That is Just Beyond Your Reach
Gone Too Soon
Born To Amuse, To Inspire, To Delight
Here One Day
Gone One Night|
Gone Too Soon
Like A Sunset Dying
With The Rising of The Moom
Gone Too Soon
Gone Too Soon”
– Michael Jackson
If you follow our blogs regularly, you understand how much we appreciate excellence among craftspersons, artists, technicians, or creators. We recognize and admire the best of the best whether it is a colleague in the arena of hand-stitching leather, a sculptor molding and carving a 3-dimensional art piece, a musician whose sound has influenced cultures around the world, a chef that has earned the highest culinary awards, a developer of pristine travel accommodations, or even the shoe designer that has corned the shoe market with those lovely red bottom soles. We will always tip our hat to excellence no matter the category.
When studying peers who have made their mark in the world of elegance, luxury, and exclusiveness, I am fascinated with the journeys of those accomplished leaders or trailblazers in their respective fields.
With so much tragic death within our country, having the opportunity to grieve and celebrate well-lived lives, has taken an unfortunate back seat and is abnormally fleeting. This blog is our tribute to a few legendary artists who were taken away too soon allowing us to acknowledge their gifts to not only Beau Satchelle, but globally.
There are so many notable individuals that the selection process became somewhat difficult. There have been a few hundred artists who have passed in the first 5 months of 2020 (from all genres), who unconditionally shared their remarkable talents with the world. We all have been fortunate to walk the same earth as these 6 legends whose work will inevitably stand the test of time.
Artist Christo (June 13, 1935 – May 31, 2020)
The idea for this blog started a few weeks back and what compelled me to release it this week is because of the death of the legendary artist Christo Vladimirov Javacheff. As an art installer, his visions of art exhibits are incredibly massive in scale and intertwine beautifully with on-site nature and manmade landmarks as the canvas backdrop. For art connoisseurs who were fortunate to experience up close and personal one of his installations, it was surely thrilling and inspirational.
Born in Bulgaria prior to World War II, as a child he was drawn to art and his supportive parents allowed him to flourish by inviting artists to their home. School would be difficult for him because he was bored and stifled by the stringent instruction. In 1938, his trademark of wrapping items would emerge as he experimented with a paint can.
In 1958, Christo married his wife and “partner in art”, Jeanne-Claude Denat de Guillebon thus beginning several decades of planning and instituting fabric wrapped installations to share with the masses. All of their concepts were financed through the sale of their own work. The couple refused to accept grants, scholarships, donations, or public money for their projects to maintain complete creative control over their art.
On their website, admirers will view works in progress, realized projects, early works, temporary sculptures, and projects not realized.
A few of their most famous works are:
– The London Mastaba, show above, (2016-2018) located in Serpentine Lake, Hyde Park comprised of horizontally stacked barrels on a floating platform in Serpentine Lake
– The Floating Piers, shown above, (2016) located in Lake Iseo, Italy consisting of 100,000 square meters of shimmering yellow fabric wrapped around a floating modular deck system for public walkways.
– The Gates (2005) located in New York’s Central Park consisted of 7503 gates with free hanging saffron colored fabric panels placed to resemble a golden river, appearing and disappearing through the bare branches of the trees within the park.
Little Richard (December 5, 1932 – May 9, 2020)
There are only a few musicians that have earned Rock and Roll royalty. Richard Wayne Penniman, singer, songwriter and musician laid the foundation for rock and roll during the mid-1950s with over the top performances, flashy costumes, the famous high top pompadour, and his own piano banging style shot him to the top of the charts with his collection of songs, “Long Tall Sally”, “TuttiFruity, “Rip It Up”, “Lucille and “Good Golly Miss Molly”. He attributes due to his music being embraced by whites, he was as popular as Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis. Raised in a very religious environment, Little Richard got his start by singing in church. His musical influences were all gospel performers which included Brother Joe May, Sister Rosetta Thorpe, Mahalia Jackson and Marion Williams. His influence also extended into other music genres consisting of soul, funk, rock, hip, hop and rhythm & blues.
In 1986, Little Richard was one of the 10 original inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammy’s in 1993.
Astrid Kirchherr – (May 20, 1938 – May 12, 2020)
German Photographer known for her association with the Beatles and the collections of photos of the original band members – John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Pete Best.
Started her studies in fashion design in Hamburg, Kirchherr switched her courses to photography, and after graduating worked as an assistant with the school’s photographic tutor. She crossed paths with the Beatles in 1960 and became their “unofficial” photographer when they were quite unknown. Her body of work of photographing the band as they tour Europe created iconic images that have been internationally exhibited and resulted in her publishing three limited-edition books of photographs. She was influential in cultivating their iconic image – especially in having a hand in the Beatles famous moptops.
Sergio Rossi (July 31,1935-April 2, 2020)
Italian shoe designer, hailed from the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. An apprentice of his Father, a shoemaker, he eventually opened his own footwear house and sold his sandals to beach-goers and Bologna boutiques. A Rossi pair of shoes takes at least 14 hours to make and his attention to detail in creating beautiful footwear gained him celebrity status as fans from Hollywood including celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow, Naomi Campbell, Rihanna, Lupita Nyong’o and Bella Hadid wanting to wear Sergio Rossi.
Rossi’s shoes were no stranger to embellishments of crystals and gems with the most famous shoe designs were the strappy Opanca sandals and the sharp-toed Godiva pump.
The Sergio Rossi brand was sold to the Gucci Group (Kering) in 1999 then to European Investment House, Investindustrial in 2015. In March, before Rossi fell ill and passed away, he had generously donated €100,000 to the Sacco hospital in Milan to help in the fight against Covid-19
American artist who worked with pastels and oil painting and best known for his portraits of notable figures in history. The Encyclopedia Britannica considers Mr. Greene the foremost pastelist in the United States. Born in Ohio but lived and worked in New York State, an author and instructor, Greene has been the recipient of numerous grants, lifetime achievement awards, hall of fame inductions, and fellowships. His collections are displayed at the Smithsonian, Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Cincinnati Museum of Fine Arts, and among several other museums.
His portrait collection includes First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, “Wendy’s” founder Dave Thomas, Bryant Gumbel, and William Randolph Hearst to name a few. He has been commissioned for portraits of titans of government, business, and Deans/Presidents of elite public and ivy league universities.
Mike Longo (March 19, 1937 – March 22, 2020)
The jazz world has also experienced immense losses: Jazz pianist, Ellis Marsalis (died April 2nd); baritone saxophonist Danny Ray Thompson (died March 12th) with the Sun Ra Arkestra; and pianist Lyle Mays with the Pat Metheny Group (died February 10th). I particularly wanted to feature the unparalleled talent of Mike Longo.
An American jazz pianist and composer, this Cincinnati Ohio born musician was surrounded by the musical talent of both parents. He studied classical piano at Western Kentucky University and after graduating, His influences included alto saxophonist, Cannonball Adderly (who was hired by Longo’s Dad to play in his band when segregation of blacks and whites was enforced), the trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie (eventually becoming Gillespie’s musical director and arranger) and pianist Oscar Peterson who taught him the nuances of becoming a jazz pianist… “the textures, voicings, touch, time, conception, tone on the instrument” as he related in an 2006 interview on the website All About Jazz.
He has led his own big band New York State of the Art Jazz Ensemble and mentored up and coming jazz musicians for gigs around New York and releasing their recordings at his publishing and record label Consolidated Artists Productions (CAP).
His arrangement of Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On”, originally recorded in 1973 on the LP called “Funkia” with Mike Longo on Piano, MIkey Roker on Drums and Ron Carter on Bass
Lorenzo Ghiglieri (November 25, 1931-January 25, 2020)
American painter and sculptor who has his bronze sculptors and paintings displays located in every corner of the world from D.C. to the Vatican. Formally trained and Influenced by studying the Old Masters including Rembrandt, Velazquez and Corot, his art became a sought after among notables and celebrities. He was commissioned to do sculptors for Pope John Paul II, the Queen of England, three U.S. President, celebrities including Luciono Pavarotti, Michael Jackson, and Tiger Woods, astronauts and other notables.
His world experiences of serving in the Korean War, being an illustrator for an advertising agency, and living on Alaska’s frontier influence his values and passion to preserve American’s western heritage through his art. The painstaking details of his bronze sculptors are stunning as he captures the essence of wildlife or western ranch life.
Hat Tip to the following photographers:
Kièu Truong – white dove in flight
Giuliamaistri1 – Floating Piers
Eric Baker – The London Mastaba
Jim2jamm@sbcglobal.net – Little Richard
Trbates1 – Sergio Rossi Shoe
Naman Mahajan – Mike Longo
Gandolf’s Gallery – Daniel Greene oil painting of auction visitors
Samatha L – Astrid Kirchherr, John Lennon, Ringo Starr
ArtFan70 – Abraham Lincoln and his son Tad
https://christojeanneclaude.net/
https://www.wallpaper.com/art/in-memoriam-christo-obituary-1935-2020
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