Henri Royer

Henri Paul Royer (1869 –1938) was a French painter, remembered especially for his genre works from Brittany.

Painter of genre, portraitist and landscape artist, he traveled in America and Europe during his life.

In 1896, together with his wife, he arrived in Brittany, where he was to spend long periods for the rest of his life, especially in and around Audierne. Unlike other artists, he was above all interested in the people rather than the scenery. In order to become closer to them, he even learnt to speak Breton. His paintings reveal careful attention to their costumes.

Henri Royer's grand-niece, Nicole Rooy andt Marie-France Ingouf. In the background, his work: Quais d'Audierne, the Kérisit brothers.

Henri Gaudier-Brzeska

Henri Gaudier-Brzeska (1891 –1915) was a French artist and sculptor who developed a rough-hewn, primitive style of direct carving.

Henri Gaudier was born in Saint-Jean-de-Braye near Orléans. In 1910, he moved to London to become an artist, even though he had no formal training. With him came Sophie Brzeska, a Polish writer over twice his age whom he had met at the Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève in Paris, and with whom he began an intense relationship, annexing her surname although they never married.

Man In Beret by Henri Gaudier-Brzeska

Henri was devoted to Sophie, even taking her last name as his, but Sophie was often dismissive and cold towards Henri's romantic overtures (indeed, according to Ede they either never had sex, only did once or twice). They were often apart, and Sophie would buy Henri prostitutes for his enjoyment instead of having relations with him.

Following his death Sophie Brzeska became distraught, eventually dying in an asylum in 1925.

Kizz Daniel

Oluwatobiloba Daniel Anidugbe, better known by his stage name Kizz Daniel, is a Nigerian Afropop recording artist best known for his singles "Woju" and "Yeba". 

Kizz Daniel went by the stage name Kiss Daniel prior to changing it in May 2018.

 

Kizz Daniel graduated from Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, in 2013, with a degree in Water Resources Management and Agrometeorology (Water Engineering). 

While in university, he decided to pursue music as a career alongside his studies.

The Emile Series #8: Émile Jacotey

Émile Jacotey is the fourth album by the French progressive rock band Ange, released in 1975, formed in 1970 by the Décamps brothers, Francis (keyboards) and Christian (vocals). 

They were initially influenced by Genesis and King Crimson, and their music is quite theatrical and poetic. Their first success was a cover of a Jacques Brel song Ces gens-là, on the album Le Cimetière des Arlequins.

The three other members of the band, in its first years (generally considered its best years), were Jean-Michel Brézovar on guitar, Gérard Jelsch on drums, and Daniel Hass on bass (and acoustic guitar).

Boinas Arandú Heads Up!

Yesterday the new stock by Boinas Arandú has arrived; replenishing the stock of standard and vintage cotton berets (the brown, white and navy models are well stocked again!), but more interesting are the brand new 'Boinas Crochet'.

Arandú's 'Boinas Crochet' sits among the most comfortable cotton berets to be found.

Crochet is a process of creating fabric by interlocking loops of yarn using a crochet hook (the name comes from the French term crochet, meaning 'small hook'). The salient difference between crochet and knitting (which is the usual method of manufacturing berets), is that each stitch in crochet is completed before the next one is begun, while knitting keeps many stitches open at a time. 

These berets have the soft touch of corduroy, easily stretch to (even the largest) size, are excellent work-wear (being sturdy and tear resistant) and are fitted with a solid cotton lining in a 30cm diameter.

Available in 4 colours @ $52.50.

As the present stock was a small sample order, these berets are presently in very limited supply.

The Emile Series #7: Emile Lang

Emile Lang was a French firm that, early last century, produced a series of soldiers made of papier mache in various French uniforms.

The dolls were offered in various Parisian Etrennes catalogs such as that of Au Printemps stores. 

Shown below: a "poilu" ("hairy one", nickname for the soldiers fighting the trench war of 1914-18) in hardened canvas; very expressive glass eyes, brown molded mustache, characterized face and molded ears. Beautiful felt suit in good condition, cardboard label on the left shoulder: "E.L Système Breveté Manufacture Française Jouets Tissus", with its rare metal buttons, matching felt headphones, satchel, fabric hands with separate thumb. Ht: 52 cm. To date it is the 2nd found listed, sold at 3500 euro on auction.

The Emile Series #6: Émile Larre Otxobi

Émile Larre Otxobi, aka Sokorri (1926 – 2015) was a priest, writer, improviser and French-Basque academic.

He was an active promoter of Basque traditions, particularly of bertsolaritza and Basque pelota.

Émile Larre directed the newspaper Herria since 1969, and collaborates with magazines such as Gazte and Radio Adour.

In 1975, he became a full member of Euskaltzaindia (the Academy of the Basque language).

He was a judge at the general championships of bertsolaris in 1962, 1965 and 1982.

The Emile Series #5: Émile Benoît

Émile Joseph Benoît (1913 –1992) was a Canadian fiddler who became known for popularizing Franco-Newfoundlander folk music traditions.

Born in Black Duck Brook, Dominion of Newfoundland, Benoît worked primarily as a fisherman for much of his life, playing fiddle mainly as a hobby and at local community events. After winning second prize at a fiddle contest in nearby Stephenville in 1973, he began to pursue music more actively, making it his primary career after his retirement from fishing.

He became a popular performer, touring throughout Canada, appearing on 90 Minutes Live and in several documentary films, and performing in New Orleans, England, France and Norway. He released three albums and wrote nearly 200 songs during his lifetime.

His final album, 1992's Vive la rose, was recorded with Newfoundland folk-rock band Figgy Duff. He gave his final performance just two months before his death on September 3, 1992 in Stephenville.

He was posthumously honoured by the East Coast Music Awards in 1993.

The Emile Series #4: Francois Emile Barraud

François Barraud (1899 –1934) was a Swiss painter.

François Barraud painted mainly still lifes, female nudes and portraits, including several double portraits of himself and his wife, Marie.

His precise, realist style of painting developed under the influence of the old Flemish and French masters he had studied at the Louvre.

Barraud suffered periods of illness throughout his life and died of tuberculosis in Geneva, in 1934, at the age of 34.

The Emile Series #3: Emile Zola

Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola (1840 –1902) was a French novelist, playwright, journalist, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of naturalism, and an important contributor to the development of theatrical naturalism.

He was a major figure in the political liberalization of France and in the exoneration of the falsely accused and convicted army officer Alfred Dreyfus, which is encapsulated in the renowned newspaper headline J'Accuse…!

Zola was nominated for the first and second Nobel Prize in Literature in 1901 and 1902.

Zola died on 29 September 1902 of carbon monoxide poisoning caused by an improperly ventilated chimney. His funeral on 5 October was attended by thousands.

In 1953, an investigation ("Zola a-t-il été assassiné?") published by the journalist Jean Borel in the newspaper Libération raises the idea that Zola's death might have been a murder rather than an accident. It is based on the revelation of the Norman pharmacist Pierre Hacquin, who was told by the chimney sweeper Henri Buronfosse that the latter intentionally blocked the chimney of Zola's apartment in Paris.

The Emile Series #2: Emile Delobre

Emile Victor Delobre (1873-1956) was born in Paris, France. At age 14, he was already enrolled in the Ecole des Decoratifs; by 17 he was studying at the Beaux-Arts.

A prolific artist of the Impressionist School, Emile Delobre's quest for the interesting landscape often took him to the countryside of France: Normandy, with its fishing villages and orchards; the Loire Valley, with its rolling rivers; and the south of France with its sunny beaches. He also traveled outside the country to Italy, Holland and Tunisia which inspired many of his paintings.

Emile Delobre lived a modest life. Perhaps, overshadowed by the artistic giants of his age, he comes to us to be rediscovered as a painter of great sensitivity and grace. His purpose in painting seems not to have been to revolutionize art, but rather, to reaffirm it as the representation of all that man finds beautiful and inspiring.

The Emile Series #1: The Beret Spy

Many regular visitors have virtually met my brother Emile, aka The Beret Spy.

Emile's own commitment to the beret is questionable; although rarely bare headed, he is regularly seen with a baseball cap on his head (despite a good quantity of berets available, courtesy of South Pacific Berets).

However, his many contributions to this daily blog more than make up for that. Always ready, always alert, with his Huawei mobile phone eager to snap pictures of unsuspecting boineros/as in the wild (to the horror of his wife, who has to witness this activity).

A big thank you to Emile, who has the privilege to open these "Emile Series" on The Beret Project.

Moisés Ciriano dies, one of the elders of Soria who predicted the economic crisis in a video

One of Soria's two old boineros in the video "It was seen coming”, about the financial crisis, that went viral on the web, has passed away. Moisés Ciriano, one of the protagonists of the video has died in the private residence of Soria in which he had been admitted just three weeks earlier.

The two elderly protagonists remembered their hard childhood, with next to no schooling and working as children. They predicted the economic crisis in the country.

"Now I live better than ever, because before it was a martyrdom. That was no way to live," said Moses. "I do not keep good memories, all bad ones," he added, and said that his shepherd's life had been "worse than milk." The 80,000 pesetas of his pension made him "very happy" because he was more than he had earned all his life working, he commented.

Citroën Traction Avant

The Citroën Traction Avant was a range of mostly 4-door saloons and executive cars, with four or six-cylinder engines, produced by the French manufacturer Citroën from 1934 to 1957. 

The Traction Avant pioneered mass-production of three revolutionary innovations widely adopted since, and still used today: front-wheel drive, four-wheel independent suspension, and the use of a crash resistant, unitary, monocoque body. 

Additionally, the car was one of the earliest mass-production adopters of rack and pinion steering.

Although the car's name emphasized its front-wheel drive power delivery ("Traction Avant" literally means “front traction”) – the car stood out at least as much by its much lower profile and stance – made possible by the absence of a separate chassis under the car's unitary body – sharply distinguishing it visually from its contemporaries.

Approximately 760,000 units were produced.

The Beret Spy - NZ Edition

Following in the footsteps of (but not competing with) my brother The Beret Spy, here some shots of boineros/as in the wild, down here in Aotearoa-New Zealand.