NB! · Geography · Maps · Observations
The geological map of France and how it differs from political maps
Firstly, it is very beautiful. A geological map of France. And secondly, political maps are simply dull
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Coming Up · Art · Moscow · Observations
Outdoor exhibition in memory of poet Alexander Yeremenko runs in Peredelkino until November
This weekend I am hunting with great interest for works by contemporary artists in the park of the Peredelkino Creative Retreat. The outdoor exhibition "To the Right Lies the White Forest" is dedicated to the memory of the metarealist poet Alexander Yeryomenko, who died only recently. He did
NB! · Observations · Nature · Humour
Good morning, and may your day be as joyful as this eighteenth-century sea lion
NB! · Geography · Maps · Observations · Society · Humour
Germany and Russia
Germany and Russia. And Poland between them, naturally; how could it be otherwise. One date I have prudently blurred out, simply because I am not sure whether, where we are, mentioning it nowadays merely lands one in prison or has already progressed to the firing squad.
Art · Museums · Observations · Humour
A Tea Service for Parents
A tea service for parents. A teapot inscribed "Tulip: pride and ingratitude" and a matching cup inscribed "Jasmine: chastity", in the display case of Russian porcelain at the Kaluga Museum of Fine Arts. Might I trouble you to top up my chastity with a little boiling
Aristocracy · Art · Observations · Paris · People · Pop Culture
Castelbajac graffiti on rue des Beaux-Arts in Paris still intact six months on
Does anyone still remember the Marquis Jean Michel de Castelbajac? A designer from the distant past, who dressed Madonna in a coat of teddy bears and was famed for his rainbow palette and witty solutions, once even earning the title of France's king of kitsch, and who befriended
Archive · Architecture · Moscow · Observations
Visualisations of Moscow with the 415-metre Palace of Soviets, had it been built
"In Moscow, near the Kremlin, the Palace of Soviets is being built. It will be the tallest structure on earth, higher than the Egyptian pyramids, the Eiffel Tower and the American skyscrapers. The Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the parliament of the only truly democratic country in the world,
Coming Up · Architecture · Moscow · Museums · Observations · Science
The Fersman Mineralogical Museum in Moscow and its collection dating from 1716
Shall we go to a museum? One of the oldest museum collections in Russia, dating from the time of Peter the Great, is, incidentally, the collection of minerals, which in 1716 became the core of the Mineral Cabinet of the Kunstkamera and in 1836 was formally transformed into a separate
Art · Observations
The Smoker
The Smoker. An allegory of transience. Hendrick van Somer, early 17th century. Just wanted to remind you before bedtime of the last month of summer and how swiftly life flies, of course
Coming Up · Art · Moscow · Museums · Observations
Guidoccio di Giovanni Cozzarelli (1450-1517)
Guidoccio di Giovanni Cozzarelli (1450-1517). The Baptism of Christ. John the Baptist sports an epic hair shirt. Now on show at the Pushkin Museum, at the exhibition of proto-Renaissance masterpieces. The canvas comes from the collection of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts. “Siena at the Dawn
NB! · Architecture · Moscow · Observations
Retro-style address plaques on Moscow buildings, including the Helikon-Opera building
Here and there in Moscow, retro-style address plates have begun to appear on buildings. Take, for example, the sign on the Helikon-Opera building, modelled on a Soviet street sign. It looks very pleasing
Architecture · In the Press · Art · Moscow · Museums · Observations · Heritage
Eeckhout's “Musical Party” under flies, the blistered “David and Abigail” of van Diepenbeeck, a hole in Bialynitsky-Birulya's canvas and other sad facts about the collection of the Moscow sanatorium Uzkoye, in the Bitsa Forest, are described in a caustic…
Eeckhout's “Musical Party” under flies, the blistered “David and Abigail” of van Diepenbeeck, a hole in Bialynitsky-Birulya's canvas and other sad facts about the collection of the Moscow sanatorium Uzkoye, in the Bitsa Forest, are described in a caustic article in Komsomolskaya Pravda, which for