The 1940s are undoubtedly the years most neglected by scholars of Italian Futurism. The movement had long supported Fascism, but its vocal endorsement of Mussolini’s regime and its military adventures at this time is widely considered to represent Futurism’s ultimate betrayal of those ‘progressive’, counter-cultural values popularly associated with the avant-garde. For many, the movement’s apparent engagement with the forces of reaction and conservatism is reflected in the work produced by its artists throughout the war years, which is invariably presented in terms of propaganda imagery, characterised by an unchallenging and retrogressive figurative vocabulary. However, this thesis argues that the 1940s cannot be said to reveal a rupture in either the ideological or aesthetic foundations of the movement, and that common assumptions regarding the crude, rhetorical and one-dimensional nature of Futurist painting (and poetry) during this period are not necessarily borne out by the works themselves. The text also examines the movement’s status within the cultural establishment at this time. It challenges the notion that the reverberations within Italy of Nazism’s campaign against modern art during the late 1930s were irrevocably to prejudice the Fascist regime and its institutions against Futurism. Indeed, it is argued that one can no more consider the 1940s a period of decline from the point of view of the movement’s political fortunes than one can from an artistic perspective. Of course, Futurism did not survive the war. However, it is suggested that whilst the cataclysmic events of 1943-44 were to seal its fate, they also served to liberate the imaginations of Marinetti and his followers, reawakening the movement’s original, visionary spirit, and inspiring a final burst of creativity that anticipated ‘the future of Futurism’.

S’appuyant sur la petite structure créée à Pau, en 1862, les Mauméjean, père et fils, réussirent à développer une véritable firme internationale - basée en France (Paris, Hendaye) et en Espagne (Madrid, Barcelone, Saint-Sébastien) - qui, durant près d’un siècle, travailla à l’ornementation d’un nombre considérable d’édifices civils et religieux disséminés dans plus de vingt-cinq pays. Récompensé lors de l’Exposition des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes de 1925, leur travail fut pourtant, dès les années 1950, décrié, dévalorisé : pour répondre aux critères de la « noble expression artistique » un maître verrier devait nécessairement produire peu, dans une petite structure, avec de petits moyens. L’incroyable quantité de verrières sorties des ateliers Mauméjean contribua à forger le mythe d’une production sérielle, dépourvue de toute valeur esthétique. Malgré de récents apports, les recherches menées dans le domaine du vitrail semblent profondément marquées par cette traditionnelle opposition entre fabrication à grande échelle et artisanat. S’appuyant sur un large catalogue d’œuvres conservées en France, en Espagne ou aux États-Unis, ainsi que sur l’analyse d’un très riche fonds d’atelier, cette étude se propose d’interroger ces modèles de production, tout en réévaluant l’apport artistique d’une manufacture qui, offrant un remarquable exemple de réussite, participa activement au renouveau des arts industriels franco espagnols. / The Mauméjean family, father and sons, managed to develop a real international firm, from the small business they created in Pau, in 1862. For almost a century, this international firm, based in France (Paris and Hendaye) and Spain (Madrid, Barcelona and Saint-Sébastien), worked on the ornamentation of a significant number of both civil and religious edifices, scattered over more than twenty-five countries. Though their work was rewarded during the 1925 Exhibition of Decorative and Modern Industrial Arts, it was also disparaged and depreciated, as early as the 1950’s. Indeed, to meet the criteria of the “noble artistic expression”, a master glazier had to produce small quantities, in a small structure, and with little resources. The incredible quantity of windows realised by the Maumejeans’ workshop contributed to the creation of the myth of a mass production, devoid of aesthetic value. In spite of new contributions, researches made in the field of stained-glass windows seem to be marked by this traditional opposition between mass production and craft production. Relying on a large catalogue of works kept in France, Spain, or even in the USA, as relying on the analysis of a very extensive workshop collection, this study offers to question these models of production, reappraising the new artistic dimension brought by a manufacture which, giving a remarkable example of success, actively took part in the revival of the Franco-Spanish industrial arts.

From flamenco guitarists to parlour pianists, Matisse’s images of music-making often appear within decorative scenes of gleaming carpets, multi-coloured costumes and lavishly embroidered wall hangings. All of these textiles and more comprised what he called ‘ma bibliothèque de travail’, a working library of inspiration that he maintained throughout his career. ‘I am made up of everything I have seen,’ he remarked, to which he might have added, ‘and heard.’ Practising, performing, listening and concert-going: music, like textiles, was a lifelong pursuit. But his passion for them is not simply of anecdotal significance, nor does it explain their mere co-existence as the subject-matter of his art. Rather, just as music and textiles are interwoven at every stage of his life, so too is their structural and conceptual significance in his work. In a series of case studies, a single textile from his working library is paired with the art it inspired: the kasāya robe and 'The Song of the Nightingale'; the Moghan rug and the Symphonic Interiors; and the Bakuba velours and 'Jazz'. In each case, visual form is found to have musical counterpart, both in the textiles themselves and as represented by Matisse. This opens up new, more imaginative possibilities of interpreting his visual musicality, which is found to be metaphysical, modal and motivic in concept. Finally, these separate strands are drawn together in a single synoptic analysis of the Chapel of the Rosary, the artist’s self-proclaimed masterpiece and ‘total’ work of art. This thesis explores the expansive musical space created by the reduced visual form of textiles. Considered together for the first time, these enduring and inseparable continuities of Matisse’s art – music and textiles – suggest not only a means of unravelling his own visual musicality, but point towards a much-needed methodology for interpreting this notion more broadly.

By the penultimate decade of the nineteenth century, the Dukes of Hamilton, premier peers of Scotland, had amassed a superb collection of fine and decorative art. This outstanding collection was dispersed in two series of sales in 1882 and 1919, and the family’s principal seat, Hamilton Palace, ten miles south of Glasgow, was demolished in the 1920s and ′30s. Many of the most significant items are now in the great museums, galleries and libraries of the world or in important private collections. This study will begin by identifying the causes of the 12th Duke of Hamilton’s financial difficulties and the chain of events leading to the dispersal of the collection, with a comparative analysis on the backgrounds of the earlier enforced sales of Fonthill Abbey (1822), Wanstead House (1822), Strawberry Hill (1842), and Stowe (1848). It will continue with a thorough investigation of selected principal beneficiaries, what they acquired and why. These will include Christopher Beckett Denison; various members of the Rothschild family; William Dodge James; the 5th Earl of Rosebery; Sir Michael Shaw-Stewart; and the 5th Earl of Carysfort. A survey of the records of certain national museums and galleries will establish the involvement of the museum sector in the dispersal of the collection, with a review of these institutions’ acquisitions. Finally, this study will consider the extent to which North American collectors benefited from the sales through the international art trade between 1880 and 1930, culminating in an account of the purchase of the Hamilton Palace interiors by the New York dealers, French & Co., and their subsequent acquisition by the newspaper magnate and collector William Randolph Hearst. This research will add a new perspective to the understanding of the break-up of this renowned collection, and of the loss to Scotland’s material culture and heritage. It will contribute to current scholarship on nineteenth-century house sales and increase current knowledge of the socio-economic causes and effects of such events. The question of who benefited from the Hamilton Palace sales will be a new and original area of research within History of Collecting studies, contributing to a fuller appreciation of British collecting between 1880 and 1930 and of the international art trade and market from 1880 to the present day.

L'Histoire de l'architecture telle que nous l'avons reçue ces dernières décennies était fortement influencée par la pensée critique et post-moderne de la seconde moitié du 20ème siècle où les raisons politiques, sociales, économiques et culturelles dominaient le système d'explication des causes et des conséquences du surgissement d'une forme, d'un style, d'un langage. Induite par un contexte d'accès massif et facile à l'énergie (celle du charbon puis du pétrole) et par les progrès de la médecine (avec l’invention des vaccins et antibiotiques), cette Histoire qui nous précède, que l'on peut qualifier de culturelle, a largement ignoré les raisons physiques, géographiques, climatiques ou bactériologiques qui ont en réalité façonné, de façon décisive, à travers les siècles, la forme architecturale, celle des bâtiments, des villes jusqu'à la décoration d'intérieur. Ma thèse intitulée « Histoire de l’architecture » met en lumière les causes naturelles, physiques, biologiques ou climatiques qui ont influencé le déroulé de l'histoire architecturale et provoqué le surgissement de ses figures, de la préhistoire à aujourd'hui. Refonder l’histoire de l’architecture sur ses données objectives, matérielles, réelles permet de comprendre comment affronter les défis environnementaux majeurs de notre siècle et mieux construire demain face à l'urgence climatique. / The History of Architecture we have received it in recent decades was strongly influenced by the critical and post-modern thinking of the second half of the 20th century, when political, social, economic and cultural reasons dominated the system of explaining the causes and consequences of the emergence of a form, a style or a language. Induced by a context of massive and easy access to energy (that of coal and then oil) and by the progress of medicine (with the invention of vaccines and antibiotics), this History that precedes us, which can be described as cultural, has largely ignored the physical, geographical, climatic or bacteriological reasons that have in reality shaped, in a decisive way, over the centuries, the architectural form, that of buildings, cities and even interior decoration. My thesis entitled "History of Architecture" highlights the natural, physical, biological or climatic causes that have influenced the course of architectural history and its figures, from prehistory to today. Reconstructing the history of architecture on its objective, material and real facts makes it possible to understand how to face the major environmental challenges of our century and better build for tomorrow in the context of the climate urgency.

The theoretical part consists of the introduction of company KOMPAN A.S. In addition, there are also introduced the main parts of production, especially CNC workshop, shop floor workplace and warehouse. In the experimental part there is introduced HPL material first. The following is a description of the testing including used tools and materials provided by Kompan Czech Republic s.r.o. Testing was focused on measurement of force load of instruments using piezoelectric dynamometer. The obtained data was processed and analyzed. The last part of the master's thesis is economic evaluation of the production of selected product, which consist of HPL panels. In the following discussion there are evaluate obtained results. In the conclusion part are summarized main results.

In this article are the results of research of empirical data from two pedagogical experiences using Mathematical Modeling with two groups: one with 28 students from the last period of a course of mathematics teachers, and another with 21 teachers of a course of continuing education. The objectives of the course were: teach Mathematical Modeling, and in sequence, modeling as a method of teaching. The data about the interest for the proposal and the need of the two groups in learning modeling for use in practice was raised from interviews and issues raised and works done by them. Even though the importance of Mathematical Modeling as a method of teaching is not underestimated, some aspects exemplify the difficulties for the participants in changing the concept of teaching and learning: formation of the participants and the need for formation. Key-words: Mathematical Modeling, possibilities and challenges.

During the shift from the rule of Joseph Stalin to that of Nikita Khrushchev, people in the Soviet Union witnessed dramatic political, economic, and social changes, evident even in such private aspects of life as residential home interiors. The major architectural style of Stalin's era, known as Stalin's Empire Style, was characterized by grandeur and rich embellishments. The buildings' interiors were similarly grandiose and ornate. By endorsing this kind of design, Stalin attempted to position himself as an heir of classical traditions, to encourage respect for his regime, and to signal his power. When Nikita Khrushchev became the country's leader shortly after Stalin's death in 1953, he proclaimed that "excessive decorations" were not only unnecessary, but harmful. As a result, the standardized panel buildings produced at his initiative were defined by straight, plain lines, and were devoid of literally any architectural details that were not considered functional. These changes in Soviet architecture were reflected in interior design and furnishings: the minimalist aesthetic became their defining characteristic. The purpose of this study is to gain, through examination of existing literature, new insight into why a transition to a minimalist aesthetic was happening in the 1950s and 1960s in Soviet urban interior design. To achieve this goal, the present thesis analyzes works by contemporary scholars on the subject and examines statements the Soviet government as well as Soviet architects and interior decoration specialists made regarding the state's views on architecture and interiors during the period of 1950-1960. While research has been published that explores some aspects of this stylistic transition, the present work is unique in that it identifies and focuses on three distinct reasons for the change to minimalism in Soviet urban residential interiors under Khrushchev: the deficit of apartment space, reduction of construction costs, and ideological motives.

This dissertation assesses the significance of luxury dining ware within Roman society by analyzing the economic and socio-cultural value of these objects. Specifically, I focus on silver and gold tableware from the Roman Republic through the third century CE. Precious metal vessels are particularly well-suited to a study of socio-economical value because they are somewhere between an art object and a commodity. Because these objects are made from silver and gold, they have material value, but they are also valuable for their functionality within the dining context, particularly for hosting guests at the convivium. Their utility is, therefore, expressly social in nature. In the Roman world, silver and gold vessels were also highly decorative and as such served as display pieces and objects of attention. Their ability to communicate was not limited only to their material or their functionality; they were neither mere utilitarian commodities, nor simple stores of wealth. Scholars often note that precious metal vessels were status symbols and stores of wealth, but they rarely analyze the way that these objects functioned within those roles. I seek to address this issue by considering the different forms of attention and the processes of valuation which were applied to luxury products in the Roman period. I will ask how social and cultural contexts affected the value of precious metal tableware and how the monetary value of these items determined the social contexts in which they were used. Additionally, this dissertation includes a study of the epigraphic habits on surviving silver and gold tableware in order to better understand how these vessels were used and exchanged. The inscriptions give a sense of the kinds of attention that was given to these objects and the way in which owners or makers might use them to communicate. I will approach these questions through an analysis of four primary types of value: economic, cultural, social, and aesthetic value. Value can be an economic measure achieved by quantifying the significance of an object and expressing this as price. But value can also be applied through cognitive processes via the attention paid to objects and the attitudes of people towards them. By looking at the significance of tableware as a luxury product, utility object, and display piece, I take account of the different ways in which these vessels could be used to communicate within social contexts. I will show that the value of precious metal tableware, in both an economic and cultural sense, provided its owners with opportunities to convey particular messages aimed at navigating the fraught networks of status that existed in Roman society. Gold and silver dining ware could be a store of wealth, but not one which produced financial returns like other assets. Rather, the benefits of storing wealth as luxury dining products were social in nature. The use of precious metal dining ware at communal dinners, or for display, could project an image of wealth, taste, and, most of all, generosity. The return on assets of silver and gold dining ware was social rather than financial capital. Luxury commodities like silver and gold plate were enmeshed in the social interactions and behaviors of elite Romans and so become agents in defining the social personas of their owners.

No description available.