Saturday, August 13, 2011

the dîner des têtes surréalistes, 1972

baron guy de rothschild & baroness marie-hélène de rothschild



the dîner des têtes surréalistes invitation with reversed writing inspired by a magritte sky


château de ferrières 


baron alexis de redé in a dalí designed mona lisa hat inset with portraits of marie-hélène


senhora espírito santo & the duke and duchess of cadaval


jacqueline delubac


hugues gall and mrs. rolf libermann


audrey hepburn trapped inside a magritte bird cage


hélène rochas & françois-marie banier


claude lebon and charlotte aillaud


alfred duff cooper


the baroness thyssen-bornemizza & guy baguenault de puchesse


salvador dalí and the italian princess maria gabriella de savoia


charles de croisset, marisa berenson & paul-louis weiller


the menu


detail of a table with a fur dish, mae west red lips & blue bread


table of the swaying dolls


table of the tenderized turtles


for desert: a sugar made woman laying in a bed of roses 




written by attendee baron alexis de redé:
on 12 december 1972, marie-hélène de rothschild gave her surrealist ball at ferriéres. this time the guests were asked to come in black tie & long dresses with surrealist heads. the invitation was printed with reversed writing on a blue & cloudy sky, inspired by a painting by magritte. to decipher the card, it had to be held to a mirror.
for the evening the chateau was floodlit with moving orange lights to give the impression that it was on fire. the staircase inside was lined by footmen dressed as cats that appeared to have fallen asleep in a variety of staged poses.
guests had to pass through a kind of labyrinth of hell, made of black ribbons to look like cobwebs. the occasional cat appeared to rescue the guests & lead them to the tapestry salon. here they were greeted by guy with a hat to resemble a still-life on a platter, & by marie-hélène wearing the head of a giant stag weeping tears made of diamonds.
marie-hélène proved that she had the flare & imagination to create something unique & worthwhile. none of this was created by charm alone. it needed a degree of ruthless determination. she attended to every minute detail of style in her life & also in her entertaining. she was a great hostess with all the qualities. she loved parties & people. she was forever in quest of new talent & new figures to entertain from the world of the arts, literature, dance & haute couture. she mixed them with the more established set of paris society. everyone was intrigued. marie-hélène's parties took on such importance that one social figure threatened to commit suicide unless she was invited.

that obscure object of desire









magdalena frackowiak photographed by camille vivier & styled by sheila single for numéro france #125, August 2011.

the beat goes on













sojourner morrell photographed by daniel jackson & styled by kate phelan for vogue uk, september 2011.

Friday, August 12, 2011

fern & jack











fern thomas & jack manhood photographed by nik hartley & styled by matthew josephs for zoo no. 31, summer 2011.