“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…
View More Timothy Oulton Design AdventurerTag: The Literary Adventurer
I call myself The Literary Adventurer because when I travel to cities such as New York, Paris and London, I am continually following the paths of my literary heroes.
I hit upon the title The Literary Adventurer when I was roaming London in search of the buildings famous writers had called home. Among them on this particular trip was Oscar Wilde, Henry James and George Eliot. During trips to Paris, the list has included Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, Rainer Maria Rilke, Natalie Barney and Edith Wharton. And in Venice, it was Peggy Guggenheim’s world I sought as I read her biography surrounded by the lapping water she glided across in her gondola.
Though she is not as well-known as a writer as she is an art collector, her salon, which drew all manner of literati, was a sought-after experience. But she was a tough cookie and she would ostracize practically the entire roster of Beat poets who visited Venice, the most disappointed among them Allen Ginsberg. Gregory Corso and William Burroughs actually made it through the gate, but only once for Burroughs and he was not invited back because he made an off-color remark about a certain part of Guggenheim’s anatomy. It’s historical meanderings like these of writers who came before me that fascinate me when I’m embarking upon a literary adventure.
Furnishing Pastimes of Henry VIII
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…
View More Furnishing Pastimes of Henry VIIIDecorating Hampton Court Palace
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:…
View More Decorating Hampton Court PalaceThe Peacock Room à la Whistler
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…
View More The Peacock Room à la WhistlerCinderella in the South of France
Cinderella in the South of France “From morning until night, Cinderella worked very hard. She carried water, got the fire going, cooked, cleaned, and washed.…
View More Cinderella in the South of FranceThe Tides In Our Veins
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,…
View More The Tides In Our VeinsHorace Walpole Shops The Decorative Fair
The books I’ve been reading about Horace Walpole since I returned from my trip to London to attend The Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair in…
View More Horace Walpole Shops The Decorative FairThe Old Familiar Faces
…I have been laughing, I have been carousing, Drinking late, sitting late, with my bosom cronies, All, all are gone, the old familiar faces… These…
View More The Old Familiar FacesLove Among the Ruins
How would it feel to spend your life so absorbed by crumbling architecture and disintegrating stone you could bring them vibrantly back to life with…
View More Love Among the RuinsA Definition of Fleeting
“O nature, merciful and cruel mother, when do you have such power and such contrary wills, to make and unmake things so charming?” —Petrarch Petrarch,…
View More A Definition of Fleeting