Mark Baber
RIP
I just saw "The History of Navigation" today at the Metropolitan Museum. It was breathtaking and really shows what the scale of that room would have been. It also hints at what is missing and scattered about from the other panels since this is just part of one of the corners.
It would be nice for the owners of all of the other panels to loan them to the museum so the room in its entirety could be seen again, but I don't think that is going to happen anytime soon.
I will post the many pictures that I took when I get back to LA on Friday.
It would be nice for the owners of all of the other panels to loan them to the museum so the room in its entirety could be seen again, but I don't think that is going to happen anytime soon.
I will post the many pictures that I took when I get back to LA on Friday.
Here is the link to the photos that I took. Some of them are a little soft since I was not allowed to use a flash in the museum. If anyone would like some of these emailed to them at full resolution, please let me know.
http://homepage.mac.com/joserus/PhotoAlbum30.html
http://homepage.mac.com/joserus/PhotoAlbum30.html
Jason Schleisman
Member
Gorgeous, Joe. Thank you!
Martin C. Oppenheim
Member
It looks like pieces of this room are still being bought and sold. I just hope that all of the pieces are accounted for. Would be nice if these were all assembled together again.
http://www.shipbyrunway.com/Normandie.htm
http://www.shipbyrunway.com/Normandie.htm
Tony McFeat
Member
Joe great pics of the met,only just seen them onboard here.I did visit NY in 1994 and saw the original layout in the Cafe,not able to see these at the moment as the time i will be back they will once again be in storage so sad.
Thanks for the photos,
Tony Mc
Thanks for the photos,
Tony Mc
Richard Glueck
Member
Quel frommage! What I find amazing is so much of the ship's interior was successfully removed prior to the fire, and we are blessed with the artwork to this day. With some refinement in our artistic nature, "Normandie" is appreciated more today than in her own short lifetime.
Michael H. Standart
Member
>>What I find amazing is so much of the ship's interior was successfully removed prior to the fire, and we are blessed with the artwork to this day.<<
That was the upside of gutting the vessel for her intended use as a troopship. Now if only some moron hadn't decided to use a cutting torch near bales of kapok life vests....
That was the upside of gutting the vessel for her intended use as a troopship. Now if only some moron hadn't decided to use a cutting torch near bales of kapok life vests....
Grant Carman
Member
Richard
Quel Frommage means That's so cheese.
I think you meant Quel Dommage, which roughly translates to That's so sad.
Quel Frommage means That's so cheese.
I think you meant Quel Dommage, which roughly translates to That's so sad.
Jim Kalafus
Member
I think Richard may have been making a pop-culture reference...
"Quel frommage" is a gag line from the 1940s film "Good News." June Allison, at 53, plays a poor but proud college student. Snotty society girl, whilst flaunting her evident superiority in front of the post-menopausal Allison, says "Quel frommage" and is corrected by the elderly working class heroine.
"Quel frommage" is a gag line from the 1940s film "Good News." June Allison, at 53, plays a poor but proud college student. Snotty society girl, whilst flaunting her evident superiority in front of the post-menopausal Allison, says "Quel frommage" and is corrected by the elderly working class heroine.
Richard Glueck
Member
Gentlemen, you give me too much credit. "Quel Frommage" are the only two French words I know, other than the lyrics to "Lady Marmalade", which is totally inappropriate. I often spout them as an expression of whatever emotional is called for.
"C'est moi!"
"C'est moi!"
Well, this isn't exactly the real thing, but a nice tribute.
http://www.maritimematters.com/norwegianpearl-blog2.html
http://www.maritimematters.com/norwegianpearl-blog2.html
Art_Deco_Dave
Member
Just found this thread; I saw a b&w postcard on eBay of the Conrad Hilton's Normandie Room this week, and the chairs and round settee looked like Normandie's.
Judging from what I have read that Normandie was intended to be a Ship of State, and that the intention from the start was to have her decorated with works from anyone who was Anyone in the French world of art at that time, I find it unlikely that those interiors could have been completed in any better taste. Every artist involved pulled out all the stops on his/her individual commissions. Think in terms that Normandie was not going to be anything other than a museum piece of French art in the early 1930s. Museums are pretty cool, but who would want to live in one all the time? No, Normandie was as tasteful as it could be.
Also, as has been said before in this thread, when creating those monumental rooms, everything has to be monumental. The Grand Salon's ceiling was THIRTY FEET high. Paint a room of that proportions a nice, tasteful color, and it looks pretty dull. Also, remember that it was the beginning, the roots, of the glitz that is cruise decor today. The public rooms were intended to be stimulating, not restful. The idea was that those wealthy enough to afford first class passage would want to think of themselves as actors and actresses, spending the four-ish days in rooms that were actually stage sets for the shipboard dramas they were living.
Yep, I feel Normandie's interiors were as Glamorous as they could possibly be, and as tasteful as they needed to be. It's no mistake you have recognized the two small lounges adjacent to the Grand Salon were more restrained. Those in charge of the interiors were aware of what they were doing.
Judging from what I have read that Normandie was intended to be a Ship of State, and that the intention from the start was to have her decorated with works from anyone who was Anyone in the French world of art at that time, I find it unlikely that those interiors could have been completed in any better taste. Every artist involved pulled out all the stops on his/her individual commissions. Think in terms that Normandie was not going to be anything other than a museum piece of French art in the early 1930s. Museums are pretty cool, but who would want to live in one all the time? No, Normandie was as tasteful as it could be.
Also, as has been said before in this thread, when creating those monumental rooms, everything has to be monumental. The Grand Salon's ceiling was THIRTY FEET high. Paint a room of that proportions a nice, tasteful color, and it looks pretty dull. Also, remember that it was the beginning, the roots, of the glitz that is cruise decor today. The public rooms were intended to be stimulating, not restful. The idea was that those wealthy enough to afford first class passage would want to think of themselves as actors and actresses, spending the four-ish days in rooms that were actually stage sets for the shipboard dramas they were living.
Yep, I feel Normandie's interiors were as Glamorous as they could possibly be, and as tasteful as they needed to be. It's no mistake you have recognized the two small lounges adjacent to the Grand Salon were more restrained. Those in charge of the interiors were aware of what they were doing.
