Je Suis Art Deco

Shining, gleaming, curved and creamy
Lean and clean and slender, dreamy
Lovely, modern, ship-shaped, steamy
Je suis art deco

Le style moderne est international
Uber chic and uber rational
Bauhaus bling is ever fashionable
Je suis art deco

A city decked in neon light
Sun by day and moon by night
Silver, chrome and grey and white
Je suis art deco

Cocktail bars and jazz and blues
Josephine with painted toes
Black and white and ties and bows
Je suis art deco

The ladies they all dress with care
Diamante bows and shoulders bare
Painted lips and marcelled hair
Elles sont art deco

Smoke rings in a crowded room
Tuxedoed chanteurs start to croon
A silhouette against the moon
Ils sont art deco

Glide across a Bakelite floor
See right through the porthole door
Keep on coming back for more
Je suis art deco

A monument to monochrome
Cooker, fridge and telephone
We love the gadgets that we own
Je suis art deco

Clarice Cliff and Eileen Grey
Merveilleux et enchanté
Day and night and night and day
We love art deco

Marble lido, swimming pool
Ultra chic and ultra cool
A fur bikini is the rule
Je suis art deco

Surfaces subdued and muted
Buildings stepped and glasses fluted
Cities planned and suburbs routed
Je suis art deco

Senate House and Modern, Tate
Chrysler Building, Empire State
Buildings small and buildings great
That was art deco

Bauhaus bling is now passé
Oh, la la, we’ll rue the day
Machine aesthetic went away
We miss art deco.

Fifty shades of white...

White is the colour of winter, ironically when the days are shortest and darkest - what a glorious time of year for artists to chart the structure of trees, branches denuded of foliage against grey skies and blood-red sunsets! White symbolises purity, peace and cleanliness, but there is nothing tame or timorous about the shade. White light, actually a combination of all colours in the rainbow, is brilliant and strong, evoking the might of the thunderstorm with loud crashes and flashes, and bright forks renting leaden skies. White evokes the richness of milk and cream, the tenderness of pale-green meadows sprinkled with flowers of yarrow and myrtle, the beauty of white roses in a summer garden, the mystery of moonlight falling upon leaves of silvery artemisia. Like snow, white is evanescent and ethereal, happening rarely – in Great Britain, at least – and never lasting for long when it does come. Pure white is very volatile, ever threatening to “corrupt” into grey and lemon, pink violet and pale green. Artists have made much use of this volatility, giving us fifty shades and more, of white – just look at The White Duck (1753) by Jean-Baptiste Oudry. It was the longing for well-designed sheets in white linen that caused Chrissie Rucker to found the White Company. Twenty years down the line, it has built a reputation for selling quality bedding and towels, nightwear and cushions, candles and perfumes…