1938 Talbot-Lago T150C-SS Teardrop. It’s from the ‘Rolling Sculpture, Art Deco Cars From The 1930s and ‘40s’ exhibit at the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh. Built by the French company, Automobiles Talbot SA.
Yes, boot yourself more than once if you can’t get to North Carolina in the next few weeks — up until January 15th.
Stunning Art Deco motor cars await you in Raleigh’s North Carolina Museum of Art.
Fourteen shining examples, in fact, along with three motorcycles.
‘Rolling Sculpture, Art Deco Cars From The 1930s and ‘40s’ … that’s how this show is titled.
Go along and you’ll understand that gasping with appreciation isn’t discouraged.
We heard more than a few people audibly catch their breath. It’s that good.
Uncontained enthusiasm brought total strangers together to discuss the merits of the cars, streamline design and the crying shame that the era for these beauties has passed.
More than iPhone photography, Edsel Ford’s 1934 Model 40 Speedster had the Nikon brigade snapping shots from every angle. A serious attempt to capture all the art represents.
At shoelace level one enthusiast lay on the floor to capture a dramatic view of the 1938 Hispano-Suiza H6B ‘Xenia’.
Another was on both knees to shoot the 1933 Pierce-Arrow. Silver Arrow model.
For a preview of the cars and motorcycles here’s a link: ncartmuseum.org
Pictured above is a 1938 Talbot-Lago T150C-SS Teardrop.
Stunning only begins to describe it.
Ten years back a T150C-SS Teardrop sold at auction for $3,905,000.
Note the rich, earthy red color that completes a two-tone presentation.
We’re thinking it might have been inspired by the ancient Egyptians.
Reason for that lies with Howard Carter’s 1922 discovery of the intact tomb of Tutankhamun.
On the heels of the King Tut find ancient Egyptian art electrified the world.
It dominated the jazz age and carried on to the 30s and 40s.
Art Deco, in everything from jewelry to motor cars and skyscrapers like the Chrysler Building, was heavily influenced.
The famous Tutankhamun death mask features geometric lines with the earthy red color you see on the Talbot-Lago.
More than that it’s a color that runs through Egyptian art.
Was there a chance the head of Automobiles Talbot SA, Antonio Lago, was swayed by Howard Carter’s discoveries?
Many of his cars feature that earthy red.
The way it combines with the deep, rich silver paintwork is …
Well … you finish the sentence with your own superlatives after you see the show.
More to that, we heard, ‘those in more senior positions are in decline and s%!t when it comes to effecting change.’
‘Pass 50 and you’re passed it.’
A bit harsh, of course, but maybe it was the Jack Daniels talking. In any case, someone said it’s no wonder clients are unhappy with agencies and business is shifting to consultants.
The thing is, why complain if you don’t have a solution. It’s just ear bashing.
So, how about better training programs? They’re bound to help young art directors, writers and account people. Agencies could invest more in courses to bring staff further along.
But what about seniors, those who could be well set in there ways and not exactly open to change.
The imperative could be ‘remake yourself, make a clean, new start’.
It’s easier said then done, but a model for that is Glenda Jackson.
Remember Glenda Jackson?
The great actress is coming out of retirement to play King Lear in an Old Vic production.
A woman in the King Lear role is intriguing as a re-imagination of Shakespeare.
But gender swapping is not unheard of in Shakespeare productions.
Women have played Hamlet.
And in the role they’ve come across as virile, manly and tough. Especially Sarah Bernhardt who played the role in Paris and London in 1899.
We’re wondering if a man could play Joan of Arc as well in George Bernard Shaw’s play Saint Joan.
Chances are you know Glenda Jackson’s work. Academy Awards for Best Actress, Emmy Awards … the list of her abilities is as long as your arm.
But imagine giving all that up to follow your political convictions.
Jackson did just that.
She retired from acting to stand for election to the House of Commons in 1992.
She became Labour MP for Hampstead and Highgate, served as a shadow minister and was appointed as parliamentary under secretary of state by Tony Blair.
No doubt we’re forgetting half a hundred other accomplishments including railing against Margaret Thatcher’s policies in order to redress the problems of unemployment.
Now Glenda Jackson is back.
She opens as King Lear on October 25th.
For those in decline, here’s a thought.
The Old Vic box office is open. So fly to London.
It’s bound to be inspiring, motivating and more to head for the Old Vic to see Glenda Jackson stage.
She’s a living example that you don’t have to be in decline and s%!t past 50.
You might say Volvo ads these days are at the exhilarating end of cheerless. At best they’re just okay. But in the past the ad above and other Volvo work set creative standards for automotive as well as all product areas.
There’s a loaded expression for you, Do It The Way I Picture You Doing It.
It’s how some marketers direct the creative work of their agencies.
Anything counter to their thinking hits a snag.
With inflexible beliefs or inexperience, any chance of progress is squashed.
It’s not exactly a great recipe for creativity, is it, when you start with preconceptions and boundaries.
We were wondering about this when it comes to Volvo.
The company is going from strength to strength with their cars.
The new S90 sedan is a wonder of automotive thinking according to car reviewers.
The V90 wagon, soon to be introduced, should put the German manufacturers on notice when it comes to excellence.
Volvo has come a long way.
But it looks like the opposite is true for Volvo advertising.
Many say it’s become ordinary.
So what’s happened to Volvo’s ability to do great ads?
Not too long ago they excelled not just in the automotive category but they stood as examples of how good advertising can be.
What’s holding Volvo back, is it the Do It The Way I Picture You Doing It thing? Or is it the agency?
Maybe Volvo engineers should have a say in the ads.
That way the work could become as good as the cars they build.
Here, four gas chambers put 6000 people to death each day. As a Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel started the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity and won the Nobel Prize. The most important moral voice of our time. That’s how world leaders saw him.
That shaming …
It’s evident in the tattooed number the Nazis put on Elie Wiesel’s forearm in Buchenwald.
A-7713.
Nelson Mandela had a number as well. A penitentiary number. A government dehumanized him as 46664, locking him away for 27 years.
You know how the 46664 story turned out, of course.
Prisoner to President. It’s a tribute to rights and justice.
Lesser known may be Wiesel who passed away yesterday (2 July) at 87.
He survived the Holocaust to write Night. A 127-page book about death in the concentration camps.
Smoke from the chimneys carried away the innocent faces of children. That’s his image, his memory.
At 127 pages Night is short but terrifying. It’s hardly bearable.
Many agree that it’s good that it’s alarming.
Still, Wiesel left us a message about that.
He said, ‘Because I remember I despair … because I remember I have the duty to reject despair’.
There’s an abiding faith in humanism and the future in that.
Optimism … even after wreathes of smoke spilled from the chimney tops.
Maybe that’s why Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama looked to him for inspiration.
Many will now read and re-read Night. Many of the unborn will come to read it as well.