COLOUR FOR 2011 PANTONE® 18-2120 HONEYSUCKLE

EACH DECEMBER, PANTONE, THE GLOBAL AUTHORITY ON COLOUR AND PROVIDER OF PROFESSIONAL COLOUR STANDARDS FOR THE DESIGN INDUSTRY, CHOOSES THEIR COLOUR FOR THE NEXT YEAR. THE CHOICE FOR 2009 WAS SUNNY MIMOSA YELLOW AND 2010 SAW TURQUOISE ASCEND TO THE THRONE. TURQUOISE SEEMED TO BE PARTICULARLY POPULAR SHOWING UP BOTH IN FASHION AND HOME DECOR. PANTONE ANNOUNCED PANTONE® 18-2120 HONEYSUCKLE AS THE COLOUR OF THE YEAR FOR 2011. HONEYSUCKLE IS A REDDISH PINK. LEATRICE EISEMAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE PANTONE COLOUR INSTITUTE SAYS THAT 'HONEYSUCKLE DERIVES ITS POSITIVE QUALITIES FROM A POWERFUL BOND TO ITS MOTHER RED, THE MOST PHYSICAL, VISCERALLY ALIVE HUE IN THE SPECTRUM.' WHEN WORN BY MEN AND WOMEN THE COLOUR IMPARTS A HEALTHY GLOW AND IT CAN ADD A BIT OF FLAIR TO INTERIOR SPACES. HONEYSUCKLE IS ONE OF NEARLY 200 PANTONE COLOURS AVAILABLE FROM DESSY, A LEADING MANUFACTURER OF BRIDESMAID, SOCIAL-OCCASION AND FLOWER-GIRL DRESSES. IT IS ALSO AVAILABLE IN PAINT.

BARBOUR OPENS NEW YORK BOUTIQUE

CLASSIC BRITISH OUTERWEAR COMPANY BARBOUR HAS RECENTLY OPENED A NEW BOUTIQUE IN NEW YORK ON WOOSTER ST IN SOHO's HISTORIC CAST IRON DISTRICT. THE NEW SPACE WILL BE OPEN BRIEFLY TO FEATURE THE BARBOUR AUTUMN/WINTER 2010 HERITAGE COLLECTION THROUGH THE HOLIDAYS, AND WILL THE REOPEN PERMANENTLY IN EARLY SPRING WITH A COMPLETE COLLECTION OF SPRING/SUMMER 2011 BARBOUR APPAREL AND ACCESSORIES. 'WE ARE VERY EXCITED TO EXPAND OUR NEW YORK PRESENCE WITH A NEW STORE IN SOHO', NOTES JAMIE MILLAR, HEAD OF RETAIL FOR BARBOUR INC, NORTH AMERICA. 'THE NEIGHBORHOOD IS STEEPED IN HISTORY AND CULTURE, BUT IS CONSTANTLY EVOLVING AND REMAINS ONE OF THE MOST FASHIONABLE NEIGHBORHOODS IN THE COUNTRY. WITH BARBOUR'S STRONG HERITAGE AND GROWING POPULARITY AMONG THE FASHION FORWARD, SOHO WAS A NATURAL FIT FOR BARBOUR. WE ARE VERY EXCITED TO BE JOINING SUCH A PRESTIGIOUS SHOPPING DISTRICT.' OTHER BARBOUR RETAIL STORE LOCATIONS INCLUDE MADISON AVENUE, NEW YORK CITY, BOSTON, AND BARBOUR BY DAVID WOOD BOUTIQUE IN PORTLAND, MAINE.

NEWLY DISCOVERED LICHTENSTEIN PAINTING SELLS FOR RECORD $110,000

A 1951 PAINTING BY ROY LICHTENSTEIN PURCHASED FOR $27.50 AND KEPT OUT OF THE PUBLIC EYE FOR NEARLY 50 YEARS SOLD FOR $128,700 ON 4.DECEMBER AT QUINN'S AUCTION GALLERIES IN FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA. TITLED 'THE STATESMAN', THE 18 BY 28 INCH OIL ON CANVAS PORTRAIT WAS CONSIGNED BY DC AREA RESIDENT ENID LIESS, A RETIRED SCHOOLTEACHER WHO, AS A YOUNG GIRL HAD STUDIED AT THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO. IT WAS THERE THAT SHE LEARNED HOW TO IDENTIFY QUALITY ARTWORKS. SOMETIME IN THE EARLY 1960s, LIESS ATTENDED AN ART AUCTION AT HER LOCAL TEMPLE, WHERE SHE HOPED TO FIND AFFORDABLE ART TO DECORATE HER NEW APARTMENT. WHEN A MODERN PAINTING OF A MAN IN A MILITARY JACKET CAUGHT HER EYE, LIESS DECIDED SHE HAD TO HAVE IT. 'IT WAS WHIMSICAL, AND I LOVED THE EARTH TONES', LIESS RECALLED. AT THE TIME, LIESS AND HER HUSBAND WERE NEWLYWEDS WITH LITTLE DISPOSABLE INCOME, SO SHE HAD A LIMIT OF $25 TO SPEND AT THE AUCTION. ALTHOUGH THE ARTIST WAS IDENTIFIED ON THE ARTWORK, NO ONE AT THE AUCTION, INCLUDING LIESS, KNEW WHO LICHTENSTEIN WAS. ACCORDINGLY, BIDDING ON THE PAINTING WAS OPENED LOWER THAN ON WORKS BY MOST OF THE LOCAL ARTIST WITH WHOM BIDDERS WERE MORE FAMILIAR. LIESS HAD A BID AT HER MAXIMUM JUST AS THE HAMMER WAS ABOUT TO FALL ON THE LICHTENSTEIN. THEN, AT THE LAST MOMENT, HER FRIEND UPPED THE ANTE TO $27.50. LIESS WAS FURIOUS AND REBUKED HER FRIEND, WHO QUICKLY INFORMED LIESS THAT IT WAS INTENDED AS A HOUSEWARMING GIFT FOR HER AND HER HUSBAND. LIESS TOLD HER FRIEND THAT SHE FELT $27.50 WAS TOO MUCH TO SPEND ON A GIFT AND GAVE HER $12.50 TO APPLY TOWARD THE PURCHASE PRICE. THE PAINTING WENT HOME WITH LIESS AND HUNG IN THE COUPLE'S NEW APARTMENT WITH NOTHING MORE THAN A COUCH TO KEEP IT COMPANY. WHILE SHE KNEW THE ARTWORK'S TITLE AND THE NAME OF THE ARTIST WHO PAINTED IT, LIESS WAS UNAWARE OF ROY LICHTENSTEIN'S STATURE IN THE POP ART WORLD UNTIL SHE HAPPENED TO COME ACROSS A TIME MAGAZINE ARTICLE ABOUT THE ARTIST A COUPLE OF WEEKS LATER. HER DISCOVERY PROMPTED HER TO TAKE THE PAINTING TO THE MILWAUKEE ART MUSEUM, WHERE EXPERTS CONFIRMED 'THE STATESMAN' WAS A GENUINE LICHTENSTEIN. SATISFIED WITH THAT KNOWLEDGE, SHE THOUGHT NOTHING MORE OF IT. IN 1968, LIESS AND HER HUSBAND MOVED THEIR FAMILY TO VIRGINIA. THE ARTWORK WENT WITH THEM, WHERE IT WAS DISPLAYED AND ENJOYED FOR THE NEXT 42 YEARS. THIS SUMMER LEISS DECIDED IT WAS TIME TO SELL THE PAINTING. SHE REACHED OUT TO MATTHEW QUINN OF QUINN'S AUCTION GALLERIES. QUINN ADVISED HER TO CONTACT JACK COWART, THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE ROY LICHTENSTEIN FOUNDATION, TO SEE IF HE WOULD AUTHENTICATE THE PAINTING. THE LICHTENSTEIN FOUNDATION KNEW WHO HAD ORIGINALLY PURCHASED 'THE STATESMAN' IN 1951 FROM THE JOHN HELLER GALLERY IN NEW YORK, BUT BEYOND THAT, THE OWNERSHIP TRAIL WAS A MYSTERY. THE FOUNDATION HAD BEEN TRYING FOR DECADES TO DETERMINE IT WHEREABOUTS. QUINN SAID THAT COWART'S IMPRIMATUR ON THE PAINTING, ALL THE ELEMENTS FOR AUCTION SUCCESS WERE NOW IN PLACE, A BANKABLE ARTIST, A LONG-MISSING ARTWORK AND INDISPUTABLE PROVENANCE. AT AROUND 11.30 ON THE MORNING OF THE AUCTION, 'THE STATESMAN' WAS ANNOUNCED TO A FULL HOUSE. BIDDING OPENED AT $20,000 AND SLOWLY INCREASED AGAINST AN ABSENTEE BID OF $40,000. THE BIDDING CONCLUDED AT $110,000 ON THE HAMMER. 'AS I UNDERSTAND IT, THAT'S A RECORD PRICE FOR A LICHTENSTEIN OF THAT PERIOD', SAID QUINN. APPROPRIATELY FOR A PAINTING TITLED 'THE STATESMAN', THE LICHTENSTEIN ARTWORK IS GOING TO REMAIN IN WASHINGTON DC.

RARE LALIQUE 'SERPENT' VASE SELLS FOR RECORD $56,673

WITH MORE THAN 415 BIDDERS, BOTH ONLINE AND IN-PERSON, COMPETING FOR THE JUST MORE THAN 400 STUNNING LOTS IN HERITAGE AUCTIONS' 4.DECEMBER AUCTION, HERITAGE CONSIGNMENT DIRECTOR AND AUCTIONEER NICK DAWES HAD A FEELING IT WAS GOING TO BE A GOOD DAY. WHEN ALL WAS SAID AND DONE, AFTER TWO SESSIONS OF SPIRITED BIDDING FROM THE PHONES, INTERNET AND A PACKED ROOM, INCLUDING OSCAR-WINNING ACTRESS AND TALK SHOW HOST WHOPPI GOLDBERG, WHO REGULARLY CRACKED JOKES WHEN SHE WAS OUTBID THROUGHOUT THE AUCTION, THOUGH SHE DID TAKE HOME A FEW ART GLASS TREASURES OF HER OWN, THE AUCTION TOTAL HAD FAR EXCEEDED HERITAGE'S PREDICTIONS FOR THE EVENT TO FINISH THE DAY AT $1.28 MILLION. THE EVENING SESSION, WHICH WAS ENTIRELY DEVOTED TO TEH WORKS OF RENE LALIQUE, PROVIDED THE AUCTION'S PRINCIPAL HIGHLIGHT IN THE FORM OF A 'SERPENT' VASE IN DEEP AMBER GLASS, CIRCA 1924, WITH A MOLDED SIGNATURE, THAT SET A WORLD RECORD PRICE FOR LALIQUE WHEN IT REALIZED $56,673. 'THE LALIQUE 'SERPENT' VASE WAS THE BEST ONE I'VE EVER SEEN', SAID DAWES, 'AND I'VE SEEN A LOT OF THEM IN MY 30 YEARS IN THE BUSINESS. THIS PIECE IS WELL WORTHY OF THAT RECORD PRICE.' THE OPENING LOT OF THE AUCTION, AN EARLY GALLE PERFUME BOTTLE WITH SILVER MOUNT AND COVER, CIRCA 1895, IN PRISTINE CONDITION, PROVED VERY POPULAR WITH BIDDERS AND SET THE STAGE FOR THE REST OF THE EVENT WHEN IT REALIZED $7,170 AMIDST SEVERAL ROUNDS OF INTENSE BIDDING. THE BIGGEST FIREWORKS OF THE NIGHT, AFTER THE LALIQUE 'SERPENT' VASE CAME IN THE FORM OF ONE OF THE RAREST LALIQUE PERFUME BOTTLES, A 'RAQUEL MELLER' FRAGRANCE BY RODITI & SONS ENAMELED ON EACH FACE IN ORANGE AND BLACK, WHICH WAS RECENTLY FUND IN A NEW JERSEY ESTATE, WHEN IT BROUGHT $20,315 AGAINST A PRE-AUCTION ESTIMATE OF $6,000. COLLECTORS WERE EQUALLY IMPRESSED WITH A GROUPING OF 20 LALIQUE HOOD ORNAMENTS, WHICH BROUGHT CONSISTENTLY HIGH PRICES, LED BY THE CLASSIC VICTOIRE HOOD ORNAMENT AT $19,718. 'THE KEY TO MAKING THIS AUCTION SO SUCCESSFUL WAS OUR DETERMINATION TO ESTIMATE PROPERTY REASONABLY, AND OFFER IT WITH OUT RESERVE', SAID DAWES. 'THAT MADE THIS AN AUTHENTIC, OLD FASHIONED AUCTION, WHICH IS BECOMING RARER AND RARER IN NEW YORK THESE DAYS.'

BULGARI: 125 YEARS OF ITALIAN MAGNIFICENCE

THE VENERABLE ITALIAN LUXURY JEWELRY HOUSE BULGARI IS COMMEMORATING ITS 125th ANNIVERSARY WITH A STUNNING NEW EXHIBIT AT THE GRAND PALAIS IN PARIS. THE EXHIBITION WILL TRACE INSPIRING CHAPTERS IN BULGARI'S HISTORY AND THE EVOLUTION OF THE AESTHETIC THAT MADE THE ICONIC BRAND A DRIVING FORCE OF THE 'ITALIAN SCHOOL', FROM THE OPENING OF THE FIRST SHOP ON VIA SISTINA IN 1884 THROUGH TO THE MODERN DAY IDEAS AND IDEALS. THE FASCINATING SAGA IS ILLUSTRATED BY MORE THAN 600 MASTERPIECES OF JEWELRY, WATCH AND CLOCK-MAKING, AND DECORATIVE ART, INCLUDING SOME ONE HUNDRED EXCLUSIVE PIECES THAT WILL BE ON DISPLAY FOR THE FIRST TIME. THE EXHIBIT IS DIVIDED CHRONOLOGICALLY INTO PERIODS AND THE RETROSPECTIVE BEGINS WITH DESIGNS USING SILVER AND DIAMONDS FROM THE FIRST HALF OF THE 20th CENTURY. THEN IS DISPLAYS THE CREATIVE TURN IN THE 1960s WITH THE EMERGENCE OF THE NEW STYLE COMBINING PRECIOUS STONES WITH RARELY USED ORIGINAL MATERIALS. THE EXHIBITION CONTINUES WITH THE ECLECTIC STYLE INSPIRED BY 1970s POP ART, THE BOLD DESIGNS OF THE 1980s AND 90s, RIGHT THROUGH TO THE SPECTACULAR DESIGNS OF THE 21st CENTURY. IN ADDITION TO THE BEJEWELED TREASURES THEMSELVES, DRAWINGS, CINEMA STILLS AND ORIGINAL ITEMS FROM PRIVATE COLLECTIONS NEVER YET PUBLICLY EXHIBITED IN FRANCE, INCLUDING BULGARI'S OWN VINTAGE COLLECTION, WILL ALSO BE ON DISPLAY. BULGARI: 125 YEARS OF ITALIAN MAGNIFICENCE WILL RUN FROM 10.DECEMBER THROUGH 12.JANUARY.2011.

NATIONAL GALLERY OF VICTORIA PRESENTS GUSTAV MOREAU AND THE ETERNAL FEMININE

BE SEDUCED BY FEMMES FATALES, GODDESSES AND TEMPTRESSES OF HISTORY AND LEGEND AT THE NGV THIS SUMMER IN GUSTAV MOREAU AND THE ETERNAL FEMININE, THE FIRST SIGNIFICANT EXHIBITION OF GUSTAV MOREAU TO BE SEEN UN AUSTRALIA. FROM 10.DECEMBER, THE SUPERB CRAFTSMANSHIP OF GUSTAVE MOREAU WILL BE CELEBRATED WITH OVER 100 PAINTINGS, WATERCOLOURS AND DRAWINGS FROM THE UNIQUE AND ACCLAIMED MUSEE GUSTAVE MOREAU IN PARIS. GUSTAVE MOREAU AND THE ETERNAL FEMININE WILL EXPLORE THE ARTIST'S OBSESSION WITH THE FEMALE FORM, TAKING VISITORS ON A VOYAGE FROM CLASSICAL ANTIQUITY AND THE ANCIENT FAR EAST, TO CHRISTIANITY'S MORE LURID ESCAPADES AND EPIC NARRATIVES OF THE MIDDLE AGES. A HIGHLIGHT OF THE EXHIBITION WILL BE A SECTION DEVOTED TO MOREAU'S MOST CELEBRATED AND INTRIGUING OBSESSION, THE STORY OF SALOME AND THE BEHEADING OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. SALOME IS OFTEN DEPICTED AS AN ICON OF DANGEROUS FEMALE SEDUCTIVENESS AND IN THE FAMOUS TALE, HER STEPFATHER HEROD REQUESTS SALOME TO DANCE FOR HIM ON HIS BIRTHDAY IN EXCHANGE FOR ANYTHING SHE DESIRES. SALOME DANCES AND THEN ORDERS THE BEHEADING OF JOHN THE BAPTIST WHO WAS IN PRISON AT THE TIME FOR CRITICIZING THE MARRIAGE OF HER MOTHER, HERODIAS AND STEPFATHER HEROD. DURING HIS YOUTH, MOREAU WAS OBSESSES WIT ITALIAN ART OF THE 14th AND 15th CENTURIES, AND WITH NARRATIVES DRAWN FROM THE CLASSICAL PAST. THIS EXHIBITION WILL FEATURE THE TALES AND TRIBULATIONS OF WELL KNOWN CHARACTERS OF HISTORY, BOTH REAL AND MYTHOLOGICAL, INCLUDING HELEN OF TROY, CLEOPATRA, MESSALINA, LADY MACBETH, SAMSON AND DELILAH AND SAPPHO AND SALOME. WHILST MANY OF MOREAU'S WORKS ARE FILLED WITH MYTHICAL FEMALE CHARACTERS, IN LIFE HE WAS SURROUNDED BY TWO KEY FEMALE FIGURES: HIS MOTHER AND HIS GIRLFRIEND, ALEXANDRINE DUREUX. MOREAU LIVED WITH HIS MOTHER UNTIL HER PASSING IN 1884, WHILE DUREUX LIVED NEARBY. AFTER DUREUX'S DEATH IN 1890, MOREAU TRANSFORMED HIS FAMILY HOME INTO A MUSEUM. CREATING MASSIVE ATELIERS FOR THE DISPLAY OF MORE THAN 5,000 OF HIS OWN WORKS OF ART, AS WELL AS DEPICTING ROOMS TO HIS FATHER, HIS MOTHER AND DUREUX. LEFT TO THE FRENCH NATION IN MOREAU'S WILL IN 1898 AND OFFICIALLY OPENED TO THE PUBLIC IN 1903, THE MUSEE GUSTAVE MOREAU REMAINS ONE OF THE WORLD'S MOST UNIQUE AND EXTRAORDINARY SINGLE-ARTIST MUSEUMS.

BERNIE ECCLESTONE FOR HUBLOT

LATE LAST MONTH FORMULA ONE CHIEF BERNIE ECCLESTONE AND HIS GIRLFRIEND WERE ROBBED OUTSIDE HIS OFFICES IN LONDON. THE THIEVES REPORTEDLY PUNCHED AND KICKED ECCLESTONE AND MADE OFF WITH SOME $300,000 IN JEWELRY, INCLUDING A SPECIAL-EDITION HUBLOT WRISTWATCH, LEAVING THE OCTOGENARIAN BRUISED AND BATTERED. NEVER ONE TO SHY AWAY FROM CONTROVERSY OR TURN AWAY AN OPPORTUNITY, HOWEVER, ECCLESTONE HAS APPEARED IN AN AD FOR SWISS WATCHMAKER HUBLOT BRING FURTHER ATTENTION TO THE TRAGIC INCIDENT. THE AD FOR THE OFFICIAL FORMULA ONE TIMEKEEPER FEATURES A PHOTOGRAPH OF ECCLESTONE'S BRUISED FACE, ACCOMPANIED BY THE QUOTE 'SEE WHAT PEOPLE WILL DO FOR A HUBLOT', IT IS SET TO RUN THIS WEEK IN BOTH THE FINANCIAL TIMES AND THE INTERNATIONAL HERALD-TRIBUNE.