Category: Cultural Explorations

I have a penchant for cultural explorations that combine history, literature, design, architecture and myriad angles relating to travel. These subjects inspire me as a writer. My sweep of historical cultural references is wide. One week may find me exploring Peggy Guggenheim’s romantic frustrations and my visit to her chosen home town of Venice while another week will find me on a literary adventure in Paris, one of my favorite cities.

I am fascinated with court cultures, such as lifestyles during the Tudor Era, especially relating to Henry VII, and any time-period relating to the Bourbon kings of France. I often combine these cultural explorations with design because I have been a design and architecture journalist for over two decades. Since it’s my beat, I often mine the industry for ways to combine these subjects with literature, which I call my literary design adventures. I hope you enjoy my worldly ramblings and my fascinations here on The Diary of an Improvateur.

Whitehall Palace with the Banqueting House

Architecture Cultural Explorations Historical Design

The Built Legacy of Henry VIII

The 2016 Academy Awards are handed out this coming Sunday so I’m celebrating a film that showcases the built legacy of Henry VIII to delve back into…

Bertie Pelham visits Edith Crawley’s London Flat.

Cultural Explorations Television Series

I Met Virginia Woolf in This Room

Saxon Henry February 18, 2016 actors and actresses books of letters British poets dead poets society England famous writers fine antiques Great Britain libraries literary design encounters London memoirs nobility nonfiction writers novelists painters set decoration Virginia Woolf writing desks

Who else is relieved that Lady Edith Crawley, played by Laura Carmichael, is finally finding happiness on Downton Abbey? Having binged on all of the…

Architecture Cultural Explorations Historical Design Television Series

Renovating During the Tudor Era

Saxon Henry February 2, 2016 actors and actresses Anne Boleyn architectural storytelling Cardinal Wolsey England famous writers grand residences Great Britain Groundbreakers Hampton Court Palace Hans Holbein the Younger Henry VIII historic castles House of Tudor London Medieval Times monarchs nobility nonfiction writers painters Royal Courtiers royal palaces Tudor Era

Hindsight is 20/20, as they say. Looking back to the Tudor Era from this great distance, it’s easy to see how barbaric a sport jousting was.…

Adventurer Collection living room setting by Timothy Oulton

Cultural Explorations Furniture Design Literature

Timothy Oulton Design Adventurer

Saxon Henry September 7, 2015 antiques shopping in Europe authenticity design industry leaders design narratives England Great Britain literary design encounters New York City novelists The Literary Adventurer writing desks

“As the momentous words ‘England is now, therefore, in a state of war with Germany’ came somberly over the radio, Major James Bigglesworth, D.S.O., better…

Jean Leon Gerome's painting Louis XIV and Moliere

Cultural Explorations Historical Design Literature

We’ll Never Be Royals

Saxon Henry September 3, 2015 Baroque Era Chinoiserie decorating history design narratives fine porcelain France French aristocracy historic castles House of Bourbon Louis XIV Louis XV Louis XVI Marie Antoinette Marquise de Rambouillet memoirs monarchs nobility nonfiction writers painters Paris Regency Era Rococo Style Royal Courtiers royal palaces salonniere Versailles

Nest Nest Nest features the Alliage pattern.As I write this, I can feel the design energy draining from the Americas as the movers-and-shakers in our…

The Queen's Drawing Room at Hampton Court Palace

Cultural Explorations Furniture Design Historical Design

Furnishing Pastimes of Henry VIII

Saxon Henry August 18, 2015 Anne Boleyn antiques shopping in Europe British poets Cardinal Wolsey Chinoiserie dead poets society decorating history design narratives documentaries England famous writers fine antiques grand residences Great Britain Hampton Court Palace Hans Holbein the Younger Henry VIII historic castles House of Tudor libraries London Medieval Times monarchs nobility nonfiction writers poetry Royal Courtiers royal palaces salonniere summer reading list The Literary Adventurer Tudor Era

As I mentioned in my last Improvateur article presenting a brief history of Hampton Court Palace, I launched into a furnishings fantasy when I heard…

One of Hampton Court Palace's Eavesdroppers

Cultural Explorations Garden Design Interior Design

Decorating Hampton Court Palace

Saxon Henry August 12, 2015 antiques shopping in Europe Baroque Era Cardinal Wolsey decorating history demi-monde design narratives documentaries England grand residences Great Britain Hampton Court Palace Hans Holbein the Younger Henry VIII historic castles House of Tudor Medieval Times monarchs nobility nonfiction writers Renaissance Royal Courtiers royal palaces summer reading list The Literary Adventurer Tudor Era

The premise of this article and the next one I’ll post here on The Diary of an Improvateur (next week) began with a rather capricious question:…

Whistler gilded the walnut latticework forming the shelves.

Art Cultural Explorations Interior Design

The Peacock Room à la Whistler

Saxon Henry July 23, 2015 architectural storytelling books of letters British poets Chinoiserie decorating history design narratives England fine porcelain France grand residences Great Britain Greek deities Groundbreakers Henry VIII House of Tudor literary design encounters London monarchs painters Paris Rococo Style salonniere The Literary Adventurer Tudor Era Washington DC

The most recognizable painting by artist James Abbott McNeill Whistler might lead you to believe he was as Puritan as his upbringing. The fact he…

Cultural Explorations Furniture Design Nature Writing

The Tides In Our Veins

Saxon Henry June 15, 2015 American furniture manufacturers American poets Atlanta authenticity design narratives documentaries famous writers High Point Market libraries lighting literary design encounters poetry summer reading list The Literary Adventurer

The Tides in Our Veins One of the most evocative trips I can remember taking as a young woman was a four-day escapade to Carmel,…

Madame Cezanne with Hotensias is a study by Paul Cezanne

Art Cultural Explorations Literature

Mme Cezanne at the Met

Saxon Henry February 24, 2015 authenticity books of letters dead poets society design narratives France Groundbreakers New York City novelists painters Paris

“For nearly seventeen years, Cézanne would conceal his affair with Hortense from his father…” —Philippe Cézanne As I studied the sketches and paintings in the…