WINTER HOLIDAY WINDOW DISPLAY INSTALLATION
BERGDORF GOODMAN
(WOMEN’S STORE)
NEW YORK CITY
Reviewed by Julie “Jigsaw” Ashcraft
If babies-in-hay seem de’classe’ and Santa’s claws fatigue you, then make your way, get ready to pay, Bergdorf’s may entice you!
I half expected to turn and see the ghost of “Liturgies of Satan” author, and art critic, Charles Baudelaire standing beside me on the Fifth Avenue sidewalk as I soaked up the decadent splendor of Bergdorf’s holiday windows. A pathologically self-destructive connousieur of beauty, Baudelaire would have reveled in seeing such exquisite clothing and objects presented so artfully, so deftly. The (mannequin) painter at work on a canvas in one window would have especially drawn his attention. Surely Charles would have appreciated the wit shown by the (actual) display artists in having the (mannequin) painter not merely paint a portrait of the (mannequin) lady sitting for him, but rather the (mannequin) painter painting himself painting her portrait! He would have recognized this visual device from “Las Meninas” by Valasquez. (See footnote below.)
The undercurrent of Narcissism in this installation may be confirmed in the adjacent window where a mannequin appears to gaze lovingly at her reflection in the surface of ‘water’. But it is difficult to tell whether the display artists are commenting upon, or simply advocating Narcissism in the window displaying a Marie Antoinette-like mannequin, surrounded by cakes and monkey ‘servants’. Surely, this window, visually stunning though it is, could be considered particularly tasteless at this time–when so many people are becoming jobless and homeless.
Given that Baudelaire had a mixed-race lover, he might have found the relentlessly lead-white mannequins in most of the windows rather dull. Turning the corner from 5th Avenue, left onto 58th Street, his interest might have been piqued by the more human-toned color of the mannequins in the North-facing windows. My interest was also piqued by the mythological creatures represented, at least symbolically. Moloch plays chess in the first window, Pegasus stands tall with wings outstretched in the second, and Wolfman plays trumpet in the last. Now, these are some kind of Xmas windows!
copyright (c) 2008 Julie Ashcraft
All rights reserved
Contact: [email protected]
Footnote: In her brief article titled, “Manet/Velazquez – Report from Europe”,which was published in the Nov, 2002 edition of Antiques Magazine, Mirian Kramer wrote that, “…Edouard Manet(‘s)…painting style was primarily influenced by studying the old masters in the Musee du Louvre in Paris, particularly the works of the Spanish painters Bartolome Esteban Murillo, Jusepe de Ribera and–most importantly–Diego Velazquez. Manet was so enamored of Velazquez that in 1865…he wrote to the art critic and poet Charles Baudelarire that Velazquez was “the greatest painter that I’ve ever seen.” Link to article:
<ahref=”http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1026/is_5_162/ai_94079251″>FindArticles – Manet/Velazquez – Report from Europe – Brief Article</a>
<cite>Magazine Antiques, Nov, 2002, by Miriam Kramer</cite>