By October the calendars are out in the shops and I eagerly await their arrival every year. I do not know why, but the thought of a new calendar makes me happy with anticipation and hope for the coming year. We usually have made plans by then for the next seasons, when to visit families and friends, what trips to plan and which places to visit. I love to see the month displayed on a beautiful calendar. And we like to write our laid out planes into the new calendar. Fixing plans on paper makes them become somewhat real, no?
We have had many different styles over the years, depending on our mood and interest: I remember Marc Chagall and Picasso, Japanese wood block prints, whimsical Norman Rockwell Americana, Tuscany and New England calendars, Castles of Scotland, plant drawings of the 18Th century, historic world maps and this year a collection of old Train posters (gorgeous).
For 2011 I selected this beauty:
'The Art of Ornament - Museum of Fine Arts Boston'
All images are works by Eugene Grasset, a graphic designer and teacher whose innovative decorative patterns were an important inspiration for the Art Nouveau style at the end of the nineteenth century. Born in Switzerland, Grasset was trained as an architect and moved in 1871 to Paris, where he began working as a designer for fabrics and graphic ornament. Adapting influences from sources as varied as medieval stained glass, Near Eastern art, and Japanese prints, Grasset developed his distinctive style of bold, strongly outlined colors for posters, ceramics, stained glass, and tapestries, in addition to the furnishings for a Montmartre cabaret.
He taught at the then newly established Ecole Normale d'Enseignement du Dessin, developed his theories of graphic design for his students, especially his reliance on natural forms as the basis for developing decorative motifs. His work has influenced many others!
I can't wait to hang it on it's usual spot, come end of December and to look forward to all the new year will bring!
More calendar inspirations can be found
here.
XX
Victoria
