisme subtil. Plusieurs de ses œuvres furent gravées par son confrère Jacques-Louis Copia, tandis qu'Antoine François Gelée fut médaillé au Salon de 1842 pour son interprétation du tableau La Justice et la Vengeance Divine poursuivant le Crime.

Biography

Love Seduces Innocence, Pleasure Entraps, and Remorse Follows by Pierre-Paul Prud'hon
Love Seduces Innocence, Pleasure Entraps, and Remorse Follows
Pierre-Paul Prud'hon (April 4, 1758 – February 16, 1823) was a French Romantic painter and draughtsman best known for his allegorical paintings and portraits such as Madame Georges Anthony and Her Two Sons (1796). Notably, he painted a portrait of each of Napoleon's two wives.

He was an early influence on Théodore Géricault.​
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Pierre-Paul Prud'hon was born in Cluny, Saône-et-Loire, France. He received his artistic training in the French provinces and went to Italy when he was twenty-six years old to continue his education. On his return to Paris, he found work decorating some private mansions. His work for wealthy Parisians led him to be held in high esteem at Napoleon's court.

His painting of Josephine portrays her not as an Empress, but as a lovely, attractive woman, which led some to think that he might have been in love with her. After the divorce of Napoleon and Josephine, he was also employed by Napoleon' s second wife Marie-Louise.

Prud'hon was at times clearly influenced by Neo-classicism, at other times by Romanticism. Appreciated by other artists and writers such as Stendhal, Delacroix, Millet and Baudelaire for his chiaroscuro and convincing realism, he is probably most famous for his Crucifixion (1822, Louvre), which he painted for St. Etienne's Cathedral in Metz. 

The young Théodore Géricault had painted copies of work by Prud'hon, whose "thunderously tragic pictures" include his masterpiece, Justice and Divine Vengeance Pursuing Crime, where oppressive darkness and the compositional base of a naked, sprawled corpse obviously anticipate Géricault's painting The Raft of the Medusa.
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External links:

Pierre-Paul Prud'hon artworks
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Peter O'toole (2 August 1932-14 December 2013)

7/2/2020

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Peter O'toole in film Lawrence of Arabian (1962)
Peter O'toole in film Lawrence of Arabian (1962)
name:                    Peter O'toole
original name:      Peter Seamus O'Toole
birth place:           Connemara Ireland
birth date:             2 August 1932
zodiac sign:           Leo
death place:          London England
death date:           
14 december 2013

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"I will not be a common man. I will stir the smooth sands of monotony."        
​-- 
peter o'toole
   

Profile of Peter O'Toole

Peter Seamus O'Toole was a British stage and film actor of Irish descent. He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and began working in the theatre, gaining recognition as a Shakespearean actor at the Bristol Old Vic and with the English Stage Company before making his film debut in 1959.

He achieved international recognition playing T. E. Lawrence in Lawrence of Arabia (1962) for which he received his first nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor. He was nominated for this award another seven times – for Becket (1964), The Lion in Winter (1968), Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969), The Ruling Class (1972), The Stunt Man (1980), My Favorite Year (1982), and Venus (2006) – and holds the record for the most Academy Award nominations for acting without a win. In 2002, O'Toole was awarded the Academy Honorary Award for his career achievements.[1] He was additionally the recipient of four Golden Globe Awards, one British Academy Film Award and one Primetime Emmy Award.
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Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif in film Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif in film Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Colonel T.E. Lawrence, better known in history as Lawrence of Arabia (16 August 1888 - 19 May 1935)
Colonel T.E. Lawrence, better known in history as Lawrence of Arabia (16 August 1888 - 19 May 1935)

Biography of Peter O'Toole

Peter O'Toole with his wife Sian Phillips and their daughter Kate
Peter O'Toole with his wife Sian Phillips and their daughter Kate
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1950s: Shakespeare and George Bernard shaw

O'Toole attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) from 1952 to 1954 on a scholarship after being rejected by the Abbey Theatre's drama school in Dublin by the director Ernest Blythe, because he couldn't speak the Irish language. At RADA, he was in the same class as Albert Finney, Alan Bates and Brian Bedford.

​O'Toole described this as "the most remarkable class the academy ever had, though we weren't reckoned for much at the time. We were all considered dotty.

O'Toole began working in the theatre, gaining recognition as a Shakespearean actor at the Bristol Old Vic and with the English Stage Company from 1956 to 1958, appearing in productions of King Lear (1956), The Recruiting Officer (1956), Major Barbara (1956), Othello (1956), and The Slave of Truth (1956).

He also acted in George Bernard Shaw's plays: as Henry Higgins in Pygmalion (1957), as Tanner in Man and Superman (1958), a performance he would reprise often during his career.

O'Toole made his London debut in a musical Oh, My Papa and gained fame on the West End in the play The Long and the Short and the Tall, performed at the Royal Court starting January 1959.
Peter O'Toole
Peter O'Toole
1960: Lawrence of Arabia
Peter O'Toole in film Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Peter O'Toole in film Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif in film Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif in film Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif in film Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif in film Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif in film Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif in film Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif in film Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif in film Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
O'Toole made his television debut in 1954, and at the beginning of 60s, he made a few films, but his major break came in November 1960 when he was chosen to play T. E. Lawrence in Sir David Lean's $12 million epic Lawrence of Arabia (1962), after Marlon Brando proved unavailable and Albert Finney turned down the role.

His performance was ranked number one in Premiere magazine's list of the 100 Greatest Performances of All Time. The role introduced him to US audiences and earned him the first of his eight nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actor. 
Peter O'Toole and Daliah Lavi visited by Princess Margaret, 1965
Peter O'Toole and Daliah Lavi visited by Princess Margaret, 1965
Peter O’Toole and Ursula Andress in What’s New, Pussycat?, 1965
Peter O’Toole and Ursula Andress in What’s New, Pussycat?, 1965
Peter O'Toole in his home smoking, 1965
Peter O'Toole in his home smoking, 1965
Peter O'Toole and Romy Schneider on the film set of
Peter O'Toole and Romy Schneider on the film set of "What's new, Pussycat?"
​1966: How to steal a million
Peter O'Toole and Audrey Hepburn in film How to Steal a Million (1966)
Peter O'Toole and Audrey Hepburn in film How to Steal a Million (1966)
Peter O'Toole and Audrey Hepburn in film How to Steal a Million (1966)
Peter O'Toole and Audrey Hepburn in film How to Steal a Million (1966)
Peter O'Toole and Audrey Hepburn in film How to Steal a Million (1966)
Peter O'Toole and Audrey Hepburn in film How to Steal a Million (1966)
Peter O'Toole and Audrey Hepburn in film How to Steal a Million (1966)
Peter O'Toole and Audrey Hepburn in film How to Steal a Million (1966)
Peter O'Toole in cardigan
Peter O'Toole in cardigan
"I can't stand light. I hate weather. My idea of heaven is moving from one smoke-filled room to another."

- Peter O'Toole
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Pauline, Baronesse de Rothschild​ (31 December 1908 - 8 March 1976)

28/1/2020

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"The great danger for an American woman married to a Frenchman is to become too French. To assimilate too much of another nationality weakens you. Though on the surface I might not seem to be 100 percent American, I have tried to remain as shaggy inside as possible."

​--Baronesse Pauline de Rothschild

Biography of Pauline de Rothschild

She was born Pauline Potter at 10 rue Octave Feuillet in the Paris neighborhood of Passy, to wealthy expatriate American parents of Protestant background. Her mother was Gwendolen Cary, a great-grand-niece of Thomas Jefferson, Potter was a member of several families that were prominent in the American South since the 17th century.
Francis Scott Key, great-great-grandfather of Pauline Potter
Francis Scott Key, great-great-grandfather of Pauline Potter
In 1930, in Baltimore, Maryland, Pauline Potter married Charles Carroll Fulton Leser (1900–1949), a grandson of one of the city's leading newspaper publishers. He was also an alcoholic and a homosexual. Soon after their marriage they moved to Majorca, Spain, but they separated in 1934, and divorced in 1939.
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After she and Leser separated, Pauline Potter was romantically involved with a number of prominent men, including Paul-Henri Spaak (a Prime Minister of Belgium), American diplomat Elim O'Shaughnessy (1907-1966), French horticultural heir André Levesque de Vilmorin (1907-1987), Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovitch Romanov of Russia, and producer-director Jed Harris. For a period of years she also was the lover of Isabelle Kemp, an heiress to a New York drug-store and real-estate fortune.
Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich of Russia with his wife Audrey Emery in the 1920s.
Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich of Russia with his wife Audrey Emery in the 1920s.
In the early 1930s, Pauline Potter worked as a personal shopper in New York City, acting as a fashion advisor to wealthy socialites too busy to shop or too unsure of their personal style. Later, after moving to Spain with her first husband, Pauline operated dress shops on Majorca. She also worked for the couturier Elsa Schiaparelli in London and Paris and often was seen in society columns dressed in the firm's latest creations.
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In the early 1940s, Pauline Potter and a friend, Louise Macy, a former editor of Harper's Bazaar, opened Macy-Potter, a short-lived fashion house, in New York City. The firm was bankrolled by a monetary settlement from Macy's former lover, millionaire John Hay Whitney, who had left her to marry Betsey Cushing, a former daughter-in-law of President Franklin Roosevelt. Though Macy-Potter's first (and only) collection was a critical and financial disaster, Potter went on to design a collection for Marshall Field and later to direct the custom-fashion division of Hattie Carnegie, the New York fashion company, succeeding Jean Louis, who left in 1943 to become chief fashion designer for Columbia Pictures.
Pauline Potter modeling for Vogue, 1950, Photo by Horst P. Horst
Pauline Potter modeling for Vogue, 1950, Photo by Horst P. Horst
Pauline remained at Hattie Carnegie for nearly a decade and was known professionally as Mrs. Fairfax Potter. Among her clients were the Duchess of Windsor, automotive heiress Thelma Chrysler Foy, actress Gertrude Lawrence, actress Ina Claire, and prominent others. She also designed the women's costumes for John Huston's Broadway 1946 production of No Exit by Jean-Paul Sartre, starring Ruth Ford and Annabella. The gown she designed for Ford is in the collection of the Museum of the City of New York.

Potter also worked briefly as an uncredited fashion model. One assignment for Harper's Bazaar had her posing in the latest Grecian-style gowns for the photographer Louise Dahl-Wolfe.
Pauline Potter modeling a short evening dress of black taffeta for Vogue, 1950, Photo by Horst P. Horst
Pauline Potter modeling a short evening dress of black taffeta for Vogue, 1950, Photo by Horst P. Horst
On 8 April 1954, Pauline Potter became the second wife of Baron Philippe de Rothschild, the owner of the fabled French winery Château Mouton Rothschild.
Pauline with her husband Baron Philippe de Rothschild in Petit Mouton, 1956, photo by Cecil Beaton for Vogue
Pauline with her husband Baron Philippe de Rothschild in Petit Mouton, 1956, photo by Cecil Beaton for Vogue
Pauline de Rothschild in Petit Mouton, 1956, photo by Cecil Beaton for Vogue
Pauline de Rothschild in Petit Mouton, 1956, photo by Cecil Beaton for Vogue
This second marriage transformed her, not only from Pauline Potter the stylish woman to Baronesse Pauline de Rothschild the style icon. 

All of her early years of modelling, styling, selling and designing clothes had developed and nourished her sense of style, and now, as a Rothschild, she had the means to acquire and wrap herself in cloths of her style, the couturiers like Balenciaga, Courreges and Saint Laurent who are able to accommodate her needs, the venues to show, and the presses and photographers to immortalise "le style Pauline".
Pauline de Rothschild with her husband Baron Philippe de Rothschild, 1964, photo by Cecil Beaton
Pauline de Rothschild with her husband Baron Philippe de Rothschild, 1964, photo by Cecil Beaton
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In more than a decade, she transformed herself into one of the most elegant women in the world, and in 1969, she achieved the highest honour a society lady could have: She was admitted to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame, the only woman that year,  alongside elegant men like Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Cary Grant, and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
Pauline de Rothschild at home in Chateau de Mouton, 1969
Pauline de Rothschild at home in Chateau de Mouton, 1969
Pauline de Rothschild at home in Chateau de Mouton, 1969
Pauline de Rothschild at home in Chateau de Mouton, 1969
But "le style Pauline" was much more than how she dressed, or how she carried herself, it would increasingly mean the way how she decorated her houses in Paris, London, and Bordeaux, Chateau de Mouton.
Pauline with her husband Baron Philippe de Rothschild at home in Chateau de Mouton, 1963
Pauline with her husband Baron Philippe de Rothschild at home in Chateau de Mouton, 1963
Baron Philippe de Rothschild, Pauline's second husband, a descendant of the Rothschild banking dynasty, was a race-car driver, a screenwriter, a playwright, a theatrical producer, a film producer, a poet, a wine maker, and a famed playboy. In fact, Pauline was only one of his mistresses for many years before their marriage, but after they got married, the Baron read, wrote and translated poetry with his wife, and provided her with a stage--Chateau de Mouton, for a woman of taste, energy and determination like Pauline, to act out the best role in her life.
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The blue velvet lounge chairs in library of Chateau de Moutou
The blue velvet lounge chairs in library of Chateau de Moutou
With the help of her husband, Pauline de Rothschild renovated the war ruined estate of Rothschild in Bordeaux into one of the best wine museums in the world. A big project that took years, it showed her taste more than all the dresses she worn during those years.
Baron and Baronesse de Rothschild's Paris appartment, bedroom with 18th century Chinese wall paper.
Baron and Baronesse de Rothschild's Paris appartment, bedroom with 18th century Chinese wall paper.
If Chateau de Mouton which was designed as museum was Pauline's grand stage given to her by her husband, where family history as well as culture heritage needed needed to be considered, then their apartment in Paris and flat in London were more like her playground, like Marie Antoinette's Petit Trianon, where she can indulge much more freely her intimate and personal taste.
Baron and Baronesse de Rothschild's Paris appartment, salon with 18th century Chinese wall paper.
Baron and Baronesse de Rothschild's Paris appartment, salon with 18th century Chinese wall paper.
Baron and Baronesse de Rothschild's Paris appartment, oval salon with unique curtain treatment
Baron and Baronesse de Rothschild's Paris appartment, oval salon with unique curtain treatment
Baron and Baronesse de Rothschild's London flat, drawing room with similar curtain treatment, made by John Fowler, 1976
Baron and Baronesse de Rothschild's London flat, drawing room with similar curtain treatment, made by John Fowler, 1976
Pauline de Rothschild died on 8 March 1976, of a heart attack in the lobby of the Biltmore Hotel, in Santa Barbara, California. She previously had been diagnosed with breast cancer and had undergone open-heart surgery for a deteriorated valve in 1975. Rothschild's health problems were exacerbated by Marfan's syndrome, a genetic abnormality.
Baronesse Pauline de Rothschild, drawing by Barnaby Conrad
Baronesse Pauline de Rothschild, drawing by Barnaby Conrad

Further interest

Articles
  • Baroness Pauline de Rothschild dies
  • Pauline de Rothschild's Secluded London Apartment
Books
Vogue’s Book of Houses, Gardens, People (1968) was a landmark publication among decorating books, and it chronicles an important chapter in the history of Vogue. Vogue’s Horst P. Horst, a leading fashion photographer of his time, developed an intense interest in seeing the world’s great homes and meeting their owners; beginning in the early 1960s, he journeyed in an elite world that would soon be lost. With accompanying lyrical essays about homes and their occupants by the famed writer Valentine Lawford (Horst’s partner in work and life), the book is a virtual who’s who of society, politics, and the arts in the mid-20th century. Around That Time showcases much of the material featured in the original book, plus never-before-seen photographs from those homes as well as images from additional homes Horst shot well into the 1980s. This book introduces this work to a new generation of design, decorating, and visual art professionals, academics, and enthusiasts.
Gloria Vanderbilt cleverly noted, “Decorating is autobiography.” Reflecting that truism, the interiors in this book capture the individual approaches of these icons of style: Bunny Mellon’s spare all-American elegance; Hélène Rochas’s refined sophistication; Vanessa Bell’s colorful bohemianism; Mona von Bismarck’s breezy opulence; and Georgia O’Keeffe’s earthy chic. Author P. Gaye Tapp analyzes each of her subjects’ refined way of living, how she embellished her residences (or left them elegantly stark), and the long-lasting effects on today’s generation of designers and connoisseurs of beauty.
 
The book is presented in four sections that describe the aesthetic approaches that the ladies took in decorating their abodes: “The Fashionably Chic”, “The Unconventional Eye”, “In the Grand Manner”, and “Legacy Style”. Each interior illustrates the crucial aspect of the lady’s definitive taste. Some worked closely with decorating legends such as John Fowler, Albert Hadley, Billy Baldwin, Syrie Maugham, and Jean-Michel Frank. Others took to the task of decorating single-handedly—like Pauline Trigère, Sybil Connolly, Vita Sackville-West, and Fleur Cowles. The interiors of these trendsetting ladies defied their time and inspire and delight to this day. In How They Decorated, one can learn from the most notable style muses of the last century.
One night in December, a man decided to leave his house and his vineyards, his work of translating Elizabethan poets into French, to spend two months in a country unfamiliar to him. He and his wife would leave for Russia the day after Christmas, and return in March. They were in the habit of taking long trips together, to Turkey, or Persia, or Denmark, but not to a half-Arctic country, in midwinter. They chose winter because of all the seasons it is the most Russian. Winter is a season for Russians alone, several renowned captains had noted in passing. We took all the advice that was offered us and even greater quantities of warm clothing. Just before leaving, we were thoughtfully given a straw picnic basket with an alcohol lamp, not for picnics but to make tea in our rooms, if needed. We also took a military tin trunk, filled with books. “What will we do in the evenings?” said Philippe. “We’ll see. There will be theater, or something to read. Or perhaps, with luck, people.” Every traveler feels larger than life. In some countries this makes the visitor seem in the way. Not there, not in Russia. We squandered time. We returned to the places we liked, saw again and again people we admired. There was the sharing of some strange excitement. — Pauline de Rothschild, The Irrational Journey, 1968. . .
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Patrizio Buanne (20 September 1978)

25/1/2020

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​Patrizio Buanne was born in Vienna, Austria to Neapolitan parents and has from an early age spent his childhood living and traveling (due to his parent’s restaurant business) between these two grand, historical cities that shaped his upbringing and personality:

This multi-cultural upbringing sparked in Patrizio an early passion for languages, and by the age of 17 he already spoke fluent Neapolitan, German, English, French and Spanish. It seemed obvious for Patrizio and his parents for him to become an interpreter, and after graduation from school he went on to study Roman and Slavic languages at University and that way he could add fluent Italian and Polish to his language tool kit.

But whilst his aptitude for languages is admirable, a much greater gift, apparent even from the age of 4, was emerging – his gift to be able to sing and entertain people.

At the age of eight Patrizio received his first guitar which further encouraged his interest in entertaining his family and friends in the “Buanne home”.
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At the age of eleven, Patrizio had the first of his many appearances in talent contests. With the conviction at such an early age to, ultimately, become a singer and actor he ended up winning all the competitions he ever participated in.
Patrizio Buanne album Uwierz W Miłość (believe in love) cover 1997
Patrizio Buanne album Uwierz W Miłość (believe in love) cover 1997
When Patrizio was seventeen, a music industry manager who had heard Patrizio sing proposed a performance at the occasion of the “Papal visit” (John Paul II) in Wroclaw, Poland. The song, which was half in Italian, half in polish, had been written for the opening mass, and with 85.000 people in attendance Patrizio’s sudden popularity with the polish public led to his first local record deal.

Tragically, it was also to be the year that his father died from virulent cancer, and the subsequent grief became such that Patrizio almost lost his own life to a perforated ulcer.
“I’m not just a Neapolitan guy singing nostalgic songs. It’s important to give people the kind of music I am known for, but I also wanted to open myself up artistically and give them something else or rather something “more of me”. I wanted to present my passion for interpreting any great song-no matter if Italian, American or New-simply get over the grief of my fathers passing and introduce myself as PATRIZIO”. 

--Patrizio Buanne
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At nineteen, Patrizio graduated from school in Vienna and moved back to Naples and later Rome, Italy to study languages, whilst looking out for opportunities in the entertainment industry. 

​Patrizio quickly became popular through various talent competitions, and was requested to be a guest and entertainer on various Italian television shows such as “Momenti di Gloria”, “Domenica In” and “Libero”. This success lead to Patrizio being offered a contract to work as an entertainer for the production company that produced shows for the Italian Broadcasting Corporation, RAI and Mediaset.

Patrizio’s real ambition, however, was to become an international recording artist, in recording with an orchestra comprising a collection of romantic and fun songs from the Italian songbook. –A repertoire from a different era, yet timeless and loved around the world to show that Italian music is not just opera or classical, but that there are countless tunes that are originally Italian, and became international standards over the years.
"The Italian or Spanish language, or even the French language is one of the most melodical languages that we have on this planet." Patrizio Buanne
It took 5 years, and in 2004 Patrizio was contacted by a producer who was interested in Patrizio’s concept, idea and voice and above all seemed to have the right financial resources to realise his passionate dream and his first international debut album“The Italian” was released on the 28th of February 2005 in the UK. It reached the top ten on the pop charts in the UK, where it attained golden status after selling 100.000 copies in only 1 week. Countless TV and radio interviews followed.
Patrizio Buanne album cover The Italian
Patrizio Buanne album cover The Italian
Patrizio’s second album 2007 “Forever Begins Tonight” included an Italian version of “Angels” (entitled “Un angelo”), which became Patrizio’s first radio hit in the United States.

In less than two years, his debut album “The Italian” (2005) and “Forever begins tonight” (2007) had captured the hearts of fans, of timeless Italian songs, worldwide to the extent that over a 2 million albums were sold, and all this without Patrizio having a famous producer (such as David Foster), no international radio hit and still no professional music management behind Patrizio.
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Then Patrizio founded “MondoBuanne Productions” and take his career to the next level, and  recorded his third album “PATRIZIO” in 2009, with both Patrizio’s trade mark romantic Italian songs,  and his own contemporary and timeless interpretation of International standards, alongside some stunning new compositions.
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In the following years, Patrizio started to sing and record in multiple languages such as Italian, English,  German, even Afrikaans language, and sometimes mixed different languages in a same song. 
 
On his fourth worldwide release “Viva la Dolce Vita” (2015 Universal Music) Patrizio still remained true to his role as an “Ambassador for Italian song”, but ‘Viva la Dolce Vita’ found the Neapolitan broadening his horizons and has put a more international slant on his natural way with a song and recorded also some more new material written especially for him.
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Further reading

  • An interview with singer Patrizio Buanne
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Pierre Balmain (18 May 1914-29 June 1982)

16/7/2019

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Profile of Pierre Balmain

Pierre Balmain is a French couturier who created his couture house in 1945, and one of the most prominent couturiers during the 50s who revitalized the Paris couture after the Second World War, together with Cristobal Balenciaga, Christian Dior and Jacques Fath. Unlike some of them, however, Pierre Balmain owned his couture house and personally directed it until his death in 1982, never  closing it or selling to someone else.
Anne St Marie Wearing a seal skin slip cover cape by Pierre Balmain, Photo by Henry Clarke,1955 for Vogue
Anne St Marie in a seal skin slip cover cape by Pierre Balmain, Photo by Henry Clarke,1955 for Vogue

Biography of Pierre Balmain

Pierre Balmain was born in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, ​France, during the Second World War, he was called to the military service. When Paris was liberated, he went to work for Lucien Lelong, where he made a little crepe dress called ¨Petit Profit¨, which Lucien Lelong did not want to make but was quite successful commercially and more than 300 pieces were sold. 

It was in couture house of Lucien Lelong that he met and worked alongside Christian Dior and Hubert de Givenchy, both of whom who would create their own couture houses.

In 1945, with the help of his mother and some ex-workers of Balenciaga, Bierre Balmain launched his own couture house, and presented his first collection: dresses and suits that fit the bodyshapes, all in dark and sober colors which would become his trademark. The launch was an immediate success, people like Duchess of Windsor ordered from the collection. Balmain began to travel a lot, embodying the French elegance of that time. 

In 1946, Balmain created his first perfume "ELYsées 64-83", and then in 1947 his second perfume "Vent Vert¨(green wind) and his last "Jolie Madame¨(pretty woman) in 1949, which would also be the name of his 1952-1953 autumn-winter collection.
Model in suit by Balmain and hat by Legroux, photo by Clifford Coffin at the studio of Louis Leygue, Paris, British Vogue, April 1947, Photo by Clifford Coffin
Model in suit by Balmain and hat by Legroux, photo by Clifford Coffin for British Vogue, April 1947
couturier français Pierre Balmain Avec Ruth Ford en 1947 (photographie de Carl van Vechten)
Pierre Balmain with Ruth Ford in 1947, photo by Carl van Vechten
Balmain was active in promoting himself internationally from the early days – touring Australia in 1947 and designing a line to be produced in the country. He expanded operations to the United States in 1951, selling ready-to-wear clothes that earned him a prestigious Neiman Marcus Fashion Award in 1955. He was, by this stage, designing clothes worn by Vojislav Stanimirovic and stars, such as Marlene Dietrich and Katharine Hepburn.
Such was Balmain's reputation that he was chosen to design the wardrobe of Queen Sirikit of Thailand during her 1960 tour of the United States. In 1968, he created outfits for the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble and he also designed outfits for both TWA and Malaysia–Singapore Airlines' (later Singapore Airlines) cabin crew in the 1960s and '70s. Air France's first female pilot in 1975 wore a uniform by Balmain.
Most elegant model Dorian Leigh in a wool velvet coat with mink collar and cuffs by Pierre Balmain for ELLE, August 31, 1953, photo by Georges Dambier
Dorian Leigh in a wool velvet coat with mink collar and cuffs by Pierre Balmain for ELLE, August 31, 1953, photo by Georges Dambier
Pierre Balmain (left) with Erik Mortensen(1926-1998)
Pierre Balmain (left) with Erik Mortensen(1926-1998)
Erik Mortensen, a student of the Danish designer Holger Blum, began as a design assistant at Balmain in 1948. He and Balmain worked well together, and Mortensen quickly went from assistant to collaborator. He and Balmain worked together for the rest of Balmain's life. Margit Brandt worked as a young designer with Pierre Balmain in the early 1960s. Balmain also spotted the talent of Karl Lagerfeld, hiring him in 1954 after judging a fashion competition that the young German designer won.
Most elegant model Dovima in French couturier Pierre Balmain´s double breast suit, 1954
Dovima in Pierre Balmain´s double breast suit, 1954
Besides works for his couture house, Pierre Balmain was also active in designing costumes both for theatres and films, and he had dressed some of the most famous international female stars at the time, such as Simone Signoret, Danielle Darrieux, Brigitte Bardot, Lana Turner, Vivien Leigh, Sophia Loren, Ava Gardner, Jennifer Jones, etc. some of them like Marlene Dietrich, Katharine Hepburn, Brigitte Bardot, and Sophia Loren wore his designs off screen as well.

Balmain was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Costume Design and won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Costume Design for Happy New Year(1980). 
Model in tweed suit trimmed at collar and cuffs in sheared beaver by Pierre Balmain,1955, Photo by Philippe Pottier
Model in tweed suit trimmed at collar and cuffs in sheared beaver by Pierre Balmain,1955, Photo by Philippe Pottier
Balmain also was a costume designer for 16 films, including the Brigitte Bardot vehicle And God Created Woman and La Parisienne, and Sophia Loren´s movie in The Millionairess (1960), some of the films in which he designed costumes for the female leads and actresses are:
  • Michèle Morgan in Le Château de verre (1950)
  • Simone Signoret in Ombre et Lumière (1951)
  • Edwige Feuillère in Le Cap de l'Espérance (1951), Adorables Créatures (1952), En cas de malheur (1958)
  • Danielle Darrieux in Adorables Créatures (1952), La Vérité sur Bébé Donge (1952), Bonnes à tuer (1954)
  • Martine Carol in Adorables Créatures (1952), Les Carnets du Major Thompson (1955)
  • Micheline Presle in L'Amour d'une femme (1953), La mariée est trop belle (1956)
  • Lana Turner inVoyage au-delà des vivants (1955)
  • Vivien Leigh in L'Autre Homme (1955)
  • Brigitte Bardot in La mariée est trop belle (1956), En cas de malheur (1958)
  • Rita Hayworth in L'Enfer des tropiques (1957), Les Joyeux Voleurs (1961)
  • Sophia Loren in Les Dessous de la millionnaire (1960)
  • Jennifer Jones and Joan Fontaine in Tendre est la nuit (1962)
  • Cyd Charisse in Quinze jours ailleurs (1962)
  • Jane Fonda in Dans la douceur du jour (1963), Les Félins (1964)
  • Annie Girardot in Un homme qui me plaît (1969)
  • Ava Gardner in Tam Lin (1970)
Pierre Balmain in Victoria Hotel, on 8 April 1951, photo by Noske, J.D.
Pierre Balmain in Victoria Hotel, on 8 April 1951, photo by Noske, J.D.
Pierre Balmain also designed many dresses for French singer Dalida.
French singer Dalida (1933-1987)
French singer Dalida (1933-1987)
Pierre Balmain in 1954
Pierre Balmain in 1954
In 1964,  Pierre Balmain published his autobiography: Mes années et des saisons​(My years and the seasons)
Most elegant French couturier Pierre Balmain by Reg Lancaster on April 5, 1965
Pierre Balmain by Reg Lancaster on April 5, 1965
Pierre Balmain died at the age of 68 of liver cancer at the American Hospital of Paris, having just completed the sketches for his fall collection.

Websites and Articles:

  • Pierre Balmain official website
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