New: Tolosa Tupida Plato Grande with Leather Headband

New, made on special order, the Tolosa Tupida Plato Grande - Cuero (32cm/12.6" diameter) with Moroccan leather headband @ $46.50!

Not on the South Pacific web site yet, but already available here!

Pictures from Italy

Child Tricarico (Basilicata, Italy) 1950

Claudio Magris

Federico Fellini (with Basco Roma); center, actor Leopoldo Trieste; right, screenwriter Tullio Pinelli, around the time of Lo Sceicco Bianco

Sergio Muntoni painting

Italian RSI Black Brigade NCO beret 

Pictures from Germany

Heidegger

Dumm+Gelaufen

 Heinrich Böll 

Herbert Stubenrauch

Creadeus Wolfgang

Heiner Reitberger

Bundeswehr

Pictures from Spain

An old lady reads a newspaper in a cafeteria in Barcelona

Pablo Antoñana

Felipe Primero

Hemingway And Luis Miguel Dominguin

The NZ Series #19 - Rugby World Cup 2011

I've written about Rugby and Berets before (here and here) and from the 9th of September, it will be rugby all around me when the Rugby World Cup starts, 2 km's down the road at the cake-tin. 

Likely to be the only one Kiwi that knows literally nothing about rugby (apart from the fact that some French, Welsh and the occasional Kiwi player and supporter don their heads with a beret) it's a time of great difficulty for me; not to anger my fellow citizens with my stupid questions and comments, my not-understanding of nationalism and the joy of watching grown-up men chasing after a ball, inflicting severe injuries on themselves and other players in the meantime.

But, a great believer in tradition, I am happy to offer a new addition to South Pacific's stock: the all black South Pacific Rugby-Beret with an embroidered NZ silver fern leave and rugby ball @ $34.95! What's more, all profits of the sales go to NZ Women's Refuge (who expect a dramatic increase in the need of their services during the games). 

Emiliano Barral

Born in the town of Sepúlveda ( Segovia ) in 1896 into a family of stonemasons Emiliano Barral learned the craft of stone carving, together with his three younger brothers: Martin, Peter and Albert, all of them dedicated to sculpture.

From his adolescence he showed interest in anarchism, and at the age of 14, involved with the miners strike, he fled to Rio Tinto ( Huelva got arrested and was sent home. Later on, he managed to make it to Valencia and Barcelona , where he contacted the anarchist groups in the city. He later went to Lyon and finally reached Paris , where he sought work at the Spanish consulate and offered what he did best: working on stonework. He gradually discovered the city, visited the Louvre on several occasions, and explored the Latin Quarter, met artists with whom he befriended. But these new liberal friends led him to leave the shop and start a bohemian life.  Sick of difficulties and short of money, he returned to his native town, where he received his first commission: a pantheon in direct carving.

With 21 years came to Madrid to perform military service, where he met the Granada José Cristóbal, with whom he worked in his shop making some busts and heads of friends until 1919 , returning back to their town and continue sculpting. A year later he applied for a scholarship to further his training to the Diputación de Segovia , which was rejected, but through exposure contacted cultural and artistic groups from the. Within this circle were Antonio Machado and Daniel Zuloaga.

In 1929 he participated in the International Exhibition in Barcelona and at the Iberoamericana de Sevilla, and won the tender called for the monument to Diego Arias de Miranda Aranda de Duero ( Burgos ), later held his first solo exhibition in Madrid. The following years were very busy until the year 1936. At the outbreak of the Civil War he joined the army with the rank of captain of the militias that defended Madrid and Segovia, where he died near Usera. He was accompanied by his younger brother, the sculptor Alberto Barral and a group of foreign journalists when his car was hit by a shell on November 21 of that year.

Defenders of the Faith - Russell Palmer

I've been thinking whether to post this or not and of course the conclusion is that I should - who am I to censure information, even when it is far from my liking. Russell Palmer (above) was an American director, choosing the rebel (Francoist) side during the Spanish Civil War.

His film 'Defenders of the Faith' is the first film showing warfare in natural colours; using extraordinary air-to-air action footage of such events as the Nationalist 'Flying Turkeys' squadron strafing Republican trenches and tanks, plus rare films of the Spanish Foreign Legion in action. A fascinating film, showing interesting footage from "the other side" and a very different faith. 

The DVD is available through Amazon.UK. 

Forestry in the Moselle

Foresters have always been true to the Basque beret, of course, without a peek that gets in the way (or gets caught by branches), warm and breathing and handy to carry your lunch in between the field kitchen and the tree stump used for a chair. 

These photographs were taken in the early 1950's in the Moselle Region in France (bordering both Germany and Luxembourg). 

Photographs ©René Jacques

Alexandre Noll

Italian Renaissance artist Michelangelo Buonarotti (1475-1564) famously said, “I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.” This same principle — the sumptuousness of the raw material seeming to spiritually guide and coax the artist’s hand — is at work in artist and designer Alexandre Noll’s wood sculptures, furniture and household objects.

 A 1966 catalog accompanying his show at the Galerie Messine in Paris detailed that Alexandre Noll (1890-1970) wanted “to make of wood all that could be made out of wood.” Today, his name is obscure in the furniture world as he is mostly known for being a sculptor, but Noll was enraptured with wood and attempted to make anything and everything he could out of the material, from artfully undulating totems and sculptures to functional chairs and cabinets. This love of the material is what set him apart from other designers of the time. Noll eschewed the man-made resources becoming popular in Mid-century design such as steel or plywood, and found his muse in wood.

 Noll never traveled extensively, but he worked with woods from all over the world, including Africa, Japan, North and South America, and his native France. The types of woods he took up ranges from elm to mahogany, walnut and ebony. 

Mimosa

A very 1970's colour photograph by an unknown photographer: René and Anna coming back from the market with large bunches of mimosa, 1973. 
Sorry, you'll have to make up your own story on this one. 

Brittany (Bretagne) and Berets

The French region of Brittany (or Bretagne in French, Breizh in Breton) has appeared on The Beret Project a number of times (here, here and here, for example). 

In a bar, Finistère, 1950

Situated on a finger sticking out into the Atlantic, it is far from the traditional homegrounds of the beret, but berets are, or were, found plentiful nevertheless. 

Tuna fishermen, Concarneau (Finistère)

Of course, there are some strong similarities between the Basque region in France and Brittany; a proud people, independent, sticking to their old native tongue, fishermen...

Here some random vintage photographs of berets from Brittany. 

Alan Shapiro

Many followers of The Beret Project will be familiar with the picture above, a fantastic photograph by NY photographer and creative mind Alan Shapiro. The picture was shot in Paris in front of the Louvre and the gentleman is named Ernesto who was worried that his wife had gotten lost. Alan and Ernesto chatted for quite some time in broken French and English until his wife showed up. She was even more of a character than Ernesto but didn't want her picture taken... Just one of the many great people-pictures (and little anecdotes) by A.S. 

Here is another: Henri and Charlotta from Bordeaux but now living in Cannes. They have been married for 46 magnificent years. When Charlotta told Alan that, he said "it's obvious from the look on Henri's face that if I weren't here, he'd have you in his arms". They both looked at him. Click.

Last one, great picture - no story:

The Scandinavian Series #9 - Kåre Kivijärvi

Kåre Kivijärvi (1938 - 1991) was a Norwegian photographer known for his photojournalistic work in Northern Norway.

Kivijärvi was born into a Kven family and always professed a connection to his ethnic heritage and to Finland. After working as a photographer's apprentice in Finnmark Dagblad, he was in 1959 accepted at Folkwangschule für Gestaltung in Essen, Germany, where he studied with Otto Steinert. After having served in the Norwegian air force as an aerial photographer, he accepted a position as staff photographer for Helsingin Sanomat's weekly newsmagazine Viikkosanomat, which brought him on assignment to Greenland, the Soviet Union, Afghanistan, India, and Nepal.

Kivijärvi's work was the first to be accepted by the main annual art exhibition in Norway, the Autumn Exhibition (Høstutstillingen). In this respect it can be said that he contributed to establish photography as a distinct art form in Norway.

Kivijärvi's photographic style is noted for its stark, sparse imagery. His photo essay on Laestadians in Northern Norway in 1962 is a noted example of this style, as are his depiction of desolate landscapes and harsh climates.

The photograpph of the fisherman above was sent to me by my Norwegian friend and beret-aficionado Arvid. 

Palmer C. Hayden

Palmer C. Hayden (January 15, 1890 – February 18, 1973) was an American painter who depicted African American life. He painted in both oils and watercolors, and was a prolific artist of his era.
Born on January 15, 1890, Hayden’s original name was Peyton Cole Hedgeman. He was given the name Palmer Hayden by his commanding sergeant during World War I. He grew up in the town of Wide Water, Virginia, and was a so-called self trained artist. Hayden was one of the first in America to depict African subjects in his paintings.

Nous Quatre à Paris, c. 1930 - watercolor and pencil on paper (Metropolitan Museum of Art)

As a young man, Hayden studied at the Cooper Union in New York City and also practiced independent studies at Boothbay Art Colony in Maine. 

Much of Hayden's influences came from the environment around him. He enjoyed painting, and used his time in Paris for inspiration. Over his next five years in Paris, Hayden was very productive, trying to capture elements of Parisian society. On his return to America, Hayden began working for the United States government.

Much of Hayden’s work after Paris focused on the African American experience. He tried to capture rural life as well as urban backgrounds in New York City. Many of these urban paintings were centered in Harlem.