Tag Archives: 1937

Arts and Culture

Modern Art Monday Presents: Morris Hirshfield, Angora Cat

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angora cat by morris hirshfield photo by gail worley
Photos By Gail

After retiring from the footwear trade in 1935, Morris Hirshfield turned to the pursuit he had always dreamed of: painting. One of his first pictures, Angora Cat (1937), was painted on top of a pre-existing painting that his wife Henriette had framed and hung in their apartment in Bensonhurst Brooklyn. If you look closely, you can see that part of the underlying picture — the lion figurine displayed on the background wall — remains visible. Continue reading Modern Art Monday Presents: Morris Hirshfield, Angora Cat →

Design and Innovation

Eye On Design: Down Filled Evening Jacket by Charles James

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Down Filled Evening Jacket
All Photos By Gail

In 1937, Anglo-American couturier Charles James created the first high-fashion, down-filled jacket; an early James masterpiece. James meticulously constructed this classically inspired garment around the human form, resulting in a jacket quite unlike the boxy version produced by Eddie Bauer.

Model Wearing the Jacket
Photo of Model Wearing the Jacket

Soft and pliable, it was also dramatically different from James‘ own best known work: gowns as rigid as the hats he designed. The James jacket reappeared in the fashion press decades later. It then gained cult status and also may have inspired a number of New York designers who began to make their versions of the down-filled parka during the 1970s.

Down Filled Evening Jacket

Down Filled Evening Jacket by Charles James was photographed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in July 2014 (Top Photo) and in the Museum at FIT as part of the Exhibit, Expedition: Fashion from the Extreme, which closed January 6th, 2018.

Design and Innovation

Eye on Design: Area Lamp (Model 1112) By Neal Small

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Area Lamp By Neal Small
Photos By Gail

Dubbed the Prince of Plastic by the New York Times, Neal Small (b. 1937) lead a craze in the late 1960s for sculptural lighting and furniture made from plastic and acrylic. “I like to think of it as all part of the new permissiveness,” he commented. ‘I Know that I am being more permissive with myself and the designs I allow myself to make — making fuller, more sensuous things. People are permitting themselves in every area, whether it’s music, with The Beatles and The Stones, architecture or clothes. They are allowing themselves things that please them personally. You don’t have to invest in things forever anymore. Lighting is getting to be an art form.”

 Area Lamp (model 1112), 1966 -67 was Photographed in the Museum of Modern Art in NYC.

Area Lamp By Neal Small

Music, Pop Culture

The Hindenburg Disaster Meets Led Zeppelin!

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On This Day, May 6th in 1937: The Hindenburg airship crashes in New Jersey, killing 36 people. A photograph from this incident would later be used as cover art for Led Zeppelin’s first album.