Friday, December 18, 2009

Sherry-Lehmann


It's 3am hen in your closet you stumble on bits of your past you forgotten.
In one of my 9 or 10 past lives I used to illustrate wine catalogs for New York Sherry-LehmannI've always been influenced by Toulouse-Lautrec's drawings.
And for this Xmas catalog...
I did many direct take-offs from Lautrec's lithographs....


Lautrec was in fact influenced by the influx into France of Japanese woodblock prints. These too have long been a favorite of mine

Another take-off...

Last night I watched a favorite French farce -
Prete-Moi Ta Main / I Do - How To Get Married And stay Single

In it, the lead actress, Charlotte Gainsbourg (who I plan to come back as) while visiting her perspective inlaws impresses them...
By correctly identifing the wine as Bordeaux and from Chateau Latour. I might get the appelation but never the exact chateau even though I've sat in their vineyards and drawn the famous La Tour...
I've drawn onsite at Chateau Margaux too, but don't expect much from me at a blind tasting.
My pen is way better than my nose anyday of the week...
What will you be drinking this holiday?
No one draws animals like Lautrec
This Champagne hound is a distant relative of T-L's I hope
BON WEEK-END!

30 comments:

  1. Bonjour!!
    Did you see this Top Ten list of Paris Chocolatiers? I just knew you would be interested.
    Joyeux Noël et Bonne Année, Paris Breakfasts. Thank you for my daily dose of Paris and color!
    http://www.francetoday.com/articles/2009/12/16/the_short_list_paris_chocolatiers.html
    Teresa

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  2. These illustrations are lovely! And, like your former commenter, thank you so much for the daily inspiration.

    Catherine

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  3. What a gorgeous collage of works, and an art history/comparative art lesson, too! Just wonderful! Thank you so much for sharing these. Your work is truly so delightful. :)

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  4. ah-hah! We see another side of you! I love the illustrations....and your champagne hound is great!

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  5. I love Champagne Chien! And all the rest. How fun to get to see these. Oh the places we go.... :)) Such a good week of treasures here. Thank you.

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  6. It's so fun to see your inspiration! Beautiful!

    Merry Christmas, friend!

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  7. Oh!!!Baby,
    you have all my favorite wines...
    I am impressed about your art,
    really do enjoy your post Unique, style. Etcetera
    Happy and healthy Season.

    Yvonne

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  8. Shelley9:05 AM

    Just love your blog. I live in Mass. and also in Paris and enjoy
    reading about your travels. I was unable to attend the French Library
    event and am sure it was great. You touch on such great subjects and being a foodie I love to read about Paris when I am not there. I
    dabble in oil painting for fun and can really appreciate your work.
    Again thanks for great reading.

    Shelley

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  9. Elizabeth9:41 AM

    Thanks for these beautiful illustrations (yours and Lautrec's)! Sometime check out Calder's drawings of animals. I saw his sketchbook last spring at the exhibit at the Pompidou. Here are some of them:


    http://aesop.creighton.edu/jcupub/calder_animals.htm


    Elizabeth

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  10. Let me first say that these illustrations of yours are a joy to look at and admire!

    I was at a little wine tasting at a vintner in Burgenland, about 40 miles south of here. No castles there, but honest wines that taste great, even grand! I could write the names down, if you are interested, there are Spätlese and the like, special wines, and I know that this vintner exports to the New York area. Let me know ....

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  11. THese are lovely paintings - it's funny, but when I clean out my closet I never come up with anything so wonderful as these!
    To repeat the sentiment of some of the above commentors - thank you for your inspiration.
    Have a fabulous weekend!

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  12. OMG was that you?!! I have been getting their catalogue for years, still do! You must try to get a hold of photos of Paris in yesterday's snow. My friends there tells me it's amazing. They got 5 inches yesterday and sticking!! more cold weather tomorrow. If i get some I'll forward them to you.

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  13. Oh, do you know the French movie: "Le Buche"? It is a Christmas movie, and watching it, kicks off the Christmas season for us. Charlotte's in that one, too. (My husband tells me that she is my only competition!)

    Love Paris Breakfasts, too. Thanks for being there in blogland.

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  14. Wow, Carol. Just wow. As we are expecting snow (I think NYC, too) & I must get to post office. Back soon. But I wanted to say. Wow.

    xoxo

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  15. Wow, those are beautiful illustrations, Carol!
    Have a good weekend..

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  16. Carol, these are just fabulous! I LOVE these. Some of your best yet. Amazing. LOVE 'em.

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  17. I adore these drawings.
    You should think about doing a card line of your own like this.
    They're just grrrreat.
    Happy Holidays,
    gail

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  18. the black mesa winery in velarde, nm, makes a red wine called black
    beauty, infused with chocolate. divine!!

    love your illustrations.

    katy

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  19. Elayne5:10 PM

    I have been a subscriber to your Paris Breakfast for about 6 months now and I think you and you're blog are brilliant! Today's column confirmed that! Your art is fantastic!
    As a confirmed Francophile myself, I so look forward to your daily posts. With the exception of the past 2 years, I spent my Holidays in Paris from 1999 thru 2008 and miss it profusely. Paris Breakfast makes me feel as though I'm there!
    So please take my Seasons Greetings as a token of my appreciation, keep up the good work and I look forward to sipping wine with you at the Cafe Flore sometime soon!

    Fondest Regards,
    Elayne

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  20. Wow some great work here. You just keep coming up with more and more of your fabulous past work. Do we really know you yet?? hmmmm :))

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  21. Sharron8:52 PM

    Thanks!
    My day isn't complete without my Paris Breakfast!!
    The gentleman with his side to us in the series beard and middle aged looks just like my husband. People keep e-mailing me about the likeness.
    Good Job!

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  22. OMG! You do Lautrec proud! And I am totally fascinated by the way a vision moves from Japan to Lautrec to Carol! Sherry-Lehman showed such prescience when they hired you!

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  23. What a great post! Love your Lautrec redux.

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  24. Have a happy christmas, Paris right now is white and cold.
    Christian

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  25. Thank you so much for sharing such lovely stories and images. I'm always inspired by your blog, and on a recent trip to Paris I was delighted to find so many glimpses of the city that I'd originally seen captured in your watercolours.

    I wish you a happy and safe Christmas :-)

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  26. What a nice and cute blog I happened to find (when I was researching a little about Vaux le Vicomte).

    Jens from Sweden.

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  27. Thanks carol for all your fascinating images I really look forward to your blogs. I am a bit of an artist too and I love Bonnard I hope to go to LeCannet next year to see his new museum and his studio\house and I think there is a Toulouse Lautrec gallery on the way south, after taking in some cakes in Paris of course . Thank you again Merry Christmas from Carol Hobbs
    [ in England ]

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  28. all the cartoon photos are really very interesting, I like this . Thanks for sharing.

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